The Valley Next Year

[Shocker85]

After last nights performances in the Valley I was wondering how likely it is that all of the other Valley schools wind up having to go to a tie breaker to determine who plays thursday. I have not made any comments about how weak it is but last night was horrible,

What was painfully demonstrated last night is that the other Valley teams don't have anything the the way of toughness going for them. All the winners were the home teams, none of the games were close, and 3 of the 4 were won by a team with a worse record (in-conference and overall).

It is really sad how shallow the talent pool has become.

<rant>
One more thing - all of the hype over Jake Odum is way overplayed. He isn't that good. He makes more free throws than field goals (by a wide margin) which tells me he's a ball hog who likes to force the action. He was really bad last night and finally wound up just putting his head down and driving the lane.
</rant>

--'85.

[SHOXAAC]

Juco as a sophomore - then back to D-1 ?

Although a possibility, probability seems low. He has shown success at the D-1 level. To go backwards then take a chance at the right D-1 fit seems a big risk to me.

[pinstripers]

Juco as a sophomore - then back to D-1 ?

would lose a year

[wufan]

This years Valley isn't the worst in the last 15 years by a long shot, but it IS one of the 3 or 4 worst years in that time.

[ShockerGorilla]

Juco as a sophomore - then back to D-1 ?

NBA?

[molly jabali]

Based on the one time I've seen him, I'd say 'no' to the NBA....right now, anyway...why did he not stay at KU????

[wusphlash]

We know that the NIT - Final Four run has raised awareness of our program and opened doors. We will be fine. All this attention also is good for the Valley. The question is, does it help the other teams with their recruitment? Does it help them raise their level of support? Does it allow them to invest more in their programs?

[Cdizzle]

All this attention also is good for the Valley. The question is, does it help the other teams with their recruitment? Does it help them raise their level of support? Does it allow them to invest more in their programs?

I've seen this a lot lately. I don't buy it. The only attention the Valley is getting is negative. As in --- "WSU shouldn't be a 1 seed because they play in the Valley. WSU has a terrible strength of schedule because they play in the Valley. WSU doesn't have any quality wins because they play in the Valley. What conference is WSU in?"

How is any of that positive for other Valley teams?

Has it helped a league before? I don't recall teams getting better in C-USA as Memphis ran rough-shod. I suppose you could point to St. Mary's in the WCC, but even so the rest of league was still abysmal pre-realignment.

[Aargh]

I don't see how WSU's ongoing success can do anything good for the rest of the Valley

As a recruit, do you want to go to UNI and know you're playing for second and an NIT berth, or would you rather go to Nebraska and play in that league? Finishing second in a conference only known for one powerhouse team isn't attractive to recruits.

As an up-and-coming coach, do you want to take a job at Missouri State to build your resume and move up the coaching ranks? Do you want to coach against Marshall? Valley coaching jobs will become attractive to coaches whose goal is to make the NIT every couple of years.

There are 2 paths we can see from others who've dominated their league. Memphis moved to a better place, but they were ale to drag a FB tem along with them. Gonzaga got some more firepower added to their league. If the MVC were to add more teams, my fear is that they would be SIU-Edwardsville and Eastern Illinois.

[Shocks2005]

I don't see how WSU's ongoing success can do anything good for the rest of the Valley

Although I do understand what you are saying, I would think there would be some of the opposite. If your an up and coming coach I would think you would love to take on a potential high seed in the tournament, if you get an upset or two you can bet you will get some bigger looks.

Also, if you are a player that is honestly considering between Nebraska and SIU, I don't see how you don't choose Nebraska.. but even say you are between the two, you have a chance to go play a team that will almost guarantee national spotlights at least twice a year if not more. Play well against the rest of the league and have a breakout game or two against tougher competition, instant stock rise.

[Dave Stalwart]

The facts still remain that we landed Marshall because of fan support and pay. It was a small step up in conference affiliation, though at the time the prospect of three teams in the dance as opposed to 1 auto bid was still a consideration.

Until the rest of the Valley includes teams with fan support, it will forever be a revolving door of coaches and lack stability. We will still probably get the assistant coaches like Giaccoletti (sp?) and Lusk and the coaches of low d-1 schools for a time. It's just that until there are fans which lead to competitive pay which lead to good coaches building actual programs, we will be stuck.

I say all that because I am still sentimental and I would rather be in a conference called the MVC, but with schools like Bradley and SIU holding their own again.

I don't even know where I'm headed with this anymore. I'm just getting sad and depressed. Back to work. Nevermind

[Dan]

There's only a handful of schools with the potential resources to build and sustain a competive program (Bradley and Il State - maybe Loyola?). Look across the country and the one contant about sustained success is hiring and retaining excellent coaching. So long as the majority of our schools are comfortable being stepping stones and competing for championships once or twice per decade, the MVC will be average. This is why we need Il State and Bradley to get it together. If we can have 3 consistently strongs teams, with a 4th or 5th team popping in, that's about as good as it's gonna get.