Who/What do you hold most responsible for the current "State of the Program"?

[WuTheOne]

I voted other. Jay Golden was out to get Gregg Marshall from day 1 and made no bones about his dislike of Gregg and his mega-salary.

That would pretty much explain everything. My speculation is that when the investigation started, either Marshall or Boaty McBoatFace had to go. Fire Boatright for letting the situation get out of hand and not controlling his department, and let Marshall make a statement and keep his job.

Instead, Boaty got a raise and Marshall got fired. The problem with that theory is that Boaty would have had to somehow convince Muma to do that, and I don't give Boaty that much credit. But, if Golden had already poisoned the water with Muma before any of this happened, then it could work the way it went down.

[Shock Top]

I voted Muma.

He kept DB and fired GM.

Yes DB has been a disaster, but Muma is responsible for not only employing him, but giving him a raise.

[WuShockFan]

I blame the players.

I know this might be an unpopular take, but I blame the players.

People are saying you can't blame them for leaving for more money. Yes I can. Hell yes I can.

Look at what they already get. Scholarship players get a free college education, free housing, free meals, they get to travel the country and sometimes internationally for free (on a private jet in many cases), they get to be on TV and in the media, have thousands of fans screaming their names and showering love and support on them. This is way more than what most of us got when we were in college. Most of us had to work a job to pay for our college costs or go deep into debt through loans or our parents had to sacrifice to pay for us. We didn't get to be on TV or become celebrities or have thousands of people screaming our names and supporting us. We didn't get to travel on private jets for free. We didn't have all our housing and food costs paid for. They are already getting so much, and yet they want more.

This idea that is current right now about how scholarship players are being exploited and deserve more money is a complete lie. Yeah some people are making money off of the name, image, and likeness of players. But it's not like the players aren't getting anything from being on scholarship. They are getting so much more than your average college student. Who says that you have to profit if your name, image, and likeness is used? People who are in the public eye have their name, image, and likeness used for a variety of purposes. That's part of being on TV and being popular.

In my opinion, it's a character issue. Where is the loyalty to your school? Where is the loyalty to your coach? Many of these guys cheered when IB was named head coach. Now they are abandoning him. Where is the acknowledgement of what you already get on scholarship and how good you have it. I know greed infests our whole society, but it's not supposed to be a virtue.

Another thing is, frankly, it's the players that play the game. I've been watching college basketball for a long time and I've seen how hard work, determination, and sacrifice can bring unknown players and teams to great heights. I've seen individual players single-handedly will their team to a national championship. I've also seen teams where they seemed to just give up. I've seen whole seasons collapse because players lost motivation. A lot can be accomplished through hard work and determination, whether that means 6 hours a day in the gym, 2 hours a day in the weight room, 4 hours a day watching game film, eating right and getting good sleep and living a clean life. The players play the game. The coach doesn't put the ball in the basket.

I want high-character players who want to be Shockers, who want to stay and be loyal to the program and the coach, who recognize the value of what they already get as scholarship players, and who have that determination to work hard so they can win.

[rrshock]

I blame the players.

I know this might be an unpopular take, but I blame the players.

People are saying you can't blame them for leaving for more money. Yes I can. Hell yes I can.

Look at what they already get. Scholarship players get a free college education, free housing, free meals, they get to travel the country and sometimes internationally for free (on a private jet in many cases), they get to be on TV and in the media, have thousands of fans screaming their names and showering love and support on them. This is way more than what most of us got when we were in college. Most of us had to work a job to pay for our college costs or go deep into debt through loans or our parents had to sacrifice to pay for us. We didn't get to be on TV or become celebrities or have thousands of people screaming our names and supporting us. We didn't get to travel on private jets for free. We didn't have all our housing and food costs paid for. They are already getting so much, and yet they want more.

This idea that is current right now about how scholarship players are being exploited and deserve more money is a complete lie. Yeah some people are making money off of the name, image, and likeness of players. But it's not like the players aren't getting anything from being on scholarship. They are getting so much more than your average college student. Who says that you have to profit if your name, image, and likeness is used? People who are in the public eye have their name, image, and likeness used for a variety of purposes. That's part of being on TV and being popular.

In my opinion, it's a character issue. Where is the loyalty to your school? Where is the loyalty to your coach? Many of these guys cheered when IB was named head coach. Now they are abandoning him. Where is the acknowledgement of what you already get on scholarship and how good you have it. I know greed infests our whole society, but it's not supposed to be a virtue.

Another thing is, frankly, it's the players that play the game. I've been watching college basketball for a long time and I've seen how hard work, determination, and sacrifice can bring unknown players and teams to great heights. I've seen individual players single-handedly will their team to a national championship. I've also seen teams where they seemed to just give up. I've seen whole seasons collapse because players lost motivation. A lot can be accomplished through hard work and determination, whether that means 6 hours a day in the gym, 2 hours a day in the weight room, 4 hours a day watching game film, eating right and getting good sleep and living a clean life. The players play the game. The coach doesn't put the ball in the basket.

I want high-character players who want to be Shockers, who want to stay and be loyal to the program and the coach, who recognize the value of what they already get as scholarship players, and who have that determination to work hard so they can win.

I think you are on to something here.

[B1ShockFan]

The NIL and transfer portal are killing collage sports, it's all about the money. WSU has its issues but NOT the major current problem.

[Stickboy46]

Basketball is a career for them (at least at this point where that's their primary job focus). Unless you are also in the habit of turning down large pay increases in your career from competitors that are similar or sometimes better than your current company... You can't blame the players.

[Singeril]

All of the above.

[shockerfan]

I blame the players.

I know this might be an unpopular take, but I blame the players.

People are saying you can't blame them for leaving for more money. Yes I can. Hell yes I can.

Look at what they already get. Scholarship players get a free college education, free housing, free meals, they get to travel the country and sometimes internationally for free (on a private jet in many cases), they get to be on TV and in the media, have thousands of fans screaming their names and showering love and support on them. This is way more than what most of us got when we were in college. Most of us had to work a job to pay for our college costs or go deep into debt through loans or our parents had to sacrifice to pay for us. We didn't get to be on TV or become celebrities or have thousands of people screaming our names and supporting us. We didn't get to travel on private jets for free. We didn't have all our housing and food costs paid for. They are already getting so much, and yet they want more.

This idea that is current right now about how scholarship players are being exploited and deserve more money is a complete lie. Yeah some people are making money off of the name, image, and likeness of players. But it's not like the players aren't getting anything from being on scholarship. They are getting so much more than your average college student. Who says that you have to profit if your name, image, and likeness is used? People who are in the public eye have their name, image, and likeness used for a variety of purposes. That's part of being on TV and being popular.

In my opinion, it's a character issue. Where is the loyalty to your school? Where is the loyalty to your coach? Many of these guys cheered when IB was named head coach. Now they are abandoning him. Where is the acknowledgement of what you already get on scholarship and how good you have it. I know greed infests our whole society, but it's not supposed to be a virtue.

Another thing is, frankly, it's the players that play the game. I've been watching college basketball for a long time and I've seen how hard work, determination, and sacrifice can bring unknown players and teams to great heights. I've seen individual players single-handedly will their team to a national championship. I've also seen teams where they seemed to just give up. I've seen whole seasons collapse because players lost motivation. A lot can be accomplished through hard work and determination, whether that means 6 hours a day in the gym, 2 hours a day in the weight room, 4 hours a day watching game film, eating right and getting good sleep and living a clean life. The players play the game. The coach doesn't put the ball in the basket.

I want high-character players who want to be Shockers, who want to stay and be loyal to the program and the coach, who recognize the value of what they already get as scholarship players, and who have that determination to work hard so they can win.

School A & B are both giving everything you just described. Only now School A is offering more $$$ on top of that. School B is not.

Most humans would choose School A.

That is a simple way to look at it. But I blame the NCAA.

Oh and also, you now get to transfer and keep playing right away.

Of course these student athletes are gonna choose the school that offers them the most incentives and they still get to play the sport they love.

I 100% blame the NCAA for not taking the proper approach with NIL and the transfer rules. It is a free for all right now.

And I blame Boatright for not being more proactive and trying to keep up with the landscape (among other things). No we can't compete with some of the big boys, but at this rate I don't know that we will keep up with some of the not-so-big boys.

[SHOCKvalue]

“Boaty McBoatface”…perhaps all time best nickname. Love it! Nicely done. Sounds like something from McDonalds. Lol

Wish I could claim it. Alas not my own work.

[calfan]

You aren't going to like my take, but WSU is where it is today because of the behavior of Gregg Marshall.

[Shocker82/85]

If those who fund SASO continue to do so at the level they have in the past, maybe we are the problem. What is most important to this athletic program? My answer is a strong, successful basketball program. Do we need to take that out of Boatright/Muma’s hands? Yes by building a substantial war chest in the NIL collective. Can we? Yes, by paying at least a portion of what you are giving to SASO to the NIL collective, you will be bypassing the University or instead of buying season tickets, you can also buy individual game tickets at full price at the box office to support the program. A successful team will once again fill the arena and create the demand for tickets that there was only a couple of years ago. When that happens, we will all be happy to donate to SASO.

Boatright seems only concerned with managing a sinking ship. A few years ago he called me simple minded to my face for asking why he didn’t partner with the conference to host the NCAA tournament in Wichita in 2018 so that WSU could possibly play at home instead of going on the road. I asked who he thought had bought all the tickets to make it successful and our thanks for that was we could travel to San Diego to watch WSU as a 4 seed while KU was playing in Wichita. I owned/operated a small business for 30 years and have 2 degrees from WSU. My business wasn’t funded from taxes or student fees or donations and if I had a bad year, I took the hit and I sure as hell didn’t give myself a raise while I was losing my most important employee.

Program success requires talented basketball players. DEFUND SASO at least partially until the University gets its act together. I wouldn’t have hired Brown either, but he has no chance with the current administration. A well funded and operated NIL collective seems to be the only answer unless you have a few extra million laying around to use to get the needed changes accomplished. There are about 80 athletes in the revenue producing sports at WSU. For $1 million per year you could pay the 13 men’s basketball players an average of $50,000 and the other 67 athletes in the other sports an average of $5,000 each. I would think you could be pretty successful with that funding to begin with. If $1 million was diverted from SASO, I think it would be easily recovered by increased ticket sales in all the revenue producing sports. Increasing men’s basketball attendance by 25,000, which is 1500 or 1600 per game, at $40 per ticket would raise $1 million. Basketball attendance has already dropped by more than that. Other sports are going to start losing athletes too. I wonder how much Barnard and McKinney will get offered after this season?

[Ted Lasso's Neighbor]

I think there's plenty of blame to go around, but as far as WSU's current mess, I'm going with Boatright is to blame. He's in charge of the athletic department and it's gone downhill and the buck stop with him when it comes to athletics.

[shoxrox89]

I think a number of factors created the “perfect storm” for the current state of our basketball program, the Marshall situation combined with covid and then the NIL taking fruition, all the while having a non proactive AD who shows a lack of initiative at the helm, it all ultimately led to the current state, you can even factor in the death of Dr. Bardo, arguably the most innovative president this university has ever seen, the college basketball Gods just weren’t in our favor.