Coaches' Luncheon Summary

[davidnark]

I attended the coaches’ luncheon this afternoon. If you haven’t been in the new Busch Center, make a point of visiting it sometime. It is a fabulous facility.

Doug Woolard spoke for a few minutes and provided an update on the arena and the conference shakeup.

He didn’t provide really provide any news regarding the arena project that has not already been reported on this board. They are excited to have already raised nearly $10 million without any formal design or fundraising materials in place. They will break ground when they receive “commitments” for a “majority” of the project costs. Construction will take approximately two years. They are completing the design phase and don’t expect fundraising to be a big problem after they will have tangible design and fundraising information available. Construction is expected to take 22-24 months. The final two locations are still the softball fields/tennis courts and the grand center properties.

Doug explained that it is still has not been decided whether the Big East football and basketball schools will remain together. There are three possible Big East Scenarios: (1) the conference splits into two conferences and the two new conferences add schools, (2) the Big East remains intact and adds two football schools (they must add at least two football schools to remain D1), or (3) the Big East remains intact and adds 2 or 3 football schools and 2 or 3 basketball schools.

SLU, Charlotte, DePaul, and Marquette have hired the consultant “individually and collectively.” Doug was specifically asked whether they are being marketed as a package, and his answer was no, DePaul and Marquette may elect to go to the Big East without us. The purpose of the consultant is to determine (and help obtain) each of SLU’s conference options once the Big East announces its decision. He expects that this decision will be made in the next 6-8 weeks.

Doug was also asked about the future viability of CUSA. He acknowledged that the WAC is recruiting several of CUSA’s schools, but he believes that there should be enough solidarity for some form of CUSA to exist in the future. He did not opine as to whether SLU would want to be part of the remnants of CUSA.

My prediction: Louisville and Cincy will leave for the Big East (a foregone conclusion); Marquette and DePaul will also move to the Big East (on the basketball side); Charlotte and SLU will move to a slightly reworked A-10; Tulane, Houston, and TCU will move to the WAC; and the remaining schools will remain in CUSA (and maybe add a school or two).

[Box and Won]

Thanks for the recap!

I didn't hear anything about this luncheon ahead of time, otherwise, I would have liked to have gone. Who did the invites go out to?

[davidnark]

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[gister]

Thanks for the summary. I will have to try to make one of the luncheons this year.

In regard to your prediction, was that type of scenario mentioned by Doug? Was the A-10 discussed at all or is your prediction based on everything heard up to now?

How did the attendance compare to when the luncheons were heald at the MAC?

Any soccer news?

[SLU8592]

Thanks for clarifying the relationship with Dempsey. An Atlantic 10 move may not be that bad, so long as the key members remain.

[ACE]

I'd be very disappointed if we break away from Marquette and DePaul. Three Catholic schools in the central time zone would seem to be a natural.

[bills75]

Thanks for the update. When discussing DePaul & Marquette, did DW seem resigned to the notion that they were headed to the Big East? We know change is coming, but I would prefer to be in a conference with schools that are historical rivals such as Marquette and DePaul.

[davidnark]

Doug stated that the conference shakeup is a moving target and that nothing is a certainty. He did, however, acknowledge that there is a possibility that DePaul and Marquette would move to the Big East without SLU and Charlotte.

Doug did NOT mention the A-10 specifically. He stated that the consultant will provide SLU with all of its plausible options when the Big East makes its decision. Presumably, the A-10 would have to be considered an option and, IMO, it will probably be the best option. In fact, Andy Katz of ESPN indicated a few day ago that the A-10 would be interested in SLU and Charlotte. See the post below http://www.billikens.com/cgi-bin/dcforum/d...orum=DCForumID2

Where would we go if not the A-10?

[davidnark]

I would think that it is 50/50 at best that we will be in the same conference with Marqette and DePaul during the 2005-2006 season. Hopefully, we will reconnect with them shortly thereafter.

[thetorch]

The A-10 is our best bet. The only thing wrong is the geography as Dayton would be the closest school to us in that conference. Otherwise it is exactly what we need, a conference with like minded schools, that compete on a national level without football entanglements. I think rivalries would be easily established against Temple, Xavier and St. Joes.

[tseugnekillib]

Two of the things that I took away from today's luncheon were:

1) Mr. Woolard spends the better part of every day on conference re-alignment issues;

2) SLU's new Director of Marketing, Kosha Irby, is a high energy young man willing to try anything to get more fans in the seats. For example, he recently had flyers printed in the Bosnian language featuring SLU's outstanding Bosnian freshman soccer player, Vedad Ibisevic, and distributed the our South St. Louis Bosnian community. Kosha estimated that over 100 Bosnians attended last Saturday's game to root their countryman on! So if any poster has a Billiken marketing idea I'm sure Kosha will be glad to hear from you.

[NashvilleBilliken]

That is great to hear. SLU has needed to improve marketing for quite awhile now, and I'm glad to hear this guy is full of energy. Maybe we'll have some big Greek/Isreali crowds at the game this year

[Schasz]

Thanks a lot for your thorough report on this meeting. Glad to hear that the arena is still on course to be built. It also sounds like SLU is being very proactive in the conference shuffling.

[bauman]

I'd have to disagree. From what I've read it seems that DW is waiting for the Big East to decide what they are going to do b/4 deciding what SLU is going to do. I say screw the Big East-let's take the lead on puting together a great basketball conference and let the Big East BB schools come begging us to add an Eastern Division.

I suggest the following schools to start:

Xavier

Dayton

Butler

Creighton

Depaul

Marquette

Charlotte

SLU

I believe we would develop some great rivalries in that group.

If some or all of the Big East BB schools want to join a Conference with similar interests we could then form an East Div. and possibly shift Charlotte into that group. What a great BB Conf. that would be and travel costs would be far less than we now incur in CUSA. Who wouldn't want to replace S Fla, S Miss, TCU etc with the above listed schools.

[billiken_roy]

actually, with my conversations with doug woolard, i get the impression that was the first choice. the problem is that marquette and depaul have stars in their eyes (why i still dont get, after basketball, it is a loser for marquette and depaul imo) and thus the needed players to make this thing take off and attract the creighton's, xavier's dayton's, are not helping promote the thing. if the big east doesnt take marquette and depaul, i think it might happen. we need to root for the football schools of the big east to snub marquette and depaul.