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While in Indianapolis this weekend I encountered the Drake bball team and a number of its fans at the hotel where I was staying. Drake is now something like 23-2, and while in Indy defeated then #8 Butler.

Both Drake and Butler are small, private schools with high admissions standards. I haven't seen Drake's facilities, but Butler's...that I have seen...are pretty old. Indy and Des Moines are f'in cold, and gray and ugly in the winter time.

Drake and Butler play in the Missouri Valley Conference, which with the exception of Memphis is top to bottom better than CUSA.

I have to admit, I was envious of the near-giddy Drake faithful hanging out at the bar Saturday night. Meanwhile, our coach at the same time was saying "with our record, to hang in as long as we did, I'm proud of our guys" after another loss.

Are we headed to where Drake has gotten? Where Butler has been? I think Butler has had to overcome perhaps more than we do, because every time they have a decent run, whomever their coach is gets poached to go somewhere else.

Oh, and one other thing. On the plane back to Dallas, I sat across from Tulsa QB Paul Smith, on his way back from the combine. I was forced to listen to him tell the woman next to him how good Tulsa's gonna be, and how great Todd Graham is.

You should've started talking about JJ, kill his game.

Drake has had an amazing turn around in their bb program. Growing up I went to alot of their games and they were never very good...I remember a couple of seasons where they were in single digits for wins. Their model of improvement is very similar to what we are doing...They brought in Dr. Tom Davis to improve the team and here is Drake's record over the last few years:

Year Record
*07-08 24-3
06-07 17-15
05-06 12-19
04-05 13-16
03-04 12-16
02-03 10-20

What Drake is doing is truly phenomenal, especially considering a lot of people expected them to finish dead last in their conference. This is their first year to win a conference championship since 1971.

I think we have had to strip our program down and start all over. We didn't have a team of seasoned players to build on, and we have 9 freshman out of 15 on our roster (14 if you don't include the GT transfer). Of the top 5 scorers at Drake, only 1 is an underclassmen. Of the top 4 scorers at Butler, 3 are Seniors and 1 is a freshman.

Having said that, if we don't at least get a spot in the NIT in the next 2 years, then I will be disappointed. I also think we need to finish in the top 4 in conference regular season records in the next 2 years to continue to build the program.

Granted, I'll admit that I have not been a long-time supporter of the basketball program as many others on this board, so I can understand if they are frustrated and want a more rapid change. The hiring of Doherty really made me start paying attention, so that is I guess in part why I am more willing to accept a slower progress than others.

check the attendance figures for MVC bball games. There are several programs with serious fan interest and the MVC has had as many as 4 bids to the NCAA in recent years. Remember that Tulsa once played with that group...and they have among the stronger fan bases in CUSA. That's one challenge SMU desperately needs to overcome

Yes, I know...winning will solve everything. Of course that's what many want to believe...and at SMU it's true because our delinquent/dormant fan base is spoiled and will only support a winner. The point is that it is easier to recruit to a place and easier to gain national attention when you have a rabid fan base and great game day atmosphere. Not sure SMU ever will. It's "uncool" to wear a basketball on your head. Just not fashionable.

RGV Pony wrote:While in Indianapolis this weekend I encountered the Drake bball team and a number of its fans at the hotel where I was staying. Drake is now something like 23-2, and while in Indy defeated then #8 Butler.

Both Drake and Butler are small, private schools with high admissions standards. I haven't seen Drake's facilities, but Butler's...that I have seen...are pretty old. Indy and Des Moines are f'in cold, and gray and ugly in the winter time.

Drake and Butler play in the Missouri Valley Conference, which with the exception of Memphis is top to bottom better than CUSA.

I have to admit, I was envious of the near-giddy Drake faithful hanging out at the bar Saturday night. Meanwhile, our coach at the same time was saying "with our record, to hang in as long as we did, I'm proud of our guys" after another loss.

Are we headed to where Drake has gotten? Where Butler has been? I think Butler has had to overcome perhaps more than we do, because every time they have a decent run, whomever their coach is gets poached to go somewhere else.

Oh, and one other thing. On the plane back to Dallas, I sat across from Tulsa QB Paul Smith, on his way back from the combine. I was forced to listen to him tell the woman next to him how good Tulsa's gonna be, and how great Todd Graham is.

You should've told him you're the program director for the MOB.

[quote="RGV Pony"]
I have to admit, I was envious of the near-giddy Drake faithful hanging out at the bar Saturday night. Meanwhile, our coach at the same time was saying "with our record, to hang in as long as we did, I'm proud of our guys" after another loss.
quote]

It was former ALL-AMERICAN Koncak night, and a number was retired
for ONLY the second time in SMU history

Koncak spoke at halftime on how THIS team is very similar to the team
he played for his first year at SMU. Then they gradually gained
confidence to become the #2 ranked team in the country in 85

Doh didn't want to rain on the parade.

We did play well until UAB's 3 shooting expert, #24 Vaden who
transferred from Indiana, got hot in the 4th qtr. He killed us with his
avg. 24 points, after doing nothing in the first half.

Charleston Pony wrote:check the attendance figures for MVC bball games. There are several programs with serious fan interest ...

There are a number of conferences that are basically basketball conferences with no football or seriously uncompetitve football. At those schools, the basketball fans are going to be rabid because that is all they have. I attended Valparaiso University in Indiana my freshman year and football was atrocious, but basketball was THE sport.

Drake has gone through some big changes recently. The school's administration and board decided that investing in athletics could be a good way to promote the school's assets. They hired a "name" AD from Arizona State to implement changes. Keno Davis' highly successful succession of his father (Dr. Tom Davis) has been the result.

Remember, this is a once proud program (NCAA final four appearance (loss to UCLA)) who fell into disgrace over 30 years. Hmmmm...

The bottom line is, the changes started at the administrative levels and have worked their way down.