I had meant to post this information before the CAA Tourney, but I could not find the time and did not know what it might portend. But, in the context of Shaver's firing, I thought it would be interesting to share now.

A couple of weeks ago, President Rowe spoke to W&M alumni working on Capitol Hill. I was among those alumni. She gave what probably is her usual stump speech for alums, and I thought she was obviously smart, engaging, and thoughtful. I think she has many good ideas for W&M.

She then asked for questions from the audience. I asked her to name what she thought was the one thing that made W&M stand out from its peers, and where did it lag.

She cited W&M's sense of community as well as a "willingness to change" on behalf of the faculty as positives. I think she mentioned other positives too, but those are the ones I recall.

As for the number one thing W&M must work on, she said - we must make into the NCAA men's basketball tournament. I was surprised.

She then listed all of the benefits such a victory would have on the morale of students and alums, our admissions rate, marketing efforts, and donations. She also noted that this effort would require more resources for the program (women's basketball too), and that she thought the CAA was a strong conference but a conference W&M could win. She also said that she was not in the business of settling for one NCAA appearance, nor would she be happy with losing in the NCAA tournament. She was hoping we'd go multiple times and have wins in her tenure here.

My heart soared when I heard this news. I was very happy to hear a W&M president so focused on this issue.

That said, I assumed during her comments that Coach Shaver would get at least a chance to run a properly resourced program. I did not know that his departure may already have been in the works.

Regardless, I will reserve final judgment until we see how everything plays out. I am hoping she and AD Huge know more than I do about this situation.