The Road to a Perfect Season

[Shocks2005]

One of the other threads got me thinking about the journey WSU has taken to get us to where we are at today. We are a storied program with successful history. I don't know every detail, I was quite young when the dark ages were around, but there was a moment when this ball started rolling again. Was it Turgeon? Was it the renovation of the Roundhouse? Did it start before then? Was it ADJS? President? Koch money?

[shock]

Schaus, Koch money, Passionate Fans, Turg.

[Shocktoberfest]

Shaus, Koch money, Passionate Fans, Turg.

Shaus was such a stud for us. Plain and simple. Turg was great. But Shaus was an epic hire. What a stud! He was responsible for MT and HCGM. That is a tremendous legacy right there. I'm sure he is really enjoying our run.

[pie n eye]

Schaus. At least spell his name correctly.

[Shocktoberfest]

Thanks Pie. My bad.

[Rosewood]

It is a combination of things, including dumb luck, that all came together. For example, what if HCGM had left Winthrop and didn't pull a Gene "Nevermind" move? That just was our dumb luck there! What if after years of bad bad basketball followed by losing their seats in a renovation the old timer fans said "SCREW THIS" ? What if Schaus had instead devoted resources to starting up football instead of bringing in Turgeon and renovation? Hell, what if FVV did what so many college kids do and changed his mind and went to KU? Or if Ron had signed up @ Fort Hays State?

The road to perfection is a deterministic nonlinear system. Trying to pinpoint a singular sensitive dependency is impossible.

But if you had to twist my arm I'd say it all turned around once I started going to games. So there ya go. It was me. I am the one responsible for it all. You're welcome.

[1972Shocker]

IMHO the Roundhouse Renaissance (spearheaded by Jim Schaus) was the key. We needed the infrastructure and the facility improvements to attract quality coaches and improve our recruiting results. Everybody who dug deep to help make that happen deserves some credit.

[ShockTalk]

I'd probably say the start of the turn around started with a coach who had resigned, Thompson. His recruitment of Perez was big in my book.

Next was Perez himself by deciding to honor his commitment to WSU. Perez, along with holdover Jamie Arnold were big pieces in Smithson's first season success. Unfortunately, the season didn't end as well as it started with Arnold's dismissal. However, I also believe, no Perez, probably no Maurice Evans.

The hiring of Randy Smithson was one that WSU had to take a chance on. I wasn't over thrilled with it, but understood the potential his hiring could mean to WSU and it had an immediate positive to the program. Unfortunately, it was also Randy and staff that couldn't build the program for numerous reasons. Evans left and there was tension with Perez. Nevertheless, this period was better than before. I've wondered what Thompson could have done if had been here one more year.

Before all the gain was lost, Schaus acted quickly (and correctly) by replacing Smithson with Turgeon. Yes, Turgeon made the turnaround complete along with the arena renovation.

The power of Shocker Nation should never be underestimated in the rebirth of the program and helping Marshall make it nationally recognizable. Marshall has taken WSU to heights that I believe Turgeon thought was not possible. We are very fortunate.

[TheDover1018]

Shaus was such a stud for us. Plain and simple. Turg was great. But Shaus was an epic hire. What a stud! He was responsible for MT and HCGM. That is a tremendous legacy right there. I'm sure he is really enjoying our run.

I went to high school with Schaus' daughter. Last year during the Final 4, I sent her a message to tell her dad thanks because I knew I wouldn't have been in Atlanta last April without what he did for the university. She said he really appreciated it and their whole family had been rocking the black and yellow and was really enjoying our run.

[jpshocker]

I'd probably say the start of the turn around started with a coach who had resigned, Thompson. His recruitment of Perez was big in my book.

Next was Perez himself by deciding to honor his commitment to WSU. Perez, along with holdover Jamie Arnold were big pieces in Smithson's first season success. Unfortunately, the season didn't end as well as it started with Arnold's dismissal. However, I also believe, no Perez, probably no Maurice Evans.

The hiring of Randy Smithson was one that WSU had to take a chance on. I wasn't over thrilled with it, but understood the potential his hiring could mean to WSU and it had an immediate positive to the program. Unfortunately, it was also Randy and staff that couldn't build the program for numerous reasons. Evans left and there was tension with Perez. Nevertheless, this period was better than before. I've wondered what Thompson could have done if had been here one more year.

Before all the gain was lost, Schaus acted quickly (and correctly) by replacing Smithson with Turgeon. Yes, Turgeon made the turnaround complete along with the arena renovation.

The power of Shocker Nation should never be underestimated in the rebirth of the program and helping Marshall make it nationally recognizable. Marshall has taken WSU to heights that I believe Turgeon thought was not possible. We are very fortunate.

We'll put ShockTalk.

[sdshox]

1 - Hiring of Jim Schaus and his work on Koch Arena and hiring MT
2 - The decision of Paul Miller to focus solely on basketball and not dual-sport with baseball
3 - Back-to-Back Home Overtime victories in 2006 over Southern Illinois (Double OT) and Creighton (Matt Braeuer)
4 - The combination of 2&3 getting us to the NCAA's in 2006 and allowing Schaus to meet 3G in Greensboro
5 - The 2007 resigning of Tubby Smith thanks to an overzealous Kentucky admin & fan base, that led to Gillispie leaving A&M and MT leaving WSU
6 - The hard work, dedication, blood, sweat and tears put into the program by 3G and his staff since arriving on campus

[1972Shocker]

IMHO the Roundhouse Renaissance (spearheaded by Jim Schaus) was the key. We needed the infrastructure and the facility improvements to attract quality coaches and improve our recruiting results. Everybody who dug deep to help make that happen deserves some credit.

The Roundhouse Renaissance (announced in October 2000 and completed for the 2003-04 season) was not only a key in resurrecting Shocker men's basketball but it breathed new life into our entire athletic program as evidenced by the following:

All-Sport Trophy Awards:
From 1975-1988: 9 out of 13
From 1988-2003: 0 out of 14 (None awarded in 1992-93)
From 2003-2013: 7 out of 10 (I predict this year will make it 8 out of the last 11)

So what caused the drought in All-Sports Awards and the crumbling infrastructure that occurred from 1988-2003? Some of this could be cyclical but the big financial deficit created by our football program which was shut down in 1986 was at least partially to blame IMHO as we tried to do everything on the cheap for a number years as we gradually dug out of that financial deficit.

In any case, I think this does point out the importance of maintaining top-of-the-line athletic facilities in order to have a successful athletic program. Hopefully, it is a lesson that has been learned and hopefully we have the financial wherewithal to continue to maintain top-of-the-line facilities.

[Signman]

If I remember correctly Elgin helped us recruit 3g.

[OregonShocker]

I agree with all that's been said above; I would only add that building a successful program is like building a house of bricks. Not one brick is "more important" than another, but how they all fit together is critical. Otherwise you have a brick sh**house. So our house looks pretty good now!