No loss here, opens up another scholarship.
This kid reminded me of Bota.
If that 7' transfer from Idaho does show up we can't be any worse off.



GO BOBCATS

I hope Ethan ends up in a good situation at the right school.

I also hope it was his decision and we did not "Larry Brown" him.

Uhh yeah


I have not talked to him as I have not stopped since coming home from the UK but I can pretty much guarantee Ethan was told it was time to go. Be willing to bet that he did nt even get the respect Larry Brown gave those players with an offer to help find a spot.

Dustin could have stayed. He chose to go to Illinois. That had nothing to do with JC. If the two recruited players chose to reopen their recruiting, how is that JC's fault? The rest remains to be seen.

I hope you're right......but like Love I'm still in my "whistlin past the graveyard" stage where "what's next" is replacing "can't wait until next year".

Maybe I'm in the minority, but while I am certainly excited for next year, I'm more interested in future years.  The run to the Sweet 16 was incredible and memorable.  And for many, anything short of that will be disappointing, even tragic.  But there's a great deal that has to go into such a run - ours or Louisville's or anyone.  Yes, a very, very good team that plays hot when it needs to, good match-ups, even fortunate bounces.   Let's remember this team finished 3rd in the East (albeit 1 game back) and was pushed to the limit by a very, almost as good, Akron team (those games will be wars next year!).  We also had good match-ups (not easy, but good for this team) the first two rounds and credit goes to the players and coaches for making the most of it.

While I certainly welcome and aspire to return to the Sweet 16 next year, I'm more interested in becoming a Butler, Gonzaga, etc. than a George Mason or UNC-Charlotte.  That means consistently being favored and winning the conference, holding up to that stature in the conference tournament and making consistent trips to the second weekend of the dance...and if the winds blow right even a Final Four. 

Retaining a Dustin may have accomplished the short-term objective.  Perhaps Boals would have addressed both short and long-term, but there is no paper trail for that.  Christian brings the pedigree for the long-term.  We'll see if he pays-off.  But in betting on the futures, he makes sense. 

We should have only one goal right now (and it is not Sweet 16).  That goal is regular season title.  The path after that will be what it will be.

Just a bit of an "over-reaction" by some I think. Name a program with a coaching change that hasn't had some turnover in personnel or with recruits giving it an "on second thought" maybe I need to re-think this.

Hell, Groce couldn't even keep all those HE recruited in Athens. Horne left before he had to get his uniform cleaned, A. Kellogg didn't even break a sweat in an actual game, Kinney was summarily jettisoned and who can forget the wailing and gnashing of teeth over the reported "mis-treatment of whether Sayles was scholarship "worthy".

Some bumps in the road are certainly expected at the start of Christian's tenure. How it all plays out down the road is to be determined, but the "playing out" would not have had ANY guarantees no matter it been Dustin or Boals or anyone else for that matter. With them all, including Christian, it's going "to be determined".

Interesting take and accounting. Perhaps that is why JG in his next program, is being so deliberate about "not just filling jersies"

I agree with cc upstairs when he talks about becoming a powerhouse in the conference and doing damage year in and out. It's what I been preachin all along and will continue to espouse. This is the best fanbase, gameday and campus in the MAC....no reason not to aspire to fill it with a team that competes mightily every year.

As Butler wrangles withthe decision to move the Zags have given up a little bit to St Marys who have become legit whilst trying to stay in the race in the conference. I do hope SHaus and Christian get this thing on the track at the next switch and take it in the direction that all the fans here want and will support.

The problem with this year's great success is the delusion that comes with it from a portion of the fanbase.  I've heard 'Final Four' mentioned several times. 

Was this year a complete blast?  Absolutely. 

Can we consistently compete for MAC Titles and regular appearances in the Big Dance?  I think that's reasonable.

Did we get extremely fortunate with our draw this year, matching up against two programs who played right into our wheelhouse?  Sure did.

Did we run into a perennial power that didn't have it's glue guy (the equivalent, imo, of us losing Cooper) in the Sweet Sixteen and give them all they could handle?  Yep, and that was wonderful too.

Does all of the above mean that we're now a 'Final Four' team and should routinely be in the Sweet Sixteen?

Not at all.



Give me MAC Titles.

This is how I see it too. The Sweet 16 run was incredible, amazing, fantastic, wonderful. But we need to focus on season titles ... the rest will fall into place if we can start winning season titles with some consistency.

I did not say anything close to this.  I think we can build to a point where we are in the Dance 3/4 years, with sustainable dominance in the MAC.  But to think that we should be in the round of 16 EVERY SINGLE YEAR based on this year's run is a bit crazy, imo.  And again, I was pointing out that SOME think a Final Four is a possibility.  We had a great year and great run.  But we're not VCU or Butler (yet).  How many Final Fours has Gonzaga been to? 


Beating Michigan didn't rub me in the wrong way in the slightest.  It was incredible.  I hate Michigan, and being at that game watching us handle them is something I'll never forget.  At the same exact time, I can honestly say we were hot, and the matchup WAS perfect for us.  95% of the NCAA Tourney comes down to matchups, and our matchups were incredibly favorable, but I wouldn't go so far as to call them flukey.  We were more athletic than Michigan, had the upper hand, and showed that for 35 minutes of that game.  No fluke about it.  Michigan's B1G record has absolutely no bearing on my thoughts in my previous post.  I could care less that they tied tOSU in the B1G regular season.  How'd they do against them in the B1G tourney?  Did Louisville seem to care that South Florida finished higher than them in the Big East standings?  Matchups are the name of the game in March.  Had we had to go through Wisconsin then Vanderbilt, I'd venture to bet the results may have been different.