Rutan to leave Xavier?

[CookieMonsterSig]

Talked to a student today, rumor on campus during finals was Katie Rutan was leaving Xavier. Any one else hear this or just some hot air?

Losing Katie would be a loss for Coach Waugh and the program.

UPDATE: Katie has asked for and received a release from the program. Katie Rutan will transfer to a school near Philadelphia.

[eastcoast]

yes it is true.

[diehardfan]

Heard same thing on campus. Gone.

[GreatWhiteNorth]

Very disappointed if this is true. I wonder if the coaching change has something to do with it. I guess we will find out the reason soon, but I still hope that this is just a rumor.

[cinskyline]

This is very surprising to me given that she was quoted in the paper about being happy that Amy was named head coach.

Wonder if there are other reasons why she is leaving?

Either way, this is very bad news.

[muskiefan82]

She doesn't want to be coached by someone who can shoot from 3 better than her.

[Perma Fro]

She doesn't want to be coached by someone who can shoot from 3 better than her.

Or better defense...

[xuwin]

I'm not sure that it's that big of a loss. She had a very disappointing year following her very promising freshmen year and her defense was poor to say the least.

[wbbfan]

Or better defense...

How about we ease up on a kid who gave a lot of excitement to Xavier basketball?? And who can shoot the lights out. Thanks Katie. Good luck .

And let's not forget ...
Broke current assistant coach Amy Waugh's freshman single-season record for most made 3-point field goals. Rutan ended the season with a record 85 3-point field goals.

Great player. She will be missed.

[cinskyline]

How about we ease up on a kid who gave a lot of excitement to Xavier basketball?? And who can shoot the lights out. Thanks Katie. Good luck .

And let's not forget ...
Broke current assistant coach Amy Waugh's freshman single-season record for most made 3-point field goals. Rutan ended the season with a record 85 3-point field goals.

Great player. She will be missed.

Agreed. This is a big loss for Coach Waugh. Rutan would have taken a lot of pressure off the inside players next season. Now you only have one player that saw significant time last season (Moss).

[GreatWhiteNorth]

Is the transfer official? Didn't see any announcement anywhere.

[eastcoast]

I'm not sure that it's that big of a loss. She had a very disappointing year following her very promising freshmen year and her defense was poor to say the least.

You have got to be kidding. I guess the team is much better off without 135 3 pt baskets made in the past 2 years. Ask the folks at other A10 schools whether her absence makes any difference. Ask the big girls if having an outside threat was a help to them? Sure, no big loss. I wish her lots of luck wherever she ends up and congratulate the program that attracts this special talent.

[nkymuskie]

This is really going to affect the amount of shirts thrown into the stands after 3's are hit.

Bummer...

[wbbfan]

Our arch rival seems to agree this is a big loss, too. Not good.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/columns/story?columnist=hays_graham&id=4873424

[blobfan]

Ugh. I am officially worried about next year.

[GoMuskies]

Ugh. I am officially worried about next year.

Worried? I think it's beyond that stage.

[xu_fan]

Our arch rival seems to agree this is a big loss, too. Not good.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/columns/story?columnist=hays_graham&id=4873424

I certainly wish Katie would be a musketeer next season BUT I also don't think it will kill us... Katie really never created her own shot but was rather a spot up shooter... She didn't handle very well and (improved) but still pretty rough on defense.

She WAS in fact a perfect compliment to Ta'Shia and Amber but do you guys really think Katie would be able to get off as many shots with an average group of post players. I'm not saying Sabrina, Jessica, Amber Gray, and the Michigan St transfer (cant think of her name) are bad but they certainly aren't Amber and Ta'Shia.

Maybe I'm crazy but this doesn't worry me very much. I think we'd be better if she was here but don't think it kills us since she's leaving..

What worries me more is the assistant coaches that Amy Waugh picked... It leads me to believe that she has ZERO contacts in the college ranks... Really worried about that...

[eastcoast]

It will be interesting to see where see transfers to. Right now there are probably a handful of coaches who are asking whether she would be a good addition to their program. If she has all of the deficiencies that you list she won't get a sniff at many places. However if those coaches recognize that this was a player who excelled in the role that her old staff put her in, which may not have included making her own shot, then they will be happy to have her. What I will remember is the clutch shots she made under pressure. Remember the 2nd half vs Vanderbilt in the NCAA last year? How about the shot she made against Dayton this year with 20 seconds left to tie the game? Those are only 2 examples of what she brought to the team. Keep living in denial world but this is a huge loss to our program.

[xuwin]

How about we ease up on a kid who gave a lot of excitement to Xavier basketball?? And who can shoot the lights out. Thanks Katie. Good luck .

And let's not forget ...
Broke current assistant coach Amy Waugh's freshman single-season record for most made 3-point field goals. Rutan ended the season with a record 85 3-point field goals.

Great player. She will be missed.

I would agree with you about her freshman year, but, she had a big drop off in performance her sophomore year. Granted she was injured early in the season, but, she never got her game back to the level of her freshman season in any way.

[wbbfan]

I would agree with you about her freshman year, but, she had a big drop off in performance her sophomore year. Granted she was injured early in the season, but, she never got her game back to the level of her freshman season in any way.

I'd still feel better about our chances if she WAS healthy this year and roaming around the three-point line. Katie's Korner was created for a reason. Fans loved her until she made a decision that they didn't agree with. She was a real threat out there. We all wanted her to shoot the three when the ball touched her hands. I'd have a hard time believing anybody who says differently now that she's gone.

[eastcoast]

I would agree with you about her freshman year, but, she had a big drop off in performance her sophomore year. Granted she was injured early in the season, but, she never got her game back to the level of her freshman season in any way.

I agree the injury was a setback and may never have fully healed. Let's look at the stats though. Her shooting % this year was .379 vs .398 in freshman year, so she would have had to make 2 more shots to equal the freshman year. Her 3 pt shooting % was .379 vs .405 so she was short by 4 shots this year. She had more rebounds, assists and fewer turnovers although she played in 8 fewer games. Some of the games she missed were against Troy, Ms Valley State and Delaware St. Think she may have made a few shots in those games?
So it is just your perception that this year wasn't as good. You are entitled to your opinion, it just doesn't seem to be anchored in fact.

[blobfan]

Worried? I think it's beyond that stage.

Nah. The next step for me after worry is despair. I'm waiting for a serious losing streak before I head there. For now, I'm just worried.

[xu_fan]

I agree the injury was a setback and may never have fully healed. Let's look at the stats though. Her shooting % this year was .379 vs .398 in freshman year, so she would have had to make 2 more shots to equal the freshman year. Her 3 pt shooting % was .379 vs .405 so she was short by 4 shots this year. She had more rebounds, assists and fewer turnovers although she played in 8 fewer games. Some of the games she missed were against Troy, Ms Valley State and Delaware St. Think she may have made a few shots in those games?
So it is just your perception that this year wasn't as good. You are entitled to your opinion, it just doesn't seem to be anchored in fact.

Please don't misunderstand what I say... I think Katie is a good player and will be a great benefit to many teams! Shes an awesome gal I've had the pleasure of meeting and wish her all the success in the future! That said I still don't think its a HUGE loss. A loss, yes, but it's not going to make or break the team.. The leadership experience and playing time is prolly the biggest loss in my opinion.

Maybe I am being a little crazy but I am expecting nothing less than at least a WNIT bid next year. Hawkes, Moss, Pachko(sp?), Gray, and perhaps holmes starting next year sounds good to me... Not last couple of years good but still very good...

[eastcoast]

Well, we agree that since there were only six players who had any meaningful playing time and now 5 are gone that the remaining players will be tested. Add to that an inexperienced staff. I can also imagine the A10 teams are drooling at the prospect of revenge after years of being hammered by us.
Your WNIT goal may be a stretch for next year, and it may have been that way with her too. I think it is a sad day when we lose a quality player and person.

[spongebob]

Please don't misunderstand what I say... I think Katie is a good player and will be a great benefit to many teams! Shes an awesome gal I've had the pleasure of meeting and wish her all the success in the future! That said I still don't think its a HUGE loss. A loss, yes, but it's not going to make or break the team.. The leadership experience and playing time is prolly the biggest loss in my opinion.

Maybe I am being a little crazy but I am expecting nothing less than at least a WNIT bid next year. Hawkes, Moss, Pachko(sp?), Gray, and perhaps holmes starting next year sounds good to me... Not last couple of years good but still very good...

I like L. Holmes alot and think she will be a good one, but I see her more as a slasher type player and not the 3pt threat Katie is, albeit she did shoot it pretty well from the perimiter when I saw her play. T. Moss can certainly hit her share and I think alot of her success this year came about because of Katies presence on the opposite side(and of course the post players) but I think one less option, and a good one at that, defintely hurts. T. Moss will be a priority target for defenses next year and their job just got a bit easier imo. Hard to replace her skill, maturity and experience in short order. Others can step up, of course, but I think they'll miss her far more than most speculate. You're talking basicically about the equivilent of a 2 yr starter. I wish her nothing but the best going forward.

[BlueBlob1]

How about we ease up on a kid who gave a lot of excitement to Xavier basketball?? And who can shoot the lights out. Thanks Katie. Good luck .

And let's not forget ...
Broke current assistant coach Amy Waugh's freshman single-season record for most made 3-point field goals. Rutan ended the season with a record 85 3-point field goals.

Great player. She will be missed.

Not current assistant.... Amy is our Head coach!!!!. Get your facts right wbbfan.

She will be missed. But we will be fine

[wbbfan]

Not current assistant.... Amy is our Head coach!!!!. Get your facts right wbbfan.

She will be missed. But we will be fine

Reeeeeeeeeelax. That was copied and pasted from the web page. Do you seriously think I don't know who the head coach is?? I know exactly who it is. That doesn't mean I have to like it.

[BlueBlob1]

By your posts it's obvious you do not like what is going on at X.... Why don't you tell us all what you would prefer?

[cinskyline]

BlueBlob1 has a good point. Who would you have gone after, keeping in mind that McGuff apparently made less than 200,000, which is pretty much mid-major territory. I just think there are financial limits as to who can be hired.

Is anyone else as surprised as I am that Waugh was chosen over Mike Neighbors? I almost wonder if Bobinski isn't trying to distance the program from McGuff, his assistants, and the whole Amber/Ta'Shia/Purdue/Katrina Merriweather controversy.

I know that's a bit of a stretch, but did Waugh really wow him more than the other candidates? In the end, I think that Amy and her staff will be very successful, but it may take 1 or 2 down years to get there.

Let's just hope that there aren't any more transfers.

[eastcoast]

Doesn't it seem odd that there has been no official release from the Athletic Dept regarding her departure. When the two players from the men's team left there was a press release and comment from Coach Mack wishing them future success. So far the only news of this is on this board. Does the staff or the coach think that no one will notice? Or maybe they can't figure out how to present this as a positive and they don't wish her well?
Silence just leads to more questions it would seem.

[Bigbluebrotha]

Well this is interesting and muddies next year's waters even more. Seems odd Katie would leave when she had a great chance to play the most minutes in her career.

I'm predicting we'll see some JUCO action in year one of the Waugh administration.

[eastcoast]

I wish everyone on this board would look at the Dayton board (UDPride) and see the reaction to the news that one of their players, Kari Daugherty, was transferring. A whole lot of messages wishing her good luck, not one message debating the value of the player or the future of the team. Out-classed by Dayton. Shame on us.

[diehardfan]

I saw their posts. What a great fan base! No ill toward a great player who wanted to make a change. It's hard to believe that Xavier still won't release any info on Katie. BTW she thanks the fans on facebook. I wish her all the best. Always gave 100%, she will be missed.

[Bigbluebrotha]

Believe my point pertains to Kari Daugherty as well. Did the Musketeers and Flyers trade? Never meant to detract from Katie's performance or value, I think she's a solid player and do wish her the best, just wondering why she'd move now.

[xu_fan]

I saw their posts. What a great fan base! No ill toward a great player who wanted to make a change. It's hard to believe that Xavier still won't release any info on Katie. BTW she thanks the fans on facebook. I wish her all the best. Always gave 100%, she will be missed.

So Dayton fans are better than Xavier fans because we question why she is leaving??? I don't think anyone hates Katie because she wants to make a change but it is okay to ask why! This is a top 25 division one program and Katie is an adult. I'm sure she will be okay if we ask why!! Makes very little sense to me. I wish her all the best in the future! I think most people on this board have made that clear... Some of you all are just being silly!!!

[eastcoast]

I'm not sure that it's that big of a loss. She had a very disappointing year following her very promising freshmen year and her defense was poor to say the least.

I guess I was reflecting on some of the early comments like the one above. I realize that there are knuckleheads on any board like this. I thought it was an interesting comparison though. BTW, still nothing but the sound of crickets from the Athletic Dept. or the coach.

[xuwin]

I guess I was reflecting on some of the early comments like the one above. I realize that there are knuckleheads on any board like this. I thought it was an interesting comparison though. BTW, still nothing but the sound of crickets from the Athletic Dept. or the coach.

What was incorrect about that statement? I think her sophomore year performance put her value in question.

[eastcoast]

What was incorrect about that statement? I think her sophomore year performance put her value in question.

I guess you missed the earlier post regarding the statistical difference between the two years. But the point I was making was that instead of just simply saying farewell and good luck some posters attempted to minimize the loss by questioning her value to the team as you just have. Sour grapes.

[BigMoeMusketeer]

Let me add a couple of my impressions, although I readily admit I don't follow the women's program as closely as many of you. I think Katie, in spite of some things she didn't do at a high level, is a big loss. Not just on the court, but in general, I think she'll be missed. I wish her all of the best and thank her for her two years at Xavier.

While I don't for one second believe McGuff was making under $200,000 per year, I do think Waugh was hired because she was a Xavier grad and cheap. You can give me the "trust Bobinski" stuff all day, and I do, but I believe those were the factors. I'm not saying it won't end up being a great hire, it may be, but it certainly seems like they chose the easy hire in this case.

I echo what has been said already about her staff. I'm sure they are good people, and I'm sure the guy from Thomas More can coach, but wow. Interesting days for Xavier women's basketball, to be sure. What do their incoming freshman look like?

If they go .500 next year I'll do cart-wheels in Dana's parking lot.

[xuwin]

I guess you missed the earlier post regarding the statistical difference between the two years. But the point I was making was that instead of just simply saying farewell and good luck some posters attempted to minimize the loss by questioning her value to the team as you just have. Sour grapes.

No sour grapes at all. I thought the same about her skills before I heard that she was leaving. I would have expected a significant improvement between her freshman and sophomore years and it didn't happen.

[xu_fan]

Let me add a couple of my impressions, although I readily admit I don't follow the women's program as closely as many of you. I think Katie, in spite of some things she didn't do at a high level, is a big loss. Not just on the court, but in general, I think she'll be missed. I wish her all of the best and thank her for her two years at Xavier.

While I don't for one second believe McGuff was making under $200,000 per year, I do think Waugh was hired because she was a Xavier grad and cheap. You can give me the "trust Bobinski" stuff all day, and I do, but I believe those were the factors. I'm not saying it won't end up being a great hire, it may be, but it certainly seems like they chose the easy hire in this case.

I echo what has been said already about her staff. I'm sure they are good people, and I'm sure the guy from Thomas More can coach, but wow. Interesting days for Xavier women's basketball, to be sure. What do their incoming freshman look like?

If they go .500 next year I'll do cart-wheels in Dana's parking lot.

We only have one freshman coming in next year: Liz Statman from Indianapolis. She is a 6'2 power forward I believe. She is a better than average recruit but I'm not sure she is a star player.

I sincerely don't think it will be that bad of a year but certainly not what we are used too. The coaching staff just really bothers me. Starting to wonder if Mike Neighbors wouldn't have been a better hire. IDK

[xu_fan]

No sour grapes at all. I thought the same about her skills before I heard that she was leaving. I would have expected a significant improvement between her freshman and sophomore years and it didn't happen.

I agree. I think Katie is wonderful and was a great compliment to Amber and Ta'Shia but I'm just not sure should would be as useful without those bigs down low. I could be wrong. Katie shoots REALLY REALLY well most nights, BUT that is about it.... I've said that many times over the last 2 years. Maybe not on this board but when discussing players for Xavier's team that's what I would have said. That is the only way to describe her.

Obviously, that is still a loss and I recognize that, but I just don't think it'll be as big of a loss as some of you all think.

[GreatWhiteNorth]

With Katie's rather sudden departure, her scholarship probably will not be used for 2011. What a waste, since we can definitely use it. As for the new coaching staff, they can probably coach, but I am not very confident about their recruiting abilities.

[Muskiefornia]

What became of Nicole Like?

[wbbfan]

By your posts it's obvious you do not like what is going on at X.... Why don't you tell us all what you would prefer?

Why exactly are you so concerned with every post I make??

[Jerz2487]

The latest on Rutan is she is officially going to become a Maryland Terrapin.

[eastcoast]

So she is going to MD. There has been some comments about her value and talent but I guess the coach of a top ACC team (who won a National Championship in 2006!) must have felt differently. I hope she does well there and adds the same value she did here to complement the other players. Sometimes players excel in the role that the coaches want them to and I believe that is exactly what she did.
I wouldn't spend a lot of time worrying about the choice of a coach. By this time next year you will have a sense whether progress is being made. The season will have ended and new recruits signed. Until then give her a break.

[xu_fan]

Why exactly are you so concerned with every post I make??


I can't speak for (BlueBlob1) but it is a little odd that someone never posts anything on this website and than "BAM" there you are dogging a bunch of things with this program/team... I'm not saying just because you are new you don't have a right to your opinion because i was new at one time as well, but the way youre coming across is like you have an agenda of some kind and is a little suspicious.

Maybe you dont... I'm not accusing you. I'm just saying I can understand why BlueBlob1 would question you a little more.

[xu_fan]

The latest on Rutan is she is officially going to become a Marlyand Terrapin. I don't know if it has been publicly released yet, but she has made it public herself via facebook. I've actually gotten to know a lot of the Xavier players and coaches and feel like my 2 cents could help out in this debate. I believe Waugh was the wrong hire. I think Xavier needed to do everything they could to retain Neighbors as the head coach. Neighbors is a very likable guy, a good recruiter, great personality, and knows how to coach. Also, if we would have been able to keep him Rutan would still be a Muskie. She left because Waugh and her didn't see eye to eye at times, which goes the same way for Nicole Like. I think another mistake made was bringing in Hester for the DOBO position. The reason this hire bothers me is that A. she is very young B. she is very close with Waugh outside of the game which obviously helped her for the position and most importantly C. she was in school with some of these girls, so she may not be taken completely seriously at times. I would love to see another fine year, but I just don't see it happening. We lost a ton with seniors and now we lack size….

I would have preferred Mike Neighbors as well but I have no choice but to trust in Amy Waugh and also Mike B. Some things make little sense to me but I trust in what they are doing and wish for the best. I believe that Mo Hester will do just fine. From what someone said on here earlier Nichole Like didn't have a lot of respect from the team anyways so maybe it'll stay the same..

IDK we will see...

I wish this many FANS were actually this interactive during the actual season! It would have made it much more fun!

[BlueBlob1]

Why exactly are you so concerned with every post I make??

Because you are extremely negative, and don't seem very supportive of the program.... So what's your beef wbbfan?

[wbbfan]

Because you are extremely negative, and don't seem very supportive of the program.... So what's your beef wbbfan?

Well, since you’ve asked yet again what I think, here’s the short answer for you. I would’ve preferred we hired an up-and-coming coach with more collegiate experience who would’ve maybe kept Waugh on staff and perhaps named her the associate head coach or even the coach-in-waiting. Someone with the ability to retain players and maintain the momentum the program had built. Someone who could have minimized the massive rebuilding process that seems to be taking place now. That would have allowed Waugh to mature a few more years and when that coach had an opportunity to move on, maybe then Waugh would have been ready to be the face of our program. I don’t think she’s ready now.

A lot people on this board have mentioned Mike Neighbors. I would have been fine with that hire or whoever the best candidate would’ve been. Male or female. I know from talking to current players that he was the lead recruiter on Rutan, Moss, Crouch, and Holmes, as well as incoming point guard Ty O’Neill, so his efforts will obviously be missed. I wish we could have enticed him to stay as an assistant or in some capacity, but I’m sure his situation at UW is a good one for him and his future in this profession was obviously at UW with Coach McGuff.

That’s the end of my short answer, but since I know you are going to ask how I arrived at this, here’s the long answer.

Based on information I heard first-hand from the same people who leaked that Katie was transferring and from other people I know who are around the program and even at other programs within this region, I KNOW there were more qualified people who wanted this job … some of whom never even received an interview or a call back. Balcomb and McGuff built Xavier into a Top 10 program and when that happens, MANY great coaches are interested, regardless if the pay is $200,000. I think most of us would take a job for that salary. The word in women’s basketball circles was that this job was going to the best FEMALE candidate from the day McGuff took the UW job. I’ve never seen it mentioned on this board or anywhere, but Xavier has been operating its entire athletic department without a female coach in ANY sport for a number of years. That decision limited our candidate pool immediately and, in my opinion, takes away from the person who could best do the job. Gender shouldn’t have been a deciding factor, and in any other line of business, it would result in a lawsuit.

All I wanted was what’s best for our current and future players. Someone who could retain our current team that the previous staff had worked so hard to put together and build on recruiting players of that caliber without a dropoff in talent level. As for current players, these girls chose to attend Xavier based on the direction the program was headed under McGuff and we have obvious evidence (http://www.umterps.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/052611aab.html) that this current staff is already not able to maintain those relationships. We can argue Katie strengths and weakness on the floor all day, but anyone who has ever attended multiple Xavier games CANNOT disagree that she regularly received the loudest ovations on a team with two WNBA Top 8 draft picks who will soon have their jerseys hanging in the rafters. Maryland wouldn’t have taken her if she was such a struggling player seeing as they are ranked as high as 10 in some preseason polls right now and play in an elite conference in the ACC.

Many people on this board haven’t even mentioned loss of Sarah Hartwell who Georgia Tech, another NCAA tourney team, signed after she was released from Xavier. From what I hear from these same sources around campus, there may be announcements of more transfers in the near future. Only time will tell and we’ll all just have to wait and see what happens there.

As for what’s best for our future players, aka recruiting, who has anyone on this current staff EVER recruited and signed. Not just for Xavier, but anywhere. Waugh at Youngstown State, Wake Forest, Xavier? Morrow at Colorado, Xavier? Neal at NKU and Thomas More? And McKey and Hester – to their high school teams?? Even though it’s mentioned Moe will be doing marketing, DOBOs are very involved in recruiting on campus.

This leads me to the hiring of the staff. I’m sure these are all great people and, in time, maybe they will be great DI coaches. But the lack of overall experience on the staff, as someone else pointed out, may be a lack of Waugh’s contacts in the game and her inability to attract experienced staff that could have continued our momentum. With her four hires for her immediate staff – Morrow, McKey, Neal and Hester – there are exactly FIVE years of Division I coaching experience. The last time I checked, we ARE a Division I program that’s been in the Top 25 for the last four years running. I don’t know if there are records of it anywhere, but I have to think that is the lowest total of any DI program in the nation. Go ahead and add Waugh’s eight years and that brings us to 13 years. I still think that’s got to be the lowest in DI.

We all know Morrow brings a lot of strength to the staff and Hester’s playing here will be a benefit in selling the program. I’m sure Neal’s experience with X’s and O’s and maybe recruiting will be a benefit and hopefully McKey’s connections with Hathaway Brown and his AAU team can help us land some of the top recruits like Howard, Gaffney, Flowyd. Sorry but, Evans doesn’t count as when I saw her play for Sports City, she rarely got off the bench.

I’ve heard coaches at every level say that on-court coaching is only about 20% of their job. No one on this staff has experience at the DI level with scheduling which is a vital part of any program’s success. Everything that’s behind the scenes will be brand new to this staff and while they will probably figure it out, I’m just concerned that nobody has the experience to keep the momentum going that we’ve worked so hard to build.

With the loss of Amber, Ta’Shia, Megan, Special, and now Katie and Hartwell, as well as McGuff, Neighbors and Nicole Like (I’ll get back to this in a second) and Michelle Miller, I knew there was going to be a drop from the top 10. But from people that I know around the game, everyone still felt like we would finish second maybe to Dayton in next year’s preseason A-10 predictions. Expectations were still going to be very high and NCAA tournaments were still our goal, not the WNIT. Since when do teams that have been to five straight NCAA tournaments start thinking a WNIT bid is acceptable?? That doesn’t happen when a head coach simply moves on. The whole look of the program didn’t have to change so dramatically.

I will continue to gauge any success based on A10 championship contention and appearances in the NCAA tournament. I have been critical of McGuff in his first eight seasons based on the standard that we could not advance in the NCAA tournament. Although I wasn’t a message board poster at the time (just a reader), I have read many of you criticize him for exactly the same thing. Now all of a sudden, we are hoping for WNIT bids??? That doesn’t make any sense to me.

And back to Nicole for a second. Before this year, I had attended the last five end of the year banquets and heard every senior’s speech. While each of them thank the university, Sister and the coaching staff, when they spoke of Nicole, it truly came from the heart and many of them were moved to tears because of the relationships they had with her. Nicole’s behind the scenes efforts will be never be able to be replaced, regardless of who was hired in this position. For someone to say that the players didn’t respect her, it’s obvious they have no idea what really went on day-to-day around the program. I know Nicole is fine and she will become a nurse in the cardiac unit of a local hospital. She had completed her nursing degree as Xavier. I know it’s not shooting threes from a chair with a torn ACL, but call me crazy, I’d say she’s a pretty great person and will be a huge loss for the program.

In closing, I will continue to support our program, but I will also voice my opinion whenever I feel the desire to do so. You can continue putting red dots by my profile all you want just because I have a different opinion than yours (which I could’ve sworn was what message boards were created for). This is a message board, not a Facebook fan page or goxavier.com. If you want all positives, roses, sunshine, WNITs and everything is going to be fine comments, then visit one of those pages. I just don’t want to see our program head in the direction of a George Washington in the A10 as a result of not hiring the best person for the job and right now, that’s how I see it. I’ll continue to read xavierhoops and I do hope for the current players sakes that I am 100% wrong about the future of this program.

[xu_fan]

Well, since you’ve asked yet again what I think, here’s the short answer for you. I would’ve preferred we hired an up-and-coming coach with more collegiate experience who would’ve maybe kept Waugh on staff and perhaps named her the associate head coach or even the coach-in-waiting. Someone with the ability to retain players and maintain the momentum the program had built. Someone who could have minimized the massive rebuilding process that seems to be taking place now. That would have allowed Waugh to mature a few more years and when that coach had an opportunity to move on, maybe then Waugh would have been ready to be the face of our program. I don’t think she’s ready now.

A lot people on this board have mentioned Mike Neighbors. I would have been fine with that hire or whoever the best candidate would’ve been. Male or female. I know from talking to current players that he was the lead recruiter on Rutan, Moss, Crouch, and Holmes, as well as incoming point guard Ty O’Neill, so his efforts will obviously be missed. I wish we could have enticed him to stay as an assistant or in some capacity, but I’m sure his situation at UW is a good one for him and his future in this profession was obviously at UW with Coach McGuff.

That’s the end of my short answer, but since I know you are going to ask how I arrived at this, here’s the long answer.

Based on information I heard first-hand from the same people who leaked that Katie was transferring and from other people I know who are around the program and even at other programs within this region, I KNOW there were more qualified people who wanted this job … some of whom never even received an interview or a call back. Balcomb and McGuff built Xavier into a Top 10 program and when that happens, MANY great coaches are interested, regardless if the pay is $200,000. I think most of us would take a job for that salary. The word in women’s basketball circles was that this job was going to the best FEMALE candidate from the day McGuff took the UW job. I’ve never seen it mentioned on this board or anywhere, but Xavier has been operating its entire athletic department without a female coach in ANY sport for a number of years. That decision limited our candidate pool immediately and, in my opinion, takes away from the person who could best do the job. Gender shouldn’t have been a deciding factor, and in any other line of business, it would result in a lawsuit.

All I wanted was what’s best for our current and future players. Someone who could retain our current team that the previous staff had worked so hard to put together and build on recruiting players of that caliber without a dropoff in talent level. As for current players, these girls chose to attend Xavier based on the direction the program was headed under McGuff and we have obvious evidence (http://www.umterps.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/052611aab.html) that this current staff is already not able to maintain those relationships. We can argue Katie strengths and weakness on the floor all day, but anyone who has ever attended multiple Xavier games CANNOT disagree that she regularly received the loudest ovations on a team with two WNBA Top 8 draft picks who will soon have their jerseys hanging in the rafters. Maryland wouldn’t have taken her if she was such a struggling player seeing as they are ranked as high as 10 in some preseason polls right now and play in an elite conference in the ACC.

Many people on this board haven’t even mentioned loss of Sarah Hartwell who Georgia Tech, another NCAA tourney team, signed after she was released from Xavier. From what I hear from these same sources around campus, there may be announcements of more transfers in the near future. Only time will tell and we’ll all just have to wait and see what happens there.

As for what’s best for our future players, aka recruiting, who has anyone on this current staff EVER recruited and signed. Not just for Xavier, but anywhere. Waugh at Youngstown State, Wake Forest, Xavier? Morrow at Colorado, Xavier? Neal at NKU and Thomas More? And McKey and Hester – to their high school teams?? Even though it’s mentioned Moe will be doing marketing, DOBOs are very involved in recruiting on campus.

This leads me to the hiring of the staff. I’m sure these are all great people and, in time, maybe they will be great DI coaches. But the lack of overall experience on the staff, as someone else pointed out, may be a lack of Waugh’s contacts in the game and her inability to attract experienced staff that could have continued our momentum. With her four hires for her immediate staff – Morrow, McKey, Neal and Hester – there are exactly FIVE years of Division I coaching experience. The last time I checked, we ARE a Division I program that’s been in the Top 25 for the last four years running. I don’t know if there are records of it anywhere, but I have to think that is the lowest total of any DI program in the nation. Go ahead and add Waugh’s eight years and that brings us to 13 years. I still think that’s got to be the lowest in DI.

We all know Morrow brings a lot of strength to the staff and Hester’s playing here will be a benefit in selling the program. I’m sure Neal’s experience with X’s and O’s and maybe recruiting will be a benefit and hopefully McKey’s connections with Hathaway Brown and his AAU team can help us land some of the top recruits like Howard, Gaffney, Flowyd. Sorry but, Evans doesn’t count as when I saw her play for Sports City, she rarely got off the bench.

I’ve heard coaches at every level say that on-court coaching is only about 20% of their job. No one on this staff has experience at the DI level with scheduling which is a vital part of any program’s success. Everything that’s behind the scenes will be brand new to this staff and while they will probably figure it out, I’m just concerned that nobody has the experience to keep the momentum going that we’ve worked so hard to build.

With the loss of Amber, Ta’Shia, Megan, Special, and now Katie and Hartwell, as well as McGuff, Neighbors and Nicole Like (I’ll get back to this in a second) and Michelle Miller, I knew there was going to be a drop from the top 10. But from people that I know around the game, everyone still felt like we would finish second maybe to Dayton in next year’s preseason A-10 predictions. Expectations were still going to be very high and NCAA tournaments were still our goal, not the WNIT. Since when do teams that have been to five straight NCAA tournaments start thinking a WNIT bid is acceptable?? That doesn’t happen when a head coach simply moves on. The whole look of the program didn’t have to change so dramatically.

I will continue to gauge any success based on A10 championship contention and appearances in the NCAA tournament. I have been critical of McGuff in his first eight seasons based on the standard that we could not advance in the NCAA tournament. Although I wasn’t a message board poster at the time (just a reader), I have read many of you criticize him for exactly the same thing. Now all of a sudden, we are hoping for WNIT bids??? That doesn’t make any sense to me.

And back to Nicole for a second. Before this year, I had attended the last five end of the year banquets and heard every senior’s speech. While each of them thank the university, Sister and the coaching staff, when they spoke of Nicole, it truly came from the heart and many of them were moved to tears because of the relationships they had with her. Nicole’s behind the scenes efforts will be never be able to be replaced, regardless of who was hired in this position. For someone to say that the players didn’t respect her, it’s obvious they have no idea what really went on day-to-day around the program. I know Nicole is fine and she will become a nurse in the cardiac unit of a local hospital. She had completed her nursing degree as Xavier. I know it’s not shooting threes from a chair with a torn ACL, but call me crazy, I’d say she’s a pretty great person and will be a huge loss for the program.

In closing, I will continue to support our program, but I will also voice my opinion whenever I feel the desire to do so. You can continue putting red dots by my profile all you want just because I have a different opinion than yours (which I could’ve sworn was what message boards were created for). This is a message board, not a Facebook fan page or goxavier.com. If you want all positives, roses, sunshine, WNITs and everything is going to be fine comments, then visit one of those pages. I just don’t want to see our program head in the direction of a George Washington in the A10 as a result of not hiring the best person for the job and right now, that’s how I see it. I’ll continue to read xavierhoops and I do hope for the current players sakes that I am 100% wrong about the future of this program.

Nicely said Wbbfan... Sometimes an explanation is warranted and you provided that. Hopefully you are wrong on a bunch of stuff but it's hard to disagree with a lot of what you are saying. I still do think that Coach Waugh will do a good job. Just a gut feeling though...

[xu_fan]

Ty O’Neill

Why have we heard nothing about her??????

[xu_fan]

Also, who else do you think could be transferring???

[xuwin]

As good as the girls program has been the last several years the attendance and fan support for the girl's program has been terrible. It hardly justifies spending big bucks on a coach. The men's program has not made a habit of bringing in high priced coaches either and has been very successful.

[XU-PA]

Quote from Rutan.

“Being nine hours from home was kind of rough for me, being so close to family and friends,'' Rutan said. "I gave it two years. I just felt like it was the right time to get closer.”

Confirms what I had thought. the rest of what has been speculated here, is just that, chat board speculation.

[XU-PA]

As good as the girls program has been the last several years the attendance and fan support for the girl's program has been terrible. It hardly justifies spending big bucks on a coach. The men's program has not made a habit of bringing in high priced coaches either and has been very successful.


We call them women. They play for the same school the men play for.

[xu_fan]

http://cincinnati.com/blogs/xavier/2011/05/27/katie-rutan-transferring-to-maryland/

Here's the article you were referencing XU-PA...

Unless Katie is lying (which I dont think she is) she just wants to be closer to home....

XU-PA always knows how to calm things down... Reps to you!!!

[xuwin]

We call them women. They play for the same school the men play for.

How many women go to the games and support the team?

[BlueBlob1]

I can't speak for (BlueBlob1) but it is a little odd that someone never posts anything on this website and than "BAM" there you are dogging a bunch of things with this program/team... I'm not saying just because you are new you don't have a right to your opinion because i was new at one time as well, but the way youre coming across is like you have an agenda of some kind and is a little suspicious.

Maybe you dont... I'm not accusing you. I'm just saying I can understand why BlueBlob1 would question you a little more.

xu fan... well said. It is my personal opinion wbbfan does have an agenda (now I have no idea what it is but there is definitely something fishy). It is rather suspicious that all of sudden this person comes out of thin air and does nothing but bash the program.

Yes I understand this is a message board and every one of us is entitled to our opinions. We all hide behind the anonymous nature and post whatever we please. BUT at the same time the majority of the posters are supporters of the program, but wbbfan I just don’t think you are, look back at previous wbbfan post and not one thing is supportive of the new coach. Is that your agenda, you are an Amy Waugh hater? Sure seems that way...

Like I said you are entitled to that, but I am also entitled to call you out. I truly believe Coach Waugh and this year’s upcoming squad will prove you wrong!

[XU-PA]

How many women go to the games and support the team?

Pretty high percentage of the attendees are women. What's your point?

[DoubleDribble]

Well, since you’ve asked yet again what I think, here’s the short answer for you. I would’ve preferred we hired an up-and-coming coach

Mike Neighbors, of course you would have. From this very first sentence you've done nothing but complain about not being chosen as head coach. Your paragraphs below are nothing but elongated resume bulletin points.

Someone with the ability to retain players and maintain the momentum the program had built.

Someone who could have minimized the massive rebuilding process

allowed Waugh to mature a few more years and when that coach had an opportunity to move on, maybe then Waugh would have been ready to be the face of our program.

That last one seems to be the most telling... It sounds like it's saying "Let's hire Mike Neighbors (aka wbfan) so I can come in, save the day, lead Amy Waugh in the right direction and then I'll move onto bigger and better things first opportunity I get and then I can wash myself clean of the program and let others deal with it. (That's how I read that Mike, I mean wbfan)

Your posts, both negative and insightful, highlight that face that you are the source of a lot of the statistics. You recruited Rutan, Moss, Crouch, Holmes and O'Neill. Congratulations! Perhaps those bits of information should have stayed on your resume instead of finding their way into this forum in a disgruntled manifesto under the guise of a Women's Basketball Fan, wbfan.

:sword:

[xu_fan]

Welcome DoubleDribble!!!!!

[BlueBlob1]

Welcome DoubleDribble!!!!!!

WHOA!!!!! If this post is true looks like we know what wbbfan agenda is. Reading over all of wbbfan posts, it makes sense. Some of the info wbbfan presented would only be known by someone with very close ties to the program... aka an assistant coach.

And wbbfan...aka Mike Neighbors. I'm disgusted with you. I have always thought a lot of you and think what you did here at Xavier was great. But I have now lost all respect and think you are classless. And I do not even wish you luck at Washington.

To those of you who were Mike Neighbors supporters for head coach... I think we made the right hire with Amy Waugh.

Go Muskies!

[Bigbluebrotha]

Wow, miss a day, miss a lot.

Change always seems to breed apprehension and speculation, but one hopes that success breeds success with the staff. Hard to believe that all the experiences they've had through their careers will be completely lost. Additionally, I think Morrow and Waugh did a significant amount of the recruiting, too.

I think the point about Hester being the DOBO and knowing the players is a realistic concern. That job has a bevy of subtle responsibilities, such as organizing travel, so I think it will be an adjustment with a new DOBO, similar to a golf pro changing caddies or horse owners changing jockeys.

I'm not sure what happened with Nicole Like but understand she was the administrative backbone of the program. I think she really cared about and went to the mat for the players in many aspects of life.

Right now, I have to agree that the current roster as I know it doesn't look as if it's going to produce a Final Four run anytime soon, but let's keep in mind that if McGuff and Neighbors were the primary recruiters, neither exactly capitalized in that area while having All Americans on the roster for the past four seasons.

Rutan's depature certainly will put the pressure on Hawkes, Moss and Holmes to produce outside. I think Pachko will be the major threat inside. If Moss ends up having to start at the point, it's going to get sticky scoring wise.

As for the comment about wbfan being Neighbors, I think that's quite funny. While he is a stat lover, I believe the man has better things to do than air dirty laundry on a message board of a program with which he's no longer associated.

I'll make this point again, if we all displayed the same passion for the program we're displaying with our posts year round, attendance would be a lot better.

[XUOWNSUC]

Right now, I have to agree that the current roster as I know it doesn't look as if it's going to produce a Final Four run anytime soon, but let's keep in mind that if McGuff and Neighbors were the primary recruiters, neither exactly capitalized in that area while having All Americans on the roster for the past four seasons.


Yep.

[SixFig]

Time to close the thread...the crazies are coming out and accusing each other of being coaches.

[xu_fan]

I'll make this point again, if we all displayed the same passion for the program we're displaying with our posts year round, attendance would be a lot better.


A---Freakin-- Men!!! I wish this many people got involved during the season. It would make it sooooo much more exciting!!!

[xuwin]

Pretty high percentage of the attendees are women. What's your point?

Point is that there aren't many attendees period and that the women don't even support womens basketball. Men's basketball is a revenue producing sport and women's isn't. How do you keep dumping money into something that doesn't even pay for itself?

[muskienick]

Point is that there aren't many attendees period and that the women don't even support womens basketball. Men's basketball is a revenue producing sport and women's isn't. How do you keep dumping money into something that doesn't even pay for itself?

If that were the prerequisite for fielding a sports team at Xavier, there would only be one: the Men's basketball team. I don't think that's what college sports is all about.

[xuwin]

If that were the prerequisite for fielding a sports team at Xavier, there would only be one: the Men's basketball team. I don't think that's what college sports is all about.

What is college sports about? Football was dropped years ago because it was a money drain on the University.

[XU-PA]

I'll make this point again, if we all displayed the same passion for the program we're displaying with our posts year round, attendance would be a lot better.

Yes, absolutely yes.

It is interesting though to see some people post on here, ranting and raving about how the team is doing, or the coaches whatever, and it always comes late in the season, and of course now during a coaching change, the post starts something like this
I don't really go to many games but................

[XU-PA]

If that were the prerequisite for fielding a sports team at Xavier, there would only be one: the Men's basketball team. I don't think that's what college sports is all about.

Correct, and overall I would say that a university athletic department is a financial drag on all but a select few schools that get massive TV deals.
College sport is absolutely not about making money though, it is about many things. It raises awareness in the schools community and around the country, it is a matter of pride for alums, it attracts students, and it gives an entire students body options for social events in a safe environment on campus. I'm certain that someone with any university could name another dozen reasons that college sport exists and making money is not one of them.

XUWIN, Women do support Xavier womens basketball, men do support Xavier womens basketball, and their kids support Xavier womens basketball. We have the top attendance numbers in our conference.

[xuwin]

Correct, and overall I would say that a university athletic department is a financial drag on all but a select few schools that get massive TV deals.
College sport is absolutely not about making money though, it is about many things. It raises awareness in the schools community and around the country, it is a matter of pride for alums, it attracts students, and it gives an entire students body options for social events in a safe environment on campus. I'm certain that someone with any university could name another dozen reasons that college sport exists and making money is not one of them.

XUWIN, Women do support Xavier womens basketball, men do support Xavier womens basketball, and their kids support Xavier womens basketball. We have the top attendance numbers in our conference.

I attend the womens basketball games and I can get there 20 minutes before game time and for $10 get a seat at mid court lower level and park for free right by the Cintas Center. The support of womens sports is very poor.

[cinskyline]

Right now, I have to agree that the current roster as I know it doesn't look as if it's going to produce a Final Four run anytime soon, but let's keep in mind that if McGuff and Neighbors were the primary recruiters, neither exactly capitalized in that area while having All Americans on the roster for the past four seasons.

Great point. This is the bottom line for me. Really if it wasn't for Rutan's last minute heroics in last years NCAA game against Vanderbilt, we'd be talking about 2 straight years with 2nd round exits. (with 2 All Americans).

[muskienick]

I attend the womens basketball games and I can get there 20 minutes before game time and for $10 get a seat at mid court lower level and park for free right by the Cintas Center. The support of womens sports is very poor.

It is poor in relation to the support for men's BB at Xavier but it is light years ahead of all other XU NCAA team sports and among the most well-supported women's BB programs in the nation.

Think "Glass half full," xuwin!

[XU-PA]

I attend the womens basketball games and I can get there 20 minutes before game time and for $10 get a seat at mid court lower level and park for free right by the Cintas Center. The support of womens sports is very poor.

I'm really not sure what your argument is all about. I think everyone is fully aware that in Cincinnati, the Xavier women get crappy support. This despite having a consistent winner on the floor, legitimate stars on the team, and fairly strong marketing efforts by the University. I have a very strong opinion about why the support is not there, and it is very involved and if I get started I'll never start. That's a soap box for another day.
Thank you though for using the correct term. Most of the players do like it if you refer to it as women's basketball, or just basketball.

On another topic, I notice nothing has come from wbbfan after a pretty strong accusation. If that is true It will be quite disappointing, I have a very high opinion of the man.

[ohiobballfan]

Yes, it does seem wbbfan has not denied the accusations of DoubleDribble. I think DoubleDribble hit it right on the head. A shame Coach Neighbors was such a sore loser and had to knock Coach Waugh and the program when they have not even had a chance to prove themselves. I think this staff will work very hard to prove the the ex-coach wrong.

[xuwin]

I'm really not sure what your argument is all about. I think everyone is fully aware that in Cincinnati, the Xavier women get crappy support. This despite having a consistent winner on the floor, legitimate stars on the team, and fairly strong marketing efforts by the University. I have a very strong opinion about why the support is not there, and it is very involved and if I get started I'll never start. That's a soap box for another day.
Thank you though for using the correct term. Most of the players do like it if you refer to it as women's basketball, or just basketball.

On another topic, I notice nothing has come from wbbfan after a pretty strong accusation. If that is true It will be quite disappointing, I have a very high opinion of the man.

My argument is that the men's basketball program pays it's own way and the women's program doesn't and the big reason is that most women don't care enough about the sport to go the the games and subsidize it financially. Most business can't operate that way and running a University is a business.

[muskienick]

My argument is that the men's basketball program pays it's own way and the women's program doesn't and the big reason is that most women don't care enough about the sport to go the the games and subsidize it financially. Most business can't operate that way and running a University is a business.

That's what I meant earlier when I said: "that's not what college sports is all about." Paying its own way should not be the only criterion for a college to retain or jettison a specific sports program. The fact remains that Xavier is already on the low end on the number of sports programs it sponsors at the intercollegiate level. As far as I know, there is no wrestling, softball, LAX (m or w), men's volleyball, fencing, rowing, or gymnastics (m or w). XU dropped its support of the rifle team (which I think won at least one national championship). We all know of the demise of our NCAA Football team in 1973.

Using the pay-or-you-go logic, I assume some people won't be happy until XU gets rid of all sports except Men's Basketball. The only problem with that is --- what Conference would want such a one-dimentional member?

[spongebob]

Yes, it does seem wbbfan has not denied the accusations of DoubleDribble. I think DoubleDribble hit it right on the head. A shame Coach Neighbors was such a sore loser and had to knock Coach Waugh and the program when they have not even had a chance to prove themselves. I think this staff will work very hard to prove the the ex-coach wrong.

Just who was it that PROVED in any way shape or form that wbfan is who he or she is accused of? Anyone??? Good Lord folks, one unsubstantiated conspiracy theory and all of the sudden our former top assistance is a "sore loser" and "classless?" Jeezel petes.

Don't want to take away from the turn this thread has taken so I'll predict that wbfan, aka ex coach neighbors will be challenged by doubledribble, aka coach waugh to an all or nothing winner take all wwf style texas cage match. Winner gets to return here, belt in hand, and call the other a poopy head. Lets get ready to rumblllllllllle!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[xuwin]

That's what I meant earlier when I said: "that's not what college sports is all about." Paying its own way should not be the only criterion for a college to retain or jettison a specific sports program. The fact remains that Xavier is already on the low end on the number of sports programs it sponsors at the intercollegiate level. As far as I know, there is no wrestling, softball, LAX (m or w), men's volleyball, fencing, rowing, or gymnastics (m or w). XU dropped its support of the rifle team (which I think won at least one national championship). We all know of the demise of our NCAA Football team in 1973.

Using the pay-or-you-go logic, I assume some people won't be happy until XU gets rid of all sports except Men's Basketball. The only problem with that is --- what Conference would want such a one-dimentional member?

If paying it's way shouldn't be a criteria then why not provide all athletes with full scholarships instead of just basketball players. That would be nice and it could be covered by raising everybody elses tuition.

[XU-PA]

My argument is that the men's basketball program pays it's own way and the women's program doesn't and the big reason is that most women don't care enough about the sport to go the the games and subsidize it financially. Most business can't operate that way and running a University is a business.

Again I'll ask what your point is. Do you mean that women's sport is less important than mens? If you look around at games I think you'll find a much higher percentage of women and young girls at the games than men, and that percentage is much higher than it is at men's games. When you spout about this do you mean that men are better than women? Or do you mean that since women's sports at the college level do not pay their way, they should be eliminated? If that is your suggestion then just wipe then all out, because even UConn;s WBB program is not self supporting. Then wipe out all the D-II and D-III sport programs across the country since they are not self supporting.
We know that women's sports are not well supported, are you working to change that? I am.

[xuwin]

Again I'll ask what your point is. Do you mean that women's sport is less important than mens? If you look around at games I think you'll find a much higher percentage of women and young girls at the games than men, and that percentage is much higher than it is at men's games. When you spout about this do you mean that men are better than women? Or do you mean that since women's sports at the college level do not pay their way, they should be eliminated? If that is your suggestion then just wipe then all out, because even UConn;s WBB program is not self supporting. Then wipe out all the D-II and D-III sport programs across the country since they are not self supporting.
We know that women's sports are not well supported, are you working to change that? I am.

All you have to do is get women to support womens sports at the same level that men support mens sports and the funding problem will be solved. I don't determine which one is the most important. It's reflected in the attendance.

[XU-PA]

All you have to do is get women to support womens sports at the same level that men support mens sports and the funding problem will be solved. I don't determine which one is the most important. It's reflected in the attendance.


That's just plain stupid

[muskienick]

That's just plain stupid

I don't think I'd go so far as to describe xuwin's statement as "stupid," but I certainly don't see the solution to the xuwin-perceived XU Women's basketball attendance "problem" as a gender-related thing.

A lot of women attend the XU men's games. Given the truth of that statement, would it not make sense therefore to place some of the deficiencies in attendance at the women's games at the feet of a similar number of men who fail to attend those games?

I've heard guys state that the women are not as big, athletic, and interesting to watch. But the two games (men's ansd women's) are relative. It's not like the Muskie Ladies have to try to compete against Temple's, UMass's, or GW's Men's teams. The women's games are interesting, the skills needed for success in each are the same, and now that we have a coach who was brought up in the more technically-savvy system of Melanie Balcomb, the future could well be bright after we experience a period of adjustment.

Mike Bobinski has made few, if any, mistakes in picking coaches for the two most watched sports on Xavier's campus. I am going to assume his selection of Amy Waugh will produce dividends down the line just like we've seen with Coach McGuff and his men's coaching counterparts.

[wbbfan]

First of all, I am not Mike Neighbors. Secondly, I suppose I have been “quiet” by your standards because I was actually out visiting with the 3-D people of the world instead of sitting on a message board bashing people’s character all during my Memorial Day weekend. Happy holidays! I am not the one who brought up Coach Neighbors’ name in the first place on here and am FAR from the first person to mention his name on this board and even in this thread as a potential option for our coach. I didn’t even say I wanted him to be the coach. I said I wouldn’t mind if he had been chosen. The only reason I gave such a long answer is because I was asked THREE different times why I felt the way I did. I’d also like to say that all my opinions have been based in fact and I didn’t slam anybody personally, nor would I. I ALSO said I hoped I was wrong in my assumption that the team and staff may struggle. This is a game, people. Lighten up! You also may want to look into defamation of character laws as they pertain to message boards next time you’re sitting on the computer all day waiting for me to say something.

[Muskie]

I don't pretend to know the relative health of the Women's program, but what are some of the ways we can get more fans involved?

I've been a proponent of doing a double header with the Women's team playing a game on Saturday Afternoon followed by the Men's game that night.

[Muskie]

After reviewing this thread, I'm closing it. It hasn't been about the subject in several pages now. I realize this is the off-season. But please remember to keep it civil. There's no need to be calling people stupid or other names because you don't agree.