Well here we are....Jeff's 1st loosing season, and last year wasn't much better.
My expectation is that without an improved W - L record Jeff may have trouble finishing out his contract.





GO BOBCATS

I’ve had a night to sleep on Boals post-game comments and I am more annoyed. I am so tired of him complaining about lack of money to get players. Ohio isn’t the only program to have this issue. Go out there every day in the off-season and hustle and fundraise. Sorry Jeff, It’s part of the job description now with NIL/Portal. Either adapt or find a job at Toledo as Tod K’s (Daddy) graduate assistant.

Boals said this season is on him and last season was a wash. Huh? Last season was a wash because of injuries? This season alone, Miami lost its starting PG to injury and Akron lost one of its top players to injury. I don’t hear Groce and Steele complaining. How about Jeff you recruit better and actually learn how to create depth on your roster. I’ve got news for you. Ayden “Paducah Community College” Evans and Walking Bucket aren’t going to win you games when you have injuries.

He admitted he failed Captain Chaos. Actually glad he admitted it, but so pathetic that he couldn’t discipline Chaos. What was Boals afraid of that he couldn’t coach up his attitude and personality on the court? And pathetic on Chaos that the dude never grew up. Four years of the same BS. Captain Chaos built a reputation with the refs and it cost him an embarrassing exit to his collegiate career.

If Boals thinks this program doesn’t have resources or money now, just wait until next season. The record won’t officially reflect it, but he has had back-to-back losing seasons. I am not counting the division two or NAIA wins. Those who donate won’t support the program with Boals at the helm moving forward.

No passion.

No fire.

He checked out months ago on this program and the University.

Good luck finding NIL money from the program’s die-hard supporters with this guy leading the way.

FJC31 is right.

Go get Jamie Quarles now.

This program is dead.

Echo similar thoughts. I know I’ve been hating on Boals for the last few months, but, this presser was a bad look.

He should have just left it at he failed Hadaway and the team. Using a lack of funding as an excuse — similar wording to why Miami was so good and beat them the first time, is getting old. Especially when he were able to bring in 3 proven D1 players. He just simply couldn’t assemble a roster of role players around his big 3.

As others have said, what does AJB have to do with anything as it relates to this season? It’s not like he had a Mark Sears year and left. What message does that send to the team? “If AJ were here, we would have won more”

On the flip side, Tod K lost his best player (also lost Seth Hubbard and Sam Lewis) to Boals and continues to win more and is still playing tonight.

Boals should do this school a favor and just “remain involved” as an ambassador but step down as coach. He doesn’t have it and doesn’t sound like he’s built for it anymore either.

Hate to break it to you but he ain't going anywhere. What is the benefit of coughing up a milly just to get a new guy in with one year left? They aren't going to pull the trigger on that. I'm sure the rebuttal will be "the program won't waste a year and can get a head start on the rebuild" but I'd rather have the milly for the next guy. Every year is a rebuild anyway these days. Not sure if that's how that would work but save the money, take the lumps, maybe we get a couple guys in the program that fall in love with Athens and want to stay beyond one year. Its a mess any way you look at it.

My brother, I like you, I respect you, mostly because we have the same thoughts on 99/100 topics - but this seems like an overreaction - is the #1 benefactor to OU basketball not his close friend and former teammate?

The people who do donate, are really going to withhold funds from the program they want to see succeed, coached by a former player, who has the MAC's last ncaa tournament victory, who had his very first below .500 season... out of spite? This seems wildly counterproductive.

And those same people are going to start dropping cash all over the place to bring in a career assistant, on a 23 win team, who has never coached within 500 miles of Ohio?



He'll be back. Will he last longer than his current deal? Who knows. Tides turn fast. Miami won 12 games in 2022. 15 games in 2023. Did people rage and withhold funding? Did they fire Steele? No. They rallied around the program. And Starbucks Guy™ dropped $2M into their lap. They had an admirable run, certainly, and still lost first round vs the last seed. They'll be watching the rest of the mac tournament from their couch. Same as us.

I suspect that the University already believes that some sort of buyout is going to end up in Coach Smith's hands. I'd be pretty surprised if they fire Boals.

You've noticed that the threatened "wrongful termination" suit has yet to materialize?

Maybe it's just me, but what I hear in that presser is that he's been told (which I think is fair) - turn this around immediately or your'e out.

e.g., "need to figure out where we are going to be, where we are going to go and kinda reset this program from a culture standpoint"


In today's environment, this puts the coach, players, and program in a difficult position. Per the "Roster" thread, we have potentially 7 players that may or may not return. If I'm a player, do I want to return and play for a coach who may have one year left and when he leaves I get an unknown. A coach that arguably....arguably, has not excelled at developing players, at putting them in a position to succeed, nor shown a consistent approach to strategically growing the program? I think we are in for a very turbulent off-season.

Regardless of our feelings about Jeff Boals, this program has dropped to the second or, more likely, third tier of the MAC, and it happened under his watch.

Last night I saw a team that was ill-prepared to handle the opposing team's strategy of smothering Pav and challenging our other guards/wings to penetrate the lane and hit shots. Every other coach knows our weaknesses but we lack the brain power, discipline and athleticism to respond. Oh, and we are egregious on D.

Agree with all of this.


+1,000,000

Mutual respect right back at you MDWST. Hey if we agreed on everything that would be boring...ha.

I echo what others have said....Steele situation is different. He took over a complete dumpster fire and they had to give him time. The erosion of Ohio hoops has happened directly under Boals watch. He's not developing players and this staff is not bringing in talent to compete with Akron, Kent, Toledo and now Miami. The numbers don't lie.

Like others have said...I wish every program was obligated to release what each school's NIL budget is. I think it would help us understand better if Boals has a case to whine about it incessantly or not.

I have wanted Coach Boals to succeed from day 1. It just hasn't happened. The program is clearly regressing.