mat1992

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

https://www.wmar2news.com/sports/towson-university-head-mens-basketball-coach-agree-to-8-year-contract-extension-

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.

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.

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.

There's nothing wrong with wanting a CAA title. That would be nice to achieve since it's never happened to me since I graduated. I thought we appeared to be on the right track last year, winning 10 straight non-conference games. Then what happened? We got rolled by Oakland and choked at Pitt. We've never been the same again. I don't really know what happened to that team. Maybe we overrated them and once again, point guard play was one of the reasons for our inconsistencies in the CAA. How did I feel about this team? I don't think I've missed the first two home games of a season since I was a student or maybe before that when I didn't even know where Towson was. Covering D3 games is just not for me and then the performance in the Bahamas bummed me out so I didn't even go to the Loyola game, which I don't think I've missed in many years. The good thing is that the passion is still there. After PK's disastrous seasons, I didn't know if people would return to Towson basketball. PS did get them back in the building. Now he has to keep them there and it's going to be a huge challenge this season to just be competitive. This is a bad basketball team right now. You couldn't really tell in preseason or the scrimmages playing themselves or others. Though it was a bad sign when I heard they lost to Navy. What happened in the Bahamas was a complete opposite to what took place last year on Northern Ireland or Florida. Experience does matter. We didn't play any freshmen last season. That's why the performance of last year's team in CAA play was the most disappointing by far of Pat's tenure. You can say it's no excuse for having inexperience or freshmen. Ok. But that's why they call it rebuilding. We're can't reload like Duke or Kentucky. Having a new arena is nice but people still aren't coming here just for the arena. It would be nice for some recruits to come here because they want to make history.

Next year, is next year. Who knows how many players will be back? Gray is going to be pretty good. I don't know how good because he hasn't blown me away but most players when they sit out are usually out there coasting because they aren't going to play that season. His upside though is intriguing. But if we don't have a decent point guard, it doesn't matter much unless we find a JB somewhere. If I didn't have faith, I would not have stuck around those 15 losing seasons. Pat has been a winning coach in all but two seasons. Now it will be three. I'm not just looking at wins this season as much as improvement of the younger players. If they don't improve as the season goes on, then sure, next season will probably be .500 at best. Seems like every season, we've brought in a D1 transfer that has to sit out. That wasn't the case this season because we needed guys that could play right away. The coming and going part of players was something I was never concerned with until Martin and Gorham left. So sure, when it has an effect on your results, it concerns me. The other guys that left the program or we booted out didn't really matter. Sure, maybe Jerome Hairston could have been something but he chose to not be a team guy. So eff him.

It depends on expectations. Yes, of course, we shouldn't lose to a bad GW team on the road or an undersized Morgan State team. We had also not lost to a local team in what, four or so years before today? My expectations for this year were very low. As for as firing a coach who has turned a program around but has never made the CAA Finals or NCAA Tournament, count me out. If he wasn't graduating players, he was doing things the wrong way, players weren't doing a lot of charity work, sure. Fire him. But that's not the case. W&M has it worse. They have a very successful coach but they can't get to the Dance. He shouldn't be fired either.

He said the same thing during the 1-31 season about replacing guys. I think it was understandable then because a lot of those kids were just bodies he added very late in the game. You could sort of say the same thing about adding guys late but that was Timberlake and Yagi. Fobbs as well. Maybe Yagi becomes the odd man out along with Drayton. I have to give Drayton some kudos for playing with a cast on his hand but I'm not sure why we played him. He took one of the worst shots off the wrong foot I've ever seen.

Instead of calling out people and firing them, how about coming up with solutions. Did you really think after losing Zane, Morsell, Gorham, and EK that we would win 18 games again? Or even go .500? I can't argue about all the players leaving though most left because they couldn't cut it or were booted. None of those guys went on to do much elsewhere. Now Martin and Gorham are talented players. They might succeed (though step up in competition isn't going to help). You don't think Chris Datres cares about this program? He's been on this board for nearly 20 years, going back to CAAzone. There are certain things I hold my tongue about but sure, instead of solutions, let's fire everybody from Tim to Pat, who aren't going anywhere in the near future. How about recruit better point guards? Play the younger guys more. I don't agree with firing Pat but I can critique him for his recruiting or coachng. Does it make me apologist because I know Pat will get us back on track next season? Fine. Sue me. It's not going to get much better this year. This is what we got and if you're going to lose with 2 and 44 (who doesn't start anymore), you might as well lose with 22, 3, 5 and 25. So let's talk about solutions. 1)If you are going to play the youngsters, they are all athletic. Go back to a zone press and trap out of it sometimes. We didn't even attempt to press today and Morgan State had 10 turnovers that were unforced. Dottin and Timberlake are all outstanding in the open floor. Dottin in the halfcourt is a work-in-progress. They all are. We need to run when it's available. 2)If we're playing halfcourt, Sanders is the number one option inside. He shouldn't be dribbling the ball 20 feet away from the basket, looking to drive. He's not quick enough to take people off the dribble. Get Fobbs more involved. He may not be a defensive stalwart but he can score. He should touch it every time on offense. 3)Start Dottin with Howard and move TJ off the ball. It's not a great defensive lineup but at least you have two decent ballhandlers in the game. We aren't going to see a lot of press but if teams watch this film, they'll invent a press. There's no reason to start Jordan McNeill at this point. He might be better coming off the bench but until he plays better (he may never), he should be limited to 10mpg and coming in for defensive purposes. I didn't mind the small lineup except in the last minute, they gave up two easy offensive rebounds for a putback and that cost us the game. 4)Stay patient with the freshmen. They aren't going to get better by playing 2 minutes here and 2 minutes there. Solomon finishes better than any big we have right now underneath. He has better hands than Tunstall. But he also turned it over twice when putting the ball on the floor. 5)Not much you can do if you don't get good point guard play. The only other solution would be to try Betrand or Timberlake, who has some point guard instincts. Nick's father was a great point guard at Boston U. At times, he shows great passing ability but sure, he's there yet as a ballhandler. Neither is Betrand. Just my 2 cents.