Turned the corner...

[SoCal_Pony]

I am more of a football fan than a basketball one by nature, but you guys are nuts if you don’t realize there is far more upside to our BB program than our FB program.

1) No BCS
2) Attendance issues easier to fix
3) You can schedule Top 10 at home
4) Season-ending reward for having one of best teams in the country is not a meaningless game in El Paso

Now that SMU has defeated ORU and will continue to dance, my interest in this Jacksonville game is easily on par with my interest in the Army game.

Beat Jacksonville and I will be happier with our BB program than FB this year.

[Stallion]

I'll agree with the point that "the Football program was Dead until June Jones miraculous brought us back to life" argument is OVERBLOWN. All SMU sports can now compete and excell with all CUSA teams based upon the Model that is now in place. When you have the Model in place you can attract top coaches who in turn should be able to get the players especially when you are paying the type of money SMU is. That includes if June Jones wants to run off and join a Buddhist monastery next week. This is a very good job in a mediocre league with excellent facilities and financial support. Basketball has improved facilities but obvious needs renovations to Moody which would be at the top of my priority list probably even higher than the Indoor Practice facility which is also needed. Both need the lead donor to step up and I would have no problem if either were done first based on where the "money" wanted to go. I have the feeling the "money" will go to Football because Doherty hasn't got the program straightened out in 5 years

[One Trick Pony]

I think everyone of you need to sit down and watch under cover brother.

[NickSMU17]

I give JJ a lot of credit, but it could have been any big name coach with prominent booster support....

However, it wasn't anyone else, and he did come in and with the boosters made the school realize that things needed to change, and they have...

[SoCal_Pony]

Basketball has improved facilities but obvious needs renovations to Moody which would be at the top of my priority list probably even higher than the Indoor Practice facility which is also needed. Both need the lead donor to step up and would have no problem if either we done first based on where the money wanted to go.

Agree, I would also prefer Moody upgrades first.

To me, Moody renovation strategy is pretty straightforward; move big money donors into suites.

This accomplishes several things:

Reduces the size of Moody, Suites accommodate big donors, Students only in lower bowl.

I also think they should have a giant end-zone suite for MC donors over $1k to eat their meatballs and drink beer.

[Treadway21]

I like the way you think.

[hoopmanx]

First, I am not a hoops hater....

Answer to point 1....isn't not being committed the same as dead...and didn't it take JJ to wake us up from that...Basketball can always survive at schools that don't want to commit to football...I didn't need validation to know that SMU in the middle of the largest pool of talent of high school football players could be revived, but the school didn't want to revive it... I'm not in the football game, but I am smarter than Chizek and leach combined...they aren't telling you anything I couldn't have told you 20 years ago...

Point 2 ...If it wasn't Geary then it was DOH, either way someone got us in trouble and if it was DOH, then like Tubbs he should have been fired...If we don't lay the blame elsewhere then the black community should expect us to fire DOH for major violations when we justified firing tubbs for minor...I know I will never hear the truth but I find it odd that Doh takes no heat for the violations. Quick Question, was the compliance guy we fired only in charge of basketball compliance? I ask b/c there is no way Reinbold wouldn't be text messaging every recruit's parents if he thought that was ok...and the football team would be in the same position as the basketball team.

You can't claim race was a problem in basketball when all we have done the past 3 years is extend stereotypes...

1) lack of commitment has nothing to do w/ceiling of a program or being dead. JJ didn't wake us up, we showed commitment by paying 2.5 and making needed changes in admissions etc b/c we invested that money. When those things happened, whether it was JJ or Paul Johnson, the corner was going to be turned. You once said JJ was the only coach who could have gotten us postseason in year 2, and that's just bs. Basketball programs that survive minus football, are generally basketball schools first, that can accept what used to be called partials, see the Big East. You have to grasp the difference in the prospect pool of each sport, w/regards to our elevated admissions. That hurt hoops in ways that can't be imagined, far worse than what it does to football.

2) It wasn't Doh, and the reason we even heard about this is b/c the 'violations' didn't go through the proper channels. Any assistant that takes these things straight to compliance and not through the basketball office, might as well be hung for treason. I know that's not the popular stance amongst holier than thou types, but every program in America, other than ours, buries those texts.

I'm more than willing to bet Reinbold and those guys made/make similar texts, but were smart enough not to self-report. That's just the reality of the business. Also, in case you didn't know, the football staff used to get negative recruited by other schools for lack of diversity on the staff. It was brought to their attention a ton the first few years. Since then, they've tried to address some of these issues. Basketball has been through a ton of assistants, but it's never been regarded as a primarily white staff. Our current recruit coordinator and director of ops are black guys, which accounts for 50% of the staff under Doh. The two years prior to that, it was more than 50% etc.

[hoopmanx]

Love what you guys are proposing w/regards to Moody, and yes our ceiling is far higher in hoops.

[East Coast Mustang]

Agree, I would also prefer Moody upgrades first.

To me, Moody renovation strategy is pretty straightforward; move big money donors into suites.

This accomplishes several things:

Reduces the size of Moody, Suites accommodate big donors, Students only in lower bowl.

I also think they should have a giant end-zone suite for MC donors over $1k to eat their meatballs and drink beer.

Absolutely needs to happen. I like all of those ideas. Get the students as close too the floor as possible. Moody holds what, 9,000 now? I remember those Memphis games a few years ago when it was about half-full, and the place was rocking while the outcome of the game was still uncertain. We threw an alley-oop to either tie or go ahead (can't remember) in the second half and then the genius in-game entertainment people decided to display the kiss cam during Calipari's timeout. Sucked the life out of the place. This still bothers me, obviously.

Cut the capacity down to about 7,500 with suites for the wine and cheese crew. Also, are there still no bleachers behind the one basket? Just an empty space? That always looked stupid and bush league to me. Fix that. I wish we'd configure the place like Duke does, with the students on top of the court opposite the team benches. Of course, it would help if we could actually get students to come to the games. Scheduling teams that aren't D3 could probably help with that. Also, I know they just installed the scoreboard a few years ago, but c'mon, seriously? That thing is a relic from the mid-90's. Get a real HD board hanging from the rafters. This is 2011, and this is SMU. It needs to look legit.

Finally, I've never been a fan of the new court they installed several years ago. The color of the wood bothers me. Also, bring back the huge Pony logo that spans 1/3 of the court!

[NickSMU17]

Find the quote where I said that...I just put it in another thread that it could have been any big name coach the big boosters backed, but it wasn't, it was him...The corner would have never been turned without COC...the end...The school was content to be dormant in football, any argument against that is dumb.

I know exactly what role race takes place at SMU, but you continue to pound the idea that it only affects bball, now you concede if hurts every sport on campus...now we agree..

You still haven't answered what we have done in the past 3 years where race relations are better? Was it keeping a white coach with a losing record and giving him an extension? Was it firing black assts. to hire white ones? Was it major texting violation instead of tide and burgers?
I just want someone to answer the fact that we sucked for 5 years because we were racist and now we aren't racist and we are good now...I am all for it, but just don't see it...How has Doh improved these relations? If he has, then I give him a ton of credit, but maybe an example would be helpful.

Vandy is a basketball school first? Nd is a basketball school first? how about USC, Boston College? We can accept anyone we want, and really have been able to for the past couple of years....Certainly we have been able to get kids that can run the Princeton offense in here for years, just took 5 years to figure that out...

Of Course the ceiling is higher in bball than football...no bcs, less kids, ect. That is also why it should have been a much easier turn-around...

I respect your opinions, but you distort things the way you want them distorted, and in the same instance you use those opportunities to slap around the football team...

I love SMU as much as anyone, and want all the teams to be excellent, but calling me a hater when you bash football all the time is dumb. People can have different opinions on here other than the ones you spin straight from the basketball office.

[Buddha]

Not to get off track and talk about basketball on the basketball board, but how will we contend with Jacksonville's full-court and three-quarters-court press?

[hoopmanx]

Find the quote where I said that...I just put it in another thread that it could have been any big name coach the big boosters backed, but it wasn't, it was him...The corner would have never been turned without COC...the end...The school was content to be dormant in football, any argument against that is dumb.

I know exactly what role race takes place at SMU, but you continue to pound the idea that it only affects bball, now you concede if hurts every sport on campus...now we agree..

You still haven't answered what we have done in the past 3 years where race relations are better? Was it keeping a white coach with a losing record and giving him an extension? Was it firing black assts. to hire white ones? Was it major texting violation instead of tide and burgers?
I just want someone to answer the fact that we sucked for 5 years because we were racist and now we aren't racist and we are good now...I am all for it, but just don't see it...How has Doh improved these relations? If he has, then I give him a ton of credit, but maybe an example would be helpful.

Vandy is a basketball school first? Nd is a basketball school first? how about USC, Boston College? We can accept anyone we want, and really have been able to for the past couple of years....Certainly we have been able to get kids that can run the Princeton offense in here for years, just took 5 years to figure that out...

Of Course the ceiling is higher in bball than football...no bcs, less kids, ect. That is also why it should have been a much easier turn-around...

I respect your opinions, but you distort things the way you want them distorted, and in the same instance you use those opportunities to slap around the football team...

I love SMU as much as anyone, and want all the teams to be excellent, but calling me a hater when you bash football all the time is dumb. People can have different opinions on here other than the ones you spin straight from the basketball office.

I never said race only effected basketball, but it effects it a ton more than football, and doesn't touch other sports on campus. Look at the prospect pool demographics for the last time in hoops. It doesn't effect women's volleyball, swimming, golf, tennis, soccer etc. You want to win this argument so badly, you're just using flawed logic left and right. There is only two culture based sports internationally and football isn't one.

Football is an american sport, hoops in an urban culture. Believe me, part of my job is devising & implementing marketing strategy. It's why Nike & Adidas didn't care if UA got into football, and made barriers for entry pretty damn easy. Do you think they are making it easy in hoops? Nope. You know why? Cause hoops culture owns 100 pairs of kicks, and wears hoops gear everywhere. How often do you see kids in football jerseys and cleats. You really don't, and that's reflected worldwide. Hoops is a retail monster, which is why the NFL is more popular in the States, but NBA players make 50x the amount football players make in endorsements.

SMU football was never labeled racist, nor was any other sport on campus other than men's hoops. You keep saying you understand the role of race, but the more you refute, the more I know you are w/o a clue in that regard. I'm legitimately on the ground w/this stuff, not guessing. A hoops program labeled racist, is about as close to the death penalty as you can get, w/o suspending actual play. How long has it taken hoops to regain some form? Not nearly as long as it did football. You can compare Doh's 5 to JJs 3, but that doesn't begin to cover the ground we've had to make up. It would be like SMU football getting turned around under Rossley, albeit that's slightly exaggerated and certainly not apples to apples.

Doh has improved relations quite a bit, but it's taken some time, and well placed industry massaging. To say we've all called in as many favors as possible would be an understatement. The local angle was overcome by hard work, certain hires, lots of favors, palm greasing and a slew of other contributing factors. I go to the events, I see our coaches, and have unique insight on the program, b/c it's not in their job description to completely shut me out. I'm sure they wish they could. Of course, they hate I post, and I occasionally bit on a slight of hand or propaganda, but I'm there when they need me, and they know that. That said, I've never been anyone's 'yes man', and it shows over the history of my posts.

Yes, ask anyone, Vandy is a basketball school first and it's not close. My family boosters Vandy and has since the 80's, again not guessing. Again, looking for hoops schools, check the Big East and see their level of commitment to it. We can't accept anyone we want, cause most of the kids we'd want in hoops, would have to have cooked transcripts for us to even look their way. Again, before you step up, understand the difference in the prospect pools. There are far more natural qualifiers in football, far more.

I agree, it took far too long to find the right system. Nobody is denying that Doh has had major roster issues, not to mention temper issues etc. That said, JJs job has been cake by comparison to what Doh inherited, cake. Believe what you want, but it's not grounded in anything, just opinion. Very little of what I spew is opinion, it's what we talk about on the trail etc. People that would know, AAU heads, high school coaches, apparel reps, promoters, handlers, barbershop types, hangers-on, media etc. That's my rolodex so to speak

[Stallion]

Really not much of a difference in the racial makeup of a June Jones team and the Baketball team these days. We have about doubled the number of minorities recruited to Football since the early days of our return from the DP when the Model cut out about 60% of the Top players in Texas. We were certainly considered elitist under the admission standards under Gregg and Rossley. Now June Jones has recruited 40 African Americans out of 60 recruits in the last 2 classes which equals 66%. The scholarship players on current BB roster include 9 African Americans out of 15 or 60%. Actually a higher percentage of African Americans recruited to Football than on the BB Roster since the Model has been changed to allow us to recruit a larger slice of the talent pool-its demonstrative evidence just how far we've come in increasing the size of our talent pool and evening the playing field. However 12 African Americans didn't qualify under NCAA admission standards in the 2009 and 2010 classes and 2 more didn't qualify under SMU's standards in 2010 so that has reduced the numbers a bit.

[mustangxc]

What would we be without:

McMurry-NCAA Division 3
Dallas Christian-National Christian College AA
Wayland Baptist-NAIA
Central Arkansas-341 of 345
Grambling-332
Alabama st-309
Southeastern Missouri St-308

About 10-14 against teams not hovering around the Bottom 10% or below

not to mention
Lamar 268
Portland St 263

and not to forget those tough losses to:

UC Riverside 266
Louisiana Tech 247

Amen. I am not sure we have turned any corners particularly when most of the schedule is against teams below the top 150. Turning the corner to me suggests that we are competitive with teams in the top 100 and that we cannot claim.

Memphis, Southern Miss, Tulsa, and East Carolina are all top 100 teams we beat. UCF Marshall and UTEP are also top 100 teams we played close. We lost to Marshall by 2, UCF by 3, and UTEP by 3. I don't know how to help you if you cannot see something as straightforward as that.

[mustangxc]

if "everyone" goes to a bowl game then "everyone" goes to a post season basketball tournament... how many tournaments does it take for SMU basketball to get into the post season?!!!

and your argument that SMU bb is better suited then FB is funny, because everyone knows one player can turn around a basketball program. I didnt see that one player this year. your "opinion" on guys who sat out this year is purely your opinion. we have proven players on the football team... you know what im just going to stop there because all you have given is opinion and there have been numerous posts to prove you wrong (based in fact)

Did you not see any games this season? If you had you would know that Papa Dia singlehandedly carried us for much of the season.