"The Program"

[SWC75]

In football I realize that we can't be Clemson or Florida State, (when they are really Florida State), but I wonder why we can't be Boise State or North Dakota State- smaller schools from cold places with little population who have highly respected football programs.

I basketball I know we can't be Duke or North Carolina but I wonder why we can't be Gonzaga. Why aren't we "The Program"?

What are the advantages those schools have over us that are holding us back? Our is it just that if they were in a power conference like the ACC, they wouldn't look so shiny nice to us?

 

[BomberOrange]

I look at G5 schools like Gonzaga or Villanova (not “blue bloods” but consistently winning over the last 10 yrs or so) and I see great coaching. The rise of Syracuse in the 80s was due to great coaching which in turn attracted great talent. We have the facilities and fan support for hoops but the key is getting the right coach to elevate this team to what we once were.

I believe we can be a “Boise East” in football but that’s a taller hill to climb.

 

[Sherman20]

View attachment 197009

In football I realize that we can't be Clemson or Florida State, 9when they are really Florida State), but I wonder why we can't be Boise State or North Dakota State- smaller schools from cold places with little population who have highly respected football programs.

I basketball I know we can't be Duke or North Carolina but I wonder why we can't be Gonzaga. Why aren't we "The Program"?

What are the advantages those schools have over us that are holding us back? Our is it just that if they were in a power conference like the ACC, they wouldn't look so shiny nice to us?

I think we were The Program (or one of them) for most of the 80s, 90s, and 2000s, up until about 2017. Then we started to decline. We’d always have an NIT season (or maybe two) sprinkled in there, but we were almost always in the tourney and competing for conference championships and top 4 NCAA seeds. Gonzaga has had “down” years, too, recently (we beat them when they were a 10 seed in 2016), just not as bad as our down years. ...Maybe we should consider Few’s longtime assistant Tommy Lloyd as a possible successor to JB, though the adjustment from west to east coast could be an issue in recruiting.

 

[SWC75]

I think we were The Program (or one of them) for most of the 80s, 90s, and 2000s, up until about 2017. Then we started to decline. We’d always have an NIT season (or maybe two) sprinkled in there, but we were almost always in the tourney and competing for conference championships and top 4 NCAA seeds. Gonzaga has had “down” years, too, recently (we beat them when they were a 10 seed in 2016), just not as bad as our down years. ...Maybe we should consider Few’s longtime assistant Tommy Lloyd as a possible successor to JB, though the adjustment from west to east coast could be an issue in recruiting.

We were the #10 seed in 2016. They were actually the #11 seed.

 

[Alsacs]

Gonzaga has taken advantage of being the best school out west.
While recruiting Canada, getting high Major transfers and kids out West that want a winning program.
The Pac-12 hasn’t been like the Big Ten, Big XII, and ACC.
So it has allowed Gonzaga to grow and get all the coverage out west.

Plus they got a great coach. He has built a machine.
Their conference isn’t good so it allows them to schedule hard nonconference schedules and not worry about getting healthy in conference play.

If Gonzaga played in a harder conference they would be good but they wouldn’t win it every year.
St. Mary’s and BYU are the only consistent winners in that conference.

That 1999 run allowed the program to build an empire. It’s like UNLV under Shark.

 

[Newhouser]

Um the man running our program is nearly 80. Won't be in the conversation until transition is completed.

 

[Briancuse]

I know Gonzaga is the trendy program right now and they are the best team in the country but they have been to one Final Four. One.

 

[orange79]

I know Gonzaga is the trendy program right now and they are the best team in the country but they have been to one Final Four. One.

Me, after they lose before the Final Four:

 

[Zelda Zonk]

Gotta have a great coach with the right personality who plays an attractive style and gets surprising results to begin with and then consistent results afterward and isn't a flavor of the month and can communicate to/relate with the kinds of recruits who will buy into a system that makes sense and is self-fulfilling.

Coaching staff has to evaluate extremely well, and then develop extremely well, to be able to pluck out solid talents, and not have a wide chasm between starters and projects. Solid players who buy into intelligence, fundamentals, defense, and work.

A lot of it really has to do with a culture.

That said, there aren't many of these, so it's obviously a matter of catching lightning in a bottle. But, you do have to set a culture standard, and not just get kids who are excited about playing in front of the biggest audience.

 

[two3zone]

Gotta have a great coach with the right personality who plays an attractive style and gets surprising results to begin with and then consistent results afterward and isn't a flavor of the month and can communicate to/relate with the kinds of recruits who will buy into a system that makes sense and is self-fulfilling.

Coaching staff has to evaluate extremely well, and then develop extremely well, to be able to pluck out solid talents, and not have a wide chasm between starters and projects. Solid players who buy into intelligence, fundamentals, defense, and work.

A lot of it really has to do with a culture.

That said, there aren't many of these, so it's obviously a matter of catching lightning in a bottle. But, you do have to set a culture standard, and not just get kids who are excited about playing in front of the biggest audience.

I stand by my statement from a couple of years ago, Devo would be a better recruiter than Gmac.

 

[kirbivore]

Gonzaga has taken advantage of being the best school out west.
While recruiting Canada, getting high Major transfers and kids out West that want a winning program.
The Pac-12 hasn’t been like the Big Ten, Big XII, and ACC.
So it has allowed Gonzaga to grow and get all the coverage out west.

Plus they got a great coach. He has built a machine.
Their conference isn’t good so it allows them to schedule hard nonconference schedules and not worry about getting healthy in conference play.

If Gonzaga played in a harder conference they would be good but they wouldn’t win it every year.
St. Mary’s and BYU are the only consistent winners in that conference.

That 1999 run allowed the program to build an empire. It’s like UNLV under Shark.

Few was also smart enough to realize the grass isn’t always greener. He was an assistant on the 1999 team and watched head coach Dan Monson get chewed up and spat out by making the jump ASAP to a crappy power 5 team.