You're out of touch with what today's recruits are demanding, Alan. We had great success in the past without NIL, too. We had great success when our teams were playing in the Bentley Gym. Things change. Recruits and their parents want to see impressive amenities, including practice facilities that offer convenient, 24/7 access. I'm not saying I like it; it's just a fact of life.

The area on Shaffer between lot 127 and the softball stadium has room for something cost effective like this:

https://gensteel.com/recommended-use/basketball-court/#:~... .

Interesting. So does that mean that the guys we get are the ones who are willing to settle for "sub par" amenities? Just kidding but it does beg the question if that's what they are hearing from recruits and parents.

Curious if you'd be saying this same thing about the football team if they didn't have an indoor practice facility?

Not saying you do this Alan, but there are people on this board who talk out of both sides of their mouth because there is a clear agenda between football vs. basketball fans. Both programs are fighting the same problems and both are fighting the same budgetary constraints and what it means being a MAC school in today's day and age of college athletics. It seems to me that anytime ideas are brought up to improve the football program nobody bats an eye, because that's just what you have to do to keep up in football.

BTW, the arms race you're talking about happened 10-20 years ago at the power level. I don't think facilities mean as much as they used to, but Ohio not having a dedicated practice space for it's Division I basketball program makes the program look small time. Hard to recruit when that's the case, especially if other coaches who Ohio is recruiting against knows it.

I agree with you there. A practice facility is the least of Ohio's problems at it's current state. I don't even think this year's team is necessarily untalented, but the way it's being handled, developed and coached is leaving something to be desired.

I think an indoor facility for football vs a practice facility for basketball is just a tad different. The football facility allows you to practice during the season when the weather prevents you from practicing outside.

And speaking of the football facility, this is what the landing page on the Walter Fieldhouse says:

"Completed in 2014, the Walter Fieldhouse is Campus Recreation's newest facility. The 93,750 square foot indoor multipurpose pavilion houses a 100-yard AstroTurf football field with two 10-yard end zones, two All-American scoreboards, a 4-lane, 316 meter practice track, long jump and pole vault pits, golf and hitting cages, two filming platforms and a netting system that can accommodate multiple and simultaneous events. The Walter Fieldhouse is used for academic classes, OHIO Athletics, Marching 110 practices, Army and Air Force ROTC training, and Intramural and Club Sports."

My point is that it just makes sense to share spaces. Dedicated single use spaces tend to not be very cost efficient. Oh I'm sure we can all think of examples where a single use space is necessary but I don't think that is the case here.

Your point about "clear agendas" is a valid one. For years I was a basketball guy then I became a basketball and volleyball guy. Then I began to appreciate football a bit more including going to the first bowl game and a MAC championship game. The current state of college athletics just isn't all that appealing plus I now have three granddaughters playing club and school sports (I think we have a dozen volleyball tournaments on the calendar on the refrigerator). We all go through phases in our "fandom" and right now, mine doesn't include participating in the arms race when as SBH said and I paraphrase, we might be better off taking a closer look at where we really belong in the hierarchy of things.

Anyway, I appreciate your thoughtful posts.

Bingo!

Is Boals trying to get himself fired at this point?

*Still playing Sheldon 30+ minutes thinking he’s Pete Maravich.

*Kuany gives a spark against Kent State in second half and then sits last 10 minutes of game.

*Gets a T with 5 minutes left down four?

Seriously…WTF is he doing?

I see them parting ways with Boals. He get out coached by most MAC schools. Players poorly coach. Lack of attention to detail. Boals like a top coach, but hasn't beaten the top the MAC.

I don't know if the new AD wants to do two major coaching changes after being on the job for four months, especially in light of the reasoning for the previous one. And firing an alum, who has (yet) to have a below .500 season feels like a risk he might not be willing to make. Boals being a great ambassador of the university, and just a good dude is buying him extra grace.

I bet if you caught him on an off day, no one hates this team more than him. They're maddening to the 10th degree. Of course, a lot of that falls to him, but outside of Sheldon playing Kobe minutes with his wife's skill... what do you do with this roster? This is just a bad team in so many facets. He needs to empty the bench and see what we have (likely it's pretty bad), but we can't allow a team full of seniors to play with the bare minimum of effort.

Saturday at Buffalo

Jack
Fisher
JJ
Kuany
Evans

Send a message. No one is safe. Hadaway isn't playing like a starter. He sure is shit isn't playing like a senior. Bench. You play 12 minutes until you prove you're worth more. Same goes for everyone. Bench. You play in 3 minutes stretches until you prove you have the effort to play more.

Lose by 50. I don't care. Just show you want to be a college basketball player. No one on this roster is leaving us to go to Florida. They're leaving here and going to John Carroll. I don't care if you're upset. Play better.


*edit

And to add on, next season we need to hammer the portal for toughness. I'm not looking for a decent shooter from App State. I want a 10 rebound guy who broke three noses.

If Boals hates his team, that he built, and is bad on so many facets as you say — then yes, I think that warrants consideration for removal if this team continues to lose.

He was .500 a year ago. If he dips below .500 this year and if most of his bad on so many facets roster returns, doesn’t that indicate he finishes below .500 again with the team, that you think he hates? When does that come to an end?

I’m not trying to be snarky, just repeating back your post.

I think we've reached the point where if Boals doesn't go this offseason, the AD has to force changes to the assistant staff. I don't have any suggestion for who amongst the group but that seems like a standard page out of most AD playbooks.

I'm a Boals guy on the personal side of things. Great dude, easy to talk to, and a great ambassador for our university. I want him to be our guy long term, but this year has been so painful and last year so disappointing that something has to give.

There are tons of problems, but one that almost always glosses over other issues is making shots. We are an AWFUL shooting team. Putrid. Improve that one thing and instead of 11-11 we're 15-7 at least and we're really not having this conversation.

Does anyone remember what it felt like when Tommy Freeman, Jordan Dartis or Nick Kellogg pulled up from deep? I was excited. Now....a feeling of dread when most of our guys shoot the ball. If we do nothing else for next year, we have to find guys who can shoot the 3.