Request for more info from an expatriate who still care

[Bay Area Billiken]

I posted this at Bernie's Pressbox after seeing the alma mater get further ripped.

I'm a double SLU alumnus. I want the Billikens to win and do it the right way.

When I keep reading about lack of administrative support, can anyone be more specific? Is it a lack of funding? How does SLU compare in funding to other similar schools? How does SLU compare to other Catholic schools that play major college basketball? I think Father Biondi must care. I live in the SF Bay Area now. However, the last two times I've been at SLU games, this year and last, Father Biondi has been at the games.

What do similar schools do or have that SLU allegedly does not?

It is true that the lack of an adequate practice facility has been a problem for decades. West Pine Gym was sub-standard and out of date when I was at SLU. But that is finally being addressed, and the Billikens wil be practicing and playing in a state of the art facility in 2 years.

As for the conference, given the conference domino effect, what was SLU supposed to do? Most of its rivals went to the Big East, and SLU was not invited to go with them. There were 3 choices:

1. Stay in the watered down version of C-USA, in which the sole remaining rival was Memphis;

2. Return to the MVC. There are only 3 current MVC members that were members when SLU was last in the MVC in the mid-1970's- Bradley, Drake, and Wichita State;

3. Move to the A-10, where at least SLU has been reunited with more recent old rivals from the MCC, Xavier and Dayton. And if the 16 team Big East ever breaks up, then SLU is better positioned for the next big conference shakedown. Further, the A-10 allows SLU to have increased exposure on the East Coast.

So of the 3 problems, one (the facility) has been addressed. The conference issue is largely outside SLU's control. SLU has not been allowed to be where it would really like to be. Lastly is this vague administrative support issue. I would like some more clarification there.

[moytoy12]

There have been a few threads on the vague "administrative support issue". In summary, SLU bball ranks 93rd out of 300+ schools in total budget. SLU's recruiting budget for men's sports (not just bball) ranks 236th or close thereto.

In terms of additional support, i think Roy has a better laundry list in his mind than I, so i'll ask that he address that.

[Bay Area Billiken]

Does the Coach have access to a private plane for recruiting visits? I don't even know if that is still within the rules without looking it up. But one would think that coaches in big schools in out of the way places would have this.

As far as I can tell, SLU has the full compliment of assistant coaches for men's basketball.

I've read that there are not enough people working in the Athletic Dept.

I think the key is like real estate: comparables. It would seem that that is where one could tell about support from the administation. At least that is some objective evidence.

I don't know the answers because I am too far away.

When I was at SLU, we were at rock bottom in most areas. Those younger than me don't know how bad it was back then. But I've seen a lot of progress overall the last two decades.

For ages, the big issue was the practice facility. That has finally been addressed.

[Bay Area Billiken]

So is the issue that SLU should be top 50 in total budget?

I'll look back at the threads, as I want to see where the similar schools rank.

SLU has a huge endowment. The last time I looked, SLU's endowment was slightly bigger than that of Georgetown. It was something like 2 1/2 times bigger than Fordham, as I recall.

[brianstl]

The coach does not have access to a private plane for recruiting visits. This may have changed in the past year, but the coaches had to cover their own cell phone charges for calls made and text messages sent to recruits.

[Bay Area Billiken]

The cell phone issue is hard to believe. That ranks up there with Spoon's ice cream cone, except it is much worse. Calling or text messaging a recruit is a business expense that should be borne by the employer.

If the Coach doesn't have access to a private plane, then how can he effectively recruit in the hinterlands?

I'm curious if anyone out there knows whether other schools have private plane access for recruiting. We know that other schools take charter planes to the games.

[Sheltiedave]

Bay Area, if you look at the Big 10, the Big 12, the ACC, the Pac10 -all the successful programs have at LEAST one assistant who one day will be a head coach. There will be a recruiter deluxe with a decade of proven successes. There usually is an assistant with over a decade of major DI experience.

At SLU, we have Brad as the only coach with proven recruiting success, Brad as the only coach with significant high level asst. coaching experience, and finally - Brad as the only coach who can make the transition to HC.

Roll over to the marketing department for the Athletic Department. Underfunded, understaffed, unexciting, and operating very much on the fringes of DI. How many full time personnel do we have in the AD total?

If you wonder why we can hire but not retain fireball ADs like Yow and Levick, compare the 100,000 people that attend athletic events on a double sport weekend with BCS football/basketball at Iowa, for example, against 10,000 for SLU bball/soccer.

Cheryl has been working her trim butt off for more than two years to fund the new arena here. At a BCS school, she would find two donors and be 2/3 complete with fundraising.

We will forever cycle coaches, ala Bennington/Polk/Albrecht/Coleman/Ekker/Grawer/Spoonhour/Romar/Soderburg, unless we buid a program. Five years ago, Heath and Gregory were the flaming hot names. Four years ago Perry made Brad a hot name. Names come and names go, but programs stay around. A good coach in a good program = success.

[Bay Area Billiken]

I know SLU has to compete with the BCS Football schools, but isn't the real comparison that needs to be made the one to the similar non-football playing Division 1 "basketball" schools like that name again, Marquette, as well as DePaul, Xavier, et al.?

I don't include Gonzaga here, unlike Coach Soderberg himself, because Gonzaga has really been in a unique situation in the last decade in which it has been able to dominate its conference in no small part because of an utter lack of competition from its other members. This has allowed Gonzaga the ability to develop a national non-conference schedule. Gonzaga has not had to worry about making the Big Dance, although that is finally not the case this year.

When I was at SLU in the last year of the regrettable Ekker Era, there was serious concern that SLU might drop to D-2. I remember there was some type of study that compared SLU to "Jesuit University X," which we all were pretty sure was Marquette (that name again). I attended the press conference at Busch Center. We went over there not knowing what to expect, half scared to death. That is when the announcement was made that SLU was staying in D-1, leaving the Metro, and joining the then Midwestern City Conference (now Horizon). There was relief among all of us who cared. I don't remember if it was announced then that Rich Grawer had been hired as Coach, but if it wasn't then, it was shortly thereafter. Thank heavens that the then powers in DuBourg Hall saw the light before it was too late. It would seem that they are watching and listening now. We are all in this together.

[Clock_Tower]

Good summary but since this is such a complicated question, I believe there is more:

1. Yes, the arena is being built but recall that SLU adminstration was to begin in 2003 "provided" they raise the appropriate money - $45 million I believe. Construction started in 2006 after SLU received bad local press for several years while the building plans languished. Then, our AD, Doug Woolard, finally left after doing a rotten job including a poor job raising money and selling naming rights, etc. Cheryl Levick was basically brought in to fundraise and get the arena going. Finally, after a decent effort by Cheryl, the administration decided to start the building even though we were not all that close to raising the "required" money. Just prior to building, though, rumors spread about the administration's ideas of either building the 13,000 seat arena as promised but without coaches offices or full practice facilities or to build a smaller arena with the offices and facilities. In classic SLU form, the administration kept silent and no one could get a straight answer. Then, the good news, that construction would start, was announced but many of us were stunned and felt blindsided by the decision to build the arena, with offices and facilities, but on a smaller scale - 10,000. Then, an additional 600 seats apparently were added.

Am I excited about the arena? Of course. Am I concerned about other surprises or cutbacks? Of course. BTW, has anyone heard how much has been raised to date?

2. Our radio and TV contracts are of high school quality. Even before the A-10 disaster of a contract with CSTV this year, our TV exposure consisted almost exclusively of broadcasts on the local access channel for Charter Cable. My understanding is that Charter gave us basically free access and SLU paid for the announcers and cameramen. The quality of picture and sound reminded me my high school and its audio-visual room. NO games on CBS, NBC, ESPN and few were on Fox Sports Midwest. In short, only those with Cable TV (not available to satellite owners) could watch the Bills. Now that we are no longer on Charter, Charter literally is broadcasting highschool basketball in our place.

As for radio, no one can get good reception. Left the game the other night, was on the highway ramp getting onto Hwy 40 with the Savvis/Scotttrade in my sight, and tried to listen to the post-game show, but the reception was so bad I had to drive a good mile before the reception came in. My home is 20 miles from the SLU in West County and I can only get the Bills on 1 radio in my home.

Could go on but this is enough. None of this is Brad's fault.

[Sheltiedave]

So there you have it...marketing, quality asst. coaches with little proven track records, support staff at a bare bones level, tv and radio broadcasts, poor marketing, more poor marketing, every excess dollar going to the new building, and the administration more concerned with being in the middle of the budget pack for Jesuit universities.

Throw in the three or four other significant program speed bumps, and you realize that the arena is the ONLY life preserver keeping us afloat. At this point we are a mom and pop grocery store wandering in a Cosco world.

[billiken_roy]

sheltie said,

"we are a mom and pop grocery store wandering in a Cosco world."