fwiw, my take on coaching changes

[obobo55]

First off I'd like to introduce myself. I am a UW grad and a huge Badger supporter, but I started my schooling at UWM during the Antrim years as the school first entered D1. I love the fact that Milwaukee has actually moved so quickly up the ladder from an independent into the Horizon and then right on up to tourney cinderella and possible mid-major monster. I couldn't have thought it was possible to do such a thing so fast.

I understand how another coaching change would be very upsetting to this fanbase. Instability can certainly be uncomfortable, particularly when you are attempting to develop contacts with higher level recruits than you may ever have before. The thing that you need to know IMO is that the situation with Jeter would have only helped drive UWM as a job that will attract a good replacement.

IMO, it has become obvious that there are very good coaches at other levels that have not been given the opportunity. Had RJ moved on, I think there would have been numerous good candidates ready to move right on in and replace him as they see how good this program can be. Sure you may have lost out on a couple of players that Rob was in on, but I doubt that would have mattered all that much in the end.

Trying to understand D1 athletics and the power structures in place is interesting. Quite simply the big state universities have so much power simply because of their incredible fanbases and the cash they provide. Whether Milwaukee can develop that fanbase is the challenge that really must be taken on if the HC job their is to be anything other than a 2-3 year stepping stone position.

I would love for the Horizon to develop into the league that it could be. Butler is a fine program as is and I think UWGB is on its way to rebounding as well. UIC and Detroit should always be fairly decent and it appears that Loyola is making leaps forward as well. If Wright St can stay strong the league can contend with most of the other good Mids. What they need to do is play more home games in NC play, but in order to do so they need the attendance to support such a move.

I will be very interested to see how the community responds next year. 2 NCAA appearances in a row and 3 in 4 years simply has to bring a wave of attention that this is not just a fluke run and that there is some real good BB being played at the Cell. If they can get to an average of 6-7,000 regularly, they can start to think about skipping some of those "guarantee" games on the road and start scheduling more home-and-homes with other competitive clubs from similar leagues.

Anyways, that was a bit of a ramble off my main point. I am glad Robbie decided to stay. Hopefully he will be here for 2 or more seasons but I could see some club coming at him hard if he makes an impressive run next year. If he then left however, I think they would find themselves with a very competent replacement. The job there just has a lot to offer IMO.

[Deleted]

Ob,
You have to understand that Losing Jeter would mean losing several recruits that could possibly help us right away next year. It is flattering to a program that high major's want to recruit our coaches, however that only provides instability which is not what potential recruits want to see. UWM is in a tough situation, possibly moving to another conference in a few years, and our record needs to remain competetive and winning. The program cannot be successful when our Head BB coaching posiiton is a revolving door.
Otherwise, nice post, and welcome to the board.

[milwsport]

I agree JP. If this was last year or even the year before okay, but with seven seniors leaving, losing our recruits for the second year in a row would have had a very bad effect on the program.

[obobo55]

I understand the impact of losing out on some recruits. That would hurt I agree. The thing I was trying to convey is that will always be a concern for the recruits at UWM. If UWM is as successful as it has been over the past 6 years there will alway be upper-tier schools looking at hiring the HC. What UWM offers is immediate PT at a school that has a good chance of a tourney run each and every season. Some recruits will latch on to a particular coach and his playing style, but I'm certain they know the possibility is there that the coach may not stay for all 4 years.

Do you all really think that UWM will still have Jeter 4-5 years down the line if he is as successful as you hope he will be? I would think it would take an incredible leap for the Milwaukee program as a whole to do so. A huge step up in attendance and salary and probably a major step up in competition. Each of the successful MVC coaches get snapped up as well. To truthfully emerge out of the "stepping-stone" level, they would need to approach Gonzaga status. Getting major deals with ESPN to show NC games against other major powers and paying salary out at a rate that is tough to do w/o football cash.

I love the UWM program as much as anyone and would love to see it happen, but I just don't see that all happening that soon. If RJ does as much as I expect him to do, he will likely be targeted by another good (probably better) school within the next 2 years. Fortunately, like I said, I think the position will likely draw interest from another well-qualified candidate who can continue the run of success.

[BBFran]

I mostly agree with obobo as far as coaching changes. We almost surely have Robbie for another two years. After that, it depends on our success. If he brings us back to contention for an NCAA bid in two years, he WILL be romanced again. And at some point he has to go. That's life.

But I also agree that we are now at a place in the development of the program that recruiting good replacements will not be terribly difficult.

As for recruits, it is always a mistake to think you need to keep a coach because if you don't you'll lose recruits, and similarly people get too worried about losing recruits when a coach leaves. RJ is an excellent recruiter and will do well in that area, but as of now there's no one in the pipeline that the program couldn't live without.

[teddyp00]

That seems very true BB and add in the fact that as long as we continue to grow as a mid-major "power" kids will come here in hopes of making the tourny and getting the playing time necessary to make a name for themselves that a big program will not offer them.

[PantherLou]

bbfran said:

I mostly agree with obobo as far as coaching changes. We almost surely have Robbie for another two years. After that, it depends on our success. If he brings us back to contention for an NCAA bid in two years, he WILL be romanced again. And at some point he has to go. That's life.

But I also agree that we are now at a place in the development of the program that recruiting good replacements will not be terribly difficult.

As for recruits, it is always a mistake to think you need to keep a coach because if you don't you'll lose recruits, and similarly people get too worried about losing recruits when a coach leaves. RJ is an excellent recruiter and will do well in that area, but as of now there's no one in the pipeline that the program couldn't live without.

I couldn't agree more. While I understand the passion and concern that our fanbase has, I think it's important to realize that losing Rob Jeter would not have been a death sentence for this program. We WILL continue to lose coaches, but the exciting thing is that we are well on our way to establishing ourselves as a great mid major program. There will be many, many quality coaches interested in working at UWM.

[damasa]

Great posts by all. I can't agree more.

[Deleted]

I guess I disagree! I think that losing Jeter at this point could have set the program back for good or at least 5-7 years. I understand that if his succes at UWM continues he won't be here, but at least he can continue to build on the foundation that has already been built from Bo & Bruce and the next coach can his Jeter's quality recruits(assuming). I just look at this period as a very pivotal time in our basketball's history if were going to continue to improve or suffer some set backs.

[dylanrocks]

I don't know about 5-7 years, and I certainly don't think it would have killed the program, but Rob's departure couldn't have been more ill-timed. Why do you think that Bud made the monetary concessions that he did? He was pretty much a hostage to the situation. It is very difficult to lose an entire recruiting class in consecutive years and land on your feet. The situation at Butler five years ago was different in that the Bulldogs had the nucleus of a very successful team returning relatively intact, with Miller, Archie and Cornette back for their senior seasons. Nonetheless, I now appreciate what they endured.

[Deleted]

My rational for 5-7 years is if we lost Jeter we could have possibly gone through several rough recruiting classes which can set you back.

[PantherLou]

5-7 years?

Sorry, but I am going to have to strongly disagree on that. 7 years ago, Ric Cobb was the coach of this team. We played in(and did not come close to filling) the Klotsche Center. the idea of making it to the NCAA tournament, much less winning a game or going to the Sweet 16 would have been considered lunacy. We recruited local Wisconsin kids. We were behind UWGB by a long way as far as public perception.

Rob jeter leaving would have set this program back, no doubt, but 5-7 years? No way.

A good coach (and we would have more than 1 to choose from) would and should be able to get the program back to respectability in 2 years. Next year would have been a big struggle, but that;s about it.

In any event, its a moot point, so we should all be happy.

[milwsport]

I'd say two to three years. In addition to losing recruits we'd probably have lost some fans as well. As it is though, things worked out perfectly. Now people will feel that the program has some stability and be more likely to invest time and emotion into it.

[Deleted]

Lou,
That is your opinion and I respect that, however look at what happened to the UW football team when they had two or three bad years of recruiting from 1999-2001. They had so some very mediocre seasons and couldn't match their success from the mid to late 90's until about 04 and 05 seasons which is roughly 5 years (I know they went to some bowls, but who doesn't these days). This is obviously a different sport and a different situation, but the point is still there, consecutive poor recruiting classes can set a program back. In UW's situation it was just poor recruiting by some of the coaches, what could have killed us was losing our HC.
However, your right, it's a moot point because it didn't happen and I'm as happy as can be right now with RJ as the man in charge.

[PantherLou]

I guess I wonder why you think that losing our head coach would result in "2 or 3 years of bad recruiting?"

Maybe one year, but I expect a good coach to come in and be successful in recruiting almost immediately. Rob Jeter has put together a good recruiting class quickly, why couldn't someoe else?