Looks like we missed out on a Great AD

[GUHoya07]

The administration should have found this woman after Joe Lang stepped down. I don't know much about Brick and what we plan on doing in the long term, but I would love to see an AD come in here and shake things up like this.

sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=1919624

[jerseyhoya34]

One has to appreciate that kind of fire. I don't see anyone of that kind being selected at GU because they will want someone to toe the line.

[GUHoya07]

I agree, but I wish we would finally hire a real AD and not someone that has to kiss ass all day and stay in line to appease the administration. We need someone like her who isn't gonna be stuck in the old GU mold of doing things the way they have always been done and staying in the stone age. If we want to be successful we need someone like her who is going to demand excellence and actively strive to improve marketing/promotion and secure sponsorships and deals that benefit athletics and as a result the university as a whole.

[jerseyhoya34]

I kind of wish we'd look at the AD at Princeton, whose name I have forgotten. He also has to kowtow to their Administration, but he seems to have gotten things done within those constraints. I am thinking specifically about the demolition of Palmer Stadium and their reconstruction of a workable football stadium with track facilities.

On edit: Their AD's name is Gary Walters. Here is his bio:
goprincetontigers.collegesports.com/school-bio/prin-ad-walters.html

He's definitely a long shot, but this is the kind of ingenuity and skill I'm looking for.

[DFW HOYA]

By the tone of these posts, you think Georgetown had no athletic department, when in fact it is recognized as among the top 20 departments in the country.

That's right. Top 20.

Without facilities, without adequate scholarships, and without the major funding so many of Georgetown's atheltic peers have, Joe Lang (and now Adam Brick) have moved mountains for student-athletes while the folks up the hill (and at Alumni House) have traditionally paid less attention to such matters. For the most part , they work behind the scenes, because GU is not fond of staff talking out of turn.

Jack DeGioia's call for athetics is in this order: 1) Graduate students. 2) Play by the rules. 3) Win. In eqach of these, Athletics has done so--we can squawk about men's basketball, but that does not diminish the fact that Georgetown's all-sports ranking is higher than all but one Division I-AA school: Princeton.

One more thing: the department answers to the dean of Student Affairs. Athletics needs Student Affairs for support, too, and there have been three deans in that position in the last five years, so continuity is important too.

PS: The Columbia AD fondly cited above also remarked that "Coaches will be held accountable for generating annual financial support." That's troubling. Coaches are not fundraisers. They can certainly help in fund support, but tying their performance to fundraising is another matter entirely.

[SaxaCD]

I've always had way more of a problem with Athletic PR (especially basketball) than the actual AD spot -- except for the infamous quote on expectations last year, which sent me through the roof. Seems to me that fundraising/publicity are the biggest needs for GU athletics right now. I'm shocked that with the kind of people that have gone through the school, GU hasn't hired some real go-getter to get out there and really push the "brand", both for exposure and for bucks.

[reformation]

The change at Columbia is a direct result of the new Univ Pres Lee Bollinger--he has set a tone that demands real and clear goals and a word that is not in Georgetown's dictionary "accountability". Bollinger then brought in people from the outside to implement the change--If DiGioia does not set the tone, nothing will get done. I wish GU would look at what someone else for a ideas once in a while, instead of assuming that its circumstances are totally unique and just following the same old ways.

Also DFW, I think most people feel we can do better: that is the source of frustation.

[chinatownfanclub]

The problem lies not in the AD (we had a very good one in Joe Lang and Frank Rienzo before him). The problem lies (if there is one) with the president's priorities with regard to athletics. One would think that our current president who actually was an athlete would put a higher priority on creating better facilities and funding for the athletic dept. Unfortunately, the admin seems content to sit on the their laurels and enjoy the level of admissions and name recognition created through the past glories of our athletics (namely men's b-ball). The new generation of applicants however do not have the same consciousness of the university. The high schoolers of today never saw Patrick Ewing in action and have no idea he attended Georgetown. The admin may not want to admit it, but playing in the Final Four does wonders to boost name recognition and enrollment. If the admin continues to place its priorities on other elements of the university, they will find that they will not have the students to fill all the buildings its constructing.

[jerseyhoya34]

I agree to some extent, chinatown. There are clearly mixed messages from the top. On the one hand, Esherick's "performance" warranted dismissal, but, on the other hand, there does not seem to be a commitment beyond the personnel level from the top. Admittedly, I am not completely sure of where DeGioia stands. Unfortunately, his position may reflect more of a lack of understanding on his part of the landscape of college basketball at this time.

On the other hand, there is some degree to which Lang didn't quite cut it for basketball fans, as opposed to Rienzo, who deserves a ton of credit for our previous success. Any AD who comes out and talks about being acceptant of lack of success is an AD who should be questioned vociferously.

I didn't go here in the 1980's, but I would also say that there is a large contingent of basketball fans and enthusiasts, but the Administration hasn't figured out how to tap into it. There has also been a general sanitization from the top down of the GU culture of the 1980's (i.e. exit Block Party and enter Georgetown Day and Traditions Day). That kind of stuff affects institutional culture in ways that even students cannot control.

[SFHoya99]

I think the lack of administrative commitment is somewhat overblown. It's really easy for all of us to criticize the support for the basketball program in particular, but there are a few mitigating facts, just to think about:

1) We have exceptional athletic success for a 6,000 undergrad school with tough academic standards. Yes, there are better (Stanford, to name one). But we placed well in the President's Cup. I think a lot of people equate commitment with money spent. Is that true? Somewhat, but GU doesn't have a lot of money. I'd like to see a comparison of % of money spent.

2) We have no booster base. $700k/year is what the Hoop Club is pulling in. That's not exactly SEC football money, ya know? Granted, a lot of the '80s folks are just entering their prime "booster" years and won't really be there for another 5-10 years, but still.

3) GU has no money. This is well documented.

4) Priorities. I know there are a lot of non-alums, or alums that do not care about academics now, but DeGioia does have higher priorities, and ones I can't disagree with. A new B school building and new science building help us stop the USNews slide. and better educate (yeah, that's the ticket!). The football/lacrosse/soccer programs are getting a shot in the arm. With MCI nearby, I can entirely see relegating an on-campus arena to the backburner.

So, yeah, basketball is not the #1 commitment. But it shouldn't be. And I think DeGioia and Co want it to succeed (Esherick to III, for example), but other stuff is more important.

The only thing that annoys me is the red-tape and lack of creativity. If the Hoop Club has no money, they should be jumping when people like 007 are frothing at the bit to help.

[TrueHoyaBlue]

JerseyHoya34 said:

I didn't go here in the 1980's, but I would also say that there is a large contingent of basketball fans and enthusiasts, but the Administration hasn't figured out how to tap into it. There has also been a general sanitization from the top down of the GU culture of the 1980's (i.e. exit Block Party and enter Georgetown Day and Traditions Day). That kind of stuff affects institutional culture in ways that even students cannot control.

Jersey, I hear what you're saying, and I definitely know where you're coming from, but I think that the biggest factor that led to this change was the raising of the drinking age (around 1989). Most of the folks in the administration would love to have a drinking age of 18, as it would allow the university to fully focus on the safety of students who decide to drink, but the law, and the focus of the DC police and DC government in general, on underage drinking in the last several years has been largely responsible for shifts related to student social life.

[FOTP]

Let's foget the AD for a second...although important the most important thing is the coach.

I've been to a few of the open practices over the past few years and I was blown away by the difference between JTIII and Esherick. I mean it was night and day.

JTIII didn't talk to us...and I for one didn't care. Any time he spends not teaching is a waste. To watch him with Roy was a dream. The team spent the vast majority of the practice shooting and working on fundamentals. It was a thing of beauty. Last year Esherick spent the whole practice letting the team scrimmage like a bunch of idiots and never said a word.

Let's just let the man coach and recruit.

[jerseyhoya34]

Excellent points, FOTP. I never attended a practice during the Esherick years, but suffice to say that it showed on the court. It also came across in his public comments, as he mentioned at one point that he stopped watching game tapes in preparation for games.

I, however, have attended a Princeton basketball camp. Obviously, this is a lower level, but even that ran with perfect discipline and structure. All of the Princeton coaches at that time (Carrill, Carmody, Scott, and JT3) were not hesitant to stop people in their tracks to teach and correct or to point out improper execution.

After a few years of watching this team, I saw the same mistakes over and over again. Defensively, very few of our players can see both the ball and their man. Some of them indeed regularly turn their backs to the ball. Offensively, how many times did we see poor bounce passes, fluffy skip passes, and weak entry passes? I rest my case.

I can't wait to see some semblance of discipline on 11/22. I hope it reflects a marked contrast to what we saw at Temple last year.

BTW, today is the start of the season with the Coaches v. Cancer Classic.

[FOTP]

That is the thing that COMPLETELY stood out in practice. Discipline.

Plus, they did some pretty interesting "real world" three point drills with the kids. Not just standing around a firing from everywhere.

He and his assistants are hands on teaches. It was beautiful.

Let's just remember that when Esherick was asked who his PG would be he answered: "I don't know and I don't care". That my friends is terrible.

[jerseyhoya34]

You'll also see it during games. JT3 is always teaching and reacting on the sidelines. The assistant coaches, if Princeton is any example, won't be any different.

Anyone who has watched Northwestern or Air Force will also pick up on this. Carmody is one of the most fidgity coaches in college basketball. Joe Scott is less fidgity but even more intense. Then, think of Carrill. At times, he's like Rollie Massimino [spelling error] without the Ritalin.

[FOTP]

I actually think the key to the season will be when Brandon Bowman commits his first eggregious mistake on the floor. Like one of the many many turnovers and dumb shots he takes.

If Thompson takes him out and teaches him then we'll know what we have. If he lets him keep being the same olf Brandon we could be in trouble.

[Nevada Hoya]

DFW said:

Jack DeGioia's call for athetics is in this order: 1) Graduate students. 2) Play by the rules. 3) Win.

Why graduate students? Why not undergrads, the grad students have had their fun.

Seriously, that seems to be the right priority. DeGioia is also committed to a winning bball team. The fact that discipline was mentioned so often in this thread has led me to believe that we will be okay and will be able to win a couple of games this year. ;D

[lichoya68]

ya know we aint done so bad these years... bball hopefully on the way up but with no money gu has done well in the sears cup... soccer mens had the offensive player in the big east this year and great season with sad ot loss to seton hall last nite.. sailing the mens lax had best recruiting class in the country this year watch out in the ncaas and womans lax so we do pretty well with no funds and facilities... so not so bad folks

[lichoya68]

gus not done too bad thes years folks... with jt111 hopefully will be on the way up but with no funds and facilities the ad and coaches have worked miracles... mens soccer lost in ot to seton hall last nite in bigeast semis.. and had the offensive player of the year in the big east ...sailing .. womans lax and then the mens lax had the BEST recruiting year in the country so watck out in the ncaas soooo and dont forget our sears cup rankings over these years not bad.. so go hoyas and we aint so bad in fact they do pretty good those coaches and the ad

[lichoya68]

:)sorry thought the first one didnot go thru