[NU Sports] BB Coaching Change? (fwd)

[johnadeg at comcast.net]

Arthur Miller has that right!

John DeGroat
-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: "Arthur Miller" <artmiller1 at hotmail.com> 

> I agree with this person's points entirely. My position on this is fairly 
> simple, and it is this: 
> 
> Football and men's basketball are, for better or worse, a significant 
> component of the Northwestern "brand" as well as of the student/alumni 
> experience. This may be shallow, this may be unjust, but this is THE WAY IT 
> IS. The truth is that kids can get a great, world-class education at dozens 
> of universities these days; if we want our pick of the best students, we 
> need to offer them a complete student/alumni experience, which in this day 
> and age has to include competitive football and men's basketball. Football 
> is arguably there right now, though perhaps just barely. 
> 
> Don't get me wrong: I'm very proud of the excellence we have shown in 
> non-rev sports like lax, softball, wrestling, tennis, and swimming. But the 
> ability of these sports to improve the brand and student/alumni experience 
> is greatly limited compared with MEN'S BASKETBALL. 
> 
> The Northwestern trustees and administration need to either recognize this 
> fact and strive to address it as they would any other shortcoming of the 
> university, or de-emphasize it altogether, opt out of the Big Ten, and join 
> an athletic conference of more like-minded institutions. This 
> "fence-sitting" posture--where we enjoy the financial benefits of being in 
> the B10 but decline to make the necessary investments to excel--is 
> hypocritical and unfair to the students, alumni, and the other institutions 
> in the conference. 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message----- 
> From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com] On 
> Behalf Of Jim Leonard 
> Sent: Thursday, February 22, 2007 6:37 AM 
> To: nwu-sports at romaine.tssi.com 
> Subject: Re: [NU Sports] BB Coaching Change? (fwd) 
> 
> Everyone, 
> 
> I received the email below from another NU fan who asked me to post it to 
> this list for discussion. I think the point is valid. If our trustees were 
> willing to invest in NU basketball, I think we'd be more competitive. 
> 
> Go Cats, 
> Jim 
> 
> ----- Original Message 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------- 
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
> ------------------------- 
> IMO, the root of our problem is a 60 year or so background of 
> administrations that don't have sufficient interest in basketball. They have 
> not and will not provide the things a good program needs, like better 
> facilities and the funds to let a good coach hire top assistants and keep 
> them. 
> 
> Academics? No excuse. Duke debunks that. So, does Stanford. And, just the 
> other day Vanderbilt beat Florida, the national champs! Vanderbilt, no less, 
> a school with high academic standards. 
> 
> As to coaching, no one can convince me, that in the past 60 years or so we 
> have not had some capable coaches, guys like Tex Winter, and arguably even 
> our present coach, Bill C. 
> 
> Yes, coaching is not the transcendent problem. Rather, I say to myself, 
> "It's no support, Stupid!" Considering 60 years of basketball obscurity, it 
> just has to be that! Our administrations just don't want to provide the $ 
> for top notch facilities, competitive wages for assistants, and recruiting. 
> Over the years, our trustees consistently refuse to provide our coaches the 
> tools they need to compete. Their interest has been and is more on football 
> and other sports. Since the 40s (?), for Northwestern, basketball has been 
> on the back burner. 
> 
> Bottom line: The buck stops with the trustees. 
> 
> 
> 
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