MBB: Landmark Conference

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Pat:
Thanks for the clarification on the new path to D-1.
Just recalling what the process was for my "other" school.
The new way of just pay the money & skip D-2 would have been so much better.

Your point remains the same. Let's focus on excelling at D3...South Side Complex is a good foundation ( baseball team could use some work). The Athletic Dinner and Golf Tourney and recruiting budget have increased, just need to keep pushing.

Not wrong at all. I'd like to see a more significant investment in building the Scranton Royals athletics brand and cultivating a stronger passion for sports and community on campus. Basketball is the key to that. Also, check out the social media accounts for schools like Ithaca, Tufts, East Texas Baptist, Johns Hopkins, etc. - making improvements there can help attract better recruits and student passion.

In the big picture, if the NCAA makes the path to D1 easier, I see it making sense for a city like Scranton - the MAAC conference makes sense given school size.

Those new athletic facilities in the southside are also D2 o D1 caliber.

They haven't necessarily made it easier, by the way - it still is going to take UST close to a decade to be fully eligible (they didn't want to advantage them over schools that had to go through D2 first) - they've just created a path whereby one can jump over D2 on the way.

[NJRoyal137]

Pat:
Thanks for the clarification on the new path to D-1.
Just recalling what the process was for my "other" school.
The new way of just pay the money & skip D-2 would have been so much better.

Your point remains the same. Let's focus on excelling at D3...South Side Complex is a good foundation ( baseball team could use some work). The Athletic Dinner and Golf Tourney and recruiting budget have increased, just need to keep pushing.

Not wrong at all. I'd like to see a more significant investment in building the Scranton Royals athletics brand and cultivating a stronger passion for sports and community on campus. Basketball is the key to that. Also, check out the social media accounts for schools like Ithaca, Tufts, East Texas Baptist, Johns Hopkins, etc. - making improvements there can help attract better recruits and student passion.

In the big picture, if the NCAA makes the path to D1 easier, I see it making sense for a city like Scranton - the MAAC conference makes sense given school size.

Those new athletic facilities in the southside are also D2 o D1 caliber.

They haven't necessarily made it easier, by the way - it still is going to take UST close to a decade to be fully eligible (they didn't want to advantage them over schools that had to go through D2 first) - they've just created a path whereby one can jump over D2 on the way.

I view the landscape as extremely fluid, especially with NIL, G-League, the pandemic and other factors influencing the NCAA.

[NEPAFAN]

Scranton loses another kid. Nothing announced from Linden Street.

[jmcozenlaw]

D-2 is not the answer.
Those schools are generally academic cess-pools with minimal credibility.
Unfortunately, per NCAA regulations, if you want to go D-1, you are mandated to spend 5 years in D-2 purgatory and have 3 million set aside for when they bestow that honor upon you.
Then, you better be ready to continually to feed the money machine that is the D-1 arm of the NCAA to a level that increases each year.
Plus, these days you can't move to D-1 only in basketball, you need to bring the entire department with you (obviously men's & women's teams).
While all this is going on, you better find a conference willing to take you otherwise you'll be on the road every game.
Before we get out in front of our skis, let's do a Royal re-set & start doing a much better job while in D-3 like so many schools do each & every year.
With the continuous decline of this program, beginning the process to assess where we were, where we are & where we want to be is long overdue.
It certainly appears the time has come to look for someone that can elevate the Royals from Regional & National has been to a program with a fresh & energetic approach. This search is, or should be, compulsory for the new President, his staff & the athletic department.
The same old/same old approach is boring and tired and the continual underachievement of the program warrants serious review.

I'd better tell my successful girlfriend (senior sales executive at AstraZeneca) that she went to a cesspool (Bloomsburg) for her undergraduate degree. She doesn't smell like a cesspool so she must have washed the stank off over the years.

Also, my average AUM per client is over 2.2 million and I don't take on any new client (unless referred) with less than 1 million dollars in investable assets. In my Top 50 List, I've got 17 clients from D-2 schools, including 11 from the PSAC.

I'm pleased that they've chosen to do business with me (a non-snobby, Swarthmore undergrad) and that they weren't sitting in school next to people named Tad, Buffy, Thurston, Lovie and Williston........wearing those God awful lobster shorts and the golf shirts with the collars up (was never a good look) in Nantucket.

The list of folks who have succeeded in life without an "elite school pedigree" is loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong. And if nobody is fishing in these waters for assets to manage, thinking that they are all working at McDonald's.............I'll take them all. day. long. Cha Ching

What does it matter, we all went to community colleges in the eyes of the Ivy, NESCAC and UAA folks!!

[NJRoyal137]

I'll be honest with you, there are a ton of D2 schools that have better reputations than D3 schools both academically and athletically.

[Royals85]

Danzing has lost it with this team another one leaves!!!Maybe bring back Ethan and Ross to fill a roster spot.Very Pathetic!So my question does the AD get to talk to the kids before they leave and ask why or is it an open door like Carl has?

[NJRoyal137]

Danzing has lost it with this team another one leaves!!!Maybe bring back Ethan and Ross to fill a roster spot.Very Pathetic!So my question does the AD get to talk to the kids before they leave and ask why or is it an open door like Carl has?

The school has done a fine job academically over the years, but if they really want to grow enrollment and their regional footprint, its time for a strategic athletic plan too. Even if they opt to stay D3, look at how Ithaca has invested in athletics - they are doing an outstanding job building a culture of success. They are doing a great job engaging current and former students with dynamic social media coverage too.

I want to see Scranton refresh the athletics brand, invest more in the programs and market them better. Create a culture and identity we can all be proud of.

[ronk]

 With our brothers @ Gonzaga missing out for the 2nd time on winning an NCAA men's basketball championship, the total for Jesuit University/Colleges remains at 8. Of those 8, no one has won more than Scranton(2), not even the Bill Russell/KC Jones San Francisco(2), or Georgetown, Marquette, Loyola, or Holy Cross(1 each).
  With regard to Gonzaga, the one Scranton game that I saw in person before attending the U was a victory over Gonzaga. Gonzaga at the time was on a Christmas holiday cross-country tour and Scranton was one of the stops on that tour. They had their all-time leading scorer who would lead the nation 2 years later(Frank Burgess) and  a 7-3 center from France. Scranton had a small-college All-American(Ed Kazakavich) who was good enough to be drafted by the Celtics(round 4, 32nd overall pick in the Wilt Chamberlain draft) when there were only 8 NBA teams. 

[Tim the Enchanter]

Royals indicate another commitment today:

https://twitter.com/ScrantonBball/status/1382798622916493322

Now time to do some sleuthing to figure out who it is.

[ronk]

 Round up the usual suspects?   

[NEPAFAN]

Round up the usual suspects?   

Zoom link has gone out for this evening to discuss a plan of attack.

[saratoga]

Maybe Zach is back! 

[Royals85]

Yes not Zach Rovinsky,He is and will be playing for Susquehanna Riverhawks(Crusaders),Will be interesting seeing that match up!Probably kill us the next 4 years.

[Tim the Enchanter]

Mason Thompson, 6'1" SG out of Rockhurst Prep (MO) is the latest Scranton commit:

https://twitter.com/Mase_Thompson11/status/1383243267039367169/

Not the post that we need, but he seems to be a solid shooter and playmaker who had some DII offers. 

Season Averages
PTS    REB   AST   STL   
12.18 5.05 2.95   1.5

[NJRoyal137]

Mason Thompson, 6'1" SG out of Rockhurst Prep (MO) is the latest Scranton commit:

https://twitter.com/Mase_Thompson11/status/1383243267039367169/

Not the post that we need, but he seems to be a solid shooter and playmaker who had some DII offers. 

Season Averages
PTS    REB   AST   STL   
12.18 5.05 2.95   1.5

Good find! The level of retweets on that suggests he's a popular player - I bet he'll fit in great