Empire 8

[superman57]

Fromafar, I think you are wrong, I think that Fisher is considered more prestigous and has a slightly higher coaching pool than Naz, and that is just because this has been Fishers league and Fisher has a strong basketball history

[Cyclone0205]

I agree and disagree with some of what's been said regarding the Stevens job.  Like Fromafar said, if you look at all of the Stevens sports teams, particularly mens/womens soccer, womens volleyball, and mens lacrosse...they've all grown into national powers (soccer perennial top 10/15, lacrosse top 25, same with volleyball) and I think Stevens facility was just upgraded as recently as 2 years ago.  So from that trend, athletics seems to be a priority.

Now, looking only at basketball...you've seen the wins in the last 5 years go from 8 to 13 to 15 to 23 to 24, with the last 2 years being under Loeffler and including a sweet 16 trip and an ECAC championship.  You would say positive trend, except that Loeffler was dealt a loaded roster that ended up rewriting the Stevens record books.  Look at what Loeffler has graduated in his years:


All Time Career Leader in Blocked Shots (Michael Collins, class of 2007)
All Time Career Leader in Assists (Floyd Morris, class of 2007)
All Time Career Leader in Points, Steals, Rebounds (Waleed Farid, class of 2008)
All Time Career Leader in Field Goal Percentage and 1,000 pt scorer (Tim Williams, class of 2008)


...not to mention that he also had Virgil Gray (class of 2009), who will more than likely break Farid's All Time Scoring mark some time in the middle of this season and Anthony Passalacqua (class of 2009), who will probably finish as a 1,000 pt scorer himself and All Time Career Leader in Three Pointers Made.  Between Collins, Morris, Farid, Williams, and Gray, plus Passalacqua, Stevens' climb into the national level can really be looked at as simply having one really good stretch in recruiting.  Not to take anything away from the job Loeffler did, but I'm pretty sure most decent coaches could've inherited those 6 and had pretty successful seasons.  The real test for Stevens basketball, as a program and as an attractive job, will be seeing what happens this year and next, when the 3 "power classes" (can't think of another way to put that) have graduated.

[FROMAFAR]

Superman, what I'm trying to relate is, anyone applyng for the Fisher job, would also apply for the Nazareth job.  (again only using those 2 programs because they were rated 1 and 6). I believe the same holds true for any of the other 4 teams listed in top 6. I don't think the difference is like Kentucky compared to Mississippi State. All these programs are close enough......

Cyclone... you really do your homework. I agree that Loeffler did it with what he was dealt, and next year more than  this one coming up will be a better baraometer as to his recruiting, since Gray, Greco, Baker, Higgans and Passalaqua are not his recruits.  BUT let me lay this out concerning those that graduated. Being the all time leader at Stevens in categories right now may not be an appropriate baramoter. Remember they do not have much basketball history until now.  Collins blocked shots were in the Skyline, which Pat Coleman has mentioned as weak, so maybe that's skewed a bit. Floyd Morris, again not against as tough competition, and not really a scorer....Walid Farid, leaving will be interesting. Had some great numbers, BUT his scoring, shooting %  went down while turn overs went up, while playing in E-8.  The team looked a little handcuffed (in particular Gray, when Loeffler was here). It appeared he had a system and no matter what the talents of the players, they had to conform. That works when you don't have talent. I think they have talent. They will certainly miss Williams. Can never have enough inside strength an consistancy inside.

I don't know who they recruited, as well as not knowing who anyone else recruited. I have no inside track on any of these schools. I think in Stevens case we will see some exciting basketball with Gray (a slasher and good defender) Greco (a court savvy guard who can shoot from anywhere, penetrate and play pesky defense)  Pasalacua who may be the best shooter in the league.  Higgans who is a tough a kid as there is and never stops moving, and rebounds well, and Baker who can jump out of the gym, and play defense at times... Offensively he is erratic.  Their question marks will be the bench, WHICH IS WHERE WE FIND OUT ABOUT LOEFLLERS RECRUITING AND IF CYCLONE IS CORRECT>>>> WHICH HE MAY BE.... THOSE ABOVE EXCEPT BAKER ARE NOT LOEFFLERS RECRUITS>

I am not by any means trying to dismiss the records of those Stevens Grauates... they may stamnd for many years and I congradulte them for good careers.


       

[AUPepBand]

Alfred campus better than Elmira?  You have to be kidding.  I agree the city of Elmira is not the greatest, but the campus itself and the facilities are very good...and the administrative support and academic scholarship money is there for any good coach to take advantage of. 

Elmira is by far a better choice than Alfred  for any coach who is capable.

Wow, Pep has been missing out on all this E8 chatter over here on the basketball boards. But Pep must respond to this post with a first-hand story.

You see, Pep works at Herrick Library on the beautiful Alfred University campus. Pep often sees folks from all over the country touring the campus. Pep recalls one family from Ohio who had traveled to the Southern Tier to visit Elmira College. On their return to Ohio, they'd take Exit 33 off I-86 and take a peek at Alfred University. Pep chatted with them and they raved of the Alfred University campus. They told Pep that they "had been told of Elmira's beautiful campus but found it fell far short of the online description. However, the AU campus was more of what they had envisioned at Elmira."

Pep is not familiar with Elmira's athletic facilities. Pep admits that AU has got to improve its facilities and it appears the trustees are moving quickly in that direction with talk of an addition of an indoor track/multipurpose rec facility on the north end of McLane Center. In fact, the AU Student Senate got things moving when it unanimously passed a resolution insisting that AU delay demolition of Davis Gym until adequate facilities are constructed to meet the needs of all groups currently using Davis.

Re: the AU campus, Pep has been told by several students, when asked, "Why Alfred?" that when they visited the campus, it was the clincher. They love the campus. They feel comfortable here.

Pep is hoping that AU can land a men's coach that can rebuild the basketball program. And as for Kornaker, the only draw at AU would be the fact that he's an AU alum. No doubt would be a step down for him but hey, you just never know. 

[Cyclone0205]

Oh Fromafar, I definitely agree that just because you have records at Stevens doesn't exactly mean you have been a spectacular player.  I was just using that as an example because it is very rare that you would have 1 team (or I guess two technically..the 06-07 sweet 16 team and the 07-08 ECAC champ team) that literally left with EVERY major statistical category at a school.  Even if the records themselves aren't overly impressive, just the fact that that one group of guys played together and now currently hold (or will hold) them all shows Loeffler inherited easily the most talented team Stevens had ever had.

[FROMAFAR]

Cyclone, well put.......agreed!

[Pat Coleman]

Pat not arguing here, but why do you think they should swap

Because Stevens is basically just as good a school as RIT and has more recent basketball success.

[superman57]

Pat, I agree and you could probalbly filpflop anyone 2-6
Fromafar, Fisher imho is above and beyond Naz, while someone applying for the Naz job might also try for the Fisher job, I think Fisher is more of a national job than Naz is

[FisherDynasty]

A good way to tell how good of a coaching position is the amount of pride the school puts into its program, backing it with $.  Example:  Hamilton & Hobart and other liberty league schools tend to pay much more than E8.  Fisher recently has upped its anty to match those schools however still below UofR and an Amherst.  I think out of all the E8 schools fisher pays the best and allows for the most paid assistants which is a big deal for a head coach allowing for better recruiting and more flexibility.  I would think Ithaca would pay well but they dont seem to care much about basketball.  RIT pays well and is a solid program so i would put that position above Nazareth. Don't know much about Stevens just know the program is just starting to become good and lacrosse is the sport there, so im thinking the basketball coach isnt the job of choice there.

[FROMAFAR]

FisherDynasty, absolutely no argument from me. The higher the pay the more coveted the job .......funny how that works...... I have absolutely no idea the pay scale of any of these jobs...    I would love to know who is involved in the E-8 openings..... Also when we can expect to hear.  Also any recruiting info?   

[AUPepBand]

Okay, Pep has learned that there's a pool of 90 candidates for the AU men's head basketball coaching position, which has been narrowed to about a dozen, with six of those expected to be invited to campus to interview. Pep's source says there are some good candidates in the mix. 

Pep adds that an instructional librarian position had a candidate pool of about the same size for starters.

[mefor3again]

AUPEP!!!

Any word on names of who might get an interview?


My sources tell me that you were selected from a much larger pool of candidates for the instructional librarian position.

[AUPepBand]

Pep did not (and will not) ask his source to drop any names. Pep would like to be drawing the salary of an instructional librarian. Library assistants, unfortunately, still carry the stigma of being a "faculty wife" position and are reimbursed as such, regardless of gender and changes in technology over the years.

[gobombers15]

Caught up on about 5 pages of posts just now. One tip: use paragraphs. I skip posts that have more than 15 lines in one paragraph. A few comments I noted that I just can't let slide:

"Virgil Gray could be E8 POY next year."

Sure, I suppose if Sean Burton, Jeff Bostic, Corey MacAdam, and Doug Herring all break limbs or get into a terrible accident, Gray may be POY. In all seriousness, Burton was a 2nd team All-American and Corey MacAdam puts up absurd numbers. Let's not get carried away here. Gray is a slasher and a very good scorer, but he is not a Burton or a Corey MacAdam.

"Greco is one of the best PG's in the E8."

Off the top of my head, I'd guess he's 4th, at best. Give me the aforementioned Burton and MacAdam, as well as Doug Herring any day of the week before Greco. I'd even consider Newman over Greco, too. In other words, whenever Stevens plays another top team in the conference, they will not have the better of the PG matchup.

"Utica and Fisher will take a step back next year."

First, I don't think Fisher will be far off what they were this year. Secondly, no way Utica takes a step back next year. Herring returns and they lose next to nobody of any importance. They were extremely young last year and still finished the season as arguably the hottest team in the E8, barely missing the E8 Tourney. You all know that I'm constantly in conflict with UCgrad but, begrudgingly, I must admit that Utica will be a top team in the E8 next season. Here's how I think the levels of the E8 will look next year:

Ithaca
Utica
Naz
--------
Stevens
Fisher
--------
RIT
--------
Hartwick
Elmira
--------
Alfred

I hope everybody is enjoying their summer thus far.

[FROMAFAR]

Welcome back BOMBER, this maks it all worth while........ As far as paragraph control, good luck. As far as the rest, I guess we can argue all summer... we'll have to wait and see. 

As far as Gray POY, I guess my point is, I believe Stevens will be right there ( you can argue that because I don't even know who their coach is). IF THEY ARE, it will be because of Gray and Greco. Therefore my props for Greco. As far as Greco goes, I don't know if you have seen him in person. If the new coach let's him play his game, ( see the 1st game at Nazareth, and the first game against Ithaca, first game against Utica last year) he is right there with the rest...Ask Burton about his defense.(See second Ithaca game.)  But we can go back and forth, and I agree you have more stats and history to win the argument, I guess I am just trying to stir the juices here, which appears I did. After all, that's what these posts are all about. Stevens has two BIG question marks, Who's coaching and who's rebounding.. those two issues can prove you right about where they finish.

What I don't like about Mc Adams are his turnovers. He has a million assists, which is great, but also has a million turnovers.......  I don't consider Herring a guard, he is of the COCO genre. Maybe that will change with a new coach.. No argument about Burton....Newman...... now you lose some credibility....   

New paragraph.. I have not really let my REAL ALLEGIANCE been known in my posts, since I am a bit superstitious, BUT it's killing me... I am an RIT guy..  I just can't figure them out, never could..... any positive notes on next years team?

Again, welcome back Bomber, your one of the best......