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3/18/2022 12:59 pm  #21


Re: Loyola Chicago Joins A10 in 2022

Ohio State overall defense has been average this year with the big exception of their defense around the basket.  Loyola, #14 in the country in 3PT%, is insisting on driving to the basket.

 

6/13/2022 10:09 pm  #22


Re: Loyola Chicago Joins A10 in 2022

Is it odd to aspire for GW to have the kind of institutional support and enthusiastic attitude that our newest A10 peer has?   

Regardless, a truly welcome addition to the league. 

https://theathletic.com/3355659/2022/06/13/loyola-chicago-atlantic-10/?amp=1

 

6/14/2022 5:41 am  #23


Re: Loyola Chicago Joins A10 in 2022

Two of the last three additions really hit the ground running once they entered the A10. I guess it makes sense seeing as thought they wouldn’t have been invited without the league believing they’d be competitive additions, but still it is quite impressive how VCU and Davidson immediately became the class of the A10. I expect the same thing from LC.

I don’t think it’s odd to aspire to be Davidson or LC as much as it is sad. There’s no reason why we CAN’T be that except for deliberate decisions by the school to prioritize students going off and doing their own thing as opposed to cultivating on-campus life.

Last edited by GW0509 (6/14/2022 6:00 am)

     Thread Starter
 

6/14/2022 7:46 am  #24


Re: Loyola Chicago Joins A10 in 2022

With the additions in the last 20 years or so of Ricihmond, Mason, VCU, Davidson and now Loyola, the A-10 has done an excellent job of re-tooling and maintaining its status as one of the best non power-5 conferences.   I am still a bit  uncomfortable with the odd number of teams in A-10 howerver.  Hopefully that will be fixed soon, either by addition or even subtraction.

Last edited by Long Suffering Fan (6/14/2022 7:47 am)

 

6/14/2022 10:12 am  #25


Re: Loyola Chicago Joins A10 in 2022

GW0509 wrote:

Two of the last three additions really hit the ground running once they entered the A10. I guess it makes sense seeing as thought they wouldn’t have been invited without the league believing they’d be competitive additions, but still it is quite impressive how VCU and Davidson immediately became the class of the A10. I expect the same thing from LC.

I don’t think it’s odd to aspire to be Davidson or LC as much as it is sad. There’s no reason why we CAN’T be that except for deliberate decisions by the school to prioritize students going off and doing their own thing as opposed to cultivating on-campus life.

Can you say more about decisions to prioritize students going off campus over on-campus life? First I’ve heard of that. 

Fwiw, for a 25 year span starting with Jarvis, I think Davidson and Loyola (not to mention more than half the A10) aspired to be like GW.  The problem is that we’ve dropped off a cliff right at the time where schools with money and power are finding new ways to consolidate their place in the pecking order. Bad timing for our collapse.

Last edited by Free Quebec (6/14/2022 10:13 am)

 

6/14/2022 11:07 am  #26


Re: Loyola Chicago Joins A10 in 2022

I think adding Loyola-Chicago is a great move both in terms of the level of athletics at the school as well as the expansion in to a good market (better than the Charlotte exurbs or double-teaming Richmond, VA).
But before we get to self-agrandizing about the recent additions, let´s just remember that the A10 has lost: West Virginia, VATech, Penn State, Rutgers, Butler, and Temple. 
As for GW, we are an original member and the academic standard-bearer for the conference. Sometimes, we even field competitive sports team. We are not a Mega State U (URI, umASS) and we are not Church-affiliated (LaSalle, Loyola, SLU, St Joe´s, etc...). So we are a bit of an outlier.

 

6/14/2022 11:25 am  #27


Re: Loyola Chicago Joins A10 in 2022

Isn’t Davidson the academic standard bearer in the A-10?Followed by GW and Richmond?We have no identity other than we have a great location.

 

6/14/2022 11:38 am  #28


Re: Loyola Chicago Joins A10 in 2022

Free Quebec wrote:

Can you say more about decisions to prioritize students going off campus over on-campus life? First I’ve heard of that.

I should preface this by saying I don’t have any insider information about a deliberate strategy but I can say from my experience and from speaking with my peers as well as current students that there is an atmosphere of “choose-your-own-adventure” at GW.  One of, if not the biggest selling points of GW, is that students get the opportunity to work at internships throughout the city.  From the moment you start as a freshman, you are sort of thrown out into the city without much of a safety net from the school.  It’s a few years old now but here’s a youtube video of a student asking other students about “what they wish they knew about GW.”. Lots of comments on here about not knowing what opportunities existed for student organizations, not knowing how to manage an independent lifestyle, that there’s a lack of school spirit, etc.  These are all complaints that would’ve existed back in 2005 when I started.  Because these complaints are 10-15 years old now, I must assume that GW thinks the “choose your own adventure” critique is a feature and not a bug.





I’ve also spoken with peers that basically view GW as a means to an end, meaning, they were grateful for the location of the campus and being able to do internships at the same time as class work, but they do not credit GW for anything more than that.  All the success in life was self-made.  There are also no “fond memories” of campus life.  More times than not, it’s snarky comments about UNhelpful GW was.  There was a comment in that youtube video above where a student said that they felt more affinity with their student org than with GW as a whole.   That’s not a recipe for strong alumni giving.

I was fortunate that the 05-06 team was so good because by 07-08 going to GW games was not seen as THE thing for freshman to do on campus.  Current students cannot fathom having to wait outside to get into a game.  We could’ve been Davidson or Loyola Chicago had we taken that energy from 04-07 and actually made GW basketball the premier social activity on campus.  Instead, GW was happy to promote all the things students should be doing away from campus. 

     Thread Starter
 

6/14/2022 12:01 pm  #29


Re: Loyola Chicago Joins A10 in 2022

Even more true from 1965-1969.Commuter kids went home.SDS hippies -I include myself -druggies
and a smattering of fraternities existed then.And of course there was Vietnam and riots.We were told to leave campus after King was kiilled-I remember the smoke as the taxi approached Union Station.

 

6/14/2022 12:07 pm  #30


Re: Loyola Chicago Joins A10 in 2022

It wasn't always that way with Davidson.  Under Lefty, they were a juggernaut during the 1960's.  5 regular season championships.  3 conference tournaments.  4 seasons finishing in the top 10 in the country.  That 27-3 record that rings so familiar to GW fans?  Davidson had that identical record during Lefty's final season there.

On GWAA's point regarding who the A10 has lost, it's hard to control schools who have left to join bigger, superior conferences and subsequently, more money.  What is within a conference's control is which schools you choose to bring in and on this point, the A10 has had many more hits than misses.   So much so that I'm convinced the A10 could have far more resembled the Patriot League than the Big East by now if it hadn't chosen its replacements so astutely.

Finally, on the subject of off-campus vs on-campus life, I wonder if this is symptomatic of big city schools in general?

 

6/14/2022 5:45 pm  #31


Re: Loyola Chicago Joins A10 in 2022

Gwmayhem wrote:

On GWAA's point regarding who the A10 has lost, it's hard to control schools who have left to join bigger, superior conferences and subsequently, more money.

Correct. However, the defections were the conference´s own fault. Under the steady leadership (hey, a steady downward spiral is by definition "steady") of Linda Bruno the conference took a pass on the chance to have the Power 5 football conference that the Big Least instead wound up forming. I guess she was more concerned with bankrolling Larry Lembo´s breast reduction surgery (yes, I still have ill-feelings for that guy, too). The way things have worked out, the conference might have imploded a la C-USA if it had gone football, or it might have a TV deal that makes the SEC look like a pauper.
All water under the bridge now, and with the money teams trying desperately to turn college sports in to their private cash fiefdom, the next generation might think of all GW varsity sports the way we think of GW football-- something nice that got left behind in the past because it was not worth the financial duress.
 

 

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