MBB: Centennial Conference

[ddm1027]

The 2003 numbers, at least in some cases, do not include full salaries.  While some schools may have had part-time coaches at that point, Swarthmore had a full-time coach who was also a professor of physical education.  The school must have allocated most (if not all) of his salary to the department as a whole rather than to basketball.  There is no way Swat was the lowest spender.  This was shortly after football was cut and all other sports had their budgets increased.  Overall, it makes sense that the schools with a lot more money and/or longer tenured coaches would have higher expenses (JHU's expenses are also over $143,000).  The facility upgrades are another huge area that can't be factored in when looking only at an individual sport.  For example, Haverford added a great facility and Muhlenburg added a terrific weight room between 2003 and 2010 despite being ranked very low in terms of basketball expenses.

[diplomaniac1]

I wanted to add my two cents to the questions about rivalries. For most of the late 1980's and all of the 1990's, I think that F&M vs. Johns Hopkins was one of the best and closely contested rivalries in the Conference. Outside of the Conference, the annual F&M vs. Lebanon Valley games were some of the most hard-fought games and also a great rivalry in amish land.

Eric

[r.w. mcnickels]

Speaking of F&M, I sat down with Georgio Milligan and Hayk Gyokchyan on Saturday for an extended interview.

Click here to watch.

Gordon, thanks for the great interview. Nice to hear Georgio and Hayk talk about various topics, from how they came to F&M to their growth on the court.

Agree with D.B. that these next two games will be tough for the Dips. I could see them losing either one, especially if the Bears/Mules get hot from outside. Perimeter shooting (both the opponent hitting and the Dips unable to hit) has been a common theme in most of F&M's losses in recent years.

[diplomaniac1]

After looking at the listing of expenditures, it is hard for me to believe that Swarthmore had the third highest amount in 2010 and yet produced one of the weakest programs in the Conference (and consistently does so)!

[gordonmann]

Both young men seemed uncomfortable, especially Hayk.

They were a little figidty, but overall I thought they were very good. Articulate, appropriately animated and honest.

It's hard to know what to do with yourself when you're on camera that long. That's why I stay off camera.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Oh Gordon... we have had you on camera plenty...

[UCHooligan98]

my current record is 35-25 under my formula, which was tweaked at mid-season for adjustments.  as a reminder, it is:

Ursinus wins all, F&M beats all but Ursinus, everyone beats swat, everyone beats McD but Swat, all other games won by home team

My predictions for tomorrow based on formula are: Ursinus, GB, WC, DC, Muhl

[Warren Thompson]

Outside of the Conference, the annual F&M vs. Lebanon Valley games were some of the most hard-fought games and also a great rivalry in amish land.
Eric

And I'm still not certain why the Dips and Dutchmen haven't played in the last few years.

[ddm1027]

There seem to be a number of people with good knowledge of the history of the basketball programs at these schools.  Can people think of prominent basketball alumni?
I can think of a few from the political arena:
Frank Kratovil- former U.S. Congressman from Maryland who is now a state judge (McDaniel/Western Maryland).
Carl Levin- long-time U.S. Senator from Michigan (Swarthmore)

It is also good to see things going well for several former players who are now coaching at the D1 level.  Mike McGarvey (UC) was a nice addition to the young Colgate staff and Eran Ganot (Swat) looks he will be heading to the NCAA tournament with the St. Mary's Gaels.

[Gabriel]

Steve Donahue, Ursinus College 1984 currently the head coach at Boston College after coaching Cornell/

[Reserved Seat]

Chris Finch(F&M '92) is currently the assistant coach of the Houston Rockets of the NBA
and the head coach of the senior Great Britain men's national basketball team.
Donnie Marsh(F&M '79) is an assistant men's basketball coach at UAB. He was previously the head coach at Florida International University in Miami, Florida. He was also head coach of The College of New Jersey from 1989 to 1993 and an assistant coach at Indiana University.

[Swat Fan #1]

After Wimberly quit, I promise that Swarthmore now spends the least amount of money (by far) on basketball. No trips, high school buses to games, nothing over the summer, no paid assistants, and almost a high school feel to extras. Add in over the last three years many players have gone over seas for the first semester and you get where the program is today.

As to the low shooting percentage - that will happen when you hold the ball for almost the entire shot clock and take a low percentage shot to beat  the clock.

While the winning percentage is not good, the academics makes up for it. As Porsche says -"There is no substitute".

[centfan]

i think it would be interesting to interview a player or two from each team in the conference. i enjoyed seeing the players from f&m and also players on the documentary about washington college this year.there are so many great kids in the conference.

[gordonmann]

Cent Fan:

Agreed. I try to spread the interviews we do around, but the Centennial Conference kids are usually great interviews.

If you're hungry for a little more, here's an interview Dave did with Ursinus' Jon Ward at the D3hoops Classic.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Ug... you shared that?!