Two of our bigger basketball names are down and have been for some time but if Charlotte was 13-5 (instead of 5-13) and UTEP was 12-7 (instead of 7-12) would C-USA be a multi-bid league. I realize it might not be a direct correlation but most of C-USA's problems recently is from the bottom dragging down the top.

I think this year C-USA is stronger than recent years and if we can get Charlotte and UTEP back on track I think C-USA could be a pretty good basketball conference.

(01-24-2018 09:42 AM)cmett003 Wrote:  Two of our bigger basketball names are down and have been for some time but if Charlotte was 13-5 (instead of 5-13) and UTEP was 12-7 (instead of 7-12) would C-USA be a multi-bid league. I realize it might not be a direct correlation but most of C-USA's problems recently is from the bottom dragging down the top.

I think this year C-USA is stronger than recent years and if we can get Charlotte and UTEP back on track I think C-USA could be a pretty good basketball conference.

CUSA is beginning to look like the basketball conference that I envisioned when ODU joined. But yes, UTEP and Charlotte are two historically good programs that need to get back to where they should be.

USM has rarely been considered a basketball name but if we could avoid going 3-6 in OOC games (and i'm not even going to get started on the 3-4 non D1 games) then our RPI would be closer to 125 than the 200 mark.

(01-24-2018 09:55 AM)ODUBB35 Wrote:  

(01-24-2018 09:42 AM)cmett003 Wrote:  Two of our bigger basketball names are down and have been for some time but if Charlotte was 13-5 (instead of 5-13) and UTEP was 12-7 (instead of 7-12) would C-USA be a multi-bid league. I realize it might not be a direct correlation but most of C-USA's problems recently is from the bottom dragging down the top.

I think this year C-USA is stronger than recent years and if we can get Charlotte and UTEP back on track I think C-USA could be a pretty good basketball conference.

CUSA is beginning to look like the basketball conference that I envisioned when ODU joined. But yes, UTEP and Charlotte are two historically good programs that need to get back to where they should be.

Hopefully this new AD cleans house, makes a good hire and we get back soon.

(01-24-2018 10:06 AM)usm99 Wrote:  USM has rarely been considered a basketball name but if we could avoid going 3-6 in OOC games (and i'm not even going to get started on the 3-4 non D1 games) then our RPI would be closer to 125 than the 200 mark.

I don't know the history, so I figured this is a safe place to ask. Didn't USM get a bunch of sanctions years ago and you are all still rebounding from it? That is all over now, so you should start getting back on your feet?

(01-24-2018 10:14 AM)odu09 Wrote:  

(01-24-2018 10:06 AM)usm99 Wrote:  USM has rarely been considered a basketball name but if we could avoid going 3-6 in OOC games (and i'm not even going to get started on the 3-4 non D1 games) then our RPI would be closer to 125 than the 200 mark.

I don't know the history, so I figured this is a safe place to ask. Didn't USM get a bunch of sanctions years ago and you are all still rebounding from it? That is all over now, so you should start getting back on your feet?

The only sanction we have remaining is the scholarship reductions. We currently are only at 9 but we do get 2 more back (11 total) next season.

Here's a link to an article that briefly describes the actions and consequences.

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/story.../82789998/

- Southern Miss self-imposed back-to-back postseason bans for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons
- reduction in available scholarships by five over the next three years.

(01-24-2018 10:14 AM)odu09 Wrote:  

(01-24-2018 10:06 AM)usm99 Wrote:  USM has rarely been considered a basketball name but if we could avoid going 3-6 in OOC games (and i'm not even going to get started on the 3-4 non D1 games) then our RPI would be closer to 125 than the 200 mark.

I don't know the history, so I figured this is a safe place to ask. Didn't USM get a bunch of sanctions years ago and you are all still rebounding from it? That is all over now, so you should start getting back on your feet?

Even some of the historically bad basketball programs within the conference can still be alot better than they have been. FIU and FAU are both similar to a program like Georgia State with poor bball facilities but located in a large metro area with alot of local basketball talent. All it should take is a coach of Ron Hunter’s caliber to keep some of the second tier local players in town and get some highly ranked high major transfers to come back to be much stronger in conference and occasionally compete for a CUSA title. Seen it before at FIU under coach Shakey Rodriguez.

(01-24-2018 10:24 AM)usm99 Wrote:  

(01-24-2018 10:14 AM)odu09 Wrote:  

(01-24-2018 10:06 AM)usm99 Wrote:  USM has rarely been considered a basketball name but if we could avoid going 3-6 in OOC games (and i'm not even going to get started on the 3-4 non D1 games) then our RPI would be closer to 125 than the 200 mark.

I don't know the history, so I figured this is a safe place to ask. Didn't USM get a bunch of sanctions years ago and you are all still rebounding from it? That is all over now, so you should start getting back on your feet?

The only sanction we have remaining is the scholarship reductions. We currently are only at 9 but we do get 2 more back (11 total) next season.

Nice, that's definitely an improvement then

(01-24-2018 10:37 AM)odu09 Wrote:  

(01-24-2018 10:24 AM)usm99 Wrote:  

(01-24-2018 10:14 AM)odu09 Wrote:  

(01-24-2018 10:06 AM)usm99 Wrote:  USM has rarely been considered a basketball name but if we could avoid going 3-6 in OOC games (and i'm not even going to get started on the 3-4 non D1 games) then our RPI would be closer to 125 than the 200 mark.

I don't know the history, so I figured this is a safe place to ask. Didn't USM get a bunch of sanctions years ago and you are all still rebounding from it? That is all over now, so you should start getting back on your feet?

The only sanction we have remaining is the scholarship reductions. We currently are only at 9 but we do get 2 more back (11 total) next season.

Nice, that's definitely an improvement then

I think most people will agree that a majority of our roster isn't D1 talent but if there is a silver lining currently it's we only have 1 senior (walk-on) on the roster and our starting 5 are all juniors. Hopefully Doc can get better recruits in now that the post season ban is over, we are starting to show some improvement and we have more scholarships to offer.

At best, I think we're still two years away. New AD starts this summer, new coach hired at some point during that time. If he performs a remarkably quick turnaround by his second season, that's as good as we could do, I imagine. More likely 3-ish years away, even if it's a good hire.

I don't mean not being an embarrassment, but back to respectable and then good.

I don't know much about Charlotte basketball history (when their decline began). Did the basketball performance drop around the same time as the football ramp up started? If so, do any Charlotte fans think they will never sustain high basketball play with focus split with football now?

(01-24-2018 12:40 PM)va-eagle Wrote:  I don't know much about Charlotte basketball history (when their decline began). Did the basketball performance drop around the same time as the football ramp up started? If so, do any Charlotte fans think they will never sustain high basketball play with focus split with football now?

It really started with the move to the A-10.

11 tournament appearances, a final four, NIT finals, etc. Our 10 years in CUSA 1.0 were highly successful, with 7 NCAA tournament appearances and an NIT. Lee Rose, Jeff Mullins, Melvin Watkins and Bobby Lutz all experienced success coaching at Charlotte. It was really our marquee sport and we routinely beat ranked teams (our biggest rivals were Cincy, Louisville, and Memphis). ESPN once called the Charlotte-Cincinnati rivalry the most underrated in the country. Rick Pitino's worst ever home loss was to Charlotte when we thumped the cards in Kentucky.

Our record in CUSA 1.0 was 191-118 (99-57) with a regular season championship and two conference tourney championships. We had the ESPN national Freshman of the Year (Rodney White) and two CUSA players of the year (DeMarco Johnson and Eddie Basden).

At the time of our departure we had the second best record in CUSA history (behind only Cincy). Le sigh. It makes me sad to type it.

Edit to add this from wiki on the Cincy rivalry: Charlotte has had its fair share of intense rivalries. One of the most heated and intense rivalries was with the Bob Huggins-coached Cincinnati Bearcats of Conference USA. Throughout a ten-year period from 1995–96 to 2004–05, Charlotte managed to upset Cincinnati teams ranked #3, #8, #18, #20 in the country. Fueled by "Huggins swallows" pregame chants what became known as the Cincinnati Incident, a brawl broke out between Cincinnati and the Charlotte student section, when a Cincinnati player threw the basketball into the stands.[citation needed] This led to the creation of a 'buffer zone' being implemented behind the visiting team's bench. ESPN commentator Andy Katz provided this explanation on why Charlotte-Cincinnati was one of the juiciest rivalries in the country: "The games are hotly contested usually and the fans in Charlotte don't like Cincinnati. They get up for this game more than any other."

(01-24-2018 12:54 PM)TribeNiner Wrote:  

(01-24-2018 12:40 PM)va-eagle Wrote:  I don't know much about Charlotte basketball history (when their decline began). Did the basketball performance drop around the same time as the football ramp up started? If so, do any Charlotte fans think they will never sustain high basketball play with focus split with football now?

It really started with the move to the A-10.

11 tournament appearances, a final four, NIT finals, etc. Our 10 years in CUSA 1.0 were highly successful, with 7 NCAA tournament appearances and an NIT. Lee Rose, Jeff Mullins, Melvin Watkins and Bobby Lutz all experienced success coaching at Charlotte. It was really our marquee sport and we routinely beat ranked teams (our biggest rivals were Cincy, Louisville, and Memphis). ESPN once called the Charlotte-Cincinnati rivalry the most underrated in the country.

Our record in CUSA 1.0 was 191-118 (99-57) with a regular season championship and two conference tourney championships. We had the ESPN national Freshman of the Year (Rodney White) and two CUSA players of the year (DeMarco Johnson and Eddie Basden).

At the time of our departure we had the second best record in CUSA history (behind only Cincy). Le sigh. It makes me sad to type it.

Edit to add this from wiki on the Cincy rivalry: Charlotte has had its fair share of intense rivalries. One of the most heated and intense rivalries was with the Bob Huggins-coached Cincinnati Bearcats of Conference USA. Throughout a ten-year period from 1995–96 to 2004–05, Charlotte managed to upset Cincinnati teams ranked #3, #8, #18, #20 in the country. Fueled by "Huggins swallows" pregame chants what became known as the Cincinnati Incident, a brawl broke out between Cincinnati and the Charlotte student section, when a Cincinnati player threw the basketball into the stands.[citation needed] This led to the creation of a 'buffer zone' being implemented behind the visiting team's bench. ESPN commentator Andy Katz provided this explanation on why Charlotte-Cincinnati was one of the juiciest rivalries in the country: "The games are hotly contested usually and the fans in Charlotte don't like Cincinnati. They get up for this game more than any other."

Why did Charlotte leave CUSA ?

(01-24-2018 12:54 PM)TribeNiner Wrote:  

(01-24-2018 12:40 PM)va-eagle Wrote:  I don't know much about Charlotte basketball history (when their decline began). Did the basketball performance drop around the same time as the football ramp up started? If so, do any Charlotte fans think they will never sustain high basketball play with focus split with football now?

It really started with the move to the A-10.

11 tournament appearances, a final four, NIT finals, etc. Our 10 years in CUSA 1.0 were highly successful, with 7 NCAA tournament appearances and an NIT. Lee Rose, Jeff Mullins, Melvin Watkins and Bobby Lutz all experienced success coaching at Charlotte. It was really our marquee sport and we routinely beat ranked teams (our biggest rivals were Cincy, Louisville, and Memphis). ESPN once called the Charlotte-Cincinnati rivalry the most underrated in the country.

Our record in CUSA 1.0 was 191-118 (99-57) with a regular season championship and two conference tourney championships. We had the ESPN national Freshman of the Year (Rodney White) and two CUSA players of the year (DeMarco Johnson and Eddie Basden).

At the time of our departure we had the second best record in CUSA history (behind only Cincy). Le sigh. It makes me sad to type it.

Thanks for the background. That CUSA 1.0 was a great basketball conference (also included were DePaul, Marquette, Saint Louis).

I'm glad it's not FB that is killing your BB program. Easier to fix.

(01-24-2018 12:57 PM)KAjunRaider Wrote:  Why did Charlotte leave CUSA ?

CUSA wanted to be a football first league and Charlotte's AD had her eyes closed for years. If anyone says Judy Rose brought football to Charlotte, they are lying.

(01-24-2018 01:01 PM)wh49er Wrote:  

(01-24-2018 12:57 PM)KAjunRaider Wrote:  Why did Charlotte leave CUSA ?

CUSA wanted to be a football first league and Charlotte's AD had her eyes closed for years. If anyone says Judy Rose brought football to Charlotte, they are lying.

So........... in other words, if she had brought football way back then, you guys might be in the American ?

(01-24-2018 01:47 PM)KAjunRaider Wrote:  

(01-24-2018 01:01 PM)wh49er Wrote:  

(01-24-2018 12:57 PM)KAjunRaider Wrote:  Why did Charlotte leave CUSA ?

CUSA wanted to be a football first league and Charlotte's AD had her eyes closed for years. If anyone says Judy Rose brought football to Charlotte, they are lying.

So........... in other words, if she had brought football way back then, you guys might be in the American ?

I think so. Probably biased, but we were a great basketball program, growing, big metro, great brand (at the time), etc.

Or perhaps they could have been the east coast version of Gonzaga if they had stayed focused on being a basketball school.

One thing that has become clear to me over the years is that it's incredibly difficult to do both well - especially with the disadvantages we have with the power conferences continually trying to pound us into a little corner.

clt says the downfall literally started on the day our chancellor started. We were leading UNC Raleigh in the NCAA tourney at halftime.


Then we pooped the bed for a decade.

(01-24-2018 01:47 PM)KAjunRaider Wrote:  

(01-24-2018 01:01 PM)wh49er Wrote:  

(01-24-2018 12:57 PM)KAjunRaider Wrote:  Why did Charlotte leave CUSA ?

CUSA wanted to be a football first league and Charlotte's AD had her eyes closed for years. If anyone says Judy Rose brought football to Charlotte, they are lying.

So........... in other words, if she had brought football way back then, you guys might be in the American ?

Obviously I'm biased, but I think we would be. We never would have left cusa and I think our basketball program never would have fallen off the way it did if we stayed in cusa 2.0. We still would have had a lot of familiar names for our fans (Memphis, Houston, ecu, uab, usm in particular) and our coaches could have pitched being the best basketball program in cusa at the time it was originally raided. Obviously Calipari likely would have established the same dominance he did even if we were in the conference but we would have been the most accomplished basketball program at the beginning of cusa 2.0.