GCU is the old UNLV
- Thread starter saulpaul21
- Start date
I'd like to see GCU join the MWC. I think they would be fun to have in conference with their fan base and a good reason to go to Phoenix.
The GCU footprint in downtown phx is insane. It has grown immensely in the last 8-10 years
The GCU footprint in downtown phx is insane. It has grown immensely in the last 8-10 years
GCU was up 58-55 with like 3-4 minutes left. Then just faded last couple minutes. But definitely not a blow out. GCU pushed Alabama to the end
GCU plays very hard but they were pure AAU/pickup ball on offense. I don’t mind freedom at all, in fact, I welcome it. But you need some guardrails in there.
GCU does not compare on any level to the old UNLV teams which were dominant and had a national following at the time. Gonzaga is the only comparison of a non power conference program.
Nope. Craig Thompson once said that was a requirement for full membership.
Bad take, in my opinion. But also, if MWC membership required it and it was the only thing holding them up... would they start a program?
If the PAC decides to do a rebuild over a straight merger, having some bball only teams could come in handy. Depends on how many football schools they invite. GCU might be a candidate for that. Good market, been a good program the past few years.
GCU is in early innings, just as unlv and tark were in 1973. If you compare early tark vs gcu now, there are similarities.
What’s nice to see is that there is a very firm commitment to winning (appears that way anyway).
I'd say Gonzaga is a closer comparison to UNLV over time especially if you take into consideration where Spokane was in 1999 and how much it has grown
GCU is a for-profit school that has a lot more resources than 1970s UNLV ever had
GCU is a for-profit school that has a lot more resources than 1970s UNLV ever had
Why do you need an example outside of men’s college basketball? Just look at DePaul, Georgetown, Houston. Great schools because of a coach and afterwards struggle and continue to burn through coaches until they find a new great coach and have money backing them. Only Houston has found that with money and a coach. Sure there might be a season of glory or two, but sustained success requires finding another golden coach and which then causes sustained investment.
Coaches make the program if you are not in a power conference and only if you can keep them. I am sure people think Gonzaga will continue post Few but if they have a bad higher and lose funding and support it will collapse. UNLV manages to screw up both both at the same time thanks to their president.
Coaches make the program if you are not in a power conference and only if you can keep them. I am sure people think Gonzaga will continue post Few but if they have a bad higher and lose funding and support it will collapse. UNLV manages to screw up both both at the same time thanks to their president.
I think the current president ain’t like the last few and the current AD is most definitely not like the last few so there is that…
Was talking to @LocoRebel the other day and LSU wbb flashed across the screen, which brought up the "hit piece" Kim Mulkey has been threatening to sue the Washington Post over if they print it. That made me think of Mulkey as the pig-tailed PG for LTU back in the day and how dominant that program was and made me realize the parallels between them and UNLV mbb once upon a time. Sad indeed
HOUSTON? They are a number 1 seed this year, and have the money to stay there in the future!
And where were they before Sampson and the money? It wasn’t their history that turned them around it was a coach, updated facilities and money for the program. After Lewis left they were dead in the water for a long time.
UNLV would never go out on that limb.
I would have in a heartbeat.
He’d have been one of a small handful of perfect or near perfect fits.
Timing is everything. I think Whitfield/Harper leadership would have done it. Instead we had Jessup/TKM.
Don’t know if they’d do it either. I really don’t.
We assume Harper to be great because of Odom. And he struck gold in year one. But though Odom was a solid hire; he was clean.
I don’t know how they feel in “taking a chance” on a coach with a checkered past.
Again, I’m AD, I have the money, these calls are easy for me. I don’t have an issue taking a risk. The only time we’ve had success is when we’ve taken a risk and that crap he was accused of was stuff Portland State was doing 10 years ago and something that is legal now.
The AD’s of the recent past … they weren’t taking a risk.
Fertitta Money! The other side of the that family in Houston has donated millions of dollars to that school. Their basketball arena is named the Fertitta Center.
The Las Vegas side of that family is helping us get out of the quagmire we've endured. We have facilities now thanks to that family. We just need to see how our AD builds on what has been given to us. I think we are on the right trajectory. The right hire in basketball and we could be on the same path.
To be fair... Beard was a slam dunk hire for UNLV and had he not left 3 weeks later we probably arent discussing this year being the first post season trip in a decade. The mess that followed was Karma and bad luck....
Menzies was an after thought hire... the clown show that took place after Beard was hired from the BOR meeting made the job toxic in that cycle. We probably shouldve just tried to hire Ryan Miller instead of Menzies at that point, but oh well...
Yes. Ryan is an excellent coach and recruiter. The program just fired someone attached to its past history and that wouldn't have been a good time for his hiring. His lack of college coaching experience is also a factor. Ryan knew the conference, recruited well, and would've made a better hire than Menzies, and I think there was supposedly a rumor he thought he was getting the job after Beard left when they hired Menzies instead.
We love Stacey, but he would have had an arguably lesser resume than even Kevin.
Ryan Miller had been a successful assistant coach and recruiter and multiple schools at that point.
It is just unprecedented to hire an assistant coach that was under a fired head coach. It is not common to hire a head coach under the previous "failed" staff.
Though after the Beard thing, they should have hired Ryan, even Stacey with a short contract perhaps. It would have been better for sure.
No way, Sampson took OU to a final four and elite eight, then turned around Indiana and had them at 22-4 when he was fired. He was going to make Indiana what Houston is now.
And why I said it takes a coach and money. They got the coach and then booster. The arena they played in before upgrades was a joke. I will say they started with getting football going, moving into an on campus stadium and then got basketball back up. Maybe that will be the blueprint UNLV follows….minus the on campus stadium.
Unprecedented for sure, but would've been a solid hire. But we went with Marvin instead and that ended about as well as you would've thought...
