AD

[tgcshock]

How has women's basketball and softball been doing?

Women's basketball has improved, women's softball has been worse (although the jury is still somewhat out on the new coach)

[wu_shizzle]

ADES didn't hire Jody Adams.

[ABC]

Thanks wu_shizzle. Seems like JS's record with women's basketball and softball is spotty. Maybe Daryl Smith should have never been fired.

So, besides Marshall, what other Schaus' hire is Sexton riding?

Might be interesting to look at athletic budget growth, number of SASO members, athletic facilities etc. Seems like this is another example of emotional criticism of Sexton, not fact based.

[ShockerFever]

ADES didn't hire Jody Adams.

Oops. Thanks for that nugget shizzle.

I guess if you say women's basketball has improved in the long run, it wasn't because of a hire Sexton made. Welp, now down to softball and a handful of other lower-tier sports.

[1972Shocker]

Women's basketball has improved, women's softball has been worse (although the jury is still somewhat out on the new coach)

Jody Adams was a JS hire and so far strictly in terms of winning Jody is right at the top of the list of Shocker WBB coaches. Whether Jody can continue to build the program beyond where we are remains to be seen. The WBB program was in bad shape under Jane Albright, another JS hire. Attendance sure hasn't improved under Jody despite the improvement in the win-loss record. Maybe that is more on the fans though.

The softball program pretty much went into steady decline under Mike Perniciaro another JS hire. Whether the ES hire of Kristy Bredbenner will be a good one remains to be seen.

Mark Turgeon was not a bad hire by JS and Gregg Marshall has been a great hire. ES probably deserves some credit for keeping 3G around. Chris Lamb was certainly an oustanding hire by JS.

ES hired the current women's tennis coach, but the program was in very good shape at that time and has continued to be successful under the current coach hired by ES.

Not 100% sure who hired Coach Rainbolt, but I think it was JS and that has been a very good hire. Kirk Hunter was hired as the CC coach during the ES tenure but I believe that was essentially a Coach Rainbolt hiring decision.

[ShockerFever]

So, for all of the credit people want Sexton getting for the entire athletic department, he has made one coaching hire, and that was the softball coach.

Yes, there is a maintaining period, but all of this success continues to stem from the previous regime's hires.

[Ricardo del Rio]

Ricky, do you think the Jackass aka Stephenson will get,a new contract? I have always been under the impression that his buy out is too Greta fr what Schauss negotiated.

I don't know. I really don't know.

While I believe it is time for Coach Stephenson to retire, there are many, who want him to continue.

I have zero knowledge of any buyout clause in his contract.

This will a big time test for Mr. Sexton. Frankly, I would not want to deal with it.

I imagine Mr. Sexton will call a meeting with trusted departmental advisers, some SASO folks and selected boosters. The committee will talk it over and come to a consensus. Then Mr. Sexton will go to President Bardo for his blessing. Then Mr. Sexton will go to Coach Stephenson and work something out on immediate retirement or intermediate term retirement. As part of the deal, the stadium will be renamed, after Coach Stephenson.

The above is pure speculation on my part.

[wu_shizzle]

I don't know. I really don't know.

While I believe it is time for Coach Stephenson to retire, there are many, who want him to continue.

I have zero knowledge of any buyout clause in his contract.

This will a big time test for Mr. Sexton. Frankly, I would not want to deal with it.

I imagine Mr. Sexton will call a meeting with trusted departmental advisers, some SASO folks and selected boosters. The committee will talk it over and come to a consensus. Then Mr. Sexton will go to President Bardo for his blessing. Then Mr. Sexton will go to Coach Stephenson and work something out on immediate retirement or intermediate term retirement. As part of the deal, the stadium will be renamed, after Coach Stephenson.

The above is pure speculation on my part.

The only thing I would add is that they better have the new coach agreeing in principle to terms and ready to go, if that went down.

[ABC]

Since Stephenson's contract expires after next year, do we really need to worry about a buy-out clause?

[Ricardo del Rio]

Since Stephenson's contract expires after next year, do we really need to worry about a buy-out clause?

No.

I thought Coach Stephenson had a roll over contract. I stopped following baseball closely several years ago, so I may be very wrong.

[rrshock]

No.

I thought Coach Stephenson had a roll over contract. I stopped following baseball closely several years ago, so I may be very wrong.

I thought the roll over was taken out.

[ABC]

I am fairly sure there is no roll-over.

I think it is interesting that Gene hasn't been lobbying for an extension. He isn't dumb; he knows he doesn't have much leverage.

The dilemma will be if WSU has a good to great season this year. What does it take for a contract extension?

Seems to me that Sexton has handled this just about right so far.

[shox1989]

No.

I thought Coach Stephenson had a roll over contract. I stopped following baseball closely several years ago, so I may be very wrong.

It just seemed like he had a roll over contract because the previous ADs just kept giving him extensions. ES has ended that practice.

[RyneSandberg]

Threads like this always interest me. While I am not a Wichita State alumnus (I did start college at WSU), I still consider myself at least a partial Shocker, as I root for the sports teams, and basically everyone in my family (including my fiance) are WSU alumni. So as a somewhat outsider, I would like to offer my opinion(s), if I may, on some ideas for the future of WSU.

*In terms of growing in stature - and perhaps enrollment - the first thing that I would do if I were the king of WSU would be to change the university's name to University of Wichita. I know I am not the first to mention this, and in fact I have made this suggestion on this board before, but it seemed as though the majority of posters here were either lukewarm or staunchly against such a name change. Simply from a branding perspective, I don't think it is debatable that "University of Wichita" is far superior to "Wichita State University." Of course a re-branded WU would remain under the auspices of the Kansas BoR, but with a more recognized (and recognizable) name. When I hear "Wichita State" or "Emporia State" or the like, it sort of reminds me of some kind of Russian "Kharkov State Polytechnic Institute of Technology and Agriculture," or worse, Cleveland State University.

A perfect example of the preceding name change action is found in Memphis: Memphis State University became the University of Memphis in 1994; while I could not locate enrollment figures that far back, it appears that UM's enrollment has grown from ~19,000 in 1999 to ~23,000 in fall 2012. A more recent example is found closer to Wichita: the chancellor of UMKC tried to change the name back to University of Kansas City, but the student body and faculty apparently thought being known as a satellite or appendage of MU was preferable to being recognized as a standalone university, even though KCU would have remained in the University of Missouri system. This was a shortsighted and poorly thought-out decision by a slim majority of UMKC's students and faculty.

In short, perception matters, and the first thing creating a perception of a university is its name. Further, as it is, most of the time the announcers doing the Shockers' games refer to the team as "Wichita" already. Go back to University of Wichita and see enrollment (likely) increase, particularly as more students from Wichita consider staying home instead of matriculating to Lawrence, Manhattan or beyond.

*Women's basketball will likely never be self-sustaining. This is probably a hard idea to accept, but I think it is borne out by the experiences of almost every WBB program across the nation, except for powerhouses like UConn, Tennessee and Baylor. A perfect example is found up the road in Lawrence: KU is paying Bonnie Hendrickson somewhere in the neighborhood of $2M/year. While the women's program has seen marked improvement in the last couple of years, it is all but assured that the women's team bleeds money. In sum, any expectations of WBB breaking even are likely going to be unmet, as the sport just is not that popular, to be perfectly blunt. IMHO, WBB expenses are best regarded as merely a necessary expense which only ensures compliance with the statute.

*Football: yes, it is the $64,000 (or rather, the $64,000,000) question at WSU. I know both sides have strong opinions, and I won't express mine here, but I do have a question: I know that other universities such as Georgia State University and UTSA have asked their student bodies in referenda whether or not they would approve of increased fees with the express purpose of funding a football team. Is such a vote at WSU even a conceivable option, and if so, any inkling whether or not it would pass?

*Baseball: I don't know very much about the current state of WSU baseball, but from talks with my father, it sounds as if the program is trending in the wrong direction. If HCGS' contract is not renewed, any ideas about who will be brought in to resurrect the program?

Sorry for the lengthy post, and I look forward to any replies.

[RoyalShock]

So, for all of the credit people want Sexton getting for the entire athletic department, he has made one coaching hire, and that was the softball coach.

Yes, there is a maintaining period, but all of this success continues to stem from the previous regime's hires.

I believe he hired the women's tennis coach, Foster, as well.