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- Today
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Tiger Nation, On behalf of Towson University Athletics, I'd like to wish you and your family a healthy and happy holiday season! As 2018 comes to an end, we certainly have a lot to celebrate as so much was achieved this past year. First and foremost, I'm extremely proud to be leading an athletics department that is full of some of the most hardworking, passionate and dedicated people in the country. Without their support, we could not have been as successful. It is through our coaches and staff that we are able to foster a championship mentality and environment for our Tiger student-athletes. To reciprocate the support our staff provides for student-athletes, the university has played a vital role to ensure that our department has the resources we need to be successful leaders. I am extremely thankful for Dr. Kim Schatzel's vision for the university and for including Towson Athletics in that vision. Providing opportunities to student-athletes is a focus of our mission, and Dr. Schatzel and the entire university community continues to support us with resources that provide the best competitive opportunities and experiences possible. On that note, I'd like to congratulate our football team on securing an at-large bid to the Division I FCS Football Championship this past season. Despite a first-round loss to Duquesne, Coach Rob Ambrose, his staff and the team had a really great year all while making a statement in the Colonial Athletic Conference (CAA). The conference named quarterback Tom Flacco the 2018 CAA Offensive Player of the Year and running back Shane Simpson was selected as the 2018 CAA Special Teams Player of the Year. In addition, Towson earned 11 All-CAA selections, including tying a league-high five on the First Team. I admire the grit and passion displayed by our volleyball program this fall. Their season ended in a 2nd-round CAA playoff loss to top-seeded Hofstra. Their efforts did not go unnoticed as a trio of student-athletes earned post-season recognition by the CAA. Senior right side hitter Jocelyn Kuilan and redshirt senior libero Anna Holehouse were named Second Team All-CAA while freshman outside hitter Emily Jarome was selected to the All-Rookie Team. Some individuals should be recognized as well. Recent 2018 Track and Field Graduate Megan Kelly made the 2018-19 USA Bobsled & Skeleton national team as a push athlete. Towson University swimmer Jack Saunderson clinched a time of 51.48 seconds in the 100-meter butterfly preliminaries–the fifth-fastest in the world this year, and the second quickest by an American. With that time, Saunderson has qualified for a spot on the U.S. National Team heading to the 2019 World University Games in Italy. We will profile Jack in an upcoming Student-Athlete Spotlight on the Towson Sports Network. I'd also like to recognize that at this moment in time, Kionna Jeter of the women's basketball team is ranked 11th overall in NCAA Divison I women's basketball in points per game, averaging 23.3. You can check on the most recent rankings here. In addition to sports performance, we continue to make great strides in our efforts to provide championship caliber facilities. Many exciting projects and initiatives are ongoing that will enhance Towson Athletics for years to come. The Towson University field hockey team opened its new field in October, a project that was announced this past spring. This is truly a new era for the program as they are able to play on a water-based carpet, the same FieldTurf used by the International Hockey Federation and endorsed by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association. Other areas of South Campus will receive notable upgrades as well. After homecoming, we broke ground on the first phase of the Lower Practice Fields Projects, which will include two fully lined, turfed surfaces for our field sports, in addition to a lined area for short-sided drills. This phase will include the foundation for phase two: installation for plumbing and electricity to accommodate concessions, bathrooms and lights. Phase two will also include the construction of Tiger Stadium, an intimate stage for the new home of Towson women's soccer. These renovations are the first of several improvements to South Campus, with more information on additional upgrades coming in the near future. While a huge point of pride, athletic success and facility enhancements are only a partial measure of our progress. Tiger student-athletes continue to earn national merit with their academic performance. The NCAA has released the latest Division I graduation rate data. As a department, Towson stands with an 87% NCAA Graduation Success Rate, the highest success rate among all Division I University of Maryland System (USM) institutions. Please know that there is so much more that I could brag about, and we have a lot of great ideas in the pipeline. Our staff, coaches and student-athletes are committed to Building Greatness and we will push forward every day. I'd like to thank you for the role you play in supporting Tiger Athletics and our incredible student-athletes. Your loyal and generous support helps create the foundation for our success, allowing our Tigers to succeed and enjoy the unique student-athlete experience that Towson offers them, propelling them on a course of success for the rest of their lives. I have enjoyed reflecting and sharing these moments of greatness with you. I hope that you find great pride in the achievements of the athletics department and the university as a whole. I look forward to seeing you at the games in 2019! On behalf of Towson's entire Department of Athletics, please enjoy a safe and prosperous holiday season, and a great start to the new year. GO TIGERS! Towson University Tim Leonard Director of Athletics Towson University
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I'm looking forward to seeing their new building and also a potential lineup change. I assume PS goes back to Timberlake in the starting role and possibly Dottin, if he's healthy enough. I was thinking about going small with Fobbs at the 4 but they got brutalized on the boards on two straight possessions with that small lineup. It's something to ponder though against the press though I'd rather have Howard and Dottin playing at the same time.
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Yeah, I would have thought their attendance out of the gate this year would have been higher. Factors: fame is fleeting (Jarius Lyles is in the G League now); primarily a commuter school; opponents not big name teams. As for Tuesday, I’ll be there. Predicting a 15-20 point UMBC W. Hope I’m wrong.
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I'll have to ask the UMBC guys what the deal is. That's awful. Understandable for Shenandoah but you would think they'd market the program better. I haven't really seen much in terms of UMBC marketing other than they have a coaches show. That's an exciting team. They put up 91 points at Drexel. They've been up and down but they are clearly the better team than us.
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Interesting, I just checked out UMBC’s home attendance so far this season. They’ve played 3 home games (Shenandoah, Manhattan & American). Largest single game attendance thus far...slightly over 1,100
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Not getting into the stadium expansion on the basketball topic board. That might be a pipedream for now but if you think we're never going to fill in part of the stadium where there's dirt and mulch, then we should just give up on football because FCS has no future for a school that will have close to 30,000 people and 8,000 on campus in 10 years. Now as far as the basketball program goes, filling that arena when the team is good should be a pre-requisite. That ain't happening this season but when the team becomes good again (hopefully next season), there's no reason why we can't get 3,000+ people a night including students. I'll be going to the UMBC game Tuesday and it will be interesting to see how they capitalize on their NCAA win.
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I think if you build it they will come
- Yesterday
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Wow, an 8 year extension for a coach that has never been to the finals of the CAA Tournament? Indoor facility and a weight room are smart ideas. Stadium Expansion? What kind of ridiculous mindset is that? Towson has not had a crowd approaching 75% of the capacity in a long time, and cannot sell more than 2,000 football season tickets even the year after playing for a national title. But someone, somewhere, thinks that expanding the stadium is a smart move? Unitas Stadium seats 11,198 and if you are saying that people on campus want to move to D1, it's a nice dream, but it makes no sense. While there is no minimum stadium size, to maintain FBS status, a school must average 15,000 in paid or actual attendance a game at least once every two seasons. Towson has only drawn over 10,000 maybe a handful of times. Just to make the move TU would have to add in another 5,000 seats minimum and would be a lot of dough. The NCAA used to require Division I-A schools to have a stadium with a minimum capacity of 30,000, but that rule was scrapped in 2004. FCS has no attendance requirements. https://www.sportsrec.com/division-1-college-football-requirements-6660709.html There is no demand, on any level, for Towson to be FBS Football. That is a remarkably poor idea and use of state money.
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Buffalo hung on to Reggie Weatherspoon for 14 seasons, finally cut bait and brought in Bobby Hurley. Hurley got them over the hump, left for a batter gig at Arizona State and now Nate Oats has made them even better.
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The reality is Towson is trying to build an indoor practice facility for winter sports (mainly football) and eventually expand the field house with a weight room (they don't have one there) and stadium expansion. Some might think it's a waste but you aren't buying out coaches for 3-4 years when you need $$$ to improve your resources.
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https://www.wmar2news.com/sports/towson-university-head-mens-basketball-coach-agree-to-8-year-contract-extension-
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Sure, with all of the excess money from the donors and ticket sales the Athletic Director is going to fork out contract buyouts and then pay more for the next staff to come in. Not going to happen. Skerry got his latest extension 355 days ago, which pushed his deal back to a 5 year term. https://towsontigers.com/news/2017/12/19/mens-basketball-skerry-signs-contract-extension.aspx?path=mbball No one is buying out 4 years of a coaching contract at Towson. Dream on. No different than when Ambrose got his extension in January 2014 through 2020 and no buyout was done on him when Towson failed to make the playoffs in 2014-2015-2016-2017. Towson does not buyout contracts. Why? Towson does not have donors who write big checks and even more depressing, Towson does not have alumni who buy tickets and support the program. 70% of the football attendance is made up of comp tickets to students and player families, bands. Take out the comps and you get about 2,000 people a game who care paying about $25 bucks a piece. That's $50,000 gate per game x 5 home games = $250,000 a year in revenues. That does not even cover 75% of Rob Ambrose's base salary. Football is a MAJOR financial drain on Towson University. There is no factual financial argument that can state otherwise. Basketball attendance is worse, so where is this magic money coming from? Skerry is at Towson through March 2023 - 4 more seasons. Ambrose just got a rollover year so he is in place through at least December 2021 - 3 more seasons. These are the facts and they are indisputable.
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If Skerry, staff, and kids constantly read this board that is one of the problems. Who in the heck should have free time perusing a message board with 5-7 posters who vents about clearly obviously flaws. That time should be spent studying tape, working hard in the gym, etc. You think Nick Saban or Tony Bennett and staff /players have time to check out what's said on a message board or even damn care? Good grief..
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Completely understand your frustrations after today’s game and hence the past “3” decades. Love the school and want to win. I had said give the man this season and the next. However my concern is that just may prolong the agony for all of us. He deserves time with this young group and I guess they will evaluate after conference play. But if we don’t see progress and momentum built up with this core then sadly I say blow it up this spring. Get new blood in there... roll the dice. I’ve been an apologist but today none of it made sense truly. We have a new arena.. play in a NBA less city... in the Mid Atlantic where there is plenty of talent to draw from. Do we go get a former player like a Tommy Amaker type who played for a major program. We obviously don’t have a pro alum like a Mullins or Hardaway to choose from unless Gary Neal wants to coach. How did Buffalo do it!? Hurley. Feel all your frustration... My solution is to spend the $ and go after a name coach... it’s a 50/50 chance but at this point I’m willing to take it. Not saying Steve Lavin but someone who has had success at a big program and wants to coach and can take us to the next level. I saw Rex Walters clean up a USF program after Jesse Evans (Lute Olsen asst) did some shady stuff... but then Rex could only take them so far. Now Kyle Smith has them in the hunt for at large and a chance to finish 2nd behind Gonzaga. At a loss again...
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I doubt our message board is unique in being critical of players. Beyond that, it’s a competitive world outside the insulated existence of the college campus. If these young men can’t stand some criticism of their ballplaying skills, what are they going to do when they face some real adversity later in life? I applaud each & every player who graduates from TU, & wish them unqualified success in the real world. But that doesn’t mean folks on here have to be polyannas or refrain from criticism, as long as it’s not vindictive/spiteful. If for instance I point out that a kid is 6-33 from the field,I hardly think that’s cruel and is going to make him curl up in a ball.
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It’s amazing how “fans” shit talk, excuse my language, young college kids instead of sticking by our players and coaches? If you think that they don’t see these comments, you’re insane. Ok, they aren’t the best basketball players or had a rough game, it happens. Their effort can’t be questioned, just their skill and it happens. It’s college basketball. But my heart goes out to these kids, especially Thomas and Mcneil sticking out these 4 years and being apart of a bunch of different causes and programs at Towson and in the community. Yes I’m disappointed, but you guys are ridiculous.
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Ok, I’ll take a stab st this: 1. I’m down with pressing opponents. Maybe it’ll force some turnovers & lead to more uptempo play. We’re woeful in half court offense anyway; 2. More touches down low for Sanders? Ok. He’s not a bad shooter. More touches for Fobbs in general? Why not? He’s the only guy on the team who’s capable of being anything remotely close to a volume scorer; 3. Start Dottin & Howard, the latter as the 2 guard? Well, if it results in McNeil being benched, I’m all for it. But it leaves us very small at guard & I’m skeptical Howard would be effective as the 2 guard. Of course, he ain’t terribly effective as the 1 guard for that matter; 4. Stay patient with the freshman? Hell, I say play them more. We’re only going to win 3 more games maximum anyway, so what’s to lose? Baptism by fire. Let them take their lumps this year & find out which ones can contribute going forward. Or, we could give more minutes to Alex & McNeil 😳. I’m already on the record as saying I want to see more of Solomon. Ditto for Timberlake. Frankly, Dottin at PG can’t be worse than Howard (although Howard does score some). Selcuk is buried on the bench & Betrand is struggling mightily, but he ain’t going to play his way out of a funk on the bench; 5. You can put anyone you want on this current roster at PG, but not one of them is the solution at that position going forward. It is inexcusable to me that the current coach has failed miserably in his time here in bringing in even an average to above average PG. I challenge anyone to tell me I’m wrong.
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Well that was great guys. Thanks for the feedback on the solutions (not). Not saying the staff is going to listen to this but they aren't going to just watch the team fizzle.
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Betrand has not looked good but it's a very small sample size. He's a long, athletic wing. He could develop into a 3&D guy because he really can't score off the dribble. His shot isn't bad if he's set up properly. Most freshmen need time to develop and he's one of them.
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I like Fobbs. He’s the silver lining in a very dark cloud this season. I’m hoping he’ll be even better next year. I’m not a Howard fan. I’m just tired of subpar PG play. I want to see more of Solomon. And Timberlake shows flashes. I think Dottin can be an adequate backup PG, but nothing more. Selcuk I suspect is a candidate not to be back next year. And Betrand looks awful. 6-33 from the field.
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Fobbs has a chance to be a pretty good juco transfer. Howard not so much though again, I think he's more of a combo guard.
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Nothing will change unless staffing changes. Sad reality and we will be having this SAME discussion this time next year. Deal with it..
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Totally forgot about Guthrie. Averaged 10ppg for his 2 years here. Best JUCO by far in the Skerry era. Burwell was a decent transfer. He also averaged about 10ppg in his 2 years here. As you point out, they were both years ago, in any event. More recent JUCO’s (Ivory, Starr & Howard) have been less successful.
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Guthrie was a solid JUCO and Burrell was a solid transfer. Bilal Dixon was a solid GRad Transfer. But that was many years ago.
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Why are some assuming there is no buyout option that the school can exercise? Wouldn’t that be a fairly standard clause? I mean I don’t know for a fact there is such a clause, but it’s just interesting to me that some on here are adamant that there isn’t
