Probably. The better question is why did EWU not do everything it could have to sign him to an extension? Or maybe they did and he wanted to leave anyways?
UP is a step up. They play in a good arena and while the WCC is competitive, his team will have a shot at the NCAA if he can finish 2nd and possibly even 3rd. I'd put the WCC behind the P12 on the west coast from a prestige factor.
i still am not buying it. UP men's basketball has a ways to go before they can be competitive with Pepperdine, let alone the rest of the WCC. UP is very fortunate to get a coach the caliber of Legens and they know it. But many more openings would have come available after the tournament is over, many that are much better than the current situation at UP.
UP is more competitive in other sports in the WCC and that is why they are there. It is not because of the men's basketball program. If Porter could not get them to the level of at least St. Mary's or BYU with all the connections he had, I can't see someone else coming in and turning it around overnight, yet that is what the UP boosters seem to imagine. Some jobs are coaching suicide and the UP job is close to that.
I disagree about UP. Gonzaga, St Mary's, and BYU are the pinnacle of WCC hoops. It took them decades to get where they are. Below them the WCC is wide open, and that is where UP can make it's short term gains. Competing with the top 3 will take years of building the program.
Sure there are probably better places where he could have landed, but he chose UP. If he wanted to be in a conference where his program was competing for the top spot then he would have stayed in the BSC, or lateralled over to a WAC or BW program. The WCC is a huge step up compared to those 3 conferences.
i still am not buying it. UP men's basketball has a ways to go before they can be competitive with Pepperdine, let alone the rest of the WCC. UP is very fortunate to get a coach the caliber of Legens and they know it. But many more openings would have come available after the tournament is over, many that are much better than the current situation at UP.
UP is more competitive in other sports in the WCC and that is why they are there. It is not because of the men's basketball program. If Porter could not get them to the level of at least St. Mary's or BYU with all the connections he had, I can't see someone else coming in and turning it around overnight, yet that is what the UP boosters seem to imagine. Some jobs are coaching suicide and the UP job is close to that.
I disagree about UP. Gonzaga, St Mary's, and BYU are the pinnacle of WCC hoops. It took them decades to get where they are. Below them the WCC is wide open, and that is where UP can make it's short term gains. Competing with the top 3 will take years of building the program.
Sure there are probably better places where he could have landed, but he chose UP. If he wanted to be in a conference where his program was competing for the top spot then he would have stayed in the BSC, or lateralled over to a WAC or BW program. The WCC is a huge step up compared to those 3 conferences.
Any Big Sky school should expect to beat UP. There are whispers in the city that UP should look at dropping down to the WAC and being a travel partner for Seattle U and maybe they would be more competitive in the WAC. But their other programs do pretty well in the WCC so just to move the men's basketball program doesn't make too much sense.
To claim a win over UP as a win over the WCC is like (recently) claiming a win over Idaho is a win over the Big Sky.
I disagree about UP. Gonzaga, St Mary's, and BYU are the pinnacle of WCC hoops. It took them decades to get where they are. Below them the WCC is wide open, and that is where UP can make it's short term gains. Competing with the top 3 will take years of building the program.
Sure there are probably better places where he could have landed, but he chose UP. If he wanted to be in a conference where his program was competing for the top spot then he would have stayed in the BSC, or lateralled over to a WAC or BW program. The WCC is a huge step up compared to those 3 conferences.
Any Big Sky school should expect to beat UP. There are whispers in the city that UP should look at dropping down to the WAC and being a travel partner for Seattle U and maybe they would be more competitive in the WAC. But their other programs do pretty well in the WCC so just to move the men's basketball program doesn't make too much sense.
To claim a win over UP as a win over the WCC is like (recently) claiming a win over Idaho is a win over the Big Sky.
That's an interesting idea, JAL. Would the WAC accept a MBB-only associate member? Would the WCC accept such a one-sport-only withdrawal? Maybe BOTH MBB and WBB? An idea worth pondering....
SuperHornet's Athletics Hall of Fame includes Jacksonville State kicker Ashley Martin, the first girl to score in a Division I football game. She kicked 3 PATs in a 2001 game for J-State.
Any Big Sky school should expect to beat UP. There are whispers in the city that UP should look at dropping down to the WAC and being a travel partner for Seattle U and maybe they would be more competitive in the WAC. But their other programs do pretty well in the WCC so just to move the men's basketball program doesn't make too much sense.
To claim a win over UP as a win over the WCC is like (recently) claiming a win over Idaho is a win over the Big Sky.
That's an interesting idea, JAL. Would the WAC accept a MBB-only associate member? Would the WCC accept such a one-sport-only withdrawal? Maybe BOTH MBB and WBB? An idea worth pondering....
The same whispers around the city are that PSU should look to move to the WAC in basketball and be a travel partner for Seattle U (not going to happen). Actually, UP athletics fit well with the WCC demographics. Actually, now that the WAC has got bigger and more football oriented, Seattle U fits better with the WCC demographics.
Rahe listed as a possible candidate for the Utah State job. So far he is the only Big Sky coach listed. Last time the USU job was open, both DeCuire and Peery made the initial list.
Former PSU MBB coach Heath Schroyer is the AD at McNeese, but this still looks like an odd move from Kennedy's perspective. McNeese hasn't had a winning record in 6 years, and they haven't even won 10 games in 4 years.
The Southland is also an awful WBB conference. They were the worst conference in the nation this year according the RealTimeRPI, and the Southland hasn't ranked higher than the Big Sky since '08-09.
Former PSU MBB coach Heath Schroyer is the AD at McNeese, but this still looks like an odd move from Kennedy's perspective. McNeese hasn't had a winning record in 6 years, and they haven't even won 10 games in 4 years.
The Southland is also an awful WBB conference. They were the worst conference in the nation this year according the RealTimeRPI, and the Southland hasn't ranked higher than the Big Sky since '08-09.
I know. I don't really understand the move either. Even though we underachieved this season, it is still rather odd. I'm pretty sure his job at PSU was not in jeopardy.
Schuller was the longest tenured coach in the Big Sky in any of the big 3 sports (20 years), and the second-longest tenured in Big Sky WBB history behind Robin Selvig (38 years total, 34 years in the Big Sky/MWAC). Schuller still had 1 year on her contract, but 6(!) EWU players had entered the transfer portal in the last 3 days before this firing.
Schuller finishes her Big Sky tenure with an overall record of 277-322, and a conference record of 166-169. She was well above .500 in conference play prior to the last 2 seasons, however. Schuller never took EWU to the NCAAs (their only appearance was 1987), but her Eagles did win the regular-season title in 2010 (likely saving Schuller's job at the time) and a WNIT game in 2015.
Mvemjsunpx wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 1:43 pm
Kim Aiken & Jack Perry entered the portal, so that's now 14 EWU men's & women's basketball players that are transferring out.
they must be certain that program is going D-2.
"Ah fuck. You are right." KYJelly, 11/6/12
"The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam." Barack Obama, 9/25/12
Mvemjsunpx wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 1:43 pm
Kim Aiken & Jack Perry entered the portal, so that's now 14 EWU men's & women's basketball players that are transferring out.
they must be certain that program is going D-2.
I'm not sure that would be legal. Lower division schools can have one "showcase sport" in D-I (think Johns Hopkins in lacrosse), or can be in D-I for sports not covered by their main Division for championship purposes (like bowling), but such a practice is NOT allowed for football or basketball. D-II schools can recruit and scholarship up to D-I limits in those sports, but D-III cannot unless they were in the University Division prior to the split into three Divisions in the late '70s. EWU is too competitive in football for them to even consider such a move....
SuperHornet's Athletics Hall of Fame includes Jacksonville State kicker Ashley Martin, the first girl to score in a Division I football game. She kicked 3 PATs in a 2001 game for J-State.
I'm not sure that would be legal. Lower division schools can have one "showcase sport" in D-I (think Johns Hopkins in lacrosse), or can be in D-I for sports not covered by their main Division for championship purposes (like bowling), but such a practice is NOT allowed for football or basketball. D-II schools can recruit and scholarship up to D-I limits in those sports, but D-III cannot unless they were in the University Division prior to the split into three Divisions in the late '70s. EWU is too competitive in football for them to even consider such a move....
Mvemjsunpx wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 1:43 pm
Kim Aiken & Jack Perry entered the portal, so that's now 14 EWU men's & women's basketball players that are transferring out.
they must be certain that program is going D-2.
President reports to the BoT in May. The uncertainty doesn’t help an athlete’s willingness to stay but nothing has been decided yet. Schuller’s firing is more worrisome at the moment.