I'm sorry that you feel that a thread to discuss the head coach's record is a waste of time.
Thanks for taking the time to post on this thread.
I think all Jimmy is saying is that this isn't the year.
Look, coaches are "hired to be fired." They are always subject to speculation about their tenure, and fans have a right to voice their opinions. I don't begrudge that of anyone. But too many of our fans think we are playing the same game that the pros and high D1 programs play where the money is always there to make a change. We aren't. There is no money available for that purpose even if that's what our AD wanted to do. And in all likelihood the boosters who could be influential that way are not going to lift a finger (or pen) on this. Rob is popular with them for many good and legitimate reasons. Those folks are business people, and they see and understand the structural challenges in our program more than some casual fans do.
My opinion is this: when I look at our program and see the issues it faces and the challenges ahead, changing coaches is pretty far down the list of things that I think will move the needle to make us the perennial contender everyone would prefer.
And as an aside, taking Rob's first year off the chart is nonsense unless you also take the second year off. Bruce's plan was obvious: to build a team that would get him a high major job and get him out at the first possible moment. He did so, nice for us and bully for him. But he had no interest in building a program. Rob acquitted himself very well as coach in year one with the team he inherited, but to say the cupboard was bare in year two is an understatement.
100%. Also are we really going to lay 2005-06 on Bruce's record when half of the players of any consequence were recruited by Rob Jeter? Five of the 10 guys in the rotation were Jeter recruits - Chris Hill, Adrian Tigert, Mark Pancratz, Kevin Massiah and Avery Smith. The others are loyal Jeter guys.
So let's just stop with this not counting 2005-06 talk. It doesn't help your case anyways; in fact, it helps to count that season. You can argue that he recruited better workers to play as an assistant under Bo.
But all this is irrelevant. This is a university that didn't have the money in 2008 to fire Rob, before the economy dropped out. It didn't have the money in 2013, when we were 8-24. And it doesn't have the money today, when a Republican statehouse has forced Mone and the university into a corner. They're trying to do anything and everything they can to cut money from the budget.
Regardless of your politics on the matter, the fact is this school doesn't have the resources to flip 500k to make a coach go away. If they did, it's still a ridiculous amount of money to spend.
Why is that? You have less money to hire his replacement, which will in all likelihood be coming next spring. The program would be one year behind, when the 2016-17 recruiting base in Wisconsin is relatively weak once you get past the kids committed or close to being committed to high-majors.
A new coach will bring excitement to the program again, which will be needed in spring of 2017 when the next budget round for the state is coming - remember that Scott Walker made the recommendation to not fund the practice facility in the 15-17 budget, and the assembly and senate complied. With a new coach, new excitement for the future and another year of collecting the funds ($25 fee brings in about $1.2 million annually), we'll need less state money and have a leg up on lobbying for them to approve the funds. Keep in mind this is still a net zero to the taxpayer, since the student $25 fee will be paid back into the state budget as it is collected until the state's end is paid back.
Now what happens if we hire someone new this year? What happens if they don't have a great recruiting class this spring? It's not out of the realm of possibility, even if the coach is a good hire. They could have the same restrictions that were on Jeter's staff carry over, they'll start the job with only the spring signing period and summer left, Jeter's recruits could decide to de-commit or may not work well with the new coach, and current players loyal to Jeter could follow him or their preferred assistant to whatever school those guys end up at.
You could be looking at a really poor basketball team for 2016-17 - less than 10 wins possibly. Would it be that coach's fault? No, it's a natural part of transition, especially with a lack of post talent right now. But there will be plenty of short-sighted people asking questions about the program, or the coach.
Is it even possible for UWM to get to the next level?? It's ridiculous, but it's not out of the question. Some of those people will be die-hard fans who post on this board.
The coach, btw, will be paid much less than the coach hired next spring, just from the fact that they're not going to spend a bunch of cash and then pay the replacement as much as if their liability went to nothing next spring. Mind you, I'm expecting the next coach to make significantly less than Rob regardless, since the athletic department is absolutely part of the slash-and-burn going on at the university.
So yeah, this thread is a waste of time. If you want to bring it up in March 2017 after the Panthers are eliminated from the NCAA Tournament (by that I mean the actual NCAA Tournament or losing in the Horizon League Tournament), be my guest. But talking about it now is a waste of time.
You know, unless you're ready to be a big donor right now. I'm sure Amanda Braun will take your phone call and hear what you have to say. But if you're expecting the big donors we currently have (or recently have had) to pony up the big bucks to get Rob Jeter on a train out of town a year early, you're going to be waiting a long time. It's almost like...they know things that you don't as far as how life is for the men's basketball coaching staff...
Since Rob Jeter's hiring:
Milwaukee: 2 NCAA, 1 NIT, 1 NCAA win
Cleveland State: 1 NCAA, 3 NIT, 1 NCAA win
Wright State: 1 NCAA, 0 NIT, 0 NCAA wins
Green Bay: 0 NCAA, 2 NIT, 0 NCAA wins
Valparaiso: 2 NCAA, 1 NIT, 0 NCAA wins
Oakland (Summit/Horizon): 2 NCAA, 0 NIT, 0 NCAA wins
UIC: 0 NCAA, 0 NIT, 0 NCAA wins
Detroit: 1 NCAA, 1 NIT, 0 NCAA wins
NKU:
Not applicableYoungstown State: 0 NCAA, 0 NIT, 0 NCAA wins
Former teams:
Loyola: 0 NCAA, 0 NIT, 0 NCAA wins
Butler: 7 NCAA, 1 NIT, 15 NCAA wins
I suppose, if you want to be Butler, Jeter has been an abject failure. So would every other mid-major coach in the country. You can talk up Gary Waters if you want, since he's the only other coach with an NCAA win and he has one more post-season appearance. But whose program would you rather have right now? You can talk up Bryce Drew, but they've had the deck stacked in their favor in almost every year since 2012 - Hosted HLT in 2012, 2013, 2015, had double-bye and 8 days rest compared to GB having 3 games in 3 days going into last night. 2014 was the one year Valpo didn't have the deck stacked in their favor in the HLT...how did 2014 end for them? Who ended 2014 for them? They sure were close to winning last year against Maryland. A lot of people here will argue that close only matters in horseshoes and hand grenades when it comes to Rob Jeter, so you have to hold other coaches to the same standard.
If you think that's B.S., remember that Rob Jeter's teams were eliminated by the national runner-up in 2010 and 2011, with the 2010 team being a Ricky Franklin missed three-pointer away from being tied with 45 seconds left against a Butler team that cleaned Wright State's clock a couple days later. The Panthers split two close games with WSU that year and the semi-final loss to Butler ended an 8-game winning streak.
That's the crappy part of all this. If Butler wasn't the
greatest mid-major in the history of mid-majors[/b] in 2010 to 2011, it's easy to make an argument that Rob Jeter's line would be 4 NCAA, 0 NIT, ? NCAA wins.
Are we even having this argument if that's Rob's resume? NCAA Tournaments in 2006, 2010, 2011, 2014. Do we even recruit you-know-who that decided to forego his exams senior year to f*ck over the basketball team? Is Rob even here for everyone to snipe at him?
This thread is a waste of time because if you want to get rid of him, all you have to do is sit and wait. But if you want the next coach to come in and succeed, there are very large, structural problems that do not get talked about - and if they are not fixed, John Wooden would have difficulty winning here.
This program is a sleeping giant. No fan here will disagree with that. There's an incredible future in front of us, but only if we address major issues in time for the next coach to not work with an albatross around his neck. Issues that will only get worked out if fans with influence push for change.
There's plenty of work to do. The first thing is for everyone to spend money supporting the team - go to games, buy stuff from PanthersGear.com, bring your friends. Feel however you want to about Jeter, but these kids play hard to represent our alma mater and the city. They deserve your support, and things look better for down the road when attendance increases.
