The Year of Wildhack | Syracusefan.com

The Year of Wildhack

All4SU

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We’ve seen ADs come and go over the years: Jake, the chain-smoking, old school football guy who oversaw the construction of the dome as well as the modern-era golden age of SU athletics; The Doctor, the smooth as silk California guy who probably did more to upgrade Olympic sports at SU than anyone else; and now Wildhack, the ESPN guy who appears to be a big picture guy.

The decision this past December to give HCDB more time, as well as more resources, and likely to have lent a firm hand in identifying problem areas and the ability to hire specific coaches for those areas, was a bold move. One which will be scrutinized for many years to come.

The decision to replace outgoing Head Lacrosse Coach, and legend John Desko, with another legend in Gary Gait was big enough. But then to add to that by bringing in another legend from outside the program in Petramala, was a turn that almost no SU fans could have imagined.

Not to be overlooked, the hiring of SU star Kayla Treanor to replace Gait as women’s lacrosse coach looks like a home run.

Now it looks like it may be possible that the inevitable retirement of Jim Boeheim in the predictable future may give JW another chance to show what he’s got. When in SU’s athletic past has the hiring of a head coach carried more weight than naming JB’s successor?

At the same time, the “Interim” label for the SU women’s basketball coach may or may not be resolved soon. I think SU would really like to bring in Felicia Legette, and I’m guessing she would be interested too. Does that happen? Now? Later?

The coming year is huge for SU sports, and JW has a chance to put his make on these programs in a way that few have had the chance to, at least in this concentrated of a period of time. Going to be an interesting ride.
 
We’ve seen ADs come and go over the years: Jake, the chain-smoking, old school football guy who oversaw the construction of the dome as well as the modern-era golden age of SU athletics; The Doctor, the smooth as silk California guy who probably did more to upgrade Olympic sports at SU than anyone else; and now Wildhack, the ESPN guy who appears to be a big picture guy.

The decision this past December to give HCDB more time, as well as more resources, and likely to have lent a firm hand in identifying problem areas and the ability to hire specific coaches for those areas, was a bold move. One which will be scrutinized for many years to come.

The decision to replace outgoing Head Lacrosse Coach, and legend John Desko, with another legend in Gary Gait was big enough. But then to add to that by bringing in another legend from outside the program in Petramala, was a turn that almost no SU fans could have imagined.

Not to be overlooked, the hiring of SU star Kayla Treanor to replace Gait as women’s lacrosse coach looks like a home run.

Now it looks like it may be possible that the inevitable retirement of Jim Boeheim in the predictable future may give JW another chance to show what he’s got. When in SU’s athletic past has the hiring of a head coach carried more weight than naming JB’s successor?

At the same time, the “Interim” label for the SU women’s basketball coach may or may not be resolved soon. I think SU would really like to bring in Felicia Legette, and I’m guessing she would be interested too. Does that happen? Now? Later?

The coming year is huge for SU sports, and JW has a chance to put his make on these programs in a way that few have had the chance to, at least in this concentrated of a period of time. Going to be an interesting ride.
You should look at the SU Northwestern game thread. Kayla is already on a short leash with some posters :)
 
Sad to see how bad the Cuse sports programs are faring these days and I think JW should take the majority of blame here. Cuse is becoming the old Rutgers of the B1G and it is hard to grasp that situation. Wonder how low the Cuse stands in the current NCAA Capital One Cup and if we even scored any points? Thank God for the Women's Lax team and the XC teams as they are the only decent ones on the hill in the ACC for 2021 - 22.
 
Sad to see how bad the Cuse sports programs are faring these days and I think JW should take the majority of blame here. Cuse is becoming the old Rutgers of the B1G and it is hard to grasp that situation. Wonder how low the Cuse stands in the current NCAA Capital One Cup and if we even scored any points? Thank God for the Women's Lax team and the XC teams as they are the only decent ones on the hill in the ACC for 2021 - 22.
You say ADJW should take the blame but you don't provide any backing to the statement. I think ADJW didn't handle the womans hoops team well. He has been exceptional fundraising compared to predecessors. He has support from fans regarding the football decisions this offseason and men's lax with Gait in charge. He is seemingly pushing money into coaching and upgrades. Still TBD on how the JB process happens. Performance in football has been subpar and hoops has declined but he has upgraded in football and he is dealing with a unicorn issue in men's hoops. It is fair to believe upgrades in the dome and other facilities will enhance the programs. I think he gets a B grade so far, borderline B+. I honestly don't follow the other sports as much so won't try and speak to those.
 
You say ADJW should take the blame but you don't provide any backing to the statement. I think ADJW didn't handle the womans hoops team well. He has been exceptional fundraising compared to predecessors. He has support from fans regarding the football decisions this offseason and men's lax with Gait in charge. He is seemingly pushing money into coaching and upgrades. Still TBD on how the JB process happens. Performance in football has been subpar and hoops has declined but he has upgraded in football and he is dealing with a unicorn issue in men's hoops. It is fair to believe upgrades in the dome and other facilities will enhance the programs. I think he gets a B grade so far, borderline B+. I honestly don't follow the other sports as much so won't try and speak to those.
With men’s lax, let’s not forget the absolute studs they have coming in next year, transition years are tough. You can’t argue that the program was trending down during the final Desko years and then also argue that syracuse should be top 5 with Gait at the helm, that’s having your cake and eating it too. They will be much better next year, I have no doubt.
 
Wildhack would be a clown to say anything on JB in season and make him a lame duck.

I don't see how this isn't the perfect time to move on nothing makes sense about one more year. I love the FB moves if they were done so that we could pony up and pay market rate on the best coach available.

The problem with next years team is that if JB returns I actually want both Buddy and Jimmy back I get its overkill but the freshman class might not be ready and the other returners are flawed.
 
Wildhack would be a clown to say anything on JB in season and make him a lame duck.

I don't see how this isn't the perfect time to move on nothing makes sense about one more year. I love the FB moves if they were done so that we could pony up and pay market rate on the best coach available.

The problem with next years team is that if JB returns I actually want both Buddy and Jimmy back I get its overkill but the freshman class might not be ready and the other returners are flawed.
If Jimmy and buddy return frank and Benny are gone. Couple that with the fact that none of those from freshman class will see the court it’s a repeat of this year with the eventual loss of some of those players at the end of next season. Time to move on from the brothers. Let’s be honest it’s not like having them on the team resulted in a good season or more wins. I’ll take the freshman with Joe, Benny, frank, Jesse and see what we can do.
 
We’ve seen ADs come and go over the years: Jake, the chain-smoking, old school football guy who oversaw the construction of the dome as well as the modern-era golden age of SU athletics; The Doctor, the smooth as silk California guy who probably did more to upgrade Olympic sports at SU than anyone else; and now Wildhack, the ESPN guy who appears to be a big picture guy.

The decision this past December to give HCDB more time, as well as more resources, and likely to have lent a firm hand in identifying problem areas and the ability to hire specific coaches for those areas, was a bold move. One which will be scrutinized for many years to come.

The decision to replace outgoing Head Lacrosse Coach, and legend John Desko, with another legend in Gary Gait was big enough. But then to add to that by bringing in another legend from outside the program in Petramala, was a turn that almost no SU fans could have imagined.

Not to be overlooked, the hiring of SU star Kayla Treanor to replace Gait as women’s lacrosse coach looks like a home run.

Now it looks like it may be possible that the inevitable retirement of Jim Boeheim in the predictable future may give JW another chance to show what he’s got. When in SU’s athletic past has the hiring of a head coach carried more weight than naming JB’s successor?

At the same time, the “Interim” label for the SU women’s basketball coach may or may not be resolved soon. I think SU would really like to bring in Felicia Legette, and I’m guessing she would be interested too. Does that happen? Now? Later?

The coming year is huge for SU sports, and JW has a chance to put his make on these programs in a way that few have had the chance to, at least in this concentrated of a period of time. Going to be an interesting ride.
I do not see them hiring Felecia. They could have done that before the season. She had expressed interest.
Personally I would like a former wnba player that has some head coaching experience. There are a number of quality options available. SU has good facilities and a good name. We should be able to get a good coach with former pro experience. Figure the announcement for a search will happen once the season officially ends. No post season invite.
 
I do not see them hiring Felecia. They could have done that before the season. She had expressed interest.
Personally I would like a former wnba player that has some head coaching experience. There are a number of quality options available. SU has good facilities and a good name. We should be able to get a good coach with former pro experience. Figure the announcement for a search will happen once the season officially ends. No post season invite.
The announcement for a search has now happened.
 
The announcement for a search has now happened.
I hope they can get someone in quickly, because they could really benefit from some portal help. (Do the women’s teams “pound the portal?” Or is there a different term that applies here?) They need some bigs.
 
I do not see them hiring Felecia. They could have done that before the season. She had expressed interest.
Personally I would like a former wnba player that has some head coaching experience. There are a number of quality options available. SU has good facilities and a good name. We should be able to get a good coach with former pro experience. Figure the announcement for a search will happen once the season officially ends. No post season invite.
Megan Duffy of Marquette, 2md head coaching job. Played at Notre Dame, a few years in WNBA, won at Miami of Ohio, and 3rd year at Marquette. The best part is young in her 30's.
If she works out could be here a long time, and having played at Notre Dame, knows the type of players needed to compete for championships.
 
If Jimmy and buddy return frank and Benny are gone. Couple that with the fact that none of those from freshman class will see the court it’s a repeat of this year with the eventual loss of some of those players at the end of next season. Time to move on from the brothers. Let’s be honest it’s not like having them on the team resulted in a good season or more wins. I’ll take the freshman with Joe, Benny, frank, Jesse and see what we can do.

I don't really think Benny should play another minute for SU he'd have to turn into a completely different player over the summer to be worthy of a scholarship. Frank is a center and didn't do well enough when Jesse went down to earn himself a better situation than being #2 at Syracuse IMO.

Jimmy and Buddy returning would block us from getting a good transfer, sure, but JB might not land us a good transfer. I also think its about 99% likely that those two will be better next year than any of the freshman none of whom really play their positions.

Have you seen Benny shoot? Buddy and Jimmy are both very good shooters Benny is as bad as anyone I've seen that came in as a hyped wing.
 
I don't really think Benny should play another minute for SU he'd have to turn into a completely different player over the summer to be worthy of a scholarship. Frank is a center and didn't do well enough when Jesse went down to earn himself a better situation than being #2 at Syracuse IMO.

Jimmy and Buddy returning would block us from getting a good transfer, sure, but JB might not land us a good transfer. I also think its about 99% likely that those two will be better next year than any of the freshman none of whom really play their positions.

Have you seen Benny shoot? Buddy and Jimmy are both very good shooters Benny is as bad as anyone I've seen that came in as a hyped wing.
Jimmy and Buddy are gone. JB is coaching the team next year. You need to move on.
 
I don't really think Benny should play another minute for SU he'd have to turn into a completely different player over the summer to be worthy of a scholarship. Frank is a center and didn't do well enough when Jesse went down to earn himself a better situation than being #2 at Syracuse IMO.

Jimmy and Buddy returning would block us from getting a good transfer, sure, but JB might not land us a good transfer. I also think its about 99% likely that those two will be better next year than any of the freshman none of whom really play their positions.

Have you seen Benny shoot? Buddy and Jimmy are both very good shooters Benny is as bad as anyone I've seen that came in as a hyped wing.
I see Benny becoming a good shooter, not a great shooter. But, if he can get back to his high school form, he can score at all levels.
 
I do not see them hiring Felecia. They could have done that before the season. She had expressed interest.
Personally I would like a former wnba player that has some head coaching experience. There are a number of quality options available. SU has good facilities and a good name. We should be able to get a good coach with former pro experience. Figure the announcement for a search will happen once the season officially ends. No post season invite.
She was interested last year but her son was portalling into UB for a grad transfer year. Bad timing for SU.
 
Sad to see how bad the Cuse sports programs are faring these days and I think JW should take the majority of blame here. Cuse is becoming the old Rutgers of the B1G and it is hard to grasp that situation. Wonder how low the Cuse stands in the current NCAA Capital One Cup and if we even scored any points? Thank God for the Women's Lax team and the XC teams as they are the only decent ones on the hill in the ACC for 2021 - 22.
The Women's Ice Hockey team begs to differ.
 
I understand the circumstances for each but this is likely the first year since WWII that at least one of football, hoops, and lax had a winning record (they didn’t play lacrosse)

this can’t happen again.
 
In fact, we were chatting about this very issue on the Lax board. According to SW75 It's even worse than I had thought.

I decided to find out if we've ever had all three of SU's primary teams: football, basketball and lacrosse have ever had a losing season in the same school year.

Thanks to Roy Danforth and Jim Boeheim. the basketball team had last had a loser in 1968-69. The football team was 6-4 that year and, thanks to Ben Schwartzwalder, had not had a losing season since 1949. Roy Simmons Sr. became the lacrosse coach in 1931. He had one losing season prior to 1959 that was in 1942 and both the football teams (Ossie Solem) and basketball team (Lou Andreas) were winners that year. That takes us back to Laurie Cox, who established the SU lacrosse program in 1916. he had losers in 1916, 1918 and 1930. Again, both the football, (Bill Hollenback, Buck O'Neill and Vic Hanson) and basketball teams, (Edmund Dollard and Andreas), had winning records.

So, now we've never had three strikes and yer out in our three major programs.

(Source: all three Media Guides are available on Cuse.com in the drop-down menus for each sport.)
 
In fact, we were chatting about this very issue on the Lax board. According to SW75 It's even worse than I had thought.
It’s been a rough year all around. It would be one thing if SU was getting killed. But both FB and BB lost so many close games. Teams that were limited in ability and style of play, both of which suffered critical injuries, and finished a hair short of .500. Tough year.
 
I do not see them hiring Felecia. They could have done that before the season. She had expressed interest.
Personally I would like a former wnba player that has some head coaching experience. There are a number of quality options available. SU has good facilities and a good name. We should be able to get a good coach with former pro experience. Figure the announcement for a search will happen once the season officially ends. No post season invite.
Wrong.
 
If you notice that last three hires are SU grads. When JB retires the next one will be too.
 

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