1 of 1- Mentzinger
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GW: 9th best coaching job in A-10
Stadium storysays:Great location in D.C., terrific recruiting base with the proximity to DMV recruiting.” – A-10 assistant coach“No practice facility, and the resources just aren’t what they need to be. That even includes coaches salaries, and that’s tough with the cost of living in D.C.”
- GW0509
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Re: GW: 9th best coaching job in A-10
Makes sense. I know GW has tried to upgrade the Smith Center as much as they can, but space on campus is pretty limited to create a new practice facility. They'd either have to take over a floor of the Lerner Center or the gym at the Vern (which would leave the Vern w/o a gym for students). I know they've recently been driving to the St. James but that is a pretty long drive for what is still our flagship sport. It may just be a structural issue that can't be remedied.
As for financial resources, that has been the issue for as long as I've followed the team in the mid 00s. For whatever reason GW has had difficulties attracting alumni donations across the board. It's not just because of the "scandals" in the basketball program:
GW has a real issue with cultivating a sense of pride in its alumni. So many people I know viewed their time at GW as a means to an end as opposed to a lifelong experience like other colleges. Granted, my peers graduated into the great recession with debt from one of the most expensive schools in the country so funds for donations may be limited, but I really don't hear people talk about their time at GW like some of the older alumni here talk about it. Instead, it's more like gallows humor where GW is the villain.
I mean, look at this tweet from Mike Hall:
MH7[/url] [url=]@_Michaelinho·Mar 4
Fist bump to all the fans still proudly Raising High. It’s heartbreaking to be able to count on one hand the number of guys that wore the Buff and Blue that still support the program...but it is what it is. I’m still here and hope for brighter days in Foggy Bottom
If the guys who played for GW don't give a crap anymore how can we expect the rest of the student body to care enough to attend games and donate? And as much as this will inevitably open up the whole ML/Nero feud again, I think the apathy runs deeper than the events of summer 2016. The only thing that catches the interest of casual alumni will be another multiple NCAA run. Anything short, including winning the NIT, will just be a blimp on the radar in comparison.
If there's a peer school we should try to compete with I'd say it's Richmond. We're both expensive private schools and our student bodies are similar both during and after college. We should be studying how they have been able to attract the types of donations that our school has failed at.
Last edited by GW0509 (3/07/2021 8:26 am)
- BGF
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Re: GW: 9th best coaching job in A-10
Mentzinger wrote:
Stadium storysays:Great location in D.C., terrific recruiting base with the proximity to DMV recruiting.” – A-10 assistant coach“No practice facility, and the resources just aren’t what they need to be. That even includes coaches salaries, and that’s tough with the cost of living in D.C.”
Humor me here, if you will. The Health and Wellness Center was built so the varsity teams would be able to use the Smith Center as a practice facility without the challenges of scheduling, while also giving the general student population more access to courts, swimming pool, and other gym opportunities.
Why does the team need it's own practice facility when theirs is only shared with the women's basketball team and the volleyball team? They need their own weight facility? Maybe. But why would they need their own practice facility?
- GW0509
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Re: GW: 9th best coaching job in A-10
But why would they need their own practice facility?
Short answer, because other teams have it and use it against GW in recruiting. For example, here is the $15 million facility that Richmond opened up last year: It's a shiny new building to show off on campus visits that looks really cool in comparison to showing off Smith Center. As you say, they serve the same function, but newer and exclusive looks/sounds better.
It's why BCS football schools have arms races to include things like barbershops and bowling alleys in their football-only facilities. The money schools generate has to be spent somewhere so why not put it into facilities that will entice a recruit to choose them over someone else?
- BGF
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Re: GW: 9th best coaching job in A-10
I get that.
- Florida Colonial
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Re: GW: 9th best coaching job in A-10
Weren't they planning on filling in the pool and building a practice facility in that location. I believe that project was put on hold due to COVID related budget issues. Maybe it still happens?
- Free Quebec
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Re: GW: 9th best coaching job in A-10
I would rank our job higher than 9th. I think the upheaval of the last 5 years is making the job look worse than it is (this same list during the nit title year probably would have had us like 4th or 5th, so we are being hurt by recency bias).
My list:
1) Dayton - great fan base, money.
2) VCU - recent tradition across coaching changes
3) SLU - huge arena, media attention in mid sized market. School seems committed to winning.
4) URI - it’s been a solid program for a long time and most of their coaches have gone on to higher jobs. No admissions standard (see:Lamar Odom) means coaches with low scruples can take chances to win.
5) GW - Great recruitng base and school to sell. Strong track record (9 NCCAs in last 30 years, and an NIT title) shoes you can win here. Arguably could he behind Richmond because school doesn’t spend enough despite massive endowment.
6) Richmond - spoiled fan base expects more from Moody (like St Joe), but decent history, arena, good school to sell, etc.
7) UMASS. Dead arena for 20 years now, no coach will ever live up to Calipari, one ncaa appearance in 25 years shows how hard it is to succeed there.
8) St Bona. Mark Schmidt had done remarkably well recruitng there. Great fan base, but very hard to recruit and win there. Maybe should be below St Joe.
9) St Joe’s - Phil Martelli is a great coach and couldn’t consistently recruit or win there. Gym is lame, school is small.
10) George Mason. Outside of one miracle run when in the CAA, no coaches have really done much here. Tough sell for recruits, soulless gym, tough to get media coverage.
11) Davidson - McKillop has been there so long, the gym is named after him. Can a new coach sustain winning at a small school with a small gym after he’s gone? We will find out one day, but my gut is a great all time coach makes the job look overrated.
12) Duquesne - Dambrot had it going right and they are building new facilities, but Duq has rarely been even on the bubble since joining the league.
13) LasSalle - Dr John did amazing there to get to S16 and still got fired. Tough place to win.
14) Fordham. Nice media market, but HS gym and history as a doormat.
- The Dude
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Re: GW: 9th best coaching job in A-10
Not so sure about Rhode Island. Between 1999 and Hurley's back to back trips in 2017 and 2018 (where he won Tourney games both years) URI made zero NCAA trips. I believe longest drought in the league
They did hire some very successful Coaches, who won big and then bolted, what top A10 program would give Jim Barron an 11 year run without a single NCAA trip? Small gym, in a non recruiting hot bed tiny state, I think it is one of the hardest places to win actually.
- GWRising
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Re: GW: 9th best coaching job in A-10
URI's Ryan Center is a 7,657 seat venue. Hardly a small gym.
- GWRising
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Re: GW: 9th best coaching job in A-10
Interestingly enough only George Mason, UMass, Dayton and St. Louis have bigger capacities in the A-10. I guess you could say everyone else in the A-10 has a small gym by your standards.
Last edited by GWRising (3/08/2021 2:37 pm)
- TJT85
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Re: GW: 9th best coaching job in A-10
Not so sure about Rhode Island. Between 1999 and Hurley's back to back trips in 2017 and 2018 (where he won Tourney games both years) URI made zero NCAA trips. I believe longest drought in the league
They did hire some very successful Coaches, who won big and then bolted, what top A10 program would give Jim Barron an 11 year run without a single NCAA trip? Small gym, in a non recruiting hot bed tiny state, I think it is one of the hardest places to win actually.
The 7,657 seat Ryan Center cost $54M to build back in 2002. That would equate to over $80M in today dollars. Also just saw on the URI board that they just announced a $3M donation to a new basketball practice facility. They now have financial commitments to cover over 90% of its $8M cost.
Rhode Island also has been to ten NCAA Tournaments advancing with a win in half those apearances. They have a 1988 Sweet-16 and a 1998 Elite-8. They also have 15 NIT appearances.
Last edited by TJT85 (3/09/2021 4:44 pm)
- The Dude
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Re: GW: 9th best coaching job in A-10
Opened in 2002.... and then had a 17 year zero NCAA tourney drought because Rhode Island is not an easy place to win
The gym is though a tad larger than I realized.
- TJT85
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Re: GW: 9th best coaching job in A-10
Opened in 2002.... and then had a 17 year zero NCAA tourney drought because Rhode Island is not an easy place to win
The gym is though a tad larger than I realized.
It looks decent sized and pretty nice in this photo:
Last edited by TJT85 (3/09/2021 7:16 pm)