ADES Crossroad... What's next?

[KC Shox]

I don't know what to think about ORU. They've had some controversies and financial hardship the last 5 years. Last I heard, they were still 25 million in debt and their endowment fell below 40 million. I don't imagine they have a huge alumni base to receive donations that will get them out of debt. That university doesn't exactly ooze security.

[calfan]

Subgod22,

How many of those teams that you think are going to improve did you factor in
recruiting against Creighton, St. Louis, Butler, and at least one other school in the Big East conference?

[SubGod22]

I don't know what to think about ORU. They've had some controversies and financial hardship the last 5 years. Last I heard, they were still 25 million in debt and their endowment fell below 40 million. I don't imagine they have a huge alumni base to receive donations that will get them out of debt. That university doesn't exactly ooze security.

I had the same concerns but have been told that things have been cleared up and a rather large donation was made to get them in the black and moving forward. They're not my top choice, but they'll be considered.

[Ricardo del Rio]

Kevin Hooper would be at the top of my list for baseball head coach.

Me too, but I seem to be in the minority with my Shocker buds.

[Ta town]

I don't know what to think about ORU. They've had some controversies and financial hardship the last 5 years. Last I heard, they were still 25 million in debt and their endowment fell below 40 million. I don't imagine they have a huge alumni base to receive donations that will get them out of debt. That university doesn't exactly ooze security.

ORU has fixed things via the green family (hobby lobby).

Go read up on it, they gave over 70 million. Sit on the board to ensure financial stewardship. ORU is now basically debt free. Also the got rid of Roberts kid and got a new/real school president.

[Veritas]

ORU would be a nice replacement for Evansville or Drake, but not a good replacement for CU.

[Awesome Sauce Malone]

ORU would be a nice replacement for Evansville or Drake, but not a good replacement for CU.

BUCO would be a great replacement for Evansville and Drake.

[Veritas]

If anything is going on behind the scenes with us, there will eventually be some sort of leak. Too many people will be involved and too much going on for everything to stay quite until that moment. As long as there are zero rumors out there, I'll believe that there's little going on. Now, if that's due to a leader who is incompetent or due to there just being no options is up to everyone to debate.

Spot on. I think there is little going on with regard to Wichita State changing conferences or using its leverage in pushing Elgin to strengthen the MoVal.
That doesn't mean that something won't happen once the C7 changes take effect, but not sure exactly if it will affect WSU nor if ADES even cares about it.
"Management is doing things right; Leadership is doing the right things" (Peter Drucker).

[Fredster]

There sure seems to be quite of few of us who post as if they want the AD to fail. There is so much positive stuff going on at Koch arena, it's amazing. Stay tuned for big announcement concerning upgrades to the arena. Whoever said the decision will be an ADES/Bardo decision has it right, except it will be Bardo/ADES and I think we are fortunate to have Dr. Bardo in place right now, because the guy is infinitely sharper than he looks, and I think he will help the Valley and WSU make the right decision, if Creighton says goodbye. And nobody knows about that yet, because they haven't been asked. Bardo is the most pro-active President we've had in a long time, and no disrepect to Don Beggs, he was a fine Prez. He is the first President since I was at WSU who says out loud that he wants our University to grow, and he is taking tremendous first steps to make that happen. Looking forward to St. Louis, where WSU is always the class of the tournament!

[Veritas]

Fredster, I don't think there are ANY Shocker fans that WANT to see ADES fail. However, there are nervous perceptions, and rightful hesitation and reluctance to embrace or even understand his leadership.
I do believe you are correct in that Bardo seems to be more of a leader to take WSU to the next step in academics, enrollment, and athletics. Hopefully, ADES will have the opportunity to shine.
At least I hope so... and the "big announcement concerning upgrades to the arena" is a wonderful step in the right direction.

[SubGod22]

Is the big announcement more than just the video board?

[shocka khan]

And I think that anyone who thinks that this is soley ADES' call had never been in a position where they were subject to organizational politics and that the man at the top will be calling all the shots........

Which basically means ADES will take his marching orders from Bardo, as it SHOULD be.

[CBB_Fan]

And let's also remember, that most years the MVC is the 2nd best non-BCS conference after the Mountain West. So not everything has been bad about the MVC.

Just to be clear, the correct tense for this sentence is probably "the MVC was the second best non BCS conference." Currently, we are steadfastly behind the C7, the MWC, the new Big East, and probably are equal or behind the WCC (solely because of Gonzaga) and the A10.

The Big East used to complain about being the C-USA 2.0. Well, the MVC is now the Horizon League 2.0. Without Creighton, we are alone at the top. Other MVC schools may win the conference, but we are the only wins spending the resources to get a team worthy of an at-large bid. We are playing the role of Butler in a conference of Evansvilles and Valparaisos. I just simply don't see the quality left in the league. SIU was good, but they have dropped off. UNI has dropped off slightly. Creighton is gone. Missouri State and Evansville are pretty much non-factors.

I really don't see much room for improvement. Maybe Bradley, and the ISUs. But that still isn't a great league by any means, certainly not the Valley of the 2000s. And the Valley of the 2000s was nothing compared to the Valley of 1980s, and the same for the 70s and 60s. The main reason to leave the conference is that we have either outgrown it or it has shrunk too much for us.

[Veritas]

And I think that anyone who thinks that this is soley ADES' call had never been in a position where they were subject to organizational politics and that the man at the top will be calling all the shots........

Which basically means ADES will take his marching orders from Bardo, as it SHOULD be.

I don't think anyone over the age of 12 thinks that "this is soley ADES' call." BUT.... it is ADES' job to conduct due diligence on the issue, explore options, submit proposals, and give his analysis and recommendation. Additionally, one would hope that Sexton is aligned with Bardo in his thought process on where Wichita State needs to head. To borrow from Churchill somewhat.... ADES is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.

[wusphlash]

It seems like a lot of people are questioning ADES without any information on what he might and might not be doing.