TSU88

My guess is money can be banked. Assuming he’s not getting an extension (I have no inside information, but my guess is he will-it’s just a question of how long of one) the pressure will be enormous on Skerry to spend like a drunken sailor on shore leave, if TT & DWill both fly the coop. I mean, can you imagine next season, without those 2 guys, and without a major influx of talent via the portal? We would without any shadow of a doubt be the worst team in the conference

Floodgates are opening. Here’s the bottom line-college basketball is now a year-to-year exercise. For the well heeled schools, it doesn’t matter so much, as they can go out and buy a whole new batch of Hessians every off-season. But for the TU’s of the world, it’s a much more bleak outlook. Recruit guys out of HS who excel and you’re going to lose them after 1 season, 2 at the most. And good luck backfilling those players in the portal, as having champagne tastes on a beer budget ain’t going to cut it. It must be emotionally exhausting for coaches to have to deal with this every off-season. I bet there are coaches at our level who grovel to these kids coming out of HS by begging them to come to their school and use the school as a springboard to a lucrative payday when they transfer

Oh I’m sure they can dip their toes in, but decide to stay. Do you realistically think that will happen though? I guess maybe if we can make DWill a competitive offer

The above post was meant as a reply to 2012’s post about a source saying TT & DWill will be entering the portal. I clicked the wrong post to quote

This ain’t the Hotel California, where you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave. If they check out (enter the portal) they’re all but gone, if it boils down to who can pay them the most. Of course, it might not strictly be a question of who’s the highest bidder, as intangibles do sometimes play a role. That actually got me to thinking…other coaches will probably tell them that if they come to their school that they might actually, you know, have a real chance of making the NCAA tournament

Right, so if it’s not announced, I guess I’m wondering how would disaffected donors even know?

As we turn our focus to next season, I agree with your premise that Tejada is gone. If so, the pressure to keep DWill will be enormous. If he also leaves, that means our leading returning scorer will be May, and I needn’t elaborate on how problematic that would be. If DWill returns, I still think we have to get a scorer from the portal to compliment him. Question is, will we have enough money left to do so, after paying DWill. The nightmare scenario is that both Tejada and DWill leave. In that case, Skerry will have to hit 2 HR’s in the portal in order to replace the departure of 32 ppg

This assumes that any such extension is announced to the media, rather than trying to keep it on the down low

My guess…of the 15 CAA players comprising 1st, 2nd and 3rd team all-conference no more than 5, at the most (maybe as few as 2-3) will be back in the conference this fall, due to either having exhausted their eligibility or because of going the free agency route

You’re right, but at least we might have a puncher’s chance in another conference. As it stands now, we have as much chance in the CAA of getting to the dance as a moose does of squeezing into a phone booth

Here, here. I have little appetite for being the perennial punching bag for C of C and UNCW, as it relates to NIL. While this has nothing to do with last night’s fiasco, in the long term what are our chances of beating them in the conference tournament, if we can’t even beat a 12 seed?

I find myself in agreement with you about perhaps getting out of the CAA. I just responded in another thread that if our fate is to perpetually be the Kansas City A’s, to the NYY and L.A. Dodgers (aka C of C and UNCW) let’s get out and go to a conference where we can be on a more level playing field when it comes to NIL. Besides, any other D1 league we would go to would have the pathway (1 bid) to the big dance as the CAA, so it’s not like we’d be jeopardizing our chances to go dancing, but instead might be increasing our chances

Hate to say it, but I agree. If we’re doomed to forever being the Kansas City A’s (old school reference, but I think everyone gets it) to the NYY and L.A. Dodgers (C of C and UNCW) let’s get out and move to another conference where we can be competitive in NIL. I mean, why not? The conference we would move to would have the same number of bids (1) to the tournament as the CAA. And I also agree that even with the NIL discrepancy, that was a complete non-factor last night. And what about all the pre-NIL seasons where we failed to even make it to the conference championship game? The “he pulled us from the abyss” mentality cannot exist in perpetuity. No, it’s time for new direction, plain and simple

This may have already been addressed in the myriad threads that sprung up after last night’s debacle (I’ve purposefully avoided the board since then, and may do so to some degree until football season). We had it all in front of us…a path to the championship game that did not involve playing either UNCW or C of C and a path that involved playing a 12 seed which was playing its 4th game in 4 days. Will there be any accountability for failing to once again not make the conference tournament championship game? I doubt it. In fact, given the success in the regular season this year, coupled with the great attendance the last two games, my guess is Skerry gets another extension, of at least two years. Just like the expiration date on a milk carton, sometimes a coach goes stale and needs to be replaced. It’s abundantly clear, at least to all of us, that Skerry’s formula doesn’t work in the conference tournament. I believe his tournament record now stands at a dismal 7-13 and, as we’re all painfully aware, he’s never gotten a team to the championship game of the tournament. We all know that his record, especially the last few years, in regular season conference play is outstanding. We all know he graduates kids, and we all know he’s a great family man. OTOH, we all know he’s never going to get us back to the NCAA tournament, based on his past, and lengthy, record of futility in this regard. I believe the Administration needs to make a decision: is it satisfied with regular season success, followed by postseason failure, or does it want to bring in a fresh voice and try to get out of this postseason malaise? My guess is the Administration will opt for the former, and rely on the regular season success, and say “well, we’re in a 1 bid league and no one except C of C & UNCW go to the tournament anyway.” I think the administration will also rationalize by saying “well, given our inherent NIL limitations, why would a new coach be more successful than the one we have now”? If in fact the Administration opts to play it safe, as I think they will, then shame on it. I’d like to think that the new prez, who came from George Mason, would understand that success in the regular season is nothing more than eye candy, and that the way to grow TU’s footprint is to get to the big dance, which brings enormous exposure, which can lead to growing the fanbase, which can lead to increasing the NIL coffers. Curious to hear others thoughts on this

While DWill may not replicate his success vs Drexel, I’d like to think Camden won’t replicate his output vs W&M, where many of his 3’s were uncontested, after DE broke W&M’s press. Every DE starter can shoot 3’s, so not allowing them good looks, along with crashing the boards, will be paramount

Personally, I like the idea of on-campus tournament games. It rewards the higher seeds and likely leads to better atmosphere

This is a topic for another day, but is the CAA really a conference that’s going to attract big enough crowds for a neutral site tournament? I guess the turnout tomorrow & Tuesday will answer that question, but Im guessing Friday & yesterday’s crowds were sparse, seeing as the top 4 seeds did not play until today

Cardiac kids, what can I tell you?😆

As long as we have at least 1 more point then them when the clock hits 0:00, I’m good

Didn’t Stony Brook win 4 games in the tournament last season, before losing in the championship game? I don’t think fatigue will be that big a factor tomorrow, as those guys will be playing on adrenaline. Nor do I think some silly Twitter post is going to be a factor either. If we play good D, rebound, and get some scoring help from someone like May and/or Tarke, I like our chances

W&M is like the speed horse who takes the lead out of the gate and then fades down the stretch. They were up 54-47 today, only to be outscored 53-24 the rest of the way. Reminiscent of when they jumped out to a big lead on us, only to get trucked the rest of the game.

If we give Camden wide open 3’s, like the softies from W&M, sure. Tomorrow night might actually be a night we want Skerry ball

The gorilla announcing his presence with authority tomorrow vs DE or W&M

Survive & advance. Awaiting the winner of W&M vs Delaware. Those two are currently trying to do their best Paul Westhead LMU impressions. If DE somehow pulls this out, tomorrow night will be their 4th game in 4 days.

I totally agree. I’ll trade their futures here for a ticket to the dance. Now, if we don’t punch a ticket to said dance, we’ve squandered two seasons with these guys, and it’s back to the drawing board without them