Al Skinner

ramster · Unread post by **ramster** » 7 years ago

http://www.providencejournal.com/sports ... ks-volumes

Da_Process_Survivor · Unread post by **Da_Process_Survivor** » 7 years ago

cant really disagree with him there, he's more than earned the right to toot his own horn.

poor guy is the Rodney Dangerfield of NCAA BBall coaching...no respect or appreciation until the school he was fired from sees their 'greener grass' for what it really is

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 7 years ago

He comes across as a little bitter, but who can blame him?

I like his comment about how challenging it is to make the dance here......"as the people there presently realize"

Ramulous · Unread post by **Ramulous** » 7 years ago

The next time Jim Harrick thanks Al Skinner for the roster he left him will be the first time.......

Tom Penders made sure Brendan Malone got credit for assembling the roster he rode to fame....Brendan was even at some of our tournament games....

PeteRI · Unread post by **PeteRI** » 7 years ago

Great article. I was working in NYC during URI's glory years and not following the team, but in hindsight it does seem to me that Coach Skinner has a legitimate reason to carry a grudge. Sounds like he was kicked to the curb by an ungrateful administration.

Not only did his teams succeed, but so did his players, as evidenced by the number who are now coaches themselves. And correct me if I'm wrong, but URI hasn't had an African-American head coach since, correct?

Just sayin' ...

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 7 years ago

Al consistently did more with less, then almost any coach in program history. He was the perfect fit for this school.

Yes he had his flaws, but considering how much they paid him, and the fact he had no long term deal toward the end of his time here, and the facilities [backwater to say the least]......

And Petro wanted more success in exchange for nothing.....

I guess Al's biggest "flaw" in the eyes of the administration was that yes he could make the NCAA tournament, but wasn't very good at advancing in it once he got there......we should be so lucky now.....

And I know he wasn't good at the PR game.....laid back....but he had good assistants.....

Of course who would give back Harrick's 2 years here.....but looking back now, wish we could have had Al back after Jim left.....instead of the program killer we ended up with.

section(105) · Unread post by **section(105)** » 7 years ago

......I can say now, hindsight being perfect, that I was wrong in my assessment that Rhody should not have hired him back during the last coach search....

RhowdyRam02 · Unread post by **RhowdyRam02** » 7 years ago

PeteRI wrote:Great article. I was working in NYC during URI's glory years and not following the team, but in hindsight it does seem to me that Coach Skinner has a legitimate reason to carry a grudge. Sounds like he was kicked to the curb by an ungrateful administration.

Not only did his teams succeed, but so did his players, as evidenced by the number who are now coaches themselves. And correct me if I'm wrong, but URI hasn't had an African-American head coach since, correct?

Just sayin' ...

You shouldn't just be sayin' a veiled racist allegation, especially seeing as three coaches isn't exactly a large sample size.

He's dead on about the BC situation and pretty right on about ours. That said, it's funny how he takes credit for the roster that was left for Harrick, rightfully so, but doesn't point out his lack of developing Mobley and ignores the fact he couldn't advance that same Elite 8 roster the year before.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 7 years ago

RR2, Harrick was a better bench coach than Al yes........but Al did get a lot out of what he had, for the most part......

As for Mobley and that 1998 team.....that was lightning in a bottle......

We ended up with a short term gain....and a long term pain.

RhowdyRam02 · Unread post by **RhowdyRam02** » 7 years ago

I'm not trying to disparage Skinner, hell Baron's last year I was chanting we want Skinner when he came back to the Ryan Center. But he didn't get the most our of Mobley, which means he wouldn't have been able to replicate the 1998 results, which means we wouldn't have the Ryan Center, which means we'd still be playing some games, including all of the PC games at the Dunk.

So no, since we got the Ryan Center out of the deal I refuse to agree that we're dealing with long term pain.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 7 years ago

Getting the RC was great, but 17+ years in the wilderness has been a steep price to pay for it.......and if we don't make it this year, who knows how much longer?

Blue Man · Unread post by **Blue Man** » 7 years ago

rambone 78 wrote:RR2, Harrick was a better bench coach than Al yes........but Al did get a lot out of what he had, for the most part......

As for Mobley and that 1998 team.....that was lightning in a bottle......

We ended up with a short term gain....and a long term pain.

That ship could've been righted quickly and the momentum continued if Petro had lived in reality.

The idea that a clear top 5 NBA pick was going to stay at the university of rhode island because of an AAU coach he was familiar with was absurd.

The short term gain was completely worth it - that was the greatest season in URI basketball history. It built the Ryan Center. It's the only reason people like us have any vision for how great this program could be. The long term pain was because of terrible, short-sighted decisions.

If Petro had actually done a coaching search to look for a coach, instead of just trying to hold onto 1 player with extremely flawed logic, maybe we continue on a decent trajectory.

PeteRI · Unread post by **PeteRI** » 7 years ago

I guess my main question is why did URI allow 11 years of mediocrity with Baron? The guy's overall record during that period was 162-166! And wasn't he the highest paid state employee for much of that time?

(And please forgive me if my question has been answered and debated ad nauseum on this board, but I'm a newbie.)

ramster · Unread post by **ramster** » 7 years ago

An older article from back at Thanksgiving, but I found it interesting that 3 schools with Al's connections would be looking at Julius' son. UMASS where Al and The Doctor played, URI where All Coached and Kennesaw State where Al now is the HC. Dr J lives in Atlanta and of course has the natural connection to Al as UMASS Alums.

http://usatodayhss.com/2016/holiday-hoo ... to-be-dad/

Collins said that Erving has recently started to receive interest from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Kennesaw State and Georgia State.

Blue Man · Unread post by **Blue Man** » 7 years ago

PeteRI wrote:I guess my main question is why did URI allow 11 years of mediocrity with Baron? The guy's overall record during that period was 162-166! And wasn't he the highest paid state employee for much of that time?

(And please forgive me if my question has been answered and debated ad nauseum on this board, but I'm a newbie.)

Welcome newbie!

Basically what happened was Jerry Degregorio, an assistant coach under Harrick and dubious handler to Lamar Odom (who was responsible for his URI commitment), was given the head coaching job after Harrick left for Georgia.

The extremely flawed thought process was that Lamar, who was the most talented player and obvious best NBA talent to come through Kingston, would have forgone millions of dollars and a sure-fire top 5 NBA draft spot to play at least one more year at URI.

Obviously, Lamar bounced anyway and was drafted 4th. Jerry D was woefully unequipped to coach at any level (shocker), and in 2 short years - following some NCAA violations left by Harrick which cost us scholarships and practice time, we had hit a near immediate rock bottom after breaking ground on a $65 million dollar on campus arena.

The program had run amok in so many ways - on and off court with poor play and character issues, and also in the classroom - that an immediate, safe change needed to be made.

Enter Jim Baron, who was a safe choice - average coach, 2 years removed from taking St Bonaventure to the NCAA tournament - but more importantly would at least make us less of a joke with the off-court issues.

Because Jerry D was so bad and underachieved with his team - Baron was at least able to "turn around" the program and get them to what many believe was an overachievement of an NIT birth and win in year 2, and an NIT birth in year 3.

"Whispers" of an offer from Virginia Tech surfaced after that season, and URI panicked. They looked at NIT births and people graduating as enough to warrant an ABSURD and unheard of at the time 10 year extension, just because they had seen how quickly things could turn negative with the wrong person at the helm.

The problem was - that Jim Baron was who he always had been - an average coach that may have been a bit over his head at the high major level - but by comparison to his predecessor that was considered superior. When the NCAA funding dried up after the expiration of the extra credits from the 1999 invite, URI was in too deep contract commitment and didn't have the cash for a buyout.

The frustrating thing was that by the time it was realized, URI was literally a game or two away from an NCAA birth for 4 straight seasons and you would've thought at the time that they'd punch through just once. Because they were so close, new AD Thorr Bjorn was handcuffed to at least extend Baron 1 year at a time so that he didn't handcuff recruiting efforts and send his head coach to see prospects with less than a 4 year contract remaining.

The promise of being so close and then collapsing is what ultimately cost URI a decade of mediocrity.

PeteRI · Unread post by **PeteRI** » 7 years ago

Thanks for the history lesson, Blue Man!

A 10-year contract ... Where do I sign up to get one of those?

ramster · Unread post by **ramster** » 7 years ago

In the connections department:
- Silk Owens is on Al's Coaching Staff.
- Cameron Neysmith is a Senior on Al's team, doesn't play much, but is the son of Horace Neysmith who was an outstanding guard at UMASS.
- Al took his team to NE and played at his former school, UMASS, this season.

ramster · Unread post by **ramster** » 7 years ago

Al lost to Florida Gulf Coast in the Semi-Finals - FGCU won the NCAA Birth to go to the Dance. Interesting comments from Al about his team.

http://www.ksuowls.com/news/2017/3/2/me ... inals.aspx

Iggy1979 · Unread post by **Iggy1979** » 7 years ago

ramster wrote:An older article from back at Thanksgiving, but I found it interesting that 3 schools with Al's connections would be looking at Julius' son. UMASS where Al and The Doctor played, URI where All Coached and Kennesaw State where Al now is the HC. Dr J lives in Atlanta and of course has the natural connection to Al as UMASS Alums.

http://usatodayhss.com/2016/holiday-hoo ... to-be-dad/

Collins said that Erving has recently started to receive interest from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Kennesaw State and Georgia State.

Sounds like he could use a year of prep school.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 7 years ago

According to someone who was close to the program,
Sonny Vaccaro put the word out that Jerry D was his man,
and he wanted him to get the job after Harrick left.
Didn't it seem odd that only three people applied for the
job?
We went to 3 straight NCAAs and an NIT before that.
The roster was stocked with top 100 players,
TBell, Luther Clay, Zach Marbury, Tiger Womack,
and Tip Vinson.
At least NIT talent.
Jerry D was so abysmal that it lead Carothers and Petro
to a safe hire, Baron.
This despite Petro telling me,"We're reaching for the stars
on this hire!"
Bobby Knight said he'd never go to a place that allowed
a player to be on the search committee, as Lamar was
when Jerry D was picked.
What a joke!

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 7 years ago

Reaching for the stars......yeah, we hired a guy that UMass turned down......

Wasn't the first "meet and greet" the new coach at the Coast Guard House? And Baron showed up wearing sweat pants?

JB wasn't exactly comfortable at these type of affairs......I think I remember seeing him at Casey's ONCE during his career here....whereas I saw Tom and Al many times there, as friendly as ever.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 7 years ago

Rod, beside the Vaccaro thing, rumor was that several players threatened to leave if Jerry wasn't hired......and most of the big boosters wanted him too......the sounds of "Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!" still are ringing in my ears.......

I didn't want him although I didn't know just how really unqualified he was for the job......

I wanted Larry Farmer......anybody with a pulse would have been better.

reef · Unread post by **reef** » 7 years ago

Gotta love 1 in 4 Al

He really got a screw job @ BC

PeteRI · Unread post by **PeteRI** » 7 years ago

Man, this whole Vaccaro/Jerry D thing sounds like an episode of The Sopranos. Fuggeddaboudditttttt!

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 7 years ago

At the time, Vaccaro was the single most influential person,
besides big name coaches, in college basketball.
People still defer to him.

Sweep The Leg · Unread post by **Sweep The Leg** » 7 years ago

Skinner should have had another NCAA appearance my freshman year, 1991-1992. But, I think the NCAA blackballed them because players were being investigated in that gambling ring run by Bryant and URI students. They did some damage in the NIT though.

bigappleram · Unread post by **bigappleram** » 7 years ago

Great coach and a good guy, because of Al I got to throw an alley-oop to Dr. J once. Def on my personal Top 10 list.

However, a bit of revisionist history here...there was a contract on the table but Al didn't want it. The same contract he refused Jim Harrick accepted. The exact same deal. BC offered 500K btw, our offer was not even close. Al didn't want to play in the Civic Center so more revenue could be generated to boost his salary. Jim had no problem with that. He took a back end deal with gate receipts as part of package to get the numbers up. Same offer that was made to Al. The BC and URI situations being put on par in this story is unfair. He got hosed at BC, not at URI.

PeterRamTime · Unread post by **PeterRamTime** » 7 years ago

And BC has been REALLY down since Al's left.
I remember Donahue got there and kept recruiting I've league type players to play in the ACC and it's been horrible since...

reef · Unread post by **reef** » 7 years ago

BC 10-62 in conf the last 4 years what a stat !!

adam914 · Unread post by **adam914** » 7 years ago

Why aren't people jumping down Skinner's throat for calling the job here hard like they did when Hurley said something similar?

Captainron@ · Unread post by **Captainron@** » 7 years ago

Because Skinner had a point, it was hard then. He was paid less than most of the coaches in the league and his assistants were in even a worse position. The games were at Keaney and the Dunk, not the Ryan Center. His office was a joke. My remembrance was that it wasn't money that made him jump, it was the school making a commitment to fix some of the systematic problems. Harrick, knew he wouldn't be here long. He really didn't care about any of that stuff. He was just trying to save his career after the UCLA crap hit the fan.

Da_Process_Survivor · Unread post by **Da_Process_Survivor** » 7 years ago

adam914 wrote:Why aren't people jumping down Skinner's throat for calling the job here hard like they did when Hurley said something similar?

because Al got it done. Complaining about how tough it is when you havent even gotten it done yet is being a cry baby.

Al also did it with Keaney Gym, no practice facilities, piss poor at best financial support. Give Al in the 90s the Ryan Center and practice facilities and imagine what he could've done with it

Sweep The Leg · Unread post by **Sweep The Leg** » 7 years ago

adam914 wrote:Why aren't people jumping down Skinner's throat for calling the job here hard like they did when Hurley said something similar?

Because Al said it in retrospect and Hurley said it in-season.

ramster · Unread post by **ramster** » 7 years ago

Why should that matter?

Blue Man · Unread post by **Blue Man** » 7 years ago

Da_Process_Survivor wrote:
adam914 wrote:Why aren't people jumping down Skinner's throat for calling the job here hard like they did when Hurley said something similar?
because Al got it done. Complaining about how tough it is when you havent even gotten it done yet is being a cry baby.

Al also did it with Keaney Gym, no practice facilities, piss poor at best financial support. Give Al in the 90s the Ryan Center and practice facilities and imagine what he could've done with it

The college basketball landscape was extremely different in Skinner's time though. The lifting for Al coming off of Tom Penders and recent NCAA success was a lot different than Hurley's lifting after 13 years of futility and the cupboard he was left with.

To be clear before we go down this road I am not saying Al isn't a good coach or any other extreme that this board tends to jump down when someone tries to put perspective to a statement or defend anything Dan Hurley says.

URI had had recent NCAA success in the very late 80's and early 90s, had some great wins in the tournament, and had momentum rolling. Yes Keaney had a trailer outside of it and yes it wasn't the sparkly Ryan Center...but no one in the A10 had elite facilities then either. Xavier opened the Cintas Center in 2000. Temple opened the Liacouras Center in 97. UD Arena has always been the same. Richmond's Robin Center has been around forever.

The drive for basketball only facilities and practice facilities is a relatively new thing. The Ryan Center now just keeps URI on the same type of footing as the other teams they want to be in the conference. Just because Hurley is making "a lot" of money by URI standards, doesn't mean it's actually a lot of money by college basketball or even A10 numbers. He's 4th or 5th in salary even when it jumps up...guess where we are in the standings? Just because URI's endowment is "up" for URI standards, doesn't mean it's actually high ranking among the conference. Everything is relative.

What Hurley was talking about is still the same stuff Al is talking about. URI and the State of Rhode Island is incredibly small time. The thinking. The execution. What it takes to get things done. Just because something has never been done here before everyone seems to think it's a big deal when it happens - like a Ryan Center, or a coach making more than 500k, or a new weight lifting facility, or the audacity to ask for more donations - doesn't mean that it isn't done EVERYWHERE ELSE that has a successful basketball program.

The reality of URI is that while we've had periods of brief success, we've never operated as a successful program before. I don't think people fully grasp that or understand what it takes.

The simplest aspect is money and investment in the program. However, every time someone brings that up everyone bugs the F out and says WHAT HAVE YOU DONE LATELY TO DESERVE THIS MONEY OR INVESTMENT!?!?

It just doesn't work like that. You don't just win in this era of college basketball with the cart before the horse. That's what URI has always done - gotten hot and lucky through brief periods throughout their history, but never actually built a foundation to build a program upon. Hence why there have been peaks followed by long valleys followed by brief peaks followed by longer valleys.

No one ever wants to just take an honest look at what URI is and always has been and understand why, they just expect to win because it's happened before in a very different era.

Dan Hurley is the first person to come here and DEMAND those kind of program level changes be made, and I honestly don't think people give him enough credit for that. No one understands that just because we went to the Elite 8 one time doesn't mean that we are an Elite 8 type program. If you build a program with excitement and press and find a way to drive more investment and money into it, you will actually find that you will build a perennial contender. You don't just get to be a contender because you win one year and move on.

College basketball is about a lot more than the X's and O's of on-court execution and I don't think enough people here understand that. At least Hurley does and is doing everything he can to make it so that all of the things needed to win with the X's and O's will be in place some day.

Ramtastico · Unread post by **Ramtastico** » 7 years ago

Completely different situation. Al worked out of a trailer next to Keaney most of his tenure and there was a temporary(loud) generator right near it powering/heating Keaney gym. Very limited per diems for players. No charter travel. No buy game opportunities, actually we were the buy team. Much less financial support. No Ryan Center. Limited recruiting budget(all three coaches stayed at different times at my house when they were recruiting here in ATL). Assistant pay was at bottom of A10 pack. Administration support at both President and AD level no where near as focused as now. Very little TV, National coverage for the conference. The old $100 raffle was a major funding source in their budget. Almost non existent marketing.
Need I go on?

Blue Man · Unread post by **Blue Man** » 7 years ago

Ramtastico wrote:Completely different situation. Al worked out of a trailer next to Keaney most of his tenure and there was a temporary(loud) generator right near it powering/heating Keaney gym. Very limited per diems for players. No charter travel. No buy game opportunities, actually we were the buy team. Much less financial support. No Ryan Center. Limited recruiting budget(all three coaches stayed at different times at my house when they were recruiting here in ATL). Assistant pay was at bottom of A10 pack. Administration support at both President and AD level no where near as focused as now. Very little TV, National coverage for the conference. The old $100 raffle was a major funding source in their budget. Almost non existent marketing.
Need I go on?

That's exactly my point though. Just because things are better here than they were doesn't mean we're still not in the same exact spot, maybe slightly better, compared to the rest of the conference.

Most of this state lacks the ability to compare us to anything outside of these walls. We have to stop comparing ourselves to ourselves. If you've been an also-ran for most of your 100+ year existence, being better than yourself isn't going to be good enough. You need to be better than your contemporaries. All of our contemporaries have also improved at the same or greater rate. If all we've done is keep up, then the gap is still the same.

If it's the year 1905 and you are living in a tent with candles but your neighbor has a house with electricity you would look at having electricity as a goal. Well if by 1920 you're living in a house with electricity but you poop outside while your neighbor has electricity and indoor plumbing - are you satisfied with where you got? You're better than you were, great, but you're still pooping in the woods. Just because things are "better" than they were in Kingston, doesn't mean we passed anyone else in doing so.

adam914 · Unread post by **adam914** » 7 years ago

I had a feeling most answers would include the word "trailer". That seems to be the go to line any time this comes up.

adam914 · Unread post by **adam914** » 7 years ago

Da_Process_Survivor wrote:
adam914 wrote:Why aren't people jumping down Skinner's throat for calling the job here hard like they did when Hurley said something similar?
because Al got it done. Complaining about how tough it is when you havent even gotten it done yet is being a cry baby.

Al also did it with Keaney Gym, no practice facilities, piss poor at best financial support. Give Al in the 90s the Ryan Center and practice facilities and imagine what he could've done with it

So how about the second part of the quote then? "...as people there presently realize." He seems to be implying it is hard now to. Is Skinner being a cry baby?

Ramtastico · Unread post by **Ramtastico** » 7 years ago

Blue Man, I totally understand your point but we were at the bottom(A10) back in Al's day in pretty much all areas and we are no where near the bottom now as far as support, facilities, etc. I remember going to every A10 facility in Al's time and talks with our staff as to how far from even the middle of the pack we were. I remember $12 per diems for the players(and not for every trip either) when Temple and most everyone else was getting the $45 max(don't know what it is now). Believe me, our players knew what their peers got. It was a big deal when we got video editing machines that everybody else already had.
Using Temple as an example again I remember their Nike deal gave players numerous shoes which was unheard of at the time. We got a pair or two from Reebok and I know as a fact that some guys bought their own shoes.
I realize that everything has improved for every team, but we compare much more favorably with our A10 members in all areas versus the past.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 7 years ago

I remember walking into the basketball office
after Jim Harrick was hired.
What a dump! Torn couch, real shabby furniture.
Must have been culture shock for the guy who
had a posh office in Pauley Pavillion.
He kind of said in disbelief,
"Look at this." The rest was left unsaid.
Skinner did work under sub standard conditions here.
He still managed to get to NCAAs and do well in NITs.
Some damned good players were brought in, as were some busts,
like all coaches do from time to time.
My biggest gripe was in his final recruiting cycle,
all he and his staff recruited were The Jeffersons.
Torey, was a role player, who eventually transferred,
and John never even got into URI.
When asked about this, Tim O'Shea said that it
was becoming impossible to recruit to URI.
We know Harrick quickly proved that wrong.
Once that kind of defeatist attitude sneaks in,
not much good will follow.
My sense was, this was the direction the program was
heading, and one reason why Skinner didn't sign his contract here.
Kind of like Baron resigning from Canisius, when he couldn't
bring in anyone in his final recruiting cycle.

hrstrat57 · Unread post by **hrstrat57** » 7 years ago

All I know is those Reebok 5600/5900 hi tops were super sweet!

The pump? Not so much.

Blue Man · Unread post by **Blue Man** » 7 years ago

Ramtastico wrote:Blue Man, I totally understand your point but we were at the bottom(A10) back in Al's day in pretty much all areas and we are no where near the bottom now as far as support, facilities, etc. I remember going to every A10 facility in Al's time and talks with our staff as to how far from even the middle of the pack we were. I remember $12 per diems for the players(and not for every trip either) when Temple and most everyone else was getting the $45 max(don't know what it is now). Believe me, our players knew what their peers got. It was a big deal when we got video editing machines that everybody else already had.
Using Temple as an example again I remember their Nike deal gave players numerous shoes which was unheard of at the time. We got a pair or two from Reebok and I know as a fact that some guys bought their own shoes.
I realize that everything has improved for every team, but we compare much more favorably with our A10 members in all areas versus the past.

Oh I'm certainly not saying we're at the bottom of the conference like we were in any of the investments or facilities - I'm just saying that just because we've moved up from dead last doesn't mean we're where we want to be...or it shouldn't. Just like a gallon of gas costs a lot more than 10 cents now.

If everyone's expectations are to be a top 3 or 4 team in the conference on the court - then you have to bring your investments - coaching salary, assistants pool, facilities, charters, etc, etc up to the top 3 or 4 in the conference as well. It's not a mystery as to why the same teams who have always been at the top of the conference stay there.

If you speed by a cop stopped on the side of the road and you're going 100 mph, just because the cop starts moving doesn't mean he's going to close the gap. You will keep widening the gap until the cop gets his car up to 100 mph as well. Then when you and the cop are both going 100, you are now 2 miles away and he's not going to close any distance. The only way the cop can catch up to you is if he's going 120 or 150.

Just because URI pulled off the side of the road and got moving doesn't mean any gaps have been closed. It just means we're moving.

We need to have higher standards for the off the court investments of our basketball program if we want the basketball team to play to those expectations everyone is setting.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 7 years ago

Agree with the need to invest to get results.
Problem is, it's hardly a level playing field.
Florida State has a booster club with a 22 million dollar bankroll.
Michigan has football assistants being paid over one million dollars.
How can most non P5 schools hope to compete
with this on a regular basis?
Football revenue streams drives the bus.

RhowdyRam02 · Unread post by **RhowdyRam02** » 7 years ago

We can't start worrying about P5 teams. First it's get where we need to be in conference and other like minded schools. We seem to be almost there. Next we need to capitalize on the current investment by making the tournament and getting that sweet, sweet NCAA cash. Then use that cash, not on our other programs, but on basketball so they can continue to move up.

Blue Man · Unread post by **Blue Man** » 7 years ago

RhowdyRam02 wrote:We can't start worrying about P5 teams. First it's get where we need to be in conference and other like minded schools. We seem to be almost there. Next we need to capitalize on the current investment by making the tournament and getting that sweet, sweet NCAA cash. Then use that cash, not on our other programs, but on basketball so they can continue to move up.

Exactly.

Rod you're right that the field isn't level at all for non-P5/big time football schools - but it never will be. It's possible to be a high level basketball program without the aid of those P5 funds - the schools that have just direct all of their resources to their basketball program and have grown that way.

Some examples: Gonzaga, Xavier, Creighton, Butler, VCU, Dayton.

All of those programs were on or below URI's level in the mid to late 90s.

They didn't get P5 football money to build their programs, they took their winnings and continually re-invested in basketball and basketball alone. They put basketball above everything else for a very long time until it became self-sustaining and a profit generator.

URI never did that. URI took it's best winning chance in the late 90's, got a bond for the Ryan Center passed on the ballot, and then said "this is good enough, now business as usual."

A rising tide raises all boats, but you need to understand the difference between a tide and a wave. If URI had decided to continue full go at basketball only - and made the investments they are making now back in the early 00's - URI could be what Dayton is in the A10, or even what Xavier is in the Big East. The potential has always been here but it's never actually been realized or understood.

The Dan Hurley era under Thorr Bjorn represents the first and only time in the 125 year history of this land grant university's athletic department that basketball became the top priority. It will still take YEARS of continual investments at the level Dan is currently demanding to get us to be a perennial contender like so many of us wish.

Login • Register