Just another quality road win at Rhode Island. Stony Brook is now 5-1. #PayAttention
#WhatAreWePayingAttentionToStonyBrookFor? #WhatsThePurposeOfUsingHashtagsInBobcatAttack?
Going back to typing like an adult again...Maybe it's me, but I'd be surprised if Coach Boals would come here for anything short of $450-550k that the job has paid in the last 5-7 years. Maybe I'm wrong. Working off the assumption that we're highly likely to cut whatever the coaches salary will be, I think Boals might be more than Ohio will choose to afford. Again, maybe I'm wrong.
I'd also assume that he's a guy who left Ohio State for a head coaching gig that might actually pay him LESS than he made with Thad as Associate Head Coach. I'm sure that info is out there somewhere - I haven't looked it up.
If I'm a betting man, I'm betting Coach Boals aspires to get to a P5 level job. If he does, is Ohio a better job for him, right now, than Stony Brook? 5-6 years ago, this wasn't even a debate, because it was. But, Stony Brook has done some renovations in recent years to facilities that might have changed that. They're also in a conference I'd argue that is easier to win in, and in an area that may be easier to recruit from. Again, I don't know. There's some assumption in this space that thinks he would come here just because it's his Alma Mater. Not everyone does that. I'm not sure I'd do that in his case If I were him, solely because it's his Alma mater.
Whenever Saul leaves, and that he will seems to be a forgone conclusion, the next hire is one that Schaus & Ohio absolutely can't screw up. Because they've screwed up the current situation since JG's departure in a few ways - I think that's agreed upon here. The next hire had better be able to convince the best players we currently have to stay, or it's gonna be a long, long couple years of rebuilding for the new coach. The next hires had better be able to help sell the public on coming to games, and then deliver on that sales job. And the question is, is Boals that guy to do that? Because he's an alumnus from a great team in a good era of Ohio hoops, I'd say he'd help sell the program to some of the older crowd. Short of being 5-1 this year at Stony Brook, I have no clue what kind of coach he is. Something important for my money, with a new hire, is having a brand of basketball that can be sold to younger fans/alumni/students. One that is fun to watch, because some blend of fun to watch and winning is what puts butts in the seats, right?
Lastly, to come back to things unrelated to coaches, recruiting, and winning, if they want to restore some lost luster to this program, it's time to get their act together on game day experience, and the basic aesthetics of being in The Convo. Because right now, the folks running the show can't simply blame wins and losses or coaching success or lack of, on the waning numbers of bodies in the seats. When you go to hire the next coach, you'd be wise to approach this from an all-in rebrand of the basketball program and the facility itself. Being honest, I personally have minimal faith in that actually happening, or being done close to the right way.