KeaneyBlue - The URI Basketball Forum

I just received the email for the Men's Basketball End of Year Celebration, as I'm sure many of you have. Here's the text:

Quidnessett Country Club
950 North Quidnessett Road
North Kingstown, Rhode Island
May 2, 2017
5:30 p.m.
$75 per person



Celebrate with us!
Come join us as we celebrate the men's basketball team's Atlantic 10 Championship and our first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 1999. Have the opportunity to meet and mingle with the team and coaching staff and then enjoy the highlight video and end of year team awards!

For more information call or email Nick Narodowy in Development at 401.874.2389 or nnarodowy@uri.edu

Link to Register

Maybe they will use that as the time to announce Dan's extension and program upgrades. Makes sense anyway.

It's probably taking a while to get plans, including funding, together to build a BB practice facility.

$75 is a bit pricey, but I'm sure this is doubling as a fundraiser.

Want to see a preseason event this fall, too.

I will be there for this one. It was fun last year to meet some great Rhody fans. If I remember correctly, I had a seat at a table with "The Godfather", Rod, and Milan. Can't beat that for some great stories and Rhody Hoop Lore.

Yes, that was a lot of fun, ATP. I think TP was at our table, too.

I'm going to try to get to this one.....some questions need to be answered. As much as possible anyway.

Is this casual attire? Hope so....I only wear a suit for weddings and funerals. Haven't been to any lately...hope that continues....

Most people wore suits, since it's a sit down dinner
in a formal setting. Much like a wedding or political
fund raiser.
When he was leaving, Dan said,
"Remember, Rod, I always get what I want!"
He was talking about recruiting frontcourt players.
Last time, I took home all the A-10 awards.
They got left behind, so I took them with me.
Got ahold of Thorr, and coach Enright came to the house to
pick them up.
That was a strange experience.
Arthur wanted to eat him.

Rod, if you go this time...remind Dan of that comment...he always gets what he wants comment that is....

Especially if May 2nd comes around and we haven't got the big we need yet.....

Dan has said they are confident of getting one.....we'll see. Are we that confident?

Im happy they left the A10 awards in the good hands of RodFromCranston.

75$ is pricey. They must have to be careful about events with the popularity and wave of success for the team. Cant have 1000 people right?

Dan has got a lot of good players to come here. I liked Earl a lot.

No, Rambone, I will not be going.
My time schmoozing with this regime, has come and gone.
It was fun while it lasted.
This is still a great event, if it was run like
two years ago.
I liked it much better than the Alpine pre-season
one, three years ago.

It's been 5 full weeks since we lost to Oregon, and despite all the immediate post-NCAA talk of contract extension and program enhancements by Thor Bjorn, and to a lesser extent Dr. Dooley, nothing has been announced.

Instead of capitalizing on the recognition of winning the A10 title and a great performance in the NCAA's the URI administration has managed to waste all the positive publicity.

If you want to expand your core followers, and build a larger fan base, you can't allow 5 full weeks of absolute silence about your #1 athletic program and lose the momentum achieved during the second half of the season.

Dan Hurley wants to win and has proven that he can win. The URI administration just talks about winning. There's a difference.

It's time to do something.

reckless jake wrote:It's been 5 full weeks since we lost to Oregon, and despite all the immediate post-NCAA talk of contract extension and program enhancements by Thor Bjorn, and to a lesser extent Dr. Dooley, nothing has been announced.

Instead of capitalizing on the recognition of winning the A10 title and a great performance in the NCAA's the URI administration has managed to waste all the positive publicity.

If you want to expand your core followers, and build a larger fan base, you can't allow 5 full weeks of absolute silence about your #1 athletic program and lose the momentum achieved during the second half of the season.

Dan Hurley wants to win and has proven that he can win. The URI administration just talks about winning. There's a difference.

It's time to do something.

I agree it seems unusual that it has been almost 5 weeks since Thorr mentioned the extension. It also seems weird how quiet Rhody has been around offers & visits for last 2017 spot, offers to 2018 recruits and non-conference scheduling compared to what I have seen regarding other schools on twitter.

I think it is a little tough to say that the URI administration has managed to waste all the positive publicity. How do we know what is going on? Maybe they are working with a large donor(s) who is going to fund a signicant amount of a basketball practice facility. What if they are in the process of landing an impact player for next year? I know they have been out fundraising and have an outbound telemarketing campaign for season tickets already.

I am going to have faith. They delivered what I wanted this year - an NCAA birth and a win in the tournament. I am going to trust their judgement (Dooley, Thorr & Dan) as it relates to doing the right things next year to keep the program going in the right direction.

reckless jake wrote:It's been 5 full weeks since we lost to Oregon, and despite all the immediate post-NCAA talk of contract extension and program enhancements by Thor Bjorn, and to a lesser extent Dr. Dooley, nothing has been announced.

Instead of capitalizing on the recognition of winning the A10 title and a great performance in the NCAA's the URI administration has managed to waste all the positive publicity.

If you want to expand your core followers, and build a larger fan base, you can't allow 5 full weeks of absolute silence about your #1 athletic program and lose the momentum achieved during the second half of the season.

Dan Hurley wants to win and has proven that he can win. The URI administration just talks about winning. There's a difference.

It's time to do something.

Frankly, without knowing the details of what has been offered and requested, it is hard to reach that conclusion. Dan Hurley's track record is of limited success. If they do not capitalize on the recent success there is plenty of blame to go around.

Something needs to be announced on May 2nd.....not just a celebration of what has happened, but something to look forward to.

Hopefully not a bunch of "no comments".

Yea, it is quite odd how the extension was announced weeks ago and there's been crickets ever since.

I wish the possible extension was never announced. Another thing other coaches can use against us......"Hurley was supposed to be signing an extension a month ago but he never signed it. He won't be there very long."....True or not, other coaches will use it.

If we somehow make the dance this coming season, and we still don't have what we need for 2018-19 in terms of recruits and/or program enhancements that Dan wants....then the odds of him leaving then are very good.

One thing we know....recruiting 4 star players, especially bigs, is "hard" to do at URI....and Dan surely knows this by now.

If it's too hard, then my guess is, he's out of here next time there's a suitable job offer.

I love how everyone waits 17 years for any real success to happen here, and now that we finally have it people still aren't happy. Enjoy this. For the love of God.

Thorr, Dan, and Dooley are all on the same page. Getting commitments at higher levels is a harder thing to come by in this state. Doesn't mean there's trouble or anything else. Just means that nothing else changes and for the record, things are good right now in Kingston.

rambone 78 wrote:If we somehow make the dance this coming season, and we still don't have what we need for 2018-19 in terms of recruits and/or program enhancements that Dan wants....then the odds of him leaving then are very good.

One thing we know....recruiting 4 star players, especially bigs, is "hard" to do at URI....and Dan surely knows this by now.

If it's too hard, then my guess is, he's out of here next time there's a suitable job offer.

Better than in February when Baron 2.0 was all but pushing him out the door. What a difference a winning streak makes. But winning streaks tend to do that in all sports and so do losing streaks make for things to be uncomfortable for all teams.

But I think we will see changes for the positive. I don't feel uncomfortable at all that contract stuff has not come out, probably best handled out of the public eye anyway. Let Hurley push for the Practice Facility, even if it is a somewhat longer term project, at least get it on the table. More Charter Flights, more money for Assistant Coaches, etc, etc.

In the years of watching Hurley recruit, the talent level he has gone after has increased every year. Started out with many transfers, 2 star players; then 2 and 3 star with maybe a 4 or two thrown in; then 3 star and some 4 star; to where the team is now basically all 3 star and 4 star players; Now the players being offered are primarily 4 star.

ARD, Cox and Hurley will be at the AAU Games beginning with Virginia and through July. Many players in the 2018 Class will commit in August through November. I would not be surprised to see 3-4 players announced in the November Signing period, maybe more.

Let's hope this all comes true, ramster. Would be nice.

He's not pushing for practice facilities, or anything out of the ordinary, and well within the means of URI to get done. It will get done, listen to Blue Man on why it drags on. Or if you live in RI just wake up tomorrow. It's Rhode Island.

Blue Man wrote:I love how everyone waits 17 years for any real success to happen here, and now that we finally have it people still aren't happy. Enjoy this. For the love of God.

Thorr, Dan, and Dooley are all on the same page. Getting commitments at higher levels is a harder thing to come by in this state. Doesn't mean there's trouble or anything else. Just means that nothing else changes and for the record, things are good right now in Kingston.

Thanks for this information Blue Man

Blue Man wrote:I love how everyone waits 17 years for any real success to happen here, and now that we finally have it people still aren't happy. Enjoy this. For the love of God.

Thorr, Dan, and Dooley are all on the same page. Getting commitments at higher levels is a harder thing to come by in this state. Doesn't mean there's trouble or anything else. Just means that nothing else changes and for the record, things are good right now in Kingston.

That this even needs to be said is aggravating. (Or rather that it needs to be said again.)

Glad you're willing to keep banging your head against this wall. I'm giving my head a few weeks off to relax and bask in the enjoyment of having a good basketball program again.

Looking forward to this evening at Quidnesset CC

I'll see you there.

Wish I could make it. Hope to hear some details from ATP and others who go!

Hopefully some positive details. A commit perhaps? Nahhh.....

Any other news coming from last nights event?

Except for Koch's tweet....crickets.

Plenty of good conversation/information. Was well worth the trip down to Rhode Island.

No one is going to share with us?

Billyboy78 wrote:No one is going to share with us?

I guess you had to be there...

One point of emphasis in the discussions last night was not only does the general program funding level need to go up another step to get into the top 3rd of the A10, but URI also must be much smarter and efficient with its existing resources.

For example, it can be disruptive when there is a concert at the Ryan Center the day before a home game. If URI could work to avoid such scheduling conflicts, there would be no pressure to create a practice facility.

In other words, practice facility is not something the program needs at this time.

I feel like a KB gag order was put out at this event.

I think the expectations of some are not in line with reality when it comes to info at such events. This isn't the Wild West anymore, but Dan and staff had extensive conversations with many in attendance.

But the way many think, a practice facility IS necessary tor attract recruits these days.

Billyboy78 wrote:But the way many think, a practice facility IS necessary tor attract recruits these days.

After what atp posted, it sounds like Hurley doesn't think it's necessary if they change how the Ryan Center is booked

RhowdyRam02 wrote:

Billyboy78 wrote:But the way many think, a practice facility IS necessary tor attract recruits these days.

After what atp posted, it sounds like Hurley doesn't think it's necessary if they change how the Ryan Center is booked

Sure, for practice. But people have said that a facility is looked at as a sort of status symbol to recruits. I'm one of the ones who thinks it's ridiculous to spend millions on that when that kind of money could be spent more wisely. But many disagreed with me because of the recruiting/status symbol aspect.

They could upgrade a section of Tootell to make it look real pretty to recruits....and it would cost a lot less than a stand alone facility.

Next best thing. Right now I would think this program has other things on their "enhancement list" that are more of a priority.

rambone 78 wrote:They could upgrade a section of Tootell to make it look real pretty to recruits....and it would cost a lot less than a stand alone facility.

Next best thing. Right now I would think this program has other things on their "enhancement list" that are more of a priority.

So since a new facility is not a priority right now, even for Dan, what is it that's holding up the extension?

78, that's the 64 thousand dollar question. Maybe that was discussed with some last night.

Last night was awesome! Seeing the trophy gave me goosebumps and reminded me how special the season was.

I spoke to many players and the highlight of the night was Hass's speech about his time here. These guys aren't just teammates, they are family to each other.

Cyril told me he's ready for a bigger role and that he's been working on finshing, shooting, and his handle.

Cox said that Berry and Layssard will have much bigger roles next year.

Garrett looks healthier which is awesome to see.

Dowtin has a swagger about him like stars do. He's working on gaining some muscle and quickness.

CT is hungry for more minutes.

Akele loves the team and the school. Very nice kid

Staff is obviously very high on Daron Russell but I didn't get much about who the final scholarship is going to...

EC said he's leading us to the sweet 16 next year.

I loved the chicken parm and prime rib.

Me kissing the trophy

Thanks for sharing.

I know most have seen Koch's string of tweets but posting this here anyway because it's just that good-

Anything else come out of the night? Was Carr there? What's up with all the secrecy in that front?

Carr was not seen.

Great updates guys

Billyboy78 wrote:

RhowdyRam02 wrote:

Billyboy78 wrote:But the way many think, a practice facility IS necessary tor attract recruits these days.

After what atp posted, it sounds like Hurley doesn't think it's necessary if they change how the Ryan Center is booked

Sure, for practice. But people have said that a facility is looked at as a sort of status symbol to recruits. I'm one of the ones who thinks it's ridiculous to spend millions on that when that kind of money could be spent more wisely. But many disagreed with me because of the recruiting/status symbol aspect.

I don't remember many wanting a Practice facility. It seemed that the majority were against it. I was for it and still am. To keep the discussion together I will put a poll together so all can describe their reasons why for, why against or neutral. I would also be interested to know where posters believe money should be invested in other ways.

Keep in mind schools like Umass need it since hockey also plays in their arena. PC needs one since they play their games off campus. URI for the majority of the time practices at the Ryan Center, if they can get that up to 95% of the time or so then who in the country has a nicer practice facility than that? Practicing on your own rims adds another benifit to the equation as well.