Mo Money, Mo Problems. Less Patience?

[vee4xu]

Within this past year, we all celebrated the life of Dr. Bill Daley. His insistence on hitching Xavier's star to men's basketball has led to a 30 ride that has been wonderful. I just received a letter from Gary Massa thanking my family for a donation we made and letting us know that Xavier is in the midst of raising $250 million for the school's endowment. Now, they are in no way X is going to make a dent in that effort with my piddly little donation, but the point is, they are trying to leverage off of Dr. Daley's efforts.

They question that crossed my mind today, is Xavier at a point where they cannot afford to be patient with Coach Steele for monetary reasons? In the midst of this gargantuan effort to seek and retain donations and pledges to reach an lofty endowment goal, does Xavier have the time to be patient?

This is a question that crossed my mind and if it did, I can't believe that it hasn't crossed Father Graham's and Gary Massa's mind. There isn't much room for error. Historically, once an institution loses donors, it is very tough to get them back. Also, if you're main product drawing card suffers for too long, then new donors become less interested.

I suppose we shall see.

[bleedXblue]

We should have never hired Steele if we weren't going to give him at least 3 years. Mack left us in a tough spot and the Prez and AD should have known that.

[bjf123]

We should have never hired Steele if we weren't going to give him at least 3 years. Mack left us in a tough spot and the Prez and AD should have known that.

He will certainly get three years. This year is a colossal waste, but he wasn’t left much. If we’re this bad next year, he’s definitely on the hot seat for year three.


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[markchal]

isn't his wife's family like a mega-donor? I'm pretty sure they aren't too worried about what a bad year will do to donations. Next year won't be much better, but I hope it's a lot more encouraging. And we better be back in the tournament in 2021, no question.

[bjf123]

Don’t know if they’re a mega donor, but they’re mega wealthy.


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[whopper]

I believe Loyola Chicago got a 4 million bump after last year over and above the norm,, maybe more. As a Catholic School parent k-16 and an alumni I know how hard the money slog is ad every little bit helps

[JTG]

isn't his wife's family like a mega-donor? I'm pretty sure they aren't too worried about what a bad year will do to donations. Next year won't be much better, but I hope it's a lot more encouraging. And we better be back in the tournament in 2021, no question.

2021?
I'm not liking watching a whole other year of this crap, before getting to decent basketball.

[Muskie]

I can tell you with certainty that nobody in the X administration has lost confidence in Travis Steele. He’s not getting the quick hook. Constant posts question whether the admin has lost confidence or that he was a bad hire doesn’t make either true.


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[GoMuskies]

X admin might start questioning how much faith people have in them. Just saying.

[vee4xu]

I have no dog in the fight either way. I am more, or less trying to get feelings on the topic. The thought crossed my mind because I received Gary's letter the same week that X was really struggling. I speak with folks in the development department with some degree of regularity and there's extreme pressure to raise this 1/4 billion dollars. The basketball program opens new doors and keeps money flowing from existing donors. Basketball isn't the only thing, but it is the most important ice breaker and door opener for the development department. What I do know is that those of us who watched putrid basketball in the Tay Baker years can probably take this current situation with a grain of salt. But those of you who have known nothing but winning basketball, may think differently. The Big East is not the MCC or A-10. It is important to be competitive every year. Just ask Georgetown and St. John's what happens when schools lose their way in a big time basketball conference. I have to say, I do wish the team had progressed more by now and responded better to Steele's message. The issue may be the players. it may be the message, it may be the messenger, or some combo of all. But, it definitely feels different. Again, just a different angle on they topic of a rough season.

[GoMuskies]

It will also be hard to judge if Xavier has “less” patience here. Xavier hasn’t really been in a situation where they’ve had to show patience in 35 years. Miller might have tested them without the four in four days in his second year. But otherwise, none of our coaches have had significant struggles.

[vee4xu]

It will also be hard to judge if Xavier has “less” patience here. Xavier hasn’t really been in a situation where they’ve had to show patience in 35 years. Miller might have tested them without the four in four days in his second year. But otherwise, none of our coaches have had significant struggles.

Good point.

[X-band '01]

It will also be hard to judge if Xavier has “less” patience here. Xavier hasn’t really been in a situation where they’ve had to show patience in 35 years. Miller might have tested them without the four in four days in his second year. But otherwise, none of our coaches have had significant struggles.

People also forget that Sean Miller dismissed Dedrick Finn from the team just prior to the end of the season. I'm not saying that something similar will happen this year, but that did provide an outlet for the team to close ranks just prior to the A-10 Tournament that season.

[XUGRAD80]

Unless the season ticket base starts to erode, and the suite money dries up, there will be absolutely no reason for anyone in the administration to start losing patience. 1 or even 2 bad years is not likely to cause either of those things to happen, especially when there is a top 20 recruiting class coming in and the coach is only into his first year of a 5 year contract.

[Final4]

Unless the season ticket base starts to erode, and the suite money dries up, there will be absolutely no reason for anyone in the administration to start losing patience. 1 or even 2 bad years is not likely to cause either of those things to happen, especially when there is a top 20 recruiting class coming in and the coach is only into his first year of a 5 year contract.

Maybe, but you can bet that the administration will also keep a watchful eye on new student applications. They believe there is a direct correlation between how well the basketball team does and applications.

[Xavier]

X admin might start questioning how much faith people have in them. Just saying.

I was wondering about that. Typically if the head coach of your only major program gets fired the A.D. isn't far behind. (No evidence to support this claim- could be way off). But Greg got a bigger role within the University while remaining the A.D....really makes things more interesting in that regard.

[Masterofreality]

We should have never hired Steele if we weren't going to give him at least 3 years. Mack left us in a tough spot and the Prez and AD should have known that.

Reports are that Steele received a 5 year contract- that is from CBS reporting a quote from Greg Christopher.
5 years of bad basketball will put this place in a deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep hole. He'd better improve.

[Masterofreality]

I have no dog in the fight either way. I am more, or less trying to get feelings on the topic. The thought crossed my mind because I received Gary's letter the same week that X was really struggling. I speak with folks in the development department with some degree of regularity and there's extreme pressure to raise this 1/4 billion dollars. The basketball program opens new doors and keeps money flowing from existing donors. Basketball isn't the only thing, but it is the most important ice breaker and door opener for the development department.

On March 9, Yours Truly, the Hanging Judge from Indiana & the Canton Barrister along with our better halves are invited and going to a pre-game reception before the St. Johns game- to strongly pitch us for more for the "Together for Others" campaign. It's gonna be interesting how the attitude will be in that room if this current downward spiral continues and we're approaching an 18-20 loss season. I suspect most will preach patience for this year, but if there is little development next year, the same fat cats that were called upon for the "Save Mack" salary drive, may be soon called upon to fund a buyout. Basketball has been this school's drivetrain for 30 years, and a 5 year drought can kill the Golden Goose. I can't see the school putting up with lousy basketball for more than 3 years.

[xudash]

I've stayed away from posting for a little while, as I can't come to any conclusion on Steele's potential moving forward. A lot of great points and insights have been made in this thread and others - the grading thread, in particular - about this team's real or perceived talent level, Steele's ability or lack thereof to make good in-game decisions and adjustments, etc. We all read about his passion for basketball at an early age, his darling ascent in the ranks, about the plan for the Final 2%, about his ability to shore up the roster with Hankins, Welage and Castlin, and now we see where we stand now and wonder.

As for the "what's at stake" part of it, most of you have hit that spot on. Xavier's plan is to grow AND continue to become more prestigious. All this in the face of a demographic reality that will send smaller, less well endowed schools to their graves, a phenomenon that has already been under way for a while.

The University's "front door" must remain polished: we still need a strong assist from basketball to continue what has been a truly transformational experience for our Jesuit school over the last almost 40 years now.

The existing capital campaign is well on its way to a successful conclusion. The application taking apparatus continues to expand towards a more national reach. The HUB continues to go up and we'll probably learn of some new interesting announcements that will follow that endeavor in the not too distant future.

Frankly, I'm not too worried about any of this at this point, and that includes not worrying about Steele and believing that Travis is still the guy. Gallows humor would have me post that Fired Up Karen was hired by Butler under a long-term Chinesesque strategy to manage Travis in order to navigate his ascension to the HC at Xavier in order to derail Xavier's progress. Then again, FUK has demonstrated that he is too stupid to pull that off, and it wouldn't be the Butler Way to pursue such an endeavor (sarcasm font is active).

In addition to some of the things Paul pointed about about Coach K and Duke, etc., also keep in mind that Villanova once had a guy named Steve Lappas at the helm. If there is a point there, it is that Xavier's program is way too well established and valuable to suffer true long-term damage. There are no guaranties, but the probability of such a thing happening is remote.

A character building year for us all this year, perhaps.

[Muskie]

On March 9, Yours Truly, the Hanging Judge from Indiana & the Canton Barrister along with our better halves are invited and going to a pre-game reception before the St. Johns game- to strongly pitch us for more for the "Together for Others" campaign. It's gonna be interesting how the attitude will be in that room if this current downward spiral continues and we're approaching an 18-20 loss season. I suspect most will preach patience for this year, but if there is little development next year, the same fat cats that were called upon for the "Save Mack" salary drive, may be soon called upon to fund a buyout. Basketball has been this school's drivetrain for 30 years, and a 5 year drought can kill the Golden Goose. I can't see the school putting up with lousy basketball for more than 3 years.

Hopefully, the program will properly frame expectations next year. That's been my biggest gripe. You don't lose the second all-time leading scorer in school history and not take a step back. At this point, I just want to see progress. I for one am seeing progress, but my expectations were very low, to begin with.

[paulxu]

Well put Dash.

(Nice to get FUK in the mix!)

[BigMoeMusketeer]

Maybe, but you can bet that the administration will also keep a watchful eye on new student applications. They believe there is a direct correlation between how well the basketball team does and applications.

That is a fact!!!

[American X]

People also forget that Sean Miller dismissed Dedrick Finn from the team just prior to the end of the season. I'm not saying that something similar will happen this year, but that did provide an outlet for the team to close ranks just prior to the A-10 Tournament that season.

It is just a matter of time until the 2019 version of pugnapping.

[xukeith]

2021?
I'm not liking watching a whole other year of this crap, before getting to decent basketball.

5 frosh are not the fab 5.

It will take a grad transfer post man next year and hopefully better shooting Marshall and Goodin.
Can't put all weight on the KyKY shoulders r Bishop bandwagon.
It takes freshmen at least 6 months to prepare.

I say 2021 is definite tourney time. 5 sophomores, Scruggs and Naji lead as seniors.

[Xville]

5 frosh are not the fab 5.

It will take a grad transfer post man next year and hopefully better shooting Marshall and Goodin.
Can't put all weight on the KyKY shoulders r Bishop bandwagon.
It takes freshmen at least 6 months to prepare.

I say 2021 is definite tourney time. 5 sophomores, Scruggs and Naji lead as seniors.

I don't know Paul personally but in my opinion, I'd put the chance of Paul being here his senior year at about 10%. He has too much talent, great measurements for his position, and he is older....if not for the league, then perhaps a good situation in Europe.

[vee4xu]

As to grad transfers, did Mack take any committed X grad transfers with him to Louisville? If so, how are the performing?

[Xville]

As to grad transfers, did Mack take any committed X grad transfers with him to Louisville? If so, how are the performing?

No he didnt but his grad transfers are one of the main reasons his team has performed so well. Cunningham the pg came from samford and he is one helluva player, fore is a defensive stopper that came from richmond. Without these two, louisville is a 500 team. Louisville will probably not be as good next year as they are this year even though the recruiting class coming in is impressive. That's due to the play of cunningham and fore...although it probably doesnt matter because most likely next year they arent going to be eligible for the tourney anyways.

In other news regarding mack, he had to apologize because he gave a halftime interviewer a one word answer to a stupid question, which was after a question about the officials which was clearly a baiting question. Now, I'm not a fan of mack but in this case, its flipping ridiculous he had to apologize. If a reporter is going to ask an entrapment question, a coach has every right to throw it back and be annoyed.

[D-West & PO-Z]

The one transfer with lost, Evan Boudreaux, hasn't done much at all at Purdue. I think he has been battling some injuries though too. He will was the rare 2 years left immediately eligible transfers thought, so e has one more year there.

[Xpectations]

Hopefully, the program will properly frame expectations next year. That's been my biggest gripe. You don't lose the second all-time leading scorer in school history and not take a step back. At this point, I just want to see progress. I for one am seeing progress, but my expectations were very low, to begin with.

I agree with this.

Additional random thoughts...


Our 4 top returning players should make us better - To those saying on these threads that Steele inherited 4 talented, highly-rated players who should be be good enough to win more games (and some of these folks I consider among my best XU hoops friends outside the forum) - I agree regarding the degree of talent. I disagree that the talent is a good mix, given how sparse the other talent is. More on that later. But Steele is somewhat limited here. I do think it's fair to ask why Q, and to a lesser degree, Naji, haven't grown as much as many expected.


What the heck is up with the D?!? - I think this has been the biggest disappointment. The good news is that most of the D issues haven't been effort. Sure there have been occasional examples of that, but the bigger issue by far hasbeen related to "scheme mistakes". The scheme mistakes (hedging too soon, hedging too long, improper help rotations, etc.) have largely come from newcomers. I have to say, I'm surprised that improvement here has been so slow. The velocity of opposing coaches being able to see and exploit those mistakes has certainly exceeded X's ability to resolve them. Secondarily, Welage is just not quick enough or long enough (yes, I know he's 6'-10", but I probably have longer arms) to be a great defender. I think his effort is there. I think it's fair to hold Steele more accountable for the lack of defensive improvement.


What's up with Q?!? - He is clearly not the same player. I don't know if it's an off-the-court issue, an in-the-locker-room issue, or he's just "off" and can't find his way. This has been the second biggest disappointment. I'm still very much a Q fan though and believe he'll find his way. He's not the first guy who has mysteriously and unexpected slumped. But without Q near the top of his game, this team will struggle. Not sure how much Steele can do here. He can advise, guide, reward, punish, etc., but seemingly every XU coach has had this sort of issue that wasn't readily resolved (Mack couldn't get guys "back" after The Brawl until the postseason, Miller had Finn, Matta had David Young, etc.).


Lack of talent balance - If you didn't see this coming, you don't follow basketball. You need shooters to space the floor in today's game. You also need athletes. We have the second, but largely not the first. Mid-range shots are not the way to win games today. You'll be trading nearly-just-as-difficult shots with your opponents, except they're going to get 3 points when they're successful with their shots, to your 2. And, we've got guys who can break their opponent down and get to the rim off the dribble, but the lane is stacked with at least 4 opponents because we don't have enough shooters. Steele inherited this more than caused it.


What about the future, as in recruiting? - While you never know who will and won't pan out, it sure seems like Steele should get an A here--albeit "incomplete."

So what's the verdict? It's a mistake IMO to overreact to this season. There are some puzzling issues and some disappointments--but I think that often happens with teams and with X over the years. But previous teams had the balanced talent to overcome them, so the issues didn't necessarily result in losses.

I think it's nuts to take this year's results and extrapolate that into infinity. The roster will get better, more balanced and deeper. Steele will improve as a coach (Xs & Os, managing players, etc.). Believing otherwise requires a much greater leap.

Will those improvements in roster, talent, depth and coaching be enough? Only time will tell, but I think it will.

I can say this, I felt much, much worse about XU's future after the 2012 season. Mack had largely lost the team most of the season and the team seemed to be undisciplined. We lost a lot of senior talent. Lyons bolted for Arizona. X botched the Dez Wells situation, causing us to unnecessarily lose all 5 starters, including a future (and known) star. The net impact was clearly harmful to our program's present situation, but also harmful to our future on the recruiting trail. Yet we survived and thrived afterward.

[xudash]

I agree with this.

Additional random thoughts...


Our 4 top returning players should make us better - To those saying on these threads that Steele inherited 4 talented, highly-rated players who should be be good enough to win more games (and some of these folks I consider among my best XU hoops friends outside the forum) - I agree regarding the degree of talent. I disagree that the talent is a good mix, given how sparse the other talent is. More on that later. But Steele is somewhat limited here. I do think it's fair to ask why Q, and to a lesser degree, Naji, haven't grown as much as many expected.


What the heck is up with the D?!? - I think this has been the biggest disappointment. The good news is that most of the D issues haven't been effort. Sure there have been occasional examples of that, but the bigger issue by far have been related to "scheme mistakes". The scheme mistakes (hedging too soon, hedging too long, improper help rotations, etc.) have largely come from newcomers. I have to say, I'm surprised that improvement here has been so slow. The velocity of opposing coaches being able to see and exploit those mistakes has certainly exceeded X's ability to resolve them. Secondarily, Welage is just not quick enough or long enough (yes, I know he's 6'-10", but I probably have longer arms) to be a great defender. I think his effort is there. I think it's fair to hold Steele more accountable for the lack of defensive improvement.


What's up with Q?!? - He is clearly not the same player. I don't know if it's an off-the-court issue, an in-the-locker-room issue, or he's just "off" and can't find his way. This has been the second biggest disappointment. I'm still very much a Q fan though and believe he'll find his way. He's not the first guy who has mysteriously and unexpected slumped. But without Q near the top of his game, this team will struggle. Not sure how much Steele can do here. He can advise, guide, reward, punish, etc., but seemingly every XU coach has had this sort of issue that wasn't readily resolved (Mack couldn't get guys "back" after The Brawl until the postseason, Miller had Finn, Matta had David Young, etc.).


Lack of talent balance - If you didn't see this coming, you don't follow basketball. You need shooters to space the floor in today's game. You also need athletes. We have the second, but largely not the first. Mid-range shots are not the way to win games today. You'll be trading nearly just-as-difficult shots with your opponents, except they're going to get 3 points when they're successful with their shots, to your 2. And, you got guys who can break their opponent down and get to the rim off the dribble, but the lane is stacked with at least 4 opponents because we don't have enough shooters. Steele inherited this more than caused it.


What about the future, as in recruiting? - While you never know who will and won't pan out, it sure seems like Steele should get an A here--albeit it "incomplete."

So what's the verdict? It's a mistake IMO to overreact to this season. There are some puzzling issues and some disappointments, but I think that often happens but Xavier has the balanced talent to overcome them, so the issues don't necessarily result in losses.

I think it's nut to take this year's results and extrapolate that into infinity. The roster will get better, more balanced and deeper. Steele will improve as a coach (Xs & Os, managing players, etc.). Believing otherwise requires a much greater leap.

Will those improvements in roster, talent, depth and coaching be enough? Only time will tell, but I think it will.

I can say this, I felt much, much worse about XU's future after the 2012 season. We had largely lost the team and seem to be undisciplined during most of that season. We lost a lot of senior talent. Lyons bolted for Arizona. X botched the Dez Wells situation, causing us to unnecessarily lose all 5 starters. The net impact was clear harm to our present situation, but also possible harm to our future recruiting success.


Fabulous post.