AD

[shockmonster]

What is the AD doing to position WSU for the future? I'll tell you one thing though... I'm extremely thankful WSU has HCGM. What would the AD be without him?

I don't know the answer to all of your questions but you seem to know the inside workings of WSU athletics and what type of job ES is doing. I do know that Marshall and the other coaches seem to be very happy with him. They've made comments as such publicly. Marshall has also made comments supportive of him and his fund raising (made a comment publicly that last year fund raising was an all time high). If ES is not here, GM and other coaches may not be either.

[shockerfan]

I have had my own concerns with our AD. However, one thing I always go back to is his ability to handle finances...etc. Without him perhaps we don't come up with the $$$ for Marshall...etc. The guy has shortcomings, but who doesn't? I am cautiously optimistic about the future. The first big hire he has to make we will learn more. Until then I am just going to enjoy the ride and give him a break on his public speaking. He should keep working on it though. He is obviously doing something right. The athletic department seems to be pretty strong overall. Plus you can't deny his love and passion for Wichita State.

[ThatShockerLife]

I don't think on camera is Eric's strong suit. But let's be honest, a few years ago TV and Internet Video prevalence for Wichita State wasn't as big of a deal as it is now. When we need to get the next AD, we need to be wary of the rapid evolution of technology. Eric's done a pretty good job, from how I view a Wichita State AD. I think when it comes to conference moving, you will be surprised how active Bardo will be in such matters. As far as scheduling Kansas, what advantage does Kansas have of playing us in anything but Baseball and Volleyball. None. Kansas doesn't want to see Wichita State in Allen as much as we don't want to play there. And they don't want any part of what would be the most frenzied atmosphere the Roundhouse will ever see by coming here.

[Spaulding]

The real question is whether you are comfortable with ADES navigating WSU to a new conference if needed. Is he growing the AD wisely or simply letting it stand in place? Additionally, until I see a MAJOR infrastructure/facility enhancement with the athletic facilities, he will have at least partially failed in his AD endeavors.
-- No new VB facility?
-- No new WBB facility?
-- No new Mbaseball facility masterplan?
-- No new sports to add?
-- Any new conferences knocking on the door?
-- Football Yes/No question?

What is the AD doing to position WSU for the future? I'll tell you one thing though... I'm extremely thankful WSU has HCGM. What would the AD be without him?

If your measuring stick for an AD is that list, good luck finding anyone who comes close to that. It may be reality check time...

[TheReal3G]

I was embarrassed for ADES during interview. I have friends in athletics that stay pretty professional but I know have a real disgust for his leadership. There has been turmoil for awhile amongst staff. But they keep most of it under wraps and internal.

ADES has connections. I know him and the former saso director who recently left spent quality time building a nice financial backing and were instrumental in keeping GM. If I remember correctly they had to raise 300k in short few hours to keep him a couple of years ago. I helped contribute that day and joined the coaches club which I recommend for all.

I am just worried about our future and are we looking to grow or stay status quo. With ADES that scares me because I think Dr. Beggs hired him to be status quo and to just maintain.

[Downtown Shocker Brown]

I was embarrassed for ADES during interview. I have friends in athletics that stay pretty professional but I know have a real disgust for his leadership. There has been turmoil for awhile amongst staff. But they keep most of it under wraps and internal.

ADES has connections. I know him and the former saso director who recently left spent quality time building a nice financial backing and were instrumental in keeping GM. If I remember correctly they had to raise 300k in short few hours to keep him a couple of years ago. I helped contribute that day and joined the coaches club which I recommend for all.

I am just worried about our future and are we looking to grow or stay status quo. With ADES that scares me because I think Dr. Beggs hired him to be status quo and to just maintain.

Thank you for your support!!

[SubGod22]

If that's why Beggs hired him, that'll be why Bardo replaces him if it comes to that. I get the feeling that Bardo isn't the type to go for the status quo on anything. As far as ES goes, I'm still on the fence personally on what I think about the guy. Which after this much time, I'm starting to think says a lot and may move me to one side in the near future.

[Signman]

Hey Spaulding, a big part of the AD's job is vision...where are we going and who do we want to be. Education is in flux and athletics are coupled with this. These are serious questions that Veritas asks. They are about growth and improvement. Are we getting better every day. If we don't visualize some better future, don't embrace growth and don't embrace improvement we could find ourselves slipping further in to the abyss.

Are we better off as a university / commumnity than we were 10,20,30,40 or 50 years ago. In many ways yes but in the realm of students using their feet to attend Wichita State University the answer is no. As I've argued elsewhere on Shockernet, market share enrollment at WSU is off 33% since we dropped football in 1986. Collegiate atmosphere and athletics are entertwined. The most important sports by priority to this atmosphere are FBS football, BCS conference basketball and a select few elite mid major (and I hate using that term almost as much as saying Obamacare) basketball programs of which we are becoming one under HCGM's leadership.

Dr. Bardo has proposed a new 55 million dollar residence hall in order to attract students. I'm not sure that this is the right direction as we have continually built buildings all around the campus in the last 50 years without noticeable increase in enrollment. In fact I have recently participated in a building project for campus housing and we are having a difficult time getting to capacity with a state of the art and cost competitive structure that is just as close to most of the classrooms that this new residence hall will be. I'm waiting for "Aargh" to "run the numbers on this new residence hall because this amount of money could easily get us a football program. Please don't misunderstand me. I am still supporting this residence hall because I trust what i'm hearing from the "leadership" at my alma mater. But I digress.

Dr. Bardo is embracing growth, improvement and change and I'm confident that Dr. Sexton is now keenly aware of his part of this growth and change mission.

I think Veritas listed the priorities for ADES in reverse order however.

my priorities would be as follows
#!+ How do we keep growing the success of HCGM's program,
#1A FBS football,
#2 get FBS football and get in to a better conference
#3 get the entire Koch Arena to sing the War chant.
#4 Revitalization of the baseball program,
#5 Continued building of women's volleyball program.

[SB Shock]

If that's why Beggs hired him, that'll be why Bardo replaces him if it comes to that. I get the feeling that Bardo isn't the type to go for the status quo on anything.

Has Bardo did anything since he got to WSU? Frankly Bardo seems to be status quo hire as with his age he's probably not going to a long term guy.

-- No new VB facility?
-- No new WBB facility?
-- No new Mbaseball facility masterplan?
-- No new sports to add?
-- Any new conferences knocking on the door?
-- Football Yes/No question?

--As far as WBB? Why? Unless it is to deconflict with mens basketball, I can't see that being an investment that is worth spending capital on.

-- Mbaseball facility masterplan? - baseball has a bigger problem than a facility masterplan and with sliding attendance expansion is not necessary. ES may be defined by what he does in the near future with dealing with the coaching situation.

-- No new sports to add? - You really think it is a good thing to add non-revenue sports at this time. "It is the economy stupid". They struggle to sell out games for a basketball program that is now performing on a national level.

-- Any new conferences knocking on the door? Unfortunately I think we all know the answer to this.

-- Football Yes/No question? Again, there some who don't want to admit it but the answer is NO (unless something out of the box happens - like the Koch's decide they want football at WSU).

[SubGod22]

I do think that football will be addressed by Bardo in the next 5 years or so. Hopefully the new residence building along with whatever Bardo and Co. have planned will help grow the student populations at WSU like he wants and open up that opportunity to bring back football. I believe Bardo has said he wants to get to 20-25k students and if we start seeing the growth to get there, football becomes a better possibility.

As far as keeping 3G, I don't think finances are going to be an issue here. He's already making 1.6mil which puts him higher than a number of BcS schools and I believe we can pay more when the time comes. I'd be shocked if he left for anything other than an almost perfect opportunity.

As far as facilities go, I'm not familiar enough with the baseball stadium and program to know what's going on there or needs to go on there. Other than maybe new leadership within the program. That's going to be the first big hire that ES is going to have to make. Lets hope it's a good one.

I know some think we need a new facility for VB and WBB, but I'm not quite on board with that at the moment. I know WBB looks really bad playing inside The Roundhouse with so many empty seats, but VB doesn't seem as bad. Or at least didn't before the local economy went in the tank. I've seen people talk about building a 5k seat arena for them both and think that it would be too small. IF the WBB team ever starts winning on a consistent basis, I could see them averaging 6k. I also think that the VB team could eventually average close to that once the economy, if it ever does, comes back. I'd hate to put the ceiling too low on either program.

I would like to see them consider raising the roof. I've heard that it was thought about during the renovation and put on hold. I've also heard that it's something they've thought about since then so I believe it's possible. It would be great if they could add boxes up there for some of the corporate types. I don't know how many seats it would add as a whole, but it would increase some and the boxes would increase money into the AD as well. I don't know what the cost of such a project would be, but think it could be a very valuable investment for the future of Shocker athletics.

[SubGod22]

Has Bardo did anything since he got to WSU? Frankly Bardo seems to be status quo hire as with his age he's probably not going to a long term guy.

Bardo has been here six months or so and has given at least some of his vision and it's not status quo. His goal to grow the student population to over 20k is a big one as well as his desire to increase the visibility of the schools programs in working with businesses in the area. There's been quite a bit written about these projects in the fall. I also believe that if he can achieve the increase in enrollment, that he's all for footballs return. How is any of that status quo?

I would also say that I wouldn't mind seeing WSU add women's soccer eventually. I think it could actually do decently financially and not be a huge drain. Like it or not, soccer has become more popular and there is some talent in the area.

[SB Shock]

Bardo has been here six months or so and has given at least some of his vision and it's not status quo. His goal to grow the student population to over 20k is a big one as well as his desire to increase the visibility of the schools programs in working with businesses in the area. There's been quite a bit written about these projects in the fall. I also believe that if he can achieve the increase in enrollment, that he's all for footballs return. How is any of that status quo?

I believe by definition if the existing state of affair are not changing or have not changed - then the "status quo" is being maintained. When has there ever been a president that didn't want to grow the student population? That is not vision, that is just common sense. Vision is having a plan to implement some type of academic program that will bring real growth because WSU has something to offer that nobody in the region can.

I would also say that I wouldn't mind seeing WSU add women's soccer eventually. I think it could actually do decently financially and not be a huge drain.

I think the keyword here is "not be a huge drain". Why would you add any sport that would be any kind of drain on your program (unless your preparing for football - which WSU isn't). WSU has limited resources. I would rather see those limited resources invested in WBB or Volleyball where there is the potential where those programs are self sustaining.

Like it or not, soccer has become more popular and there is some talent in the area.

Well, maybe if Bardo had a vision he would say "forget American Football - we are going for European Football" and invest in bringing world class soccer facilities and men and women sports team to the university.

[wsushockerdude]

I don't have a problem with ES when we're winning and things are going smoothly. However, if we were to be in the middle of a conference re-alignment or the hiring of a new basketball coach, I'd be scared. Very scared.

[SubGod22]

I believe by definition if the existing state of affair are not changing or have not changed - then the "status quo" is being maintained. When has there ever been a president that didn't want to grow the student population? That is not vision, that is just common sense. Vision is having a plan to implement some type of academic program that will bring real growth because WSU has something to offer that nobody in the region can.

I think the keyword here is "not be a huge drain". Why would you add any sport that would be any kind of drain on your program (unless your preparing for football - which WSU isn't). WSU has limited resources. I would rather see those limited resources invested in WBB or Volleyball where there is the potential where those programs are self sustaining.

Well, maybe if Bardo had a vision he would say "forget American Football - we are going for European Football" and invest in bringing world class soccer facilities and men and women sports team to the university.

Bardo has talked about how he plans to do it and how he wants to increase the visibility and success on the academic side. I've heard more from him on growing the student population than I ever did from Beggs. So I don't see him as being a status quo guy. Things take time and he's only been here 6 months. What the hell do you want to have seen from him in that time? We're supposed to break ground on new housing and he's put in motion plans to build up certain programs within the University.

I also believe that Bardo would like to see football back in the future. Another reason I'd like to see soccer added in the near future. I could actually see soccer break even or come close to it. Especially with a little success. Much like the volleyball program does a pretty good job of not being a drain on the AD. The University would be fine with the addition and not hurt any of the other programs.

WBB isn't going to be self sustaining without more success. I'm starting to wonder if that'll ever happen. VB has been close and I'm fine with that. Not sure what more can really be done other than paying Lamb and making sure his recruiting budget is sufficient to allow him to get the personnel he wants/needs.

[Ricardo del Rio]

The mettle of AD Sexton will be severely tested in the near future. What to do about Coach Stephenson and Coach Adams?

I would bet my hat that the outcome will be "nothing."

I believe AD Sexton avoids conflict and dealing with these two coaches bring nothing, but conflict.

I hope I am very wrong.