TSU88

Sounds like another coach we know. And Hyde’s postseason record is even worse, as I believe his next playoff win will be his first. If they keep up their putrid performance …well, you know the old saying, you can’t fire 25 players

Yet another reason Hyde should be fired. Maybe he should keep our name out of his mouth, and focus on his crappy squad, which has the 4th worst record in MLB, and is barely ahead of the CWS and Pittsburgh. I’m not sure Adley Rutschman (AKA Matt Wieters with better hair) could even make the “Towson State” roster.

We’ll never know the answer, but I wonder what Tejada and DWill would have been offered had they portaled? No question both have areas they need to improve in (who doesn’t, for that matter) but with the way some of these schools are throwing money around, who knows? It reminds me of an article I once read about the nascent days of MLB free agency, where guys were getting crazy money, and in some cases far more than they deserved. A GM at the time analogized it to going to an auction, and getting swept up in the process, to the point of overbidding for something you really didn’t need, and then upon getting home saying “what the hell am I going to do with this moose head now?”😆

Except we don’t know how many of those 33 are from DE and W&M, although even if you take out those two, it’s probably the case that the CAA still had more than the Missouri Valley. Once Villanova leaves (assuming it does) I’m not so sure the CAA will continue to lead the way in this category

If that scenario plays itself out, well truly be left out in the cold, unless we could somehow join C-USA

Totally tone deaf response, which is probably a rehashed response similar to that used when JMU, DE & Richmond left. Well, at least he already has a canned response for when Villanova leaves

Good grief. We should have seen the writing on the wall years ago and had some exit strategy. Now, I have no clue what, if any, viable (notice I said viable) options exist

Wholeheartedly agree, but this begs the question, “to where”? Is Conference USA even still an option? Can you imagine the costs involved in sending our women’s LAX team (just one example) to travel to El Paso and Las Cruces? What other football conferences are out there? We’re not an option for the Patriot League. SoCon? It would certainly be better than staying in the CAA, but that’s not a compliment to the SoCon, but rather a stinging rebuke of the CAA. Am I missing other options?

There’s truth to this. With Richmond, W&M, and maybe Villanova soon to follow, the Patriot League may be just as good, if not better in football than the dregs left in the CAA. Problem is we’re not an option for the Patriot League, as it has no state schools amongst its members. I wonder if Elon might be another member that might abandon CAA football in the near future?

Look, let’s face the facts-CAA football, as we once knew it, is dead. It’s a stunning fall from grace from being the SEC of the FCS to what it is now. It’ll only get worse once Nova bolts, which seems to be a question of when, not if. As I see it, we need to somehow turn this situation into an opportunity to get the hell out of the CAA, at least as far as football goes. This is a test of the President and the A.D’s helmsmanship. I think one thing everyone can agree upon is that maintaining the status quo is not the solution

I’m afraid you’re spot on, in this regard. JMU, gone; DE gone; Richmond gone; W&M gone; Nova probably a short timer. We seem to be reactive, not proactive, like other institutions. Our attendance is spotty, at best, and no one is going to be terribly motivated to come watch the rest of the flotsam and jetsam left over in the conference. I love Saturday home football games at Johnny U, so it pains me to say this, but I’m becoming increasingly pessimistic about the future of TU football. The cost of running the program, by virtue of the equipment, travel expenses, and number of scholarships (I’m probably leaving out other factors) has got to be staggering, and to what end? We squandered the momentum of the trip to Frisco, back in 2014, and I have reservations about the current coach, although that’s an issue for a different day. We also know that the most successful basketball programs in the conference have been the ones that don’t have a football program competing for resources. When was the last time the CAA was represented in the MBB tournament by a school that also had a football team? What can the football program do? Stay in the crappy conference we’re in? We certainly can’t move up, as I see it. Our current President came to us from George Mason, which as we know had a historic run in MBB, without a competing football program. I don’t know what the end game is-continue to tread water in a capsizing ship; move up (HOW???); move down; disband? I think we could be approaching a tipping point & I assume the powers that be at TU will soon have to make some decisions that will impact the future of the program profoundly

I’ve occasionally pondered whether C of C and/or UNCW will leave the CAA. While I have no insight into their collective thoughts processes, one thing I come back to is why would they want to leave? They’re big fishes in a relatively small pond and where would they go? The convenient answer is A-10, but the A-10 is basically a 1-bid league now (just like the CAA) and is dominated by VCU

Just for football, at the moment? Certainly another blow to CAA football, but I think it makes sense from W&M’s perspective. Given their academic background they seem a more natural fit for the Patriot League. And yes, I wouldn’t be surprised if Nova’s days in the CAA are numbered. This is probably a good point for a serious discussion about the future of TU football. Not just in the CAA, but in general

It’s wise to stay within one’s budget

That’s a gift even UNCW would be envious of 😆

That 67K has increased by like 40% since the post announcing it. (My math might be a bit fuzzy, but what do you expect from a Mass Communications major). I just don’t see the need to mock what we’ve brought in, compared to UNCW, other than maybe discouraging a prospective donor. Perhaps fewer posts lauding all things UNCW wouldn’t be a bad idea 🤔

Nobody has ever mistaken me for this iconic character

The following stats are not fabricated or embellished: in Seck’s first two starts at Hawaii, vs UC-Irvine and Cal State Northridge, he avg’d 15ppg, 12 rebounds and 3.5 blocks. I’m not in any way suggesting he’s going to put up numbers here even remotely close to those, but there’s gotta be some talent there.

Should we be terribly surprised that the fans of a player who’s left in the portal badmouth the guy on the way out the door? I’m going to reserve judgment until I see him in person. Who knows, they may be right & he’s Mr. Magoo. Time will tell

I’m guessing the rotation will consist of: DWill, Schmidt, TT, Doumbia, Seck, Embeya, Womack, Ndefo, and Cole and/or Barton. Coleman & Samb bringing up the rear. Generally speaking, I think most teams (W&M was an exception last year, as they played about a million guys) can succeed with an 8-9 player rotation. Injuries of course are always a wild card. And backup PG is important. It looks like it’s to have to be Cole or Barton. I’m not thrilled with that, but I’m not sure what other options exist

I’m not so sure Samb & Coleman are going to get a lot of PT, absent injuries or foul trouble. If Embeya & Seck can combine for 10+ boards and 2-3 blocked shots per game, I’ll take it. As far as scoring, 8-10ppg, maybe. Again, with our other scoring options, what Embeya and Seck do on D is more important. And I agree about wondering who the backup PG is going to be. Guessing DWill will play a solid 30 mpg, but someone is going to have to spell him

FWIW, he was offered by Kansas out of HS. Another interesting factoid; in his first career start (At Hawaii) he scored 14 points, grabbed 16 rebounds and blocked 4 shots (not versus Goucher, but rather UC-Irvine). Why he never built on that, who knows? I think I saw where he did have an ACL injury at some point. I’ll take a glass half full approach for now and hope for the best.

I’m guessing we spent most of our NIL on retaining Tejada and DWill, along with bringing in Doumbia and Schmidt. So, like it or not, Seck was the kind of guy we were going to get. Tim Duncan wasn’t going to be walking through the door with what we could offer. Is he Samb 2.0? Hopefully not, but we should probably take a wait and see approach before we automatically consign this guy to the junk heap. Again, I think we should be realistic with our expectations, but not fatalistic. If you’re expecting Seck to score 10+ ppg, you’re almost certainly going to be disappointed. If he can grab 5 or so boards a game, and block/alter some shots (in a part time role) then perhaps he’ll be a serviceable rotation guy.

If Embeya improves over the summer (no guarantee) hopefully we won’t need Seck to play more than 15 mpg or so. I agree, Seck can make his bones 🦴 simply by grabbing boards and blocking shots. Any scoring beyond 5-6 ppg (assuming he’s capable of that) would be gravy.

I think we can safely assume we didn’t have much left in the NIL coffers. Does this guy become the tallest player in TU history? Numbers are underwhelming, but I’m not sure we need much from him offensively, with Tejada, DWill, the 2 other portal guys and hopefully Womack. What we do need from him is a rebounder and shot blocker who can hopefully hold his own with the new bigs UNCW and C of C hired.