I MADE SOME OF THESE POINTS IN A POST A FEW WEEKS AGO, RIGHT BEFORE THE FINAL LOSS, BUT WITH THE TRANSFER OF ETOU, I WANT TO REITERATE THEM WITH A LITTLE DIFFERENT EMPHASIS AND ORDER; THEY BEAR REPEATING IN THIS, THE BLEAKEST OF TIMES IN THE HISTORY OF RU MBB. AT LEAST IF WE UNDERSTAND WHAT IT WILL TAKE (IMHO) LONG-TERM, THE ANGER AND HAND-WRINGING CAN BE CHANNELED INTO A MORE POSITIVE TRACK:
1--It's convenient to beat up on Eddie as the obvious scapegoat, but that's too easy. There weren't exactly a lot of top-ranked coaches lined up to take over this "career-killer" (as a recent poster called it), after the Mike Rice situation, given that mess and the lack of facilities, not to mention 7 straight losing seasons. At the very least, Eddie restored some dignity and made RU MBB something more than a TV comedian's punch line after the MR story broke. He deserves 4 years anyway, having started so far down in a hole. Maybe he can improve this program, maybe not. Dismissing him, however, would do more harm than good at this point. We've had bad coaches since Gary Waters, who, IMHO, was forced out unwisely and unfairly to get FHJ in, and that was only damaging.
2--After 4 years, if the program changes coaches, RU Athletics will need to persuade a young, hungry, upcoming coach to come here, who is an aggressive recruiter with area ties, and who is willing to take a big career risk. We'll never get a major rising star here, but he might be a Mike Rice type, minus the bad behaviors, of course. In other words, the situation would be very much like the one Greg Schiano faced when he came here in 2001. The program was just dreadful, but through self-confident and patient recruiting, he persuaded first one, then another, then another player to come here, from Jersey and Florida. It took years to bring respectability and to some extent the same will be true of RU MBB. Fortunately, fewer players are needed for basketball. I wish I could say there's a shortcut, but there isn't and it's going to take a long time.
3--Etou is a loss. On a team with minimal talent and experience playing as a unit, the transfer of any experienced player is big. Junior was erratic and unhappy, but showed some flashes of defensive ability and was a good rebounder. I fear more transfers among players with a little experience, while at the same time feeling immense gratitude toward those who choose to stay. I also have no problem with the fans who try hard to find a little bit of a silver lining in this dark cloud, grasping for any little bit of hope. They shouldn't be picked on, IMO, because for some it's a natural instinct to try to see some optimistic outcome, however small.
4--However, the reality of the roster is far from encouraging. The loss of the loyal warrior Myles Mack, along with Kadeem Jack, takes away nearly half of our offense, on a team that even with them could hardly put the ball in the hoop from anywhere on the court or at any speed. Corey Sanders is a start, but he can't work miracles without some supporting cast. The reality is that we have a team with little individual seasoning and even less experience playing together as a unit, too many unproven newcomers and no proven go-to guys. I'm afraid that next season will try the souls of the most loyal fans and set fair weather fans to flight.
5--I don't think some fans understand (perhaps, especially, younger ones) from a long-term historical perspective that this time in RU MBB is unique. The 3 year Craig Littlepage era (capable guy but not as a recruiter/HC) is always cited as the worst, but it wasn't. Yes, the record was horrible-a 26.7% winning percentage and just 18.5% in the Atlantic 10--but after Littlepage was dismissed and Bob Wentzel was hired, RU MBB made the NCAA's the very next year!! The team in fact made the NCAA tournament or the NIT every season in Wentzel's first four. On top of that, from a facilities perspective, the RAC was only about 10 years old at that point. Add to that the fact that Littlepage had been preceded by the highly successful 12 year tenure of Tom Young, with four NCAA and four NIT appearances and a solidly winning record out-of-conference and in the A-10 (many think that perhaps the biggest reason Young left was RU's reluctance then to join the Big East), and there is simply no comparison between then and now.
6--Finally, the difficult topic of facilities. I and most fans have accepted the reality that a snazzy arena and a separate practice facility are the cost of doing business in a super conference, and even within most of Division I. The problem is that there is no particular impetus among the RU administration/athletic department to get these facilities funded, designed and constructed, other than the vision-level concept plan for an athlete's village. B1G money is four years away, the legislature is unlikely to pony up anything, and I don't see any capital campaign in the offing. Even if a single billionaire benefactor among alumni stepped up tomorrow, it'd be years before facilities were under construction and able to be a big factor in recruiting. Years. So the arena campaign is absolutely necessary but its compensation is deferred.
That leaves us with the slow, plodding, one sale at a time Schiano-like model for the next several seasons, whether EJ is at the helm or it's someone else. We are out of patience, but have no choice but to exert it.
1--It's convenient to beat up on Eddie as the obvious scapegoat, but that's too easy. There weren't exactly a lot of top-ranked coaches lined up to take over this "career-killer" (as a recent poster called it), after the Mike Rice situation, given that mess and the lack of facilities, not to mention 7 straight losing seasons. At the very least, Eddie restored some dignity and made RU MBB something more than a TV comedian's punch line after the MR story broke. He deserves 4 years anyway, having started so far down in a hole. Maybe he can improve this program, maybe not. Dismissing him, however, would do more harm than good at this point. We've had bad coaches since Gary Waters, who, IMHO, was forced out unwisely and unfairly to get FHJ in, and that was only damaging.
2--After 4 years, if the program changes coaches, RU Athletics will need to persuade a young, hungry, upcoming coach to come here, who is an aggressive recruiter with area ties, and who is willing to take a big career risk. We'll never get a major rising star here, but he might be a Mike Rice type, minus the bad behaviors, of course. In other words, the situation would be very much like the one Greg Schiano faced when he came here in 2001. The program was just dreadful, but through self-confident and patient recruiting, he persuaded first one, then another, then another player to come here, from Jersey and Florida. It took years to bring respectability and to some extent the same will be true of RU MBB. Fortunately, fewer players are needed for basketball. I wish I could say there's a shortcut, but there isn't and it's going to take a long time.
3--Etou is a loss. On a team with minimal talent and experience playing as a unit, the transfer of any experienced player is big. Junior was erratic and unhappy, but showed some flashes of defensive ability and was a good rebounder. I fear more transfers among players with a little experience, while at the same time feeling immense gratitude toward those who choose to stay. I also have no problem with the fans who try hard to find a little bit of a silver lining in this dark cloud, grasping for any little bit of hope. They shouldn't be picked on, IMO, because for some it's a natural instinct to try to see some optimistic outcome, however small.
4--However, the reality of the roster is far from encouraging. The loss of the loyal warrior Myles Mack, along with Kadeem Jack, takes away nearly half of our offense, on a team that even with them could hardly put the ball in the hoop from anywhere on the court or at any speed. Corey Sanders is a start, but he can't work miracles without some supporting cast. The reality is that we have a team with little individual seasoning and even less experience playing together as a unit, too many unproven newcomers and no proven go-to guys. I'm afraid that next season will try the souls of the most loyal fans and set fair weather fans to flight.
5--I don't think some fans understand (perhaps, especially, younger ones) from a long-term historical perspective that this time in RU MBB is unique. The 3 year Craig Littlepage era (capable guy but not as a recruiter/HC) is always cited as the worst, but it wasn't. Yes, the record was horrible-a 26.7% winning percentage and just 18.5% in the Atlantic 10--but after Littlepage was dismissed and Bob Wentzel was hired, RU MBB made the NCAA's the very next year!! The team in fact made the NCAA tournament or the NIT every season in Wentzel's first four. On top of that, from a facilities perspective, the RAC was only about 10 years old at that point. Add to that the fact that Littlepage had been preceded by the highly successful 12 year tenure of Tom Young, with four NCAA and four NIT appearances and a solidly winning record out-of-conference and in the A-10 (many think that perhaps the biggest reason Young left was RU's reluctance then to join the Big East), and there is simply no comparison between then and now.
6--Finally, the difficult topic of facilities. I and most fans have accepted the reality that a snazzy arena and a separate practice facility are the cost of doing business in a super conference, and even within most of Division I. The problem is that there is no particular impetus among the RU administration/athletic department to get these facilities funded, designed and constructed, other than the vision-level concept plan for an athlete's village. B1G money is four years away, the legislature is unlikely to pony up anything, and I don't see any capital campaign in the offing. Even if a single billionaire benefactor among alumni stepped up tomorrow, it'd be years before facilities were under construction and able to be a big factor in recruiting. Years. So the arena campaign is absolutely necessary but its compensation is deferred.
That leaves us with the slow, plodding, one sale at a time Schiano-like model for the next several seasons, whether EJ is at the helm or it's someone else. We are out of patience, but have no choice but to exert it.
