You're right, but $40 million into the old one is more than Akron would ever do the the JAR or toward a new arena. Much more institutional support at Duquesne.

I saw that Tavian Dunn Martin is leaving, but that's it so far I think.

Looking at their roster, they were already set to be unusually weak in the post next year for a Dambrot squad.

If Campbell gets a victory lap he may drop 50 on them in the Jar.

Wonder if Dambrot keeps Big John on the staff at Duquesne. Doubtful. Hope he finds a new good home. Maybe with Boals up at Stony Brook? Or maybe due to his health he hangs it up?

Have to credit Pete C. for finding this quote from Dambrot on posting to Twitter. From Elton Alexander's Plain Dealer article:

"When you're not happy after winning 26 and 27 games, you have to re-evaluate,'' Dambrot said when contacted late Monday night. "The one-bid league thing was really starting to wear on me and my staff."

http://www.cleveland.com/sports/college/index.ssf/2017/03...

I saw that on twitter last night and couldn't take it seriously. It's just the kind of crap Dambrot says.

He can't win NCAA Tournament games anyway, so the one-bid league excuse is complete garbage.

Yeah Dambrot is absolutely right. I'll say it again - like beating the dead horse - the ONLY thing that matters is NCAA tournament bids & wins in college basketball. It helps you gain recognition. It helps you recruit players. It helps you recruit coaches. It literally brings in the money to fund your program. It is what builds and sustains success.

This is why, when you're in a 1-bid league like the MAC, nothing matters except for one week in Cleveland in March. That's a lot of pressure on a team/coach where in a 1-and-done situation - lots of randomness and crazy things outside of your control come into play - which directly impact your immediate and future success. Would you enjoy working your butt off every year at your job then having your entire raise/continued employment based on one sales pitch/meeting at the end of the year and you're relying on college interns to do the pitch for you? That's college coaching in a 1-bid league. Dambrot understands that all too well.

He just moved from the #20 league to the #7 league. He doubled his pay. He most likely increased his basketball budget by 4x. And now he's in a league where the entire season matters again because he doesn't HAVE to win the conference tournament to get into the NCAA. Where you can have a slip-up in March and not have it cost you the entire season. That has to be a sigh of relief.

So yes - that's the reality the MAC needs to face. It won't change until we start emphasizing basketball and funding it at levels comparable to other non 1-bid leagues.

Instead, we're too busy concentrating on preparing for Tuesday night football in October on ESPN 8. It is what it is.

I hear what you're saying, but it's not the ONLY thing that matters. It is the most important until the potential for an at-large bid returns to the MAC, if it ever will. I just don't like minimizing the entire season the way you are because it does matter. It's just a different scenario than in the A-10.

On the budget, I don't think his budget is 4x. It might be double, but I'm not even sure of that. It's better, for sure. He's getting paid more, and likely his assistants are as well. The league is the big deal here to me. The league is essentially a "power" league.

And lastly, I'm with you on football and will continue to be. Sadly, football drives the bus, even in the MAC (as silly as that is). In conversations like this, I always imagine what most MAC basketball programs could do with the extra budget, as compared to what it gets done for a MAC football program.

I don't think Akron is the best program.

In Dambrot's tenure at Akron:
Kent has more regular season championships.
Ohio has as many NCAA Tournament appearances as Akron (3 each)
Ohio has played in double the NCAA Tournament games as Akron (6 vs 3)
Akron's margin of loss in those 3 games was 13, 13 and 42. In Ohio's lone-1st round exit during Dambrot's tenure, we lost by 5.

Outside of Dambrot's tenure:
Akron ranks 10th of 12 MAC programs in NCAA Tournament appearances with 4 (Miami leads at 17 followed by Ohio with 13)
Akron is one of three MAC programs that has never won a NCAA Tournament game (along with NIU and Buffalo)
Ohio has a larger men's basketball budget. (quantifiable)
Ohio has a larger fanbase. (quantifiable)
Ohio has better facilities. (Convo vs JAR is not quantifiable)

Coaches are paid to win tournament games. There is a very clear correlation between coaching pay and NCAA Tournament success. Dambrot likes to whine. He thinks he deserves NCAA at-large bid, but gets blown out when he gets to the tournament. Blowout loses reflect terribly on the MAC. It's absurd to blame the conference when your team's performance on the national stage has only contributed to the stigma.

I actually disagree with those on this board who don't think Dambrot will have success at Duquesne. I don't think he has to up his recruiting that much to compete in the A-10, and with the institutional support I think he will easily be able to attract the kind of players he wants. Is Duquesne OK with paying a guy 1-million dollars to get an at-large bid and then lose by double-digits in the first round? If that's what they are going for, this is a home-run hire.

The MAC sadly and unfairly being a one-team entry to the Big Dance is a hard pill to swallow year and year after year after year, PARTICULARLY when your team ALWAYS has more than 20 wins and USUALLY plays in the MAC title game.

We have a bingo. Well said Borna.

I assume we all agree. But I think Illinois State's coach will tell you this is easier said than done.

And yet where are we (& the MAC) wasting resources where it's more difficult to get national exposure? Football.