Originally Posted by San Diego Flyer
Wow. Could it also spark the North Korean's as well? You definitely need a Flyer win!
|
Okay, let me explain myself a little more on this.
Maybe my goals for the program aren't aligned with the university's. But I looked at the past 6 seasons as a period of great movement forward for the program not one of great success that needs to be enjoyed because it's temporary.
I guess I've always used our oldest and strongest rival as the program we need to mirror as far as success. I'm not asking this program to be NC or Duke, but asking it to try and be
Xavier when it comes to success doesn't seem so out of the realm of possibility. Maybe not today, tomorrow or 3 years from now, but I want to at least close the gap or if Xavier keeps advancing forward, we keep chasing their success.
One thing Xavier hasn't had was great fallback anytime in their climb up. We should at least expect the same.
I haven't given up on Grant yet, but what concerns me is that we're seeing some of the same short-comings (yes I know it's early) that we heard about from Alabama. I personally don't believe Anthony Grant came here in full rebuild situation. He certainly didn't get handed a "bare cupboard" as one poster is using as an excuse. I think he entered in as good of situation as any coach has except maybe
Donoher. He has 5 returnees and what looks to be 4 or our best recruits in ages. The 5 returnees are all players that were expected to be and groomed to be starters this season(maybe not Landers but with Mikesell out, it's a slight setback).
So while I wish nothing but the best success for UD and Grant, I'm concerned that we might not have hired him for the right reasons. I guess I look at it that with 330 million people in this country, is it a coincidence that the right man for the job happened to be a player on our team 30 years ago? I'm afraid he was hired for longevity. Heck, if I was athletic director with the responsibilities of handling all athletics, I would be tempted to hire a guy who I think will keep me from going through the hassle of finding a replacement again in 5 or 6 years.
Maybe he is the right hire and has learned from his experiences up to this point. But my point still stands. If we don't move forward, meaning more success than AM brought us, the gap between where we and Xavier were last season as a program will increase enormously.
When it was time for
Tim Wabler to hire a new coach, it's obvious he did his due diligence in finding one, none of us had Archie Miller on the radar. But when it came time for Neil Sullivan to find us one, the one name that came out of just about everyone's mouth was Anthony Grant. I believe that was for 2 reasons and 2 reasons only, he was a former player and he coached at a power 5 school. Nobody could go through his head coaching career and show signs of how he could be as successful as Archie Miller here. Nope, it was "He knows UD, he knows what great citizens we want our student athletes to be, he knows how great the fans are and he will probably stay 20 years if the decision is left up to him."
I have not given up hope yet, but I am worried. I don't want to relive the
Brian Gregory or lord forbid, the JOB years. I want forward progress. Hopefully he brings that but if he doesn't, my dream for the college basketball team that I love will have been crushed, I ain't getting any younger.
