slu72 Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 After Friday's announcement it's clear SLU is now dealing with a major train wreck that will go far beyond just the BB program. Other causal effects could be negative impact on future fund raising efforts, reduced enrollments, cash sucking bad PR law suits, valuable leadership time wasted dealing with what amounts to an "animal house" fiasco, bigger deficits in the Athletic Department, etc. Where the tentacles of this affair could go boggles the imagination. The above issues are all going to have be addressed by SLU's leadership team, and it goes without saying that many on here aren't real confident they are up to the task. We all know the immediate adverse effects the Basketball program will face go well beyond just the W-L column. Recruiting of high level talent becomes more difficult, the possibility of multiple transfers, a frustrated good coach could depart, attendance falls off the cliff, and loss of potential revenues from post season tournaments. As a precedent, look at what happened to Mizzery after the Quinn Snyder fiasco. SLU is not a Louisville, a UNC, a UK that rapidly recovered from their train wrecks. SLU's comeback will be more difficult as we don't have the fan base, enough big $$ donors, or the rich traditions and brand names of these programs. The ancillary effects mentioned above aren't going to be easy to fix either. This affair will leave a sour taste in a lot of mouths for some time to come. And those mouths are on both sides of the coin; the pro athletic donors as well as the anti athletic donors. So, what can SLU do? My first suggestion is to hire one of the best crisis firms out there. Yes, it will be costly, but nothing the current Admin has done proves they're capable of dealing with this mess. Second, we need a major review of our current leadership team. I'm not fully aware of the problems with the Med School, the Law School, and at Parks. You who are closer to the school than I am, however, have mentioned they too are experiencing difficulties. They just don't make it into the public forum like a sports team's troubles do. The problem here is who's on the review panel; community leaders, prominent area business people, leaders of activist groups, retired college educators? This is a sky is falling post, but after what came down on Friday goes so far beyond the pale, SLU has to undertake some major action to not only save the Basketball program but the School's standing as one of America's top Catholic academic institutions. We have some pretty clever and smart posters on here, and it will be interesting to read what your thoughts are about how SLU recovers from this self inflicted perfect storm. Bay Area Billiken, NextYearBill, Schasz and 2 others like this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bay Area Billiken Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 The immediate retention of a competent, even handed crisis management firm seems like a good idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARon Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 The first question is whether or not the Board of Trustees and administration even see this as a crisis. Quite frankly I doubt it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLU_Lax Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 I thought we all have faith in Chris May's leadership. Certainly he has developed a plan already for handling this entire situation. I am sure we will do great in his capable hands. I am sure the school will be fine with just going with the status quo for as long as possible. Big, bold changes is not really what SLU does. The passage of time will eventually allow the Athletic Department and the school to recover from this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 13 minutes ago, ARon said: The first question is whether or not the Board of Trustees and administration even see this as a crisis. Quite frankly I doubt it. would not surprise me that the board of trustees is that out of touch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jzstldc Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 I agree with you that university leadership needs to be looked at and a crisis management team is a great idea. I definitely do not have any confidence in Pestello's leadership, or lack thereof, and my thoughts about the school won't change until he is gone. I was sick of Biondi towards the end and felt it was time for new leadership but it is sad we went to the level of Pestello. Biondi over his time at SLU did phenomenal things for the school and too bad his successor has been nothing but an embarrassment. i had the same reaction as most on this board when I heard the news, our team is doomed for awhile. The more I think about it for the time being I am just trying to stay positive. I am not like others already saying they won't be a fan going forward (they likely never were true fans to start) and are already looking for other teams. SLU is my school and always will be. If we take some huge steps back, I will still watch all games I can but maybe I won't take the 2 hour trip to Dayton as much, or won't make the 4 hour drive to STL as often but I will ALWAYS be a fan. If Gordon decommits, Ford leaves, French leaves, etc then I will officially say we are screwed for the indefinite future and will be more similar to Duquesne or Fordham than Dayton/Xavier etc. Hopefully those don't happen and Ford and his recruiting/ relationships can keep us in a good position. I am a frequent reader but don't post very often so thanks for letting me share my thoughts! CBFan likes this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 12 minutes ago, SLU_Lax said: I thought we all have faith in Chris May's leadership. Certainly he has developed a plan already for handling this entire situation. I am sure we will do great in his capable hands. I am sure the school will be fine with just going with the status quo for as long as possible. Big, bold changes is not really what SLU does. The passage of time will eventually allow the Athletic Department and the school to recover from this. you dont think may has made recommendations from day one of this mess? i suspect he has and was told by the higher ups and attorney's to basically sit down and follow orders. i know chris and while he has played the good employee, i can tell by body language he is as frustrated as any of us just like coach ford who has been brought almost to tears the last few games knowing this is killing what he has done thus far with the billikens program. unfortunately ultimately may and ford dont make the rules and if they want a job, they are forced to comply in this case. this goes far beyond the athletic department and rests solely on the president and the board of trustees for letting the wrong people make the decisions for all the wrong reasons instead of doing their jobs as leaders of an organization like they should have. instead of listening to their own employees (may and ford) and trusting them to see this for what it really is they have let a parent, third party attorneys and their own biased title 9 people run the show. shame on the president and the board of trustees. they know not what they have done. and they have about a day to fix it imo. the moment these players are gone from saint louis university, the real backlash begins. be it boosters walking away, opposing coaches using negative recruiting against ford, and other players and recruits leaving saint louis university. i would be shocked if may and ford havent sent that word up the line. i would be shocked if the members of the board of trustees that are also basketball boosters havent voiced their opinions and i hope that other program boosters have voiced their displeasure to this injustice. Schasz likes this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLU_Lax Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 1 hour ago, billiken_roy said: you dont think may has made recommendations from day one of this mess? i suspect he has and was told by the higher ups and attorney's to basically sit down and follow orders. i know chris and while he has played the good employee, i can tell by body language he is as frustrated as any of us just like coach ford who has been brought almost to tears the last few games knowing this is killing what he has done thus far with the billikens program. unfortunately ultimately may and ford dont make the rules and if they want a job, they are forced to comply in this case. this goes far beyond the athletic department and rests solely on the president and the board of trustees for letting the wrong people make the decisions for all the wrong reasons instead of doing their jobs as leaders of an organization like they should have. instead of listening to their own employees (may and ford) and trusting them to see this for what it really is they have let a parent, third party attorneys and their own biased title 9 people run the show. shame on the president and the board of trustees. they know not what they have done. and they have about a day to fix it imo. the moment these players are gone from saint louis university, the real backlash begins. be it boosters walking away, opposing coaches using negative recruiting against ford, and other players and recruits leaving saint louis university. i would be shocked if may and ford havent sent that word up the line. i would be shocked if the members of the board of trustees that are also basketball boosters havent voiced their opinions and i hope that other program boosters have voiced their displeasure to this injustice. +1 I am always quick to blame Chris for systemic problems that exist at the top institutional level and outside the AD. It is tendency that I will probably continue to exhibit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARon Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby Metzinger Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 2 minutes ago, ARon said: And the hand sanitizer in DuBourg needs a refill... almaman likes this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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