Not a bad article... I think it paints a very accurate picture of what Kids want in a program today. Unfortunately some of the quotes are quite sad.
"The big thing with today's kids is how fast can you get me to the NBA?" Izzo said. "That's what matters the most. Not facilities, not tradition."
This is why College Basketball will never be the same again. And that is too bad!
"We've kind of been old school here with facilities, and it's getting us behind," Indiana coach Mike Davis said. "It used to be that tradition mattered more, but times have changed. Some schools have unbelievable facilities now, and it matters."
Well duh? The Tradition at IU is gone. What is left that would entice recruits? Not the coach. I wonder where IU will find the money to improve the facilities? Not a dime from me!
Mike Davis is another believer that the five championship banners hanging from Assembly Hall don't carry as much weight when it comes to recruiting today's players. "Kids today are very impressionable,'' Davis said. "Plus, parents want what's best for their kids. Facilities are a big factor when it comes to determining what school a kid goes to. Now, will facilities win you a game? No, but facilities will help you get the best kids available."
You are right Mike, those 5 banners don't mean a thing because recruits know that if they come to play while you are still the coach they won't be adding a 6th. And Parents do want the best for their kids... Could that be why you don't have any recruits for 06? They don't think you are the best coach for their kids? And you are correct, facilities won't win a game and the last 3 years have proven that your coaching doesn't help either.
"We've talked about the facilities here, but I'm not sure how long it's going to take," Mike Davis said. "We've definitely talked about getting a weight room. That would be a priority. A practice gym would be great, but we really haven't had a problem getting Assembly Hall. There were only 10 days last season we couldn't get Assembly Hall."
Hmmm... I wonder how far $300,000 would have gone towards a new weight room?
2 comments:
OK! If an outstanding facility will bring excellent basketball players to IU, right on! I will support a new basketball stadium. We will NOT fill the stadium to capacity nor will we WIN championships, but I definitely will have excellent seats. Then we can find a coach that can recruit and win basketball games. Then we will fill the stadium. Keep dreaming!
Now why would IU need to find a coach that can recruit and win basketball games? IU has the best recruiter in the country in Mike Davis, or so he has told the media and in turn the media has told all of us. And Mike can win games... he took IU to the Final Four and you can't forget about being the 4th seed in the B10 last year.
He needs a contract extension in the worst way. And IU needs a new weight room, a new practice gym, a renovated locker room(oh wait they did that 2 years ago), new coaches offices (oh wait they did that 3 years ago), a new scoreboard (oh wait they did that this year), and a new arena because Assembly Hall is just too big. You can't expect to sell out 17,000 seats anymore. A 8,000 seat facility would be perfect. And yes your seats would improve in an arena that small.
;-)
Post a Comment