Excellent decision. Shows the university understands the  focus amd resourcing required to  be successful. Incredible that this position is only now just being created, but there you go. This was no doubt driven b CC who must have been incredulous at the time suck he was encountering on the admin front. Professionalizing the operations side of the house will free him and his staff up tremendously. Only person who should not like this will be the leftover likes of Serrano. Think this is better news than it may seem to be on its face, although if the hiring is not left for the new AD, I’d be very disappointed.

jf wrote:

Yes, thought it is odd that this is being advertised before new AD.
Maybe some sort of formality, but not sure the timing makes sense, though the idea may.

 
Yes….if this is just a set up for an internal, candidate we’ve all been snookered. But my hope is  that CC is the magnet here and may even have someone in mind to bring to the table.. Even that would create some “interesting” dynamic s with a new AD. If the AD isn’t part of the process.

Donate money to the athletic program

That's the solution

The budget bare Bones

If you want a better basketball program donate what you can

Well said BGF. I agree 100%. It's depressing to me how much college athletics has changed.

I find it ironic and humorous that the troll telling the rest of us to donate $ hasn't given the program a dime in his lifetime.

BGF wrote:

Dude, it feels like you're goading us into responding, and I suppose that's your prerogative.  But let's be serious and not belittle the real issues..  I could donate $100, $10,000, or $100,000, and it won't change the fact that GW is a middling team in a middling conference in an athletic landscape in which any basketball-only school that's not in the Big East (and even in the Big East) are increasingly irrelevant.  

For us to maintain (or actually for us to actually achieve) relevance, we don't need money from our limited population of interested alumni.  What we need is a re-shaping of college athletics in a way that allows paths forward for mid-majors.

This is not the thread for this, but I know all of us have given thought to how to make GW relevant.  Simply put, the entire system has to go away. 

Power conference football needs to be a separate entity. I know it sounds crazy, and I equally know that it will never happen, but college basketball also needs to be separate from non-revenue generating sports.  The best solution I've considered is having it operate similar to English football, with the excitement and national enthusiasm that goes with promotion and relegation. 

The only other way I see schools like GW gaining long-term relevance is leave the pool of schools competing for the NCAA championship.  Let the Power 4 go their own way and hold their own tournament.  It won't be the same as having the cinderellas. 

I'd much rather watch schools from the Big East to the Big Sky without the Power 4 than competing for the decreasing table scraps the media is leaving us with.  I don't think we should consider being division II or III, like some suggest.  But we, along with the other 300 or so non-Power schools need to exert their collective power with one unified voice against what the football elite have decided is best.

This is obviously just a thought exercise and I know these things are incredibly unlikely to ever occur, but we and the other non-Power schools are going nowhere fast.  We've been reduced to a proverbial penny stock in a world of blue chip mega-corporations.

So, getting away from my rant and back to your comment, Dude...if GW wants to hire a GM, or anything short of getting a corporate sponsor to the tune of $5 million or more annually, that's great.  Give it the old college try...sure, why not?

But, Dude, PLEASE stop thinking that we should just donate money and the problem goes away.  You've made this comment before, and it remains both silly and ignorant of the real issue.  It's a systemic problem, threatening the very existence of college athletics for anyone not in a Power 4 football conference.  No amount of my or your income being directed to the program is going to make one lick of difference in the long run.   

 

The Dude:  "You had me at 'goading us'."

Seriously, excellent post BGF.  For a variety of reasons, we have the right or at least the rationale to question whether our contributions could realistically serve to make a difference.  Compounding this is the lack of transparency on the part of the school...what does it contribute, will it ever dip into the endowment for sports, how important is having successful sports programs to the school?  It's very easy to contribute towards big-time college sports because you know the school is very much behind the mission.  At GW, there have been more than enough missteps and poor judgment calls to question how badly they actually want what diehard fans want.  And by want, I am speaking of an ability to back this up with dollars.  It's not nearly enough just to simply state that you want your teams to be champions.  What is the school doing or providing to actually help make this happen?

If you follow the sport of college basketball, you would know that every P4 school could do its own thing and we'd be left with a high quality sport.  Big East schools (assuming they are not invited to join the P4 for basketball only), WCC schools, Mountain West Schools, AAC schools, A10 schools, and other programs such as Vermont, Florida Atlantic, Drake, Indiana State, Belmont, James Madison, Grand Canyon, Samford, McNeese, Charleston, Princeton/Yale/Harvard, and a number of others who have built strong programs (or are in this process) would make for a fascinating postseason tournament.  No, it won't be the same and the P4 would still be regarded as the national championship tournament.  I would liken this level to a bit above GW's NIT run which I've felt was always far more impressive than some here have acknowledged.  Am just not of the mindset that what appears to be an inevitable split would not be as dire as some would believe.

Well, congratulations, Cooper Handelsman!
  Surprised the job is considered a step up from assistant coach, but from what I recall of
his skillset, seems to fit and he's a sharp guy.
   Also surprised that the hire took place before the new AD is installed. Generally, that is not a good idea,
though imagine he signed off on it at least informally in the end.
   Now, perhaps we can use that assistant coach slot to get a really experienced A-10 level or higher recruiter as new Assistant. 
   Obviously, in today's revolving door/NIL environment, recruiting seems more critical than ever.
 

Congratulations Cooper.  It's entirely possible that his aspirations fall more on the business/administrative side and less on the coaching side.  Or so early in his career, he's attempting to answer this for himself.  No matter the case, he must be a quick study and great worker to ascend as he has.

AT Hiker wrote:

I have had the opportunity to interact with Cooper a few times and really like his ability to communicate about the men's program and the individual players. This new position managing the men's and women's programs is made to order for Cooper.

Congrats!

Echo AT Hiker’s sentiments. Found Cooper to be very engaging and openly forthcoming. Both programs should benefit from his elevation to a position he will create and develop.

GW0509 wrote:

According to Trilly Donovan, the plan is to hire more of an "Ops" guy to replace Handelsman's role on the staff, not a pure AC. 

https://gwsports.com/news/2024/8/7/eric-sebastian-named-mens-basketball-director-of-operations