What A Differnce A Year Makes.

[hallgrad80]

My wife earlier today asked me how the Donor Day went yesterday and when I told her the results she commented on how she remembered how enthusiastic people were about last tear's results and how much interest there was in the Booster Club's fund raising efforts last year and I couldn't help but look at where we were last year and where we are this year.

Putting aside the interest and enthusiasm about the fund raising last year I do remember how much interest there was in the 50 States Challenge and how it was followed and reported on this Board compared to the Ho Hum this year's 50 State Challenge produced even though the results of the Chaalenge were the same.


Last year there was excitement about the outstanding incoming class of freshman, a positive view of what our record would be and renewed interest in , and considerable discussion about, our 2015 recruiting targets. The early signing period was a flop as we didn't land any of our priority targets, a great start to the season wound up being a total flop following an epic collapse, we continued to see major locker-room issues and two key players transfer because of those issues. The result , at least for me and certainly a number of others judging by their posts, a less then optimistic outlook for the program and serious questions raised about SH's commitment to the program , as well as to their handling of the coaching situation.

We did have an opportunity to move the program forward going into the summer last year, to continue the momentum we started with our improved fund-raising and with our recruiting and of course with improved results on the court. All of that has been erased and yet nothing has changed to address what has happened and that is the most disappointing result that has happened in just 12 short months .

 

[TheBluePirate]

80, frankly I no longer believe in the MBB program as something special and worthy. It is merely a program. The management of this program broke my trust in the program completely. I will not give my trust again.

The value of Seton Hall lies elsewhere.

 

[Flnj86]

The outlook for next season has changed for a few posters on this board. We still raised 175 K in one day, that is a fact!

 

[TheBluePirate]

That is interesting, I did not realize so much was raised. If this was similar to last year, I think it tells me that people on this board have little to no influence. If thus is true, I find myself relieved of a burden, for it makes my support or its lack pretty much irrelevant.

 

[Pirate64]

The outlook for next season has changed for a few posters on this board. We still raised 175 K in one day, that is a fact!

Down 10% vs last year. An don't forget 50K of it came form one donor.

This is an indication of things to come.

 

[SOSHU]

While 175K is ok, the unfortunate fact is that this figure will only cover about 4 percent of Willard's ridiculous buyout.

 

[hallgrad80]

The one stat that has not been released which could be very telling, is the number of donors this year verses last year.

 

[shu09]

Down 10% vs last year. An don't forget 50K of it came form one donor.

This is an indication of things to come.

50K of last year's total also came from one donor.

 

[shu09]

When you subtract the 30% match and the $50K donor, they raised roughly $85K last year. This year, that number is approximately $72.5K. That's a drop of 14.7%.

 

[NYC Pirate]

On one hand I really understand the absolute frustration with this program right now. It's hard to believe that Sina and Gibbs won't be here for next year? Who saw that coming after their clutch shots against Villanova at the BigEast Tournament in 2014? We gave Coach all the latitude he needed for 5 years. He just wasn't ready to coach on this level. My gut still says that he's really a "Lawrence Frank" type, an excellent basketball IQ, but they can't sell it or coach it. Both seem like they are "Assistant Coach" material and good ones at that.

On the other hand I don't see the end of the road for the Seton Hall Men's Basketball Program either. We are in early May 2015. The weeks and months will fly by. You never know, it is possible the remaining players will mature on the court and it could be a descent year. That's not impossible. If not you'd have to think it will be the end of the Willard era. My point is that the donations and participation could be down for the next year. That's the path that The University chose. Moving forward to March 2016(it will come sooner than you think)the opportunity to revitalize the program will be here again. You'll have the chance to put a real game changer into the position if Willard can't turn it around. That's always exciting to me and all the Pirate fans. All of the despair is gone and most of the fans jump back into the ring again. So we may have to deal with another year of futility, but the promise shall return. That I promise.

 

[Pirate64]

Am looking beyond next season already. But the new guy will have to scamper the way most of our new coaches have over the years. Even PJ left a cookie jar that needed filling except he did leave Blaney with Adrian Griffin.

 

[TheBluePirate]

NYCP and all my Pirate friends,

I have truly accepted that we at Seton Hall in the New Big East are pretty much likely always having to gamble with a young coach, since we simply will never have top 20 resources.

We know today that thanks to a completely failed five year experiment that we have to eat dog shit for this coming year, pray to God in Heaven that Lyons fires this POS Willard and then has the gambling wisdom to find soneone who will accept us as we are and bring major changes instantly like Cooley and Mullin. If Lyons hires another nerdy POS for whom the Faithful start making excuses in the first effing year, you know that the travesty will continue for yet another five years. Case closed.

My toleration for administrative stupidity goes only one more damned year.

 

[NYC Pirate]

NYCP and all my Pirate friends,

I have truly accepted that we at Seton Hall in the New Big East are pretty much likely always having to gamble with a young coach, since we simply will never have top 20 resources.

We know today that thanks to a completely failed five year experiment that we have to eat dog shit for this coming year, pray to God in Heaven that Lyons fires this POS Willard and then has the gambling wisdom to find soneone who will accept us as we are and bring major changes instantly like Cooley and Mullin. If Lyons hires another nerdy POS for whom the Faithful start making excuses in the first effing year, you know that the travesty will continue for yet another five years. Case closed.

My toleration for administrative stupidity goes only one more damned year.

Well said as usual and I feel the pain also. I want to go back to a thought I had 2 years ago when the conference was formed and we signed the deal with Fox Sports1. I said that if this league was going to compete in the long run, any time a coaching vacancy became available that the small Catholic Universities would have to consider and pay marquee coaches. SJU just did that with Chris Mullin. No more small local conference coaches for Seton Hall. That can no longer be the philosophy. The Cost of Doing Business has changed. It's that simple.

 

[halltheway]

It was the second time, I was oh so hyped up in the past few years. I refused to be duped a third time...not that 2015-16 is by any means a banner year.

 

[Piratz]

The incoming freshman class certainly drove up enthusiasm last summer. But it also came with valid questions about how it would all mesh together. Excitement and curiosity.

Most felt that class saved Willard after the 2013-14 fiasco too. No way that team should've been just 17-17, 6-12.

Sigh.

 

[Seton75]

Our only great coach's resume was a few yawning years at Wagner. It has always been thus. We are not going to get the next great up and comer but we can hire a good coach from the pool available. Other schools do it. We have to count on an administrator with such a poor record to get it right.

 

[hallgrad80]

We can find the right coach if two things happen . First we have to have the right person conduct the search and then we have to offer the right compensation package with a budget that allows us to go out and get 2 really top assistants. No more law school deans conducting the search; no more hiring someone because you're friends with the AD or the president of the school .

 

[TheBluePirate]

Like like likety like

 

[JIMSOULS]

PJ had some good years at Wagner, including two seasons where he led them to the NIT. It was a good local hoops story at the time. Wagner was bad in PJ's last season, however, winning just four games.

I saw PJ's Wagner teams with Jamie Ciampaglio and Howard Thompkins. They were well-coached and fun to watch.

 

[Vegas pj]

PJ's winning teams at Wagner were with his predecessors players. His last team (a losing one) was entirely his own. Terrible hire at the time. But for the fact he was Richie's godson, he would never have been hired. Fortunately, Mark Bryant et al and a solid staff saved his bacon.

 

[Seton75]

PJ had some good years at Wagner, including two seasons where he led them to the NIT. It was a good local hoops story at the time. Wagner was bad in PJ's last season, however, winning just four games.

I saw PJ's Wagner teams with Jamie Ciampaglio and Howard Thompkins. They were well-coached and fun to watch.

I saw pj's Wagner team in the nit. My impression was that it was the Hispanic center who made them. He left and they sucked again. But regardless, PJ got to SHU and became a great coach. My takeaway is that the issue isn't the pool of candidates, it is our choices.

 

[JIMSOULS]

Henry Dillard, the point guard during PJ's first successful season at Wagner, was recruited by PJ's predecessor. But Thompkins and Ciampaglio, the team's two best players, were PJ recruits. Thompkins graduated in 1981 and was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks, while Ciampaglio sat out PJ's final season at Wagner with a foot injury.

Wagner was in the process of transitioning from Division III when PJ arrived. They won two games the year before he came on board, and had three and seven wins in his first two seasons. They turned it around in PJ's third season of 1978-79, beginning the campaign with a win over 15th-ranked Alabama in the Lapchick Tourney at St. John's, and wound up coming to within a game of the NCAA Tournament. They would have gone to the Big Dance had Ron Plair of St. John's not hit a shot from near halfcourt to send the ECAC Metro championship game into overtime. St. John's won the game in OT, and Wagner settled for a berth in the NIT. Thompkins and Ciampaglio were just sophomores at the time.

Those were the formative years of future Seton Hall coach PJ Carlesimo, who used to sweep the floor in the gym following Wagner home games. Perhaps that should become one of Kevin Willard's duties?

 

[JIMSOULS]

Here are Wagner's roster and stats from the 1978-79 season. Ciampaglio and Thompkins, both sophomores, were the leading scorers at 20.0 and 15.9 respectfully. Thompkins was the team's tallest player at 6-7. PJ has been quoted as saying that Seton Hall would have won it all if they had "Bones" Thompkins. Many would say they should have won it all anyway.

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/wagner/1979.html

 

[Piratz]

We can find the right coach if two things happen . First we have to have the right person conduct the search and then we have to offer the right compensation package with a budget that allows us to go out and get 2 really top assistants. No more law school deans conducting the search; no more hiring someone because you're friends with the AD or the president of the school .

This.

I've been encouraged by some changes in recent years to hierarchy and improving upon some of the previous dysfunction. That's also come after Hobbs hired Willard so maybe there is still hope.

But this Willard situation with his ineptitude as HC over 5 years and this magical buyout leaves it looking murky considering his relationship with Lyons. Sigh.