Ronny Thompson Discussion

[AvantGuardHoya]

dfw said:

njcoach said:

But the writer, Mr. Davis, makes the long-accepted point that there are no recruits in Ohio, Virginia, or California who can measure up to those hailing from Muncie, Pendleton Heights, or Kokomo. How can you build a program with, gawd, out of state players?

Ball State is a regional university where 90% of students (and 87,000 of its alumni) live in the state of Indiana, so maintaining ties with local schools and recruits are very important.

That doesn't mean you can't recruit out of state, but for public schools the local mandate can't be ignored, either.

So, are you saying Ronny was guilty of that?

[DFW HOYA]

avantguardhoya said:

So, are you saying Ronny was guilty of that?

No, just answering the question about the importance of local recruiting at a state school. This year's BSU recruits were out-of-state products but that's not to suggest that local ties weren't being developed.

[bahoya]

I found it strange this year when Ball State came to the Verizon Center that they only had one Indiana product and more players from places like California. If your going to coach in a place like Muncie, you've got to get some local recruits.

[bmack]

Hate to see Ronnie under those circumstances, however seems like he was out of place in Ball State even though they excepted him, had his Dad and Brother there for the cerimony. Ft. Wayne, Indiana is forgein country to a DC/Md/Va. native. Yell even more forgien than Arkansas!!!!

[azhoya]

Never liked him as a player or an assistant coach at Gtown. Remember rumors about him backstabbing and undercutting Esh leading to his departure to Arkansas. Just keep him away from Gtown

[Coast2CoastHoya]

Sad for Ronny and the Thompson family. Without knowing all the facts, it seems like there's a lot of mutual mistrust. There's never an excuse for racism, though, and in the long run it's probably better that RT and BSU part ways.

The greatest casualty of this episode is, of course, the fact that DrumsGoBang and I won't be able to serenade Section 121 with our "Balls STATE" cheers anymore.

[Hoyaholic]

tothebeach said:

Sad for Ronny and the Thompson family. Without knowing all the facts, it seems like there's a lot of mutual mistrust. There's never an excuse for racism, though, and in the long run it's probably better that RT and BSU part ways.

There's also never an excuse for generalizing an entire university/community for what one member may or may not have written and slipped under a door. By your logic, JTII should have folded up shop and parted ways with GU in 1975.

[SFHoya99]

It's not just that. If you read some of the articles and message boards, there's a lot of talk about the type of player Thompson brought in. It's not just that they aren't from Indiana, there are a lot of comments about "urban" and "thugs." Some people just want Indiana kids, and some don't want people like them.

Reality is, though, when you are struggling as a team, it is harder to recruit locally. Esherick was able to get Bowman and Cook from LA when he couldn't get anyone close to that caliber (except Roy and Jeff) from DC. The local whispers scream much louder when you stink; no one in California really knows about Ball State struggling.

Furthermore, if recruiting locally was a job requirement, why hire Thompson? He has no ties to Indiana at all. What did you expect him to get early on, other than city and DC kids specifically?

The NCAA violations were minor -- it's not like he was paying players. At least I hope not. The whole thing just reeks of something odd -- was he gone simply because he was losing and losing "the wrong way." If they were concerned about fit, hiring Thompson was idiotic. His style isn't Indiana basketball, he has no ties to Indiana, etc.

[kchoya]

sfhoya99 said:

It's not just that. If you read some of the articles and message boards, there's a lot of talk about the type of player Thompson brought in. It's not just that they aren't from Indiana, there are a lot of comments about "urban" and "thugs."

Yeah, they probably want a return to the nice, wholesome players they used to have, like Bonzi Wells.

[SirSaxa]

sfhoya99 said:

The NCAA violations were minor -- it's not like he was paying players. At least I hope not. The whole thing just reeks of something odd --

I agree the whole thing seems odd, and we haven't heard the whole story.
But as to the NCAA violations, they may have been minor, but -- if the story is true -- the exact same violations occured the previous year. And, the coaching staff was said to have LIED about it.

The staff was said to have gone through an NCAA Rules Training program after that last episode.

And.. trivial or not... Pops, Esh and JT3 have never had anything like that...as far as I can recall.

This is not to suggest that any of us know the whole story and maybe there's another side to it. But from the published reports, the first episode (last year) should have been avoidable. And the new episode and lies... I don't know how or why that should be excused -- if true.

[the_way]

sfhoya99 said:

It's not just that. If you read some of the articles and message boards, there's a lot of talk about the type of player Thompson brought in. It's not just that they aren't from Indiana, there are a lot of comments about "urban" and "thugs." Some people just want Indiana kids, and some don't want people like them.

Reality is, though, when you are struggling as a team, it is harder to recruit locally. Esherick was able to get Bowman and Cook from LA when he couldn't get anyone close to that caliber (except Roy and Jeff) from DC. The local whispers scream much louder when you stink; no one in California really knows about Ball State struggling.

Furthermore, if recruiting locally was a job requirement, why hire Thompson? He has no ties to Indiana at all. What did you expect him to get early on, other than city and DC kids specifically?

The NCAA violations were minor -- it's not like he was paying players. At least I hope not. The whole thing just reeks of something odd -- was he gone simply because he was losing and losing "the wrong way." If they were concerned about fit, hiring Thompson was idiotic. His style isn't Indiana basketball, he has no ties to Indiana, etc.

Yeah, I agree totally.

After following the situation a little bit, I think Ronny was just never embraced. Add to the fact that he didn't recruit locally. Add to the fact that he was allegedly stand-offish to the media and those in the community. And then add to the minor violations that occurred. And then add to the fact that he didn't win.

They just didn't seem to like Ronny to begin with, and found a bone to pick with him and it started with him recruiting across the country and not just locally. He was going to have a hard time there beign accepted. The team stunk anyway and they werent' going to win many games this year.

It was an ugly situation and Ronny resigning to me is an indication of either him feeling its just not worth it being there going through all the b.s. OR resigning was his only option where he could walk away least unscathed.

[Coast2CoastHoya]

Said it much better than I did, _way and SF. Agreed on all points.

[HoyaNyr320]

After saying the mandatory "Ronnie Thompson is a member of the Hoya family, so I feel bad that a fellow Hoya lost his job." I hope I can say that this is not the first school that has questioned Ronnie for failing to recruit locally and his ability to create an offensive scheme. As great as Brandon and Ashanti were to our program, let's not forget some of the head scratchers that came over from the West Coast (cough... initials R.R., last name rhymes with READ...cough). Let's also not forget the Tony Bethel/Drew Hall fiasco. It should be no surprise that starting with JTIII's second class, we have seen a greater focus towards recruiting inside the D.C./Maryland/Virginia region while still going after top players outside of the region. Some of this has to do with our success on the court, but I also believe JTIII does a better job of selling the Georgetown program and a definite OFFENSIVE SCHEME!!!!

[the_way]

hoyanyr320 said:

After saying the mandatory "Ronnie Thompson is a member of the Hoya family, so I feel bad that a fellow Hoya lost his job." I hope I can say that this is not the first school that has questioned Ronnie for failing to recruit locally and his ability to create an offensive scheme. As great as Brandon and Ashanti were to our program, let's not forget some of the head scratchers that came over from the West Coast (cough... initials R.R., last name rhymes with READ...cough). Let's also not forget the Tony Bethel/Drew Hall fiasco. It should be no surprise that starting with JTIII's second class, we have seen a greater focus towards recruiting inside the D.C./Maryland/Virginia region while still going after top players outside of the region. Some of this has to do with our success on the court, but I also believe JTIII does a better job of selling the Georgetown program and a definite OFFENSIVE SCHEME!!!!

Reed was recruited by Esh and his staff. He didn't sign until after Ronny had left I believe. Ronny actually recruited Matt Causey. Both Bethel and Hall were both local.

But the bottom line is that you are right about the offensive scheme. And being that both Ronny was a disciple of his dad, JT2, school of basketball, it shouldn't be a surprise that offense isn't that great or really didn't have a structure. Particularly since Ronny played for and coached as an assistant to his Dad, when his Dad was on cruise control as a coach and not motivated like he was in the 70's and early 80's.

Plus, the bigger question is Ronny head coaching material? Not everybody is, even if your dad is a hall of famer and your brother is a great coach. Maybe Ronny felt like he was in over his head and couldn't take it? Coaching is tough. It takes a special person to be an average head coach, let alone a good to great one. Ronny may be just like Esh.

[mapei]

theway said:

hoyanyr320 said:

Plus, the bigger question is Ronny head coaching material? Not everybody is, even if your dad is a hall of famer and your brother is a great coach. Maybe Ronny felt like he was in over his head and couldn't take it? Coaching is tough. It takes a special person to be an average head coach, let alone a good to great one. Ronny may be just like Esh.

All excellent points. We shouldn't assume that the problems aren't his. Let's hope he lands on his feet and finds a job that suits him.

[DFW HOYA]

For those wondering if a buyout was in order, the opposite may be true. According to Saturday's Muncie Star Press, Thompson owes the school money for leaving early.

www.thestarpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070713/NEWS01/70713015

The Star-Press even even posted a copy of the contract on their web site. The paper does not appear to be letting loose of this story anytime soon.

[hoyalove4ever]

theway said:

hoyanyr320 said:

After saying the mandatory "Ronnie Thompson is a member of the Hoya family, so I feel bad that a fellow Hoya lost his job." I hope I can say that this is not the first school that has questioned Ronnie for failing to recruit locally and his ability to create an offensive scheme. As great as Brandon and Ashanti were to our program, let's not forget some of the head scratchers that came over from the West Coast (cough... initials R.R., last name rhymes with READ...cough). Let's also not forget the Tony Bethel/Drew Hall fiasco. It should be no surprise that starting with JTIII's second class, we have seen a greater focus towards recruiting inside the D.C./Maryland/Virginia region while still going after top players outside of the region. Some of this has to do with our success on the court, but I also believe JTIII does a better job of selling the Georgetown program and a definite OFFENSIVE SCHEME!!!!

Reed was recruited by Esh and his staff. He didn't sign until after Ronny had left I believe. Ronny actually recruited Matt Causey. Both Bethel and Hall were both local.

But the bottom line is that you are right about the offensive scheme. And being that both Ronny was a disciple of his dad, JT2, school of basketball, it shouldn't be a surprise that offense isn't that great or really didn't have a structure. Particularly since Ronny played for and coached as an assistant to his Dad, when his Dad was on cruise control as a coach and not motivated like he was in the 70's and early 80's.

Plus, the bigger question is Ronny head coaching material? Not everybody is, even if your dad is a hall of famer and your brother is a great coach. Maybe Ronny felt like he was in over his head and couldn't take it? Coaching is tough. It takes a special person to be an average head coach, let alone a good to great one. Ronny may be just like Esh.

1) Ronny had nothing to do with Reed.

2) Reed was not a bad player. He was outstanding on D although erratic on offense.

I don't know what the deal is with Ronny. It's sad to see this happen, but it's not necessarily out of whack with some of the complaints about him when he was a Hoya assistant. That doesn't make those prior allegations true- who knows what really happened- but it doesn't make Ronny look any better. I hope he gets things turned around.

[SaxaCD]

I think one thing being largely ignored in the discussion here is that although it was a minor violation, it occurred TWICE in two years. That's really not very excuseable. If you're not going to have many wins, and going to not recruit locally, you gotta know everything you do is going to be overscrutinized. Repeating the same mistake isn't a very good way of buying yourself and your program some time and/or leeway

[GIGAFAN99]

azhoya said:

Never liked him as a player or an assistant coach at Gtown. Remember rumors about him backstabbing and undercutting Esh leading to his departure to Arkansas. Just keep him away from Gtown

And the supposed falling out regarding misleading Esh about Harvey.

Two NCAA violations bookending a 9-22 season and two assistant coaching stints that both ended in the head coach being canned after five years for under-performing. I'm trying to figure out why we feel bad for Ronny at all. I'm sure he's a nice guy and everything but he hasn't succeeded in any basketball role from player to assistant to head coach and has broken the rules doing it.

[hoyalove4ever]

"Misleading" is a nice way to put it, from what I have heard, which of course is just rumors. But it is a serious allegation. And all of this stuff doesn't tend to make me less inclined to believe it.