TSU88

I totally agree that marketing stinks. I’m curious what attendance is at some of the other CAA schools for basketball. I don’t think Drexel draws flies, and I’m not sure about NE or Hofstra, but I’m guessing we’re in the lower tier when it comes to attendance. I noticed Morgan State had a sellout crowd of over 4K on its senior night. I guess it’s a combo in our case of poor marketing, apathetic students, & not making the dance in over a quarter century.

I love my school & very loyal to TU. Having said that, I have ZERO hope the TU students will ever display any sustained passion in TU sports. I used to hear “the number of students who live on campus is growing, & that will turn the tide.” To that I respectfully say BS. It’s like the people who claim all the kids playing youth soccer ⚽️ will eventually make the U.S. relevant in men’s soccer, and it never happens. At its core, TU remains a commuter school with apathetic students who care not a whit about TU sports

Funny you mentioned that. I looked at some of his video clips & it looked like he kind of kicks/spreads his legs out when he shoots. But if it goes in, there’s no extra style points

We’ve got a boatload of offers out. Now that the season is over, I suspect Skerry will ramp up the recruiting

He’s also been offered by Siena, &, at least according to this article, has garnered interest from NE & UNCW

Interesting. Skerry’s a New England guy, so I assume he’s got connections up there. According to verbal commits, he’s also got offers from Niagara, Hartford & Boston U. Wonder how his game would play in the CAA? If he can shoot 3’s, sign him up!!!

I’m a big ZM fan, but his inability often times to score in the 1st half of games is perplexing. Nothing wrong with having a good front court. In fact, it is possible we’ll have the best one in the conference next season. That’s why it’s paramount these last 2 scholarships go not just to guards, but good guards. Or at least a good PG & a 6’5 6’6 guy in the mold of Damas

A good PG & a guy who can knock down 3’s. Those are the two glaring issues that Skerry needs to address with the last 2 open scholarships, in my opinion.

Sadly true, we’ve never been “close.” “close” to me means at least making it to the conference tournament championship game.

We were at rock bottom when this Pat took over for the last Pat. Unarguably, Skerry raised us, metaphorically, from the dead. But,with each passing season that ends in frustration & disappointment, the question becomes has he hit a plateau? Since he ain’t going anywhere, I guess we have a number more years to find out the answer to that question. However, after 7 years, I don’t believe it is being knee jerk to wonder if he’s ever going to win the regular season and:or the conference tournament.

I didn’t start this thread, but to answer the question of why bring up this topic again, I suspect it was born of the frustration many of us feel with another poor showing in the conference tournament. Clearly, Skerry isn’t going anywhere. Perhaps the better question is why was it necessary to give Skerry an 8 year extension? believe Skerry’s record is now 2-6 (I only remember W’s over JMU in Baltimore & NE last year) with 1 trip (a loss) to the semifinals. During the Skerry era I believe every other team in the conference, with the exception of Elon, has at least been to the finals of the tournament. If you want a coach who graduates kids (at least the ones who stay) & who has made the program into a consistent 18-20 W’s a year team, then Skerry is your guy. If you want a coach who’s going to win the conference regular season title and/or the conference tournament, then, at least thus far, Skerry isn’t your guy. One other note, Skerry has had some disastrous recruiting results, to go with some of his successes in that category. Hairston, Matthews, Ingram, Hawkins, Foster & Prophete for various reasons have all flamed out (or, in Prophete’s case, is on the path to flaming out). I get it-every coach has recruits that don’t pan out, just seems like we’ve had more than our fair share. And I’m not even factoring in Marshall (the son of the NBA player), Barrington Alston, Deon Jones (who left & went on to have a nice career at Monmouth) & a couple of guys who signed, but never played a game here (like Amayo).

Today’s loss exemplifies what has thus far been Skerry’s Achilles heel-his abject failure in not bringing in a good PG. Starr had a few standout games in his 2 years, but by in large he was average to below average. Getting outscored 24-0 need not be elaborated upon. Next year we will be loaded in depth & size up front with Sanders, Gorham, Solomon U, Tunstall & Thomas. Factor ZM back in & we’ve got some nice pieces. But the elephant in the room, as usual, is who’s running the point? Right now, unless he brings in a one year rental grad transfer, it’s going to be a freshman and/or a JUCO. He really needs to utilize the 2 open ships in a productive manner

You’re right TU2012. With JMU & Elon (who both swept us) both ousted, it should be smooth sailing ⛵️ for us!!!

Wow, it must really be a dump, because the civic center (to me, it will always be the civic center) is a real dump. With its square design, it was obsolete when it was built in the 60’s. I once read (or heard) that when the NHL went through it’s major expansion, beginning in the mid-to-late 60’s, that Baltimore would have gotten a team, but for the fact the league considered the civic center subpar. Instead, the league expanded to the old capital centre. Anyway, I digress. Philly to me would be ideal, geographically, for the CAA tournament, provided there’s an appropriate venue

Quarterfinals are set: UD vs NE (NE swept regular season); C of C vs Drexel (teams split in regular season); us vs w&m (we swept regular season); and perhaps the most intriguing matchup-Hofstra vs uncw (not only did they split regular season, but each team won by 20 points, meaning they scored the exact same amount of points versus each other in their 2 games).

Actually, I forgot somehow about UNCW. Maybe they could hold it somewhere in NC. Close for the Southern schools (uncw Elon & C of C) not to mention not that far for the VA schools. Still, half the conference schools are in MD or north of MD

The Palestra holds 8K, but I don’t know if the CAA would be allowed to use it.

Btw, it’s outrageous that the freaking DII CIAA tournament is on tv, & the CAA doesn’t get on the box until the semi’s. On our instagram account is a short video clip of the guys practicing today. I noticed Starr was present. Hope he plays, as we certainly need all hands on deck. 1st game tomorrow is C of C vs Drexel. Drexel did split with them in the regular season. Would love to see Drexel pull the upset, especially if we manage to prevail tomorrow. All things being equal, I’d rather play Drexel then C of C, on their home court, though beating Drexel a 3rd time would be no easy task. I’m getting ahead of myself, but I wonder where the tournament will be held in 2020? Next year will be the 3rd year in Charleston (I’m assuming it was a 3-year agreement). It wouldn’t be fair in my opinion to keep it in Charleston beyond that, which of course begs the question of where else it could be held? Maybe Philly? You’ve got Drexel, UD & TU in close proximity. What other metropolitan areas could it be held, other than Charleston, Baltimore & Philly? Doubt they’d go to Boston-only close for NE, & really far away for the southern school’s. NY metro isn’t really an option, is it? I guess it could be held on Long Island. There are 2 schools in Virginia, but they’re both off the beaten path, such that I’m not sure where, other than on-campus, they could hold the tournament. Is Elon near an arena, other than it’s own?

Betrand with 14 points, 4 boards & 3 assists to lead his team to a 51-49 victory in the Philly Catholic League championship game at the Palestra. (Sorry, don’t have a link). I like that he comes from a championship program & that he came up big in the championship game.

Averaged 22 ppg & 4 assists in HS in S Carolina. Has visited Coastal Carolina, JMU & C of C. He follows one of our coaches on Twitter, for whatever that’s worth. He also has a lot of retweets of JMU basketball on his Twitter

Still hoping for a post to this thread announcing a RB with some size has been added.

Hunter is really, really small. 5’4 or 5’5. I’m sure he’s quick/fast, but really small. I remember the Colts had a KR/PR in the Bert Jones era named Howard Stevens who was 5’5. I think once when he scored a TD an announcer quipped when he celebrated scoring it was the shortest spiking of the ball in league history

You’re absolutely right about W&M. They lost Pruett & Dixon & Malinowski & Whitman (over 40 points a game!!) & were picked to finish near the bottom of the conference. Instead, they’re one of the highest scoring & best shooting teams in the nation, & they have a nice recruiting class coming in. I’m naturally a glass half empty guy, at least when it comes to TU sports. I just don’t see us beating them 3X in one season. As for Elon, it’s a wealthy private school, so they probably do have the $

Come to think of it, isn’t Skerry the 3rd most tenured coach in the conference, behind only Shaver & Coen? Just goes to show how mercurial & nomadic of a job D1 basketball coaching is

Biggest need with the 2 remaining ships is a quality PG. Otherwise, we’re looking at an untested freshman in Dottin & a thoroughly disappointing Prophete. I suspect the 2nd ship will be either a small forward or a combo guard. As you know, we’ve offered a bunch of JUCO’s, as well as some HS kids. We could also wait around for a grad transfer