again a review of the schaus hires....

[molly jabali]

...in my mind, everyone golden...except jane.and it is sad that so few people care about a great program there, that there is not more of an outcry.

rectify,jim...rectify.

[SpanglerFan316]

Are you drunk? Just asking.

[tgcshock]

Re: again a review of the schaus hires....

...in my mind, everyone golden...except jane.and it is sad that so few people care about a great program there, that there is not more of an outcry.

rectify,jim...rectify.

I suspect that it is Jim's "golden record" that partially mitigates against a "fire Jane" movement. As long as Jim thinks the program has a chance to move in the right direction under Jane (or at least that he has no better alternative on the horizon) many of us are reluctant to think that we have a better "inside view" of the program than he does. I do think that this year is absolutely critical for Jane to show movement in the right direction with this program. I think Jim's patience springs in part from how low the program had sunk and a realistic sense that it was going to take time to rebuild. Now, however, we are at a point where the program either shows that it is going somewhere or it isn't.

[SpanglerFan316]

tgcshock: I don't think Jane is in trouble. She is the "Barry Hinson" of MVC women's basketball.

[rrshock]

tgcshock: I don't think Jane is in trouble. She is the "Barry Hinson" of MVC women's basketball.

No, she's in trouble. WSU doesn't just drag coaches along anymore. Barry would have been fired here by now. Either she wins this year, or we'll be seeing a new coach. JS can only take losing so much.

[Snapshot9]

Although she looked good on paper, she is just a plan that didn't come together. High profile colleges, or colleges that want a high profile have
high expectations, and if they are not met then the college has to make
other arrangements.

[1972Shocker]

I don't think Jim Schaus has unlimited patience when it comes to Jane.

Jane has even made this point publicly. I think Jane is on the hot seat. I don't think it is an accident that she has had turnover among her assistant coaches.

Jim will probably be more patient with Jane then he would the Men's basketball coach for several reasons:

1. There is not as much fan pressure simply because there are not very many fans.

2. Lack of success in the women's program does not have a great impact on the athletic program budget. Again simply because there are not very many fans. SASO memberships not required to buy season tickets.

3. There are not many well-heeled fans in the wings to contribute funds to buyout a contract like there are with men's basketball. Why take the $ hit when there are not very many fans anyway.

That said I think another season similar to last year and Jane will be done.

Personally, I hope Jane can pull a rabbit out of her hat and turn this thing around. The fact that I think it will take some magic for that to happen will tell you what I think of the chances of that happening (at least this year).

Question To The Board: Is the hiring of Mike Gillespie as an assistant, the de facto hiring of Jane's replacement? Does a reportedly well thought of men's assistant coach uproot his family to take an assistant position at a somewhat downtrodden women's program with a Coach who is under fire and perhaps on her way out at the end of his 1st season in the program?

I'm not sure what Mike Gillespie's other options for employment were, but I don't think it is impossible that Jane's replacement has already been hired.

Jim Schaus is very sharp and very calculating and not prone to accept mediocrity (or worse). In looking at our other women programs, Volleyball (Chris Lamb), Track/CC (Steve Rainbolt), Tennis (Chris Young), Golf (Chris Gomez), Softball (Tim Walton/Mike Perniciaro), it's clear that Jim is not opposed to hiring men to head up his women's programs. (I would also point out that we have some very fine women assistant coaches in these programs).

Maybe Jane's already out at the end of this season and either moves on or maybe Jim has a position that could use her PR skills within his Athletic Department.

I have no idea whether or not this is what is really happening. Probably not, but is it totally out of the realm of possibliites?

[SpanglerFan316]

tgcshock: I don't think Jane is in trouble. She is the "Barry Hinson" of MVC women's basketball.

No, she's in trouble. WSU doesn't just drag coaches along anymore. Barry would have been fired here by now. Either she wins this year, or we'll be seeing a new coach. JS can only take losing so much.

When JS fires her, I'll believe you. Until then, she is "teflon Jane" to me.

[WuDrWu]

We all have our own opinion, but I would listen to rr.


Jane is trying whatever she can to turn things around but I think the talent shortage is too much to overcome which is unfortunate because the program is being run very well outside of the on the court lack of success which is, I understand, the most important thing.

[1972Shocker]

tgcshock: I don't think Jane is in trouble. She is the "Barry Hinson" of MVC women's basketball.

No, she's in trouble. WSU doesn't just drag coaches along anymore. Barry would have been fired here by now. Either she wins this year, or we'll be seeing a new coach. JS can only take losing so much.

When JS fires her, I'll believe you. Until then, she is "teflon Jane" to me.

She may be Teflon Jane. But JS doesn't seem like the type to accept mediocrity (or worse) to me. He can't ignore the bottom line forever, that being:

1. Jane has the poorest winning % of any Women's coach in Shocker history and Darryl Smith has the only career winning record and he was just barely above 0.500. Furhermore, Jane has been here during the post-Jackie Styles years in the MVC and arguably the league has been down since Jackie has moved on. So the bar for success has not been set terribly high. Furthermore, Jane had the advantage of the Roundhouse Renaissance to help her succeed.

2. Support for the Women's Basketball team is very weak in what is supposedly a basketball town.

If they have another poor year this year and Jane survives then Teflon Jane may very well become her permanent moniker.

[1972Shocker]

Here is a Question for the Board: Why has it been so difficult for WSU to develop a successful women's basketball program?

We've done it in Volleyball. Women's Tennis is very good. The Softball team has been solid lately. Women's Track/CC has been dominant in the MVC lately.

The MVC is an average league at best for Women's basketball, especially in the post Jackie Stiles era. Yet the Shockers have never won an MVC (or a Gateway Conference) championship since they joined the Gateway Conference in 1983. I believe our hightest finish was a tie for 2nd in 1999-2000 under Darryl Smith.

The fact that we are competitive in most of our other women sports gives hope that it can be done. Why it has been so difficult to happen in Women's Basketball is somewhat of a mystery to me.

[dregn]

My thought on that is the talent of the players. I hate to say it that way because I am a fan and I respect them for their abilities and effort they give. There is still a wide gap between the best players and the next level of players. At Wisconsin it was easier to recruit the top level of girls then it is at WSU. Most any of our starters wouldn't even get off the bench on most any of the top teams. The money isn't there to evaluate talent across the country. That's one reason why a player like Stiles gets over looked by big schools. Many of our players from outside of the bordering states were girls that former contacts of Jane called her to inform her about. Until we get a few diamonds in the rough with a great work ethic and the ability to play as a team we won't compete on a national level.

[1972Shocker]

My thought on that is the talent of the players. I hate to say it that way because I am a fan and I respect them for their abilities and effort they give. There is still a wide gap between the best players and the next level of players. At Wisconsin it was easier to recruit the top level of girls then it is at WSU. Most any of our starters wouldn't even get off the bench on most any of the top teams. The money isn't there to evaluate talent across the country. That's one reason why a player like Stiles gets over looked by big schools. Many of our players from outside of the bordering states were girls that former contacts of Jane called her to inform her about. Until we get a few diamonds in the rough with a great work ethic and the ability to play as a team we won't compete on a national level.

Forget about competing on a National level. I would be happy with being consistently competitive in the MVC. Maybe even occassionally win an MVC championship. I think we can be competitive in the NIT. It will be a long while before we can expect to be competitive in the NCAA or with the Big Girls. As you say, just too much discrepancy in talent between the haves and the have nots.

[dregn]

As I was typing that I was talking more about the national level. There isn't really a good reson why we can't be competitive in the MVC.

[1972Shocker]

Back to the topic of the thread. The actual hiring of Jane was not a bad decision, although I think you could debate whether or not the firing of Darryl Smith was justified.

Jane's resume was stellar and, in fact, her pedigree is probably the best of any women's coach ever hired at WSU.

Unfortunately, the results have not been good to date.