As of now, odds IB is back next year?

[JVShocker]

What do you se as the key corrective measures?

I don't think there's a good answer for this, I think everyone's answer will be different.

For me, this is just about good and entertaining basketball. Wichita State doesn't have that right now, and the NIL has dampened a lot of enthusiasm I might have had for the future of collegiate athletics.

For the University, it's all about $$$$, but from a fan's perspective, it's about my $$$$ too (which is being pulled in a lot of different ways in this new economy.)
I can sit at home and for $5-10 a month I can watch entertaining basketball, and when it sours, I switch the program. As sad as it is to admit, I'm probably a lost cause.
I'm happy to watch or not watch at home. We spent YEARS (six of us) just off the visitor bench, row 4. The tix were fairly expensive then, I don't want to think about what 6 tix row 4 would cost these days. There are things I would rather do with my time and money. I worry this malaise is spreading across the national landscape of athletics (including the professional levels), and eventually only the playoffs/tournaments and final games will matter.

I think the programs that continue to be relevant and have fan loyalty will provide an entertaining and winning atmosphere. Feels like most programs are a ways off in this respect.

[pinstripers]

Some people are just not going to support ten new faces each year. Since Covid, some people have realized that they don't HAVE TO go. Some people don't want to watch professional (paid) athletes pretending to be amateurs. Some people won't support a losing program. It's a tough thing.

[SB Shock]

Marshall I believe was also rumored to have turned down more money from UCLA

Gary Parrish said that Marshall would have taken the UCLA job had they waited on him. Parrish said Marshall told UCLA when they reached out to him he would not meet with them until after he was out of the tournament, and they were not willing and moved on from him.

[Onegreatracer]

IB is starting to hear the boos when he is announced pregame, at least I noticed some vs Houston. Think it continues in that direction?

[RoyalShock]

I was sitting in 114, next to the student section. The only boos I heard came from there and were relatively minor. Were they heard elsewhere in the arena?

[Onegreatracer]

I was sitting in 114, next to the student section. The only boos I heard came from there and were relatively minor. Were they heard elsewhere in the arena?

I was in 118 and they came from the same place and seemed a bit loud, but sounds like they were just localized there then.

[1972Shocker]

I guess you could boo HCIB for accepting a job that maybe, just maybe, he should have know he wasn't up to. But how would he know that for sure. I don't think you can blame him for accepting a windfall contract that FADDB put on the table with life changing money. I don't believe I would have turned that down. Not to mention the he seems to be a genuinely decent human being.

Unfortunately, or perhaps I should say fortunately, those who deserve the boos are gone, principally Jay Golden and Darren Boatright. And maybe the BOR for hiring Golden. They clearly didn't do a good job of vetting the a-hole. Or maybe they did and got exactly what they wanted.

[ShockTalk]

I guess you could boo HCIB for accepting a job that maybe, just maybe, he should have know he wasn't up to. But how would he know that for sure. I don't think you can blame him for accepting a windfall contract that FADDB put on the table with life changing money. I don't believe I would have turned that down. Not to mention the he seems to be a genuinely decent human being.

Nor do I and I agree with the type of person IB is.

My rub is that our AD should have check around to find out what the going rate for a non-experienced HC at our relative level as a conference. How long are they, how heavily incentivized are they, how large are the guarantee buy-outs?

I'm not going to dig into it, but I'm pretty certain IB was very pleasantly surprised by the terms and there was no wasting of time in locking up the situation.

Also, I do not believe ANY kind of feelers were put out by dipsh*t AD, just to see who might be interested.

I do believe, however, that he caved to the "social pressures" being thrown out at the time, the AAC Coach of the Year thing which was tainted for several reasons, and just didn't want to deal with it.

And I bet, all of this WITHOUT finding out what kind of blowback he'd get from big doners, pro Marshall ones or not.

[Dan]

Back to the NIL topic, the whole concept of the NIL is to allow the market to dictate a players value. Sure there are players (mostly football) that are gonna snag some million dollar NIL deals, and there are a bunch of football players that will get somewhere around $50k a year above and beyond tuition and lodging. As for basketball, I imagine the McDonald’s AA types and most 5 stars can garner pretty good paychecks. As for the rest of the players and even trickling down to lesser sports, are they really worth getting more than $10-$20k a year above and beyond the educational investment and all the specialty training and visibility? Just because the school makes money on some sports does not necessarily mean players are gonna make extra money. If they aren’t making money in Wichita, who’s to say they would make money at SMU, or Tulane or Cincy? Don’t they need to promote themselves? Maybe I’m too cynical, but I just don’t see the Tier 2, 3 and 4 type players commanding a ton of money. All that said, if you do something for your school (like Ron, Cle and Fred), you’ll probably get more money thrown at you than you could imagine.

Sorry for the rant, just thinking that these guys gotta do something for the fans if they want the fans to pay them.

[WuDrWu]

I guess you could boo HCIB for accepting a job that maybe, just maybe, he should have know he wasn't up to. But how would he know that for sure. I don't think you can blame him for accepting a windfall contract that FADDB put on the table with life changing money. I don't believe I would have turned that down. Not to mention the he seems to be a genuinely decent human being.

Unfortunately, or perhaps I should say fortunately, those who deserve the boos are gone, principally Jay Golden and Darren Boatright. And maybe the BOR for hiring Golden. They clearing didn't do a good job of vetting the a-hole. Or maybe they did and got exactly what they wanted.

This, on steroids.

NONE of this mess is IB's fault. And I don't think there are 2 people in the world that turn down what he was offered.

The hiring of Golden was an unmitigated disaster perpetrated by teachers hiring teachers. As moronic a decision as has ever been made.

[AndShock]

If you are a really bad head coach, you’re gonna get booed eventually. Maybe he thought he could be successful but if he has any knowledge of his limitations he knew what he was getting into when he signed the contract.

[shox7]

When Golden mandated that most of the head coaches and assistants take a 20% pay cut during COVID and FHCGM said no. That put GGG on a direct collision course with Golden. Golden was on a mission at that point. I don’t blame GGG at all, he had a contract and wasn’t going to take a pay cut. The entire athletic department was required to cut expenses by 20%.

[Kung Wu]

Now that NIL is a thing, they shouldn't allow scholarships -- then we'll see what players are really worth.

[rjl]

My rub is that our AD should have check around to find out what the going rate for a non-experienced HC at our relative level as a conference. How long are they, how heavily incentivized are they, how large are the guarantee buy-outs?

I'm not going to dig into it, but I'm pretty certain IB was very pleasantly surprised by the terms and there was no wasting of time in locking up the situation.

Also, I do not believe ANY kind of feelers were put out by dipsh*t AD, just to see who might be interested.

I do believe, however, that he caved to the "social pressures" being thrown out at the time, the AAC Coach of the Year thing which was tainted for several reasons, and just didn't want to deal with it.

And I bet, all of this WITHOUT finding out what kind of blowback he'd get from big doners, pro Marshall ones or not.

What do you mean, Isaac Brown had no experience? Would you believe that when Isaac Brown signed his contract to be the head coach of Wichita State, his experience was so perfect that, in fact, he was the reigning American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year at a school that was so similar to Wichita State that nobody can tell the difference?

If Isaac Brown was not signed to a contract after that year, there would have been NOBODY who would have wanted to coach here. That would have been a tremendously pompous level of disrespect, and I can't imagine anyone would have wanted to coach at a school where that was not enough given the circumstances that Isaac Brown faced. And there was absolutely no indication that Brown's tenure would go the way it has. It was perfectly reasonable to assume that Isaac Brown would do the same as almost every other coach does and improve. Yeah, you could probably name some coaches that peak their first year and then get worse, but the fact that you can name them shows how rare that is. Kevin Ollie is probably the only one I can think of offhand.

Maybe Boatright signed Brown to too-long a contract. I don't know. But Isaac Brown isn't exactly making world-beating money.

[shocktown]

What do you mean, Isaac Brown had no experience? Would you believe that when Isaac Brown signed his contract to be the head coach of Wichita State, his experience was so perfect that, in fact, he was the reigning American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year at a school that was so similar to Wichita State that nobody can tell the difference?

If Isaac Brown was not signed to a contract after that year, there would have been NOBODY who would have wanted to coach here. That would have been a tremendously pompous level of disrespect, and I can't imagine anyone would have wanted to coach at a school where that was not enough given the circumstances that Isaac Brown faced. And there was absolutely no indication that Brown's tenure would go the way it has. It was perfectly reasonable to assume that Isaac Brown would do the same as almost every other coach does and improve. Yeah, you could probably name some coaches that peak their first year and then get worse, but the fact that you can name them shows how rare that is. Kevin Ollie is probably the only one I can think of offhand.

Maybe Boatright signed Brown to too-long a contract. I don't know. But Isaac Brown isn't exactly making world-beating money.

Gary Thompson
Bill Hodges