The ELITE mid-major

[th24]

With all the B.S. set aside..what does Siena need to do to become an ELITE mid-major?

[playerparentcoach]

Win

[Tony]

Have to get consistent. Siena has all the ingredients.. great media coverage- great fan base great facilities thats about to take a major step forward with new practice facility. All Siena is lacking is the consistency that all elite mid majors have been able to maintain

[MTS]

We've had some great teams (still waiting for that deep NCAA run) for a 4-5 year period but since Mike Deane we haven't had consistency that some of the other elite mid-majors have. The answer is really simple..we haven't replaced our successful coaches. It would be nice to hang on to them but realistically that is going to be very tough. Who knows maybe Jimmy can win big..we get an invite to the A10 and Siena is able to pay around $1 Million a year locking out only a handful of programs.

But I agree with Tony..we certainly have the infrastructure to be an elite mid-major like a VCU or Creighton or Wichita State (I'm leaving Butler/Gonzaga out of it)and it would only help if we moved up in conference too.

[SIENA1971]

Oct 17, 2013 19:16:35 GMT -5 th24 said:

With all the B.S. set aside..what does Siena need to do to become an ELITE mid-major?

Bill O'Reilly is a MARIST alum . . . maybe Mike Deane would be a more appropriate avatar

[th24]

Oct 17, 2013 19:35:41 GMT -5 SIENA1971 said:

Oct 17, 2013 19:16:35 GMT -5 th24 said:

With all the B.S. set aside..what does Siena need to do to become an ELITE mid-major?

Bill O'Reilly is a MARIST alum . . . maybe Mike Deane would be a more appropriate avatar

I know the guy..he has GREAT respect for Siena!

[Deleted]

Oct 17, 2013 19:40:31 GMT -5 th24 said:

Oct 17, 2013 19:35:41 GMT -5 SIENA1971 said:

Bill O'Reilly is a MARIST alum . . . maybe Mike Deane would be a more appropriate avatar

I know the guy..he has GREAT respect for Siena!

Look at me, look at me I know Bill O'Reilly.

[DelmartianEd]

Money and TV exposure.

We ought to be in a conference that lets its champion keep a majority of its NCAA shares instead of sharing them evenly among the conference, and then we ought to be in a conference that's on cable TV more often.

[playerparentcoach]

Oct 17, 2013 21:26:15 GMT -5 DelmartianEd said:

Money and TV exposure.

We ought to be in a conference that lets its champion keep a majority of its NCAA shares instead of sharing them evenly among the conference, and then we ought to be in a conference that's on cable TV more often.

We have to win to get that

[Sienafan]

Siena has been an elite mid-major. Remember not to long ago when the premier national Bracketbusters telecast was Siena at Butler? How about when Siena earned a 9 seed in the NCAA tourney, and was more or less an equal to number 1 seed Louisville in round two? That was elite. The problem has been consistency in maintaining that level. Siena has habitually replaced good coaches with bad ones - forcing a rebuild from the bottom after getting the hire right the second time around each time. Had Siena kept Fran this whole time (or replaced him with someone just as good), Siena might have been in the Big East right now with Butler for all we know. Certainly it's in the A-10 right now over Davidson.

So what does Siena have to do? It has to change the way it chooses its coaches. A hiring committee composed of alumni and trustees who know hoops and have various viewpoints should be the ones to decide. My friend was on the committee that recommended Fran. They nailed it. Had I been on such a committee 3 years ago, Mitch would have never even been on my radar. My first phone call would have been to a then still within reach Tommy Amaker - as I stated in my diatribe against Mitch back then that was posted here. Amaker has since totally blown up at Harvard. If Patsos were to suddenly resign today for some reason, I'd recommend Jeff Capel. D'Arg, and the friars are proven to not have the best record when it comes to choosing coaching talent on their own. Leave it to other people.

[Deleted]

Surprised you didn't cite how we let Brad Stevens slip away and go to the Celtics,

[nolesaint]

Over simplified bullets:

Consistently have a High (at least 70%) Regular Season Winning Percentage
Consistently Play in the Post Season - at least 3 out of 4 years. Every year is preferable there are lots of tourneys now. Win at least 1 NCAA game every 3 years. When playing in the other tourneys the team must make deep runs...
Expanded Media Coverage (Play On TV & in Big Markets)
Get out of the MAAC
Put Additional $$$ from wins/exposure to good use - reinvest in Siena rather than the conference hoop & athletics. With success $$$ for the school will pour in from other sources.
Find the best BASKETBALL & Management minds in the Siena community to make all future basketball coach hires.

All easier said than done but achieve these and the rest will take care of itself.

[hockeyguy]

Schedule "up" and win half. Gonzaga got to where they are by a "we'll play anyone, anywhere" mentality. This year is a good start.

[glensfalls]

Oct 18, 2013 6:25:21 GMT -5 hockeyguy said:

Schedule "up" and win half. Gonzaga got to where they are by a "we'll play anyone, anywhere" mentality. This year is a good start.

I agree with "Hockeyguy"... to be a top "mid major" Siena must schedule away games against the top programs. I would be pleased if Patsos would attempt to schedule 2 always/1 home series with a few of the Big East Catholics. If the Big East schools won't give Siena a home game then Siena should schedule them anyways. During the Fran years Siena could have beaten Seton Hall, Providence, and others BEast teams.

[th24]

And stealing a couple recruits from the Big East Catholics/A10 wouldn't hurt either. If I remember correctly.. Ubiles was recruited by Seton Hall before Siena got involved.