Littlepage finally off the hook
- Thread starter FrankZ
- Start date
You got the order right...you know it's a dumpster fire when Hill is only the 3rd worst coach. Hill would run away with top (bottom) honors at most schools and here he's not even the runner-up and Rice doesn't even "medal".
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Bull crap, Littlepage took over a team that had a final four appearance
and several really good years to boot. and made it the worst ever. Jordan took over
a disaster of the worst kind. Jordan took over a national laughing stock, and next year
will show great improvement.
Excuse me, what? Craig got hired in 1985. I know I'm losing my mind, but I don't think any players from '76 were still around.
Regardless. Littlepage sucked, FHJ sucked and sad to say, Eddie is right there with both of 'em.
Littlepage took over a mediocre program and made it pathetic. Jordan took over a pathetic program and made it a joke.
Jordan isn't even close to Littlepage yet.
Young's record in the four years prior to Littlepage was 74-45 (62%) - Rutgers hadn't finished under .500 in the prior 21 years (5-17 in 1963-64). Immediately, Littlepage went from a 16-14 season to an 8-21 season, and went 23-63 over his three years (27%). The very next year with a new coach, we popped back up to 18-13 and were headed to the NCAA tournament. The record of the four following seasons was 71-55 (56%).
Not only that, but the cliff-like drop off in attendance was staggering:
1982-83: 5,596 (Young - NCAA)
1983-84: 4,997 (Young)
1984-85: 5,368 (Young)
1985-86: 3,598 (Littlepage)
1986-87: 3,309 (Littlepage)
1987-88: 3,018 (Littlepage)
1988-89: 4,490 (Wenzel - NCAA)
1989-90: 6,722 (Wenzel - NIT)
1990-91: 7,118 (Wenzel - NCAA)
Young's record in the four years prior to Littlepage was 74-45 (62%) - Rutgers hadn't finished under .500 in the prior 21 years (5-17 in 1963-64). Immediately, Littlepage went from a 16-14 season to an 8-21 season, and went 23-63 over his three years (27%). The very next year with a new coach, we popped back up to 18-13 and were headed to the NCAA tournament. The record of the four following seasons was 71-55 (56%).
Not only that, but the cliff-like drop off in attendance was staggering:
1982-83: 5,596 (Young - NCAA)
1983-84: 4,997 (Young)
1984-85: 5,368 (Young)
1985-86: 3,598 (Littlepage)
1986-87: 3,309 (Littlepage)
1987-88: 3,018 (Littlepage)
1988-89: 4,490 (Wenzel - NCAA)
1989-90: 6,722 (Wenzel - NIT)
1990-91: 7,118 (Wenzel - NCAA)
Waste of time to go back and forth, but Mike's teams were at least marginally competitive in a very tough league. The A-10 that Littlepage walked into wasn't a very good conference.
In Waters last year, we went 19-10 (7-9) and made the NIT. The problem was it was the Douby show - no one else on the team seemed to be able to hit a shot. But he'd just brought in the FIG class as freshmen and 2 of the top 4 scorers were freshmen. The writing was largely on the wall for him at that point, though, that FHJ was brought in as a sort of "coach in waiting"... and he was pushed out after a successful season. FHJ then immediately went 10-19 after Douby departed early.
The Bannon/Waters years are the best on court results we've seen since the the first half of the Wenzel era. 5 postseason trips in 9 years, even though all were to the NIT. Hill dragged us down in that regard, and Rice/Jordan haven't done anything to bring us back up.
It doesn't become official until fans wear paper bags over their heads like during the Littlepage tenure.
Strength of schedule has to count for something. The A-10 didn't start getting any good at all until after Littlepage was dismissed. It's not the A-10 of the past decade we're talking about. And if you don't like Jordan's recruiting, perhaps you have forgotten "Shovel Face," a player someone on WRSU once seriously suggested would help "open a pipeline to Wyoming recruits." I kid you not.
It wasn't pretty. This isn't, but it's a very different ballgame.
It wasn't pretty. This isn't, but it's a very different ballgame.
