(02-18-2020 11:52 AM)Bawlmer Duke Wrote:  

(02-18-2020 11:41 AM)Deez Nuts Wrote:  lol JTIII coming to CAA James Madison

Funniest name to be thrown out yet

You must have missed the Rick Pitino suggestion a while back.

(02-18-2020 12:04 PM)KickItToScotty Wrote:  

(02-18-2020 10:38 AM)JMad03 Wrote:  

(02-18-2020 08:47 AM)KickItToScotty Wrote:  

(02-17-2020 04:53 PM)Purplehazed Wrote:  

(02-17-2020 11:48 AM)ShadyP Wrote:  Give it a rest with the hyberbole.

Do I think it is a 'big deal' for a head coach at JMU want to be part of the Harrisonburg/Rockingham County coummunity.....hell yes I do. If you don't want to live in the community where you coach I find it hard to believe you can engage the local community which is desperately needed. Heck you could even live in Augusta County and be in the greater area community.

I don't care if a successful coach's wife and kids never drop a shoe in rockingham county. I want ncaa appearances and p5 fights with an occasional p5 win.

Building the brand nationality matters, trite community engagement speak is bull****.

The community talk is fine and sounds good in the daily news record. Where has it gotten jmu basketball? We need to focus on national matters if we are a national university.

Ditto. The only thing I'm worried about with the community is getting JMU and the Harrisonburg area to give a damn about JMU basketball again. Win and that will happen. Brady didn't win enough to make up for just how much Sherm and Keener killed fan interest, but anyone who was in Richmond for the championship game against Northeastern or in Dayton for the tournament games saw flashes of what can happen if we win enough. Unfortunately after winning a very weak CAA and getting a 16 seed he followed it up with a 7th place team the next year and never winning another CAA tournament game his last three years.

Now obviously some name that can bring some immediate excitement along with the new arena would be a nice bonus, but I don't know if that guy is out there... All of those that have been mentioned here probably range from about a 1% long shot to completely impossible. Just firing Lou and paying what's needed for a good coach and getting a guy with a solid resume is gonna bring a little excitement for the bigger fans that can't wait to get back on board, a lot of the names that are exciting to us on here but not completely impossible probably aren't gonna mean a whole lot to the more casual fans anyway.

If we win, I have zero concerns about the support. In every other sport when the team succeeds the community comes out and backs them.
I have no doubt the same will happen for basketball. However, I think it's going to take some time. They've been so bad for so long a winning streak could easily look like a fluke to some. It's going to take consistent wins for the fan base and the community to start coming out for this team.
Having the new arena will be a massive opportunity for this team to prove people wrong quickly. However, if they can't get wins the fan base is going to be very reluctant to come back.
That is why this next hire is so incredibly important. They need to bring in a guy that can get this team better sooner rather than later. Time is not on the side of the new staff. Struggles are bound to happen, but the fan base is not going to be patient any longer. It will take time for the fan base to support this team. Win a lot of games and the fans will return. Even if they are against garbage teams they just need wins. The fan base hasn't experienced a winning streak over 3 Div I games in over 4 years.

100% agree. Just to be clear, when I said that's the only thing I'm worried about I didn't mean I'm concerned about it, I probably should've worded that a little differently. I meant that it's the only thing I care about as far as the community and that as long as we win that won't be an issue whether the coach lives in his office at AUBC and is very involved in the community or lives as far from it as realistically possible and does nothing for the community aside from giving us a winning basketball team to cheer for. I very, very seriously doubt anyone would've cared one bit about those things with Brady if he had won enough to sometimes be in the conversation for an at large bid and if he had been more successful in the CAA Tournament. It was only an issue because of the mediocrity on the court.

I don't necessarily disagree......if you win enough a lot of off the court things are not an issue (how you handle media, graduation rates, transfer rates, where you reside, etc...)......but when you don't win all of those things quickly become front-burner issues.

Such as.....if you did not live an hour from campus commuting 2 hours a day......is that a significant amount of extra time that could be spent on producing a winning basketball program.....I don't know but it definitely opens the door to that discussion when you don't win enough.

(02-18-2020 08:44 AM)ShadyP Wrote:  

(02-17-2020 04:53 PM)Purplehazed Wrote:  

(02-17-2020 11:48 AM)ShadyP Wrote:  

(02-17-2020 11:45 AM)Purplehazed Wrote:  

(02-17-2020 09:57 AM)Deez Nuts Wrote:  Remember the other side of the coin - any prospective coach has to want to relocate to Harrisonburg, be willing to take on a project, etc. A coach with the resume like John Beilein (lol seriously?) is not remotely interested in coming to CAA James Madison U. It's got to be as much of a good fit for them as it is for us.

This means the coach has to immediately buy a house in hbg and become a member at First Presbyterian on court square. Kids have to attend spotswood high school and wife has to play bridge at spotswood country club with the Rocco money heirs.

Give it a rest with the hyberbole.

Do I think it is a 'big deal' for a head coach at JMU want to be part of the Harrisonburg/Rockingham County coummunity.....hell yes I do. If you don't want to live in the community where you coach I find it hard to believe you can engage the local community which is desperately needed. Heck you could even live in Augusta County and be in the greater area community.

I don't care if a successful coach's wife and kids never drop a shoe in rockingham county. I want ncaa appearances and p5 fights with an occasional p5 win.

Building the brand nationality matters, trite community engagement speak is bull****.

The community talk is fine and sounds good in the daily news record. Where has it gotten jmu basketball? We need to focus on national matters if we are a national university.

Well good luck building your 'national brand' if you cannot first build a strong local & regional brand. Right now this bball program needs a complete reboot and to be rebuilt from the ground up. Not sure how you expect to go from the current state right to a national brand.

Good luck with that strategy.

While we are stating wishes and wants why stop there.......go big for the Final Four.

I think JMU needs to first concentrate on a winning record and competing in the upper half of the CAA before we get carried away.

Nobody is suggesting we go from standstill to a 100mph. We are suggesting that we not self impose a max speed of 25mph. Let's not continue to sellout being relevant in our home state.

(02-18-2020 12:21 PM)AssyrianDuke Wrote:  

(02-18-2020 11:52 AM)Bawlmer Duke Wrote:  

(02-18-2020 11:41 AM)Deez Nuts Wrote:  lol JTIII coming to CAA James Madison

Funniest name to be thrown out yet

You must have missed the Rick Pitino suggestion a while back.

Nobody suggested Pitino, Longhorn(if I remember correctly) asked what people would think of it if it were possible even though we all know it's not.

(02-18-2020 10:51 PM)KickItToScotty Wrote:  

(02-18-2020 12:21 PM)AssyrianDuke Wrote:  

(02-18-2020 11:52 AM)Bawlmer Duke Wrote:  

(02-18-2020 11:41 AM)Deez Nuts Wrote:  lol JTIII coming to CAA James Madison

Funniest name to be thrown out yet

You must have missed the Rick Pitino suggestion a while back.

Nobody suggested Pitino, Longhorn(if I remember correctly) asked what people would think of it if it were possible even though we all know it's not.

We never thought we could get Lefty either. Pitino wants to get back in the US - all he can say is yes or no.

Mettlen had a tweet yesterday that led me on an internet search.

Anthony Solomon, assistant at Dayton under Anthony Grant. Played at UVA in the 80's. From Newport News. Coached at Notre Dame and Georgetown.

https://www.dailypress.com/757teamz/dp-s...olumn.html

(02-19-2020 08:18 AM)jmudukes Wrote:  

(02-18-2020 10:51 PM)KickItToScotty Wrote:  

(02-18-2020 12:21 PM)AssyrianDuke Wrote:  

(02-18-2020 11:52 AM)Bawlmer Duke Wrote:  

(02-18-2020 11:41 AM)Deez Nuts Wrote:  lol JTIII coming to CAA James Madison

Funniest name to be thrown out yet

You must have missed the Rick Pitino suggestion a while back.

Nobody suggested Pitino, Longhorn(if I remember correctly) asked what people would think of it if it were possible even though we all know it's not.

We never thought we could get Lefty either. Pitino wants to get back in the US - all he can say is yes or no.

There's a massive difference between Pitino and Lefty. Reputation. Pitino is where he is for a reason. What would be worse than what we have now? A scandal and those things follow Pitino like herpes. Lefty is a legend with no scandals tied to him.
Make no mistake that Pitino would bail on JMU the instant another opportunity presented itself.
I seriously wonder sometimes how much/little some pay attention to JMU. Even if Pitino wanted to go to JMU, the admin wouldn't take him. JMU doesn't mess around with scummy people. That's one of the things I respect about JMU. They don't sell their soul for anyone. They hire quality people with high character. Pitino does NOT fit that category.
There are plenty of better options out there than him.

(02-19-2020 09:23 AM)Bawlmer Duke Wrote:  Mettlen had a tweet yesterday that led me on an internet search.

Anthony Solomon, assistant at Dayton under Anthony Grant. Played at UVA in the 80's. From Newport News. Coached at Notre Dame and Georgetown.

https://www.dailypress.com/757teamz/dp-s...olumn.html

Please god no, though this would fit the MO. Seems like a nice guy, but no thanks as a HC.


2003-04 St. Bonaventure A-10 28 7 21 .250 -7.09 4.19
2004-05 St. Bonaventure A-10 28 2 26 .071 -15.69 0.38
2005-06 St. Bonaventure A-10 27 8 19 .296 -5.71 -0.37
2006-07 St. Bonaventure A-10 29 7 22 .241 -12.50 -1.47
Career St. Bonaventure 112 24 88 .214 -10.25 0.

Leave Pitino and his entertainers for the smelly Bizonz

(02-19-2020 09:43 AM)jmu98 Wrote:  

(02-19-2020 09:23 AM)Bawlmer Duke Wrote:  Mettlen had a tweet yesterday that led me on an internet search.

Anthony Solomon, assistant at Dayton under Anthony Grant. Played at UVA in the 80's. From Newport News. Coached at Notre Dame and Georgetown.

https://www.dailypress.com/757teamz/dp-s...olumn.html

Please god no, though this would fit the MO. Seems like a nice guy, but no thanks as a HC.


2003-04 St. Bonaventure A-10 28 7 21 .250 -7.09 4.19
2004-05 St. Bonaventure A-10 28 2 26 .071 -15.69 0.38
2005-06 St. Bonaventure A-10 27 8 19 .296 -5.71 -0.37
2006-07 St. Bonaventure A-10 29 7 22 .241 -12.50 -1.47
Career St. Bonaventure 112 24 88 .214 -10.25 0.

His record at St. B was bad, but the program he coached was in the middle of a scandal that was so bad, the Chairman of the BoT took his own life. It was a mess of a situation and it feel more like Solomon was the only guy willing to take on a job with a 1% success rate.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Bonave...03_scandal

(02-19-2020 09:49 AM)AssyrianDuke Wrote:  

(02-19-2020 09:43 AM)jmu98 Wrote:  

(02-19-2020 09:23 AM)Bawlmer Duke Wrote:  Mettlen had a tweet yesterday that led me on an internet search.

Anthony Solomon, assistant at Dayton under Anthony Grant. Played at UVA in the 80's. From Newport News. Coached at Notre Dame and Georgetown.

https://www.dailypress.com/757teamz/dp-s...olumn.html

Please god no, though this would fit the MO. Seems like a nice guy, but no thanks as a HC.


2003-04 St. Bonaventure A-10 28 7 21 .250 -7.09 4.19
2004-05 St. Bonaventure A-10 28 2 26 .071 -15.69 0.38
2005-06 St. Bonaventure A-10 27 8 19 .296 -5.71 -0.37
2006-07 St. Bonaventure A-10 29 7 22 .241 -12.50 -1.47
Career St. Bonaventure 112 24 88 .214 -10.25 0.

His record at St. B was bad, but the program he coached was in the middle of a scandal that was so bad, the Chairman of the BoT took his own life. It was a mess of a situation and it feel more like Solomon was the only guy willing to take on a job with a 1% success rate.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Bonave...03_scandal

Would you look at that. I forgot to look if he had been a HC yet. Food for thought with both posts.

Wow- that record makes Sherm's record at Indiana State (29-51) look great.

(02-19-2020 11:31 AM)olddawg Wrote:  Wow- that record makes Sherm's record at Indiana State (29-51) look great.

Pretty sure Sherm had all his scholarships, while Solomon only had 10 for three of his four years. Not saying I want Solomon. I have been staunch in my support for Mike Lonergan as a top tier candidate, but just want to give a fuller picture of what Solomon had to deal with at St Bonnie.

(02-19-2020 09:30 AM)JMad03 Wrote:  

(02-19-2020 08:18 AM)jmudukes Wrote:  

(02-18-2020 10:51 PM)KickItToScotty Wrote:  

(02-18-2020 12:21 PM)AssyrianDuke Wrote:  

(02-18-2020 11:52 AM)Bawlmer Duke Wrote:  Funniest name to be thrown out yet

You must have missed the Rick Pitino suggestion a while back.

Nobody suggested Pitino, Longhorn(if I remember correctly) asked what people would think of it if it were possible even though we all know it's not.

We never thought we could get Lefty either. Pitino wants to get back in the US - all he can say is yes or no.

There's a massive difference between Pitino and Lefty. Reputation. Pitino is where he is for a reason. What would be worse than what we have now? A scandal and those things follow Pitino like herpes. Lefty is a legend with no scandals tied to him.
Make no mistake that Pitino would bail on JMU the instant another opportunity presented itself.
I seriously wonder sometimes how much/little some pay attention to JMU. Even if Pitino wanted to go to JMU, the admin wouldn't take him. JMU doesn't mess around with scummy people. That's one of the things I respect about JMU. They don't sell their soul for anyone. They hire quality people with high character. Pitino does NOT fit that category.
There are plenty of better options out there than him.

Lefty got fired after Len Bias died of an overdose. Not saying it was just, but he had baggage.

(02-19-2020 09:30 AM)JMad03 Wrote:  

(02-19-2020 08:18 AM)jmudukes Wrote:  

(02-18-2020 10:51 PM)KickItToScotty Wrote:  

(02-18-2020 12:21 PM)AssyrianDuke Wrote:  

(02-18-2020 11:52 AM)Bawlmer Duke Wrote:  Funniest name to be thrown out yet

You must have missed the Rick Pitino suggestion a while back.

Nobody suggested Pitino, Longhorn(if I remember correctly) asked what people would think of it if it were possible even though we all know it's not.

We never thought we could get Lefty either. Pitino wants to get back in the US - all he can say is yes or no.

There's a massive difference between Pitino and Lefty. Reputation. Pitino is where he is for a reason. What would be worse than what we have now? A scandal and those things follow Pitino like herpes. Lefty is a legend with no scandals tied to him.
Make no mistake that Pitino would bail on JMU the instant another opportunity presented itself.
I seriously wonder sometimes how much/little some pay attention to JMU. Even if Pitino wanted to go to JMU, the admin wouldn't take him. JMU doesn't mess around with scummy people. That's one of the things I respect about JMU. They don't sell their soul for anyone. They hire quality people with high character. Pitino does NOT fit that category.
There are plenty of better options out there than him.

We'd be insane not to want Pitino if he wanted to be here. He's one of the best coaches ever and his program got caught doing the type of things that every program at that level does. Doubtful he knew details of things that were going on, but he was the head coach so he takes the fall. Also 99% of coaches will bail on JMU if they're successful enough here for a better opportunity to come along, that's no reason not to want someone.

But again, there's no way it's happening. I remember some people thinking Bruce Pearl could've been possible but he still landed at Auburn even though he's not near as good a coach as Pitino and in my opinion was tainted worse than Pitino.

I'm sorry, but there is a difference between what Louisville was doing and what other programs are doing. Yes, they got busted paying for a recruit (Bruce Bowen), but his assistant was also paying for prostitutes for recruits on their visits to Louisville. That "next level service" is something I could not condone, especially at JMU. There aren't a lot of on court positives from the Lou Rowe era, but off the court, this team has been clean as a whistle. Gone are the days when players were running around campus drunk, getting into fights with one another, and getting suspended every other game. We also don't have the revolving door of talent that we used to have (yes we lost some depth guys, but not the core guys).

Beyond those concerns, I am not sure what version of Pitino we would get. Would we get the uber-successful coach, or would we be getting a coach that just wants to be able to go out on his terms? Would he care enough to turn this program around or would he half-ass it? I'd rather bring in a guy with something to prove, not something to clean up.

John Beliein parting ways with the Cavs. Interesting.

That was a weird choice from the start. Best option for both parties is to separate.

(02-19-2020 12:18 PM)AssyrianDuke Wrote:  I'm sorry, but there is a difference between what Louisville was doing and what other programs are doing. Yes, they got busted paying for a recruit (Bruce Bowen), but his assistant was also paying for prostitutes for recruits on their visits to Louisville. That "next level service" is something I could not condone, especially at JMU. There aren't a lot of on court positives from the Lou Rowe era, but off the court, this team has been clean as a whistle. Gone are the days when players were running around campus drunk, getting into fights with one another, and getting suspended every other game. We also don't have the revolving door of talent that we used to have (yes we lost some depth guys, but not the core guys).

Beyond those concerns, I am not sure what version of Pitino we would get. Would we get the uber-successful coach, or would we be getting a coach that just wants to be able to go out on his terms? Would he care enough to turn this program around or would he half-ass it? I'd rather bring in a guy with something to prove, not something to clean up.

I agree.
I am a huge critic of Rowe, but there is one thing I cannot deny- zero off the court issues (that I know of at least). They appear to be all doing what they are supposed to be doing.
While it feels like we have hit rock bottom, there's still more ways to go down. What is much harder to overcome are violations, suspensions and losses of scholarships and postseason restrictions. Thankfully we have none of those and taking a risk on a guy with a history of infractions could decimate a program that is trying to be competitive again.
The question: is it worth the risk of selling your soul for a chance to be competitive? When you are desperate it may seem like a risk you are willing to take, but just keep in mind this program can hit a rock bottom that would make what we are going through a walk in the park.

(02-19-2020 11:35 AM)AssyrianDuke Wrote:  

(02-19-2020 11:31 AM)olddawg Wrote:  Wow- that record makes Sherm's record at Indiana State (29-51) look great.

Pretty sure Sherm had all his scholarships, while Solomon only had 10 for three of his four years. Not saying I want Solomon. I have been staunch in my support for Mike Lonergan as a top tier candidate, but just want to give a fuller picture of what Solomon had to deal with at St Bonnie.

There is a reason why he is sweeping the floors at gyms in PG County and coaching youth teams. JMU would do everyone a good thing and not go looking for him.