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I wonder how much their struggles in the big east have had an affect on how potential coaches view SMU in the big east. They are a small private school in a major market/pro sports town that does not have a strong fan base or any connection with the ciIy they are located in. They are far away and isolated from the rest of the big east and have struggled to attract any local talent from Chicago of which there is an insane amount of talent. And DePaul basketball has a much prouder history than SMU.....and they can't win a game in the big east

Dwan wrote:I wonder how much their struggles in the big east have had an affect on how potential coaches view SMU in the big east. They are a small private school in a major market/pro sports town that does not have a strong fan base or any connection with the ciIy they are located in. They are far away and isolated from the rest of the big east and have struggled to attract any local talent from Chicago of which there is an insane amount of talent. And DePaul basketball has a much prouder history than SMU.....and they can't win a game in the big east

DePaul analogy does not apply. DePaul has other BE teams in Milwaukee and South Bend, plus Louisville and Cinncinnati are not that far. Second, DePaul's rich BB tradition has been missing for decades, since they lost their connection to Chicago HS BB coaches and stars. Third, they play their games near O'Hare in Rosemont, which is far from DePaul campus and Chicago HS's. Fourth, sports is a non-factor for students on a urban campus. No football.

Alternatively, the better model is Marquette with no football and urban too. They committed to championship caliber BB, compete with an NBA team while using the same venue.

I think having to schlep out to OHare is a major issue for them. Rosemont is also kind of redneck in a Chicago way.

Colors are Red and Blue. that's about the only similarity. Don't know how they acquired the colors..........could have been Harvard Red and Yale Blue, but doubtful.

This part is similar to SMU.

"They are a small private school in a major market/pro sports town that does not have a strong fan base or any connection with the ciIy they are located in."

SMU 86 wrote:This part is similar to SMU.

"They are a small private school in a major market/pro sports town that does not have a strong fan base or any connection with the ciIy they are located in."

Hardly:

DePaul remains, for the 14th consecutive year, the nation's largest Catholic university, with a total student enrollment of 25,398.

And, Marquette, St. John's, Seton Hall and Villanova do not seem to have the same challenge in their pro markets. We do not need to invent more issues.

Dwan wrote:I wonder how much their struggles in the big east have had an affect on how potential coaches view SMU in the big east. They are a small private school in a major market/pro sports town that does not have a strong fan base or any connection with the ciIy they are located in. They are far away and isolated from the rest of the big east and have struggled to attract any local talent from Chicago of which there is an insane amount of talent. And DePaul basketball has a much prouder history than SMU.....and they can't win a game in the big east

If you hire the wrong people, you won't win.
- Look at UT Football pre-Mack Brown, while not horrible, they weren't great considering the advantages that they had.
- If UNC had kept Doherty, would they be annual contenders for the National title?

If we have the right people (including AD and president) involved in our BB program, we can do fine. If we hire Doh 2.0, we are doomed.

In other words, we:
1. Hire the wrong guy
2. Fail to recruit
3. Lose every game
4. Lose BE membership
5. Turn BB into Club Sport
6. Lose enrollment
7. Lose Endowment
8. Convert Moody to Band Hall
9. Receive second DP for all sports
10. Return our diplomas

And for the bad news? Save us from the Internet, please. This doom and gloom is getting old. We are less than a month into recreating and rebranding this sport.

DePaul is not a small school. They have 25,400 students.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depaul_university