Report: Loyola-Chicago to join MVC

[Kung Wu]

This is the only part of your post that I question. I wouldn't short change Moser.

Illinois State's first year without Moser had 6 of his players as the top 6 on the team. Osiris Eldrdige, Dimna Odiakosa, Levi Dyer, Boo Richardson, Dom Johnson, and Anthony Slack. Eldridge and Odiakosa were also the heart of the team for the following two years.

After all of Moser's players were gone, Illinois St slipped back to 9th in the Valley. We'll never know what Moser might have done.

But he was there for 4 years and never came remotely close to having a winning season in conference play, except his second year where he _almost_ did when he went 8-10 in the Valley. After that he went 4-14 (!?) and 6-12 (?).

[Rlh04d]

But he was there for 4 years and never came remotely close to having a winning season in conference play, except his second year where he _almost_ did when he went 8-10 in the Valley. After that he went 4-14 (!?) and 6-12 (?).

These are the numbers of a good recruiter but a bad coach.

[Kung Wu]

And I still think Bradley could rise up and be in contention for an at-large on any given year. The others will depend. Loyola.....never.

Never is way too strong.

When a university has the resources, they are only a decision away from making sweeping changes. The question is, have they committed to such a decision to revitalize their basketball program to national prominence as it once was? There was a time in the 90's when WE were Loyola, but Jim Schaus and President Beggs made the changes necessary to bring us back to national prominence. Loyola has the resources -- do they have the leadership and commitment? That's the only thing stopping them.

[Kung Wu]

Your subtle acronym went underappreciated. Just wanted to note this.

Hahaha, I missed that!

[shoxlax]

These are the numbers of a good recruiter but a bad coach.

i.e. Chris Jans was his recruiter so that makes perfect sense.

[forevershockerfan]

But he was there for 4 years and never came remotely close to having a winning season in conference play, except his second year where he _almost_ did when he went 8-10 in the Valley. After that he went 4-14 (!?) and 6-12 (?).

Hey Kung Wu, just noticed your 'who's betta question and solution.' Very cool. I remember may moons ago playing Loyola-Chicago often. If I recall, they had some good teams back then. I would be interested as to our overall won-lost record against them.

If we do stay in this here Valley, we must and plan on becoming the Conference Darlin, but on a very regular basis. Then I hope we can develop really tough Non-Con games and win our fair share on a regular basis.

This past Season was incredibly special and a springboard to bigger and better things to come. When we beat VCU there, I begin to understand that this could be a Season to Remember. I really did not think we could win more games than last Season from the get-go after losing 5 such key scorers. Then with the rash of injuries, our quality depth just kept stepping up to the challenges.

At the celebration tomorrow night, each and every Shocker can be assured that they All played a big part in this Season that we will be pointing to for decades. Look for us to continue to build on this success into a Program that just keeps on rising like my blood pressure when eating salty pretzels immersed in salt baybay.

[1979Shocker]

Hey Kung Wu, just noticed your 'who's betta question and solution.' Very cool. I remember may moons ago playing Loyola-Chicago often. If I recall, they had some good teams back then. I would be interested as to our overall won-lost record against them.

If we do stay in this here Valley, we must and plan on becoming the Conference Darlin, but on a very regular basis. Then I hope we can develop really tough Non-Con games and win our fair share on a regular basis.

This past Season was incredibly special and a springboard to bigger and better things to come. When we beat VCU there, I begin to understand that this could be a Season to Remember. I really did not think we could win more games than last Season from the get-go after losing 5 such key scorers. Then with the rash of injuries, our quality depth just kept stepping up to the challenges.

At the celebration tomorrow night, each and every Shocker can be assured that they All played a big part in this Season that we will be pointing to for decades. Look for us to continue to build on this success into a Program that just keeps on rising like my blood pressure when eating salty pretzels immersed in salt baybay.

From Shockwaves

Loyola’s history with Wichita State

[Rlh04d]

Never is way too strong.

When a university has the resources, they are only a decision away from making sweeping changes. The question is, have they committed to such a decision to revitalize their basketball program to national prominence as it once was? There was a time in the 90's when WE were Loyola, but Jim Schaus and President Beggs made the changes necessary to bring us back to national prominence. Loyola has the resources -- do they have the leadership and commitment? That's the only thing stopping them.

I agree with you, except for one point:

In the 90's when we "were" Loyola, didn't we still have good support in Wichita?

Their 2k attendance figures worry me about their ability to make a turnaround, regardless of changes. Granted, they have a large student body, so I'm sure if they started winning again the fans would come.

However, I remember going to WSU games in the 90's as a kid ... it was still a great experience even when we sucked. The memories I had of the Roundhouse even when WSU was terrible put FSU's basketball games to shame when I was a student there. As I remember it, the only thing we were missing was a commitment to winning from the leadership ... Loyola seems to be missing a few more things than that.

[Kung Wu]

I agree with you, except for one point:

In the 90's when we "were" Loyola, didn't we still have good support in Wichita?

Their 2k attendance figures worry me about their ability to make a turnaround, regardless of changes. Granted, they have a large student body, so I'm sure if they started winning again the fans would come.

However, I remember going to WSU games in the 90's as a kid ... it was still a great experience even when we sucked. The memories I had of the Roundhouse even when WSU was terrible put FSU's basketball games to shame when I was a student there. As I remember it, the only thing we were missing was a commitment to winning from the leadership ... Loyola seems to be missing a few more things than that.

Yeah that's a point. I do think winning easily fixes their attendance though. But they have to win, that's the first problem. :)

[Nickwayne87]

Respectfully disagree. When we win that National Championship two years from now, and FVV is the MVP, FVV will be touted as a Chicago area native and peeps in Chicago will be all over it.

Take it from someone who lives in Rockford.....YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY RIGHT ABOUT THIS........and we HATE THIS actually in little old (was second and now 3rd largest city in illinois) Rockford. We're always in chicago's shadow.......this ALWAYS HAPPENS in the rare occasion someone from here does something that goes national........we're like Chicago's black sheep little brother......even when the shockers were making noise in the tournament I saw people on twitter saying "look at fred van vleet puttin on for CHICAGO." That's why Fred has #ROCKFORD on his twitter page to try to offset that because that's how it always happens that's how it's always been.

[Rocky Mountain Shock]

Come on man, it's not even a close comparison.

WATC of Chicago?

[KC Shox]

After further review, I'm no longer taking the high road with this selection. Elgin needs to go, and for the rest of the voters who green lighted this university, W in TF were you guys thinking? Northwestern and DePaul can't get the Chicago media to give them much run, did you think Loyola would change things? I'm mystified by this admission.

[Shox21]

Even Grant Meech and Jeffrey Parson on KWCH Sports thinks this is a "non sexy" and unfortunate choice. Even if you are trying to get into the Chicago viewing market, you don't do it by tapping the least watched sports team in the area. Both Grant and Jeffrey wondered just how long we would keep Marshall (even though both agreed that Marshall seemed happy right now) if the MVC turns into a one-bid league. If WSU's non conference is strong enough and we do well enough in league play as far as winning, we wouldn't necessarily have to win in St. Louis to get a bid BUT our RPI would suffer from a weak conference. Therein lies the rub -- the weak conference translating into a bad RPI which in turns translates into a bad seed. If Marshall is put into a position where we get into the NCAA, but with a really bad seed year and year, just how long do you think he will be happy. Both Meech and Parson said they hoped Sexton and the WSU Administration is going to constantly be on the outlook for a new conference affiliation should one arise. They mentioned the new Big East (possibly with a western division in a couple of years) or even another all basketball conference that hasn't even been thought of yet.

[WSUwatcher]

But why did multi-bid matter to him? Because he did not want to have to win the conference tournament every year to be in the NCAAs. So long as WSU can still continue to get at-large bids, even in a weak conference, ala Gonzaga, whether or not the other members of the conference are getting at-large bids regularly makes no impact on why Marshall wanted to come to WSU.

Exactly, Hatter -- Pogo and the other worrrywarts (including the not-so-astute KWCH pundits) are being silly with their fear du jour about Marshall leaving.

As long as Marshall is at WSU -- and I personally expect it to be quite a while -- the MVC is no more a "one-bid league" than the WCC is with Gonzaga. It may become one bid for the other teams (although maybe not even that; there are certainly Valley teams that are at least capable of playing the role of a midwestern St. Mary's), but unless 3G has an unexpected stumble, we can plan on seeing WSU as a tournament regular whether they win in St. Louis or not. And that's all that really matters: Marshall no longer has to win his conference tournament to get his team into the NCAA field the way he did at Winthrop.

[Rlh04d]

Exactly, Hatter -- Pogo and the other worrrywarts (including the not-so-astute KWCH pundits) are being silly with their fear du jour about Marshall leaving.

As long as Marshall is at WSU -- and I personally expect it to be quite a while -- the MVC is no more a "one-bid league" than the WCC is with Gonzaga. It may become one bid for the other teams (although maybe not even that; there are certainly Valley teams that are at least capable of playing the role of a midwestern St. Mary's), but unless 3G has an unexpected stumble, we can plan on seeing WSU as a tournament regular whether they win in St. Louis or not. And that's all that really matters: Marshall no longer has to win his conference tournament to get his team into the NCAA field the way he did at Winthrop.

The only problem I see with the Gonzaga comparison is that Saint Mary's is better than any #2 team in the Valley, and the Valley is tougher through the middle ranks than the WCC.

Which is, as always, the frustrating part of the Valley: Not bad enough to just let us dominate it, not good enough to actually benefit us >=)