In Game: vs. La Salle

[WildCock]

I have long maintained that a school's obligation to its athletes is to either give them the resources to compete where they are, or put them where they can compete with the resources they have. In our current situation, I much prefer the former.

[MrMac]

Agree on both accounts, WC.

Grumpy Old Man Trigger Warning:
"Back in my day, the competitive of 'minor' sports wasn't much a part of the consideration of athletic success. Men's Basketball and Football dominated; other sports existed."

Much has changed since then, as some of these teams have at least minimal scholarship support, and many of the teams and individuals have risen to competitive D1 levels (some have excelled).

Have we done enough? No. But Davidson is a unique, small community. It may take another generation, but we will get there. In the meantime, I have enjoyed a lifetime of benefit from my participation in athletics and my association with this very special place. That is no small thing.

[jamesdhogan]

I think you and I might have been shoulder to shoulder in the stands for that one. What a moment.

I was grateful to share it with you. Man.

And I was also happy to scoot out of that arena! Their crowd had been foaming at the mouth a little....

[Scatdliw]

Our Men could benefit from instructions by our Women’s Basketball players in shooting techniques. Against GM last night, Women hit 56% of field goal attempts and .625 of Three point attempts with a total 10 of threes. Mallory had four, Ellie two. Great win!

[collegecoach8502]

So we’ve been relegated to giving away free seats to attract a decent crowd? Sad, just sad. I hope Matt can turn things around, but the clock is ticking. If we have a mediocre team again next year, recruiting may ratchet down another notch. Things can go sideways for long periods of time, even at storied programs. Just look at Georgetown since John Thompson retired. A long walk wandering in the wilderness.

There is no clock ticking. And Davidson has had a number of long walks in the wilderness. New NIL rules will help. Only major commitments to NIL money will make a difference.

[ScootCat]

I’m well aware of Davidson’s history, and its long walks in the wilderness. The clock is ticking in regard to Matt’s ability to snare quality recruits. The longer we are irrelevant, the tougher it is to attract players. Davidson is not immune to that reality.

[TiredCat88]

I’m well aware of Davidson’s history, and its long walks in the wilderness. The clock is ticking in regard to Matt’s ability to snare quality recruits. The longer we are irrelevant, the tougher it is to attract players. Davidson is not immune to that reality.

It's not on Matt. It's amazing how quickly people start piling on. This has been the reality for 40+ years. We were blessed with a HOF coach who beat all the odds. Davidson has never been committed to athletics. You are asking for the team to be competing for A10 championships. There is nothing that indicates Davidson is prepared to do that.

We have said for years we are going to fund our athletic teams. I remember them saying that 40 years ago. Our athletes and coaches over perform every year, but with little thanks to the institution. We committed more resources to basketball a few years ago. Still less than the majority of our competitors. Now with NIL, portal, etc., we have fallen woefully behind again. Our other athletic programs are asked to perform miracles.

How do you expect Matt to recruit a competitive roster. He has pennies in NIL compared to his competition. There are Big South and SoCon schools giving more NIL money to players. We have a conference that has slid from a multi-bid conference to basically a one bid conference. Our conference has a piecemeal TV contract and provides little to the school coffers. When our games are not on national TV we have spotty ESPN+ coverage. What are our recruits expected to think? Try following our games on social media. Photos and video clips are all over the place. Dark and out of focus. What message is that sending to our recruits? We are competing and recruiting against teams that have their own social media and video teams that are exclusive to their respective teams.

I don't put this on our coaches. I don't put this on our athletes. I don't put this on our athletics staff. It's been an institutional decision and they do the best with the resources they have. Until the institution decides to fund our programs appropriately we need to be thankful to our teams for consistently trying to beat the odds.

[ScootCat]

Your points are well taken, however, Steph Curry could solve the NIL money problem in one fell swoop. Regarding commitment to athletics, how do you square all the money that has been poured into a new state-of-the-art football stadium? I would’ve liked to have seen some of those tens of millions directed toward basketball. It is, after all, the school’s flagship sports program.

[Airball50]

Amen to these thoughts, TiiredCat88. From my perspective, it seems that every year a core group of folks wildly overly inflates their expectations, then descends into the proverbial blame game when the team doesn’t rise to fulfill their heated hopes. I’m a big, dedicated fan, too. I relish every win and ache with every defeat but I work hard to keep my expectations under control.

[ScootCat]

Some of us just want to see a competitive and watchable product occasionally win the A10 tourney and/or the regular season title. Bob McKillop met these expectations, so it can be done.

[collegecoach8502]

Some of us just want to see a competitive and watchable product occasionally win the A10 tourney and/or the regular season title. Bob McKillop met these expectations, so it can be done.

Bob McKillop is a Hall of Fame coach. Bob McKillop did not have a season at Davidson above .500 until his 5th year.

Matt McKillop not only stepped into big shoes, but finished at .500 with an A10 post season win and is currently above .500 this season. We can argue that Bob and Matt both had hurdles when they started. Nonetheless, Matt currently has a better record in his first two seasons than his predecessor.

Chill out people. Let the man and his staff work.

[loosha's lad]

I think you and I might have been shoulder to shoulder in the stands for that one. What a moment.

I was grateful to share it with you. Man.

And I was also happy to scoot out of that arena! Their crowd had been foaming at the mouth a little....

100%. It used to be more than a little bit scary going into that arena and interacting with their fans. We didn't play there this year, but the last couple of times I've attended (during a period of decline for URI's relevance) it's amazing how small their crowds have become. I'm sure they're just as nasty on an individual level, but their numbers have been significantly reduced.

[ScootCat]

CollegeCoach, I believe Matt McKillop, and his staff, are good coaches, however, Matt took over a highly successful program. His father, on the other hand, took over an absolute dumpster fire. There is no comparison.

[collegecoach8502]

CollegeCoach, I believe Matt McKillop, and his staff, are good coaches, however, Matt took over a highly successful program. His father, on the other hand, took over an absolute dumpster fire. There is no comparison.

Lots of comparisons. You just like to knock a coach with a winning record thus far in his first two seasons.

We won't mention that Matt is taking over for a program in A-10...unlike being Independent or in the Big South and the SoCon.

He's also doing so in an era that now includes a free transfer portal, large amounts of NIL money and that his roster was diminished by the fact that he lost unexpectedly during the change Hyunjung Lee, Emory Lanier, Sam Mennenga, Chris Ford and Styrmir Thrastarson. Not to mention the graduation of Foster Loyer, Michael Jones, Nelson Boachie-Yiadom and Luka Brajkovic.

Bob coached at Davidson for 1,014 games. Maybe I'm willing to give Matt a 100 or so games before I get too negative.

[ScootCat]

CollegeCoach, Just to clarify, I'm not knocking Matt and his staff. I already said I think they are good coaches. My point is simply that, as you point out, the landscape has changed pretty dramatically, so Davidson needs to make some adjustments to remain competitive. It's not necessary to go all in on NIL, just to make sure you can offer $100-$150k to attract a portal player that fits here when needed. In the past, we fortunately got our fair share of such recruits. Now, those same guys will be hard pressed to turn down that type of money from our competitors. We just need to level the playing field a little.