I agree with most of what is being posted on both sides here.  My thoughts...

I completely disagree that Ferry deserves an extension right now.  The recruiting looks like it's coming along, but I'm definitely still in the "show me marked improvement" camp before I'd offer an extension.  If the recruiting is as good as advertised, then there will likely be some improvement shown this year and some positive vibes going forward.  If not, then Ferry will clearly be on the hot seat.  duq81 said we need to be on the bubble by year five.  I'm not completely sold on going that far - but I've said at least a home NIT game should be in the works by then with a team that won't be completely rebuidling the next year as far as I'm concerned.  It would be a level we haven't been at in a very long time. 

Ferry has his faults, as did some of the previous coaches (RE included).  For the unfortunate breaks RE caught (shooting, Bolding's wrist fracture, etc), he also caught a positive one (Saunders potentially facing NCAA Clearinghouse issues while being arrested for possession of a controlled substance - causing an already over-allotted Marquette to release Saunders rather than one of their other recruits in late August, RE's best team - 2008-09 - got to face the two of the three fastest paced A-10 teams in the tourney rather than SLU or Richmond to assist the quest to the A-10 final, etc).  Ferry may need his positive break soon.  Then again, perhaps he already got it with the coaching change at Butler...or maybe that's just fool's gold.

DukesFan79 wrote:

I have seen numerous comments about how Ferry gave the returning players a "chance" in his first season. Let's not fool ourselves, the APR (academic progress report) rule is the likely reason all of these players stayed on the team for a full season before transferring. This set the program back at least a year, if not more.

Torres, D Martin, Datt, Abele, Pantophlet...none of these players played abother Division 1 basketball game after that season. Not 1. Why do you think they went 8-22 that season?

Well, I'm not going to get mad at him for that. That was actually smart. I would also guess that he didn't want to unbalance his classes by bringing in 8-9 players at one time. None of those guys who left were any good. They were desperation signings after Ron's original class fell apart. If the original class had held together, Ron might still be here.
 

Ironduke1981 wrote:

Texas will fire coach & the #1 target Archie Miller.

Maybe. I would bet their number one target will be Gregg Marshall.
 

FAM wrote:

Today I recieved a letter from the Athletic Deparmtent asking for $$.  Are they nuts??  I almost wrote back and said when you get the athletic director to wake-up and get a coach who can actually have a winning season.  Instead - I did what hopefully most people will do - rip it up and throw it away.

 
NO FAM:  You did the wrong thing!!!!!  You NEED to write back and let them know in writing, how disgusted you are.  Ripping it up and throwing it away does nothing!

In addition to my scholarship donation a few years ago that I refused to endow, at some point last year, I called the alumni relations office and told them to strike my name, address and all email contacts from their list.  I also told them to put an asterisk next to my name as to when they can contact me for any reason. (HInt: it has to do with a Monday morning in the middle of March)

I also called Dougherty's office again on the day the Tournament began and told one of his assistants how proud I was that we get to hold the hats and coats of the teams that actually play in the Tourney!

There were 3 who didn't make it.
AJ West
Shakore Grant
Chiekh Fall
All were front court players, which we needed badly. If they had worked out, we likely would have been better than a .500 team Ron's last year, and our immediate future would have looked much brighter. maybe enough that TJ wouldn't have been looking to leave.

CLK wrote:

Colin Dunlap ‏@colin_dunlap 2h2 hours ago “@TribSports[/url]: Everhart dances while Dukes wait, writes [url=https://twitter.com/RobRossi_Trib]@RobRossi_Trib http://trib.me/1xp8GEi ” ////// GREG AMODIO REQUIRED READING  

Rob Rossi ‏@RobRossi_Trib   3h3 hours ago *COLUMN* Everhart dances at #WVU[/url] while [url=https://twitter.com/hashtag/Duquesne?src=hash]#[b]Duquesne[/b][/url] drought continues >> http://bit.ly/1blZQgi  [url=https://twitter.com/Sportsmanias]@Sportsmanias pic.twitter.com/83n3Nliqn0

How dare Duquesne fire someone who has never made the ncaa tournament as a head coach for someone who has. Shame on them.

Quote from Archie Miller in the first few months after being hired at Dayton: "It's been overwhelming in terms of the support."
Quote from the Dayton AD after extending Miller's contract last year: "The University of Dayton is committed to a national-level basketball program."

 

WEB wrote:

CLK wrote:

Colin Dunlap ‏@colin_dunlap 2h2 hours ago “@TribSports[/url]: Everhart dances while Dukes wait, writes [url=https://twitter.com/RobRossi_Trib]@RobRossi_Trib http://trib.me/1xp8GEi ” ////// GREG AMODIO REQUIRED READING  

Rob Rossi ‏@RobRossi_Trib 3h3 hours ago *COLUMN* Everhart dances at #WVU[/url] while [url=https://twitter.com/hashtag/Duquesne?src=hash]#[b]Duquesne[/b][/url] drought continues >> http://bit.ly/1blZQgi  [url=https://twitter.com/Sportsmanias]@Sportsmanias pic.twitter.com/83n3Nliqn0

How dare Duquesne fire someone who has never made the ncaa tournament as a head coach for someone who has. Shame on them.

Very cute cynical, sarcastic remark. Please tell us when the" next level", now less than .500 D1 coach is going to get Duquesne to the NCAA tournament. Your powers of prediction apparently are infallible. And this is not meant as an attack on Coach Ferry. In spite of the results so far, he deserves another 1 or 2 years to prove he can do it. We will know by then if WEB's prediction is true.

Last edited by Westender (3/23/2015 4:21 pm)

Hopefully this helps:

-Obviously everyone is aware each D1 program gets 13 scholarships. The only two scholarships available for the class of 2013 were vacated by Eric Evans and BJ Montiero due to graduation. These spots were filled by Donovon Jack and Willie Moore.
-Thus, AJ west or any of the other speculated recruits would have not been able to commit or attend Duquesne unless they paid their own way as a walk (not happening).
-The only way any other scholarships would have become available would have been by more transfers. Realistically no coach would have ever kept Abele, Torres, Martin, Datt unless they had to because they would have academically cause the program an APR ban. So they most likely they were kept until they could get their academics in order. As previously mentioned, all 4 players went D2 and produced minimally at that level.
-Combine these 4 with Sean Johnson, Andre Marhold, Jerry Jones, Kadeem (much better soccer player than basketball) and a rushed spring recruiting class and you get an 8-22 season and a program at the lowest of the low levels.

DukesFan79 wrote:

Hopefully this helps:

-Obviously everyone is aware each D1 program gets 13 scholarships. The only two scholarships available for the class of 2013 were vacated by Eric Evans and BJ Montiero due to graduation. These spots were filled by Donovon Jack and Willie Moore.
-Thus, AJ west or any of the other speculated recruits would have not been able to commit or attend Duquesne unless they paid their own way as a walk (not happening).
-The only way any other scholarships would have become available would have been by more transfers. Realistically no coach would have ever kept Abele, Torres, Martin, Datt unless they had to because they would have academically cause the program an APR ban. So they most likely they were kept until they could get their academics in order. As previously mentioned, all 4 players went D2 and produced minimally at that level.
-Combine these 4 with Sean Johnson, Andre Marhold, Jerry Jones, Kadeem (much better soccer player than basketball) and a rushed spring recruiting class and you get an 8-22 season and a program at the lowest of the low levels.

AJ West was from the previous year's class. He, along with Fall, and Grant, would have been freshmen on Ron's last team. Their failure to come here is what put the program on shaky ground.

Ron knew he had at least one spot open, because he knew Talley was gone. He may have known TJ was gone as well.

Westender wrote:

'81 - I'm pretty sure Ron knew TJ was leaving even before Amodio dropped the ax on him. I know the transfer was brewing during the season and I know that Ron knew this. TJ's actual final decision to leave might not have been made until after Duquesne's final game during the NCAA 2nd Round here in Pittsburgh, but it was brewing. If I remember correctly, the announcements about TJ leaving and Ron's firing were within days of each other.

The TJ bombshell dropped a couple of days before Ron was fired. That's why TJ gets beat up on this board. If Ron had been fired first, no one would rip TJ. We would all assume that he left because of the firing. Instead, TJ's departure gave GA the ammunition he needed to get Ron fired. TJ leaving after Talley, made it look as though things were falling apart. Had TJ stayed, GA would have had a difficult time convincing Charlie to pull the plug.
 

levon1975 wrote:

That's correct Duke81.  Beyond that, I recall that it was pretty well known among insiders that TJ was thinking about transferring both during and after the season.   I sat a few rows behind him at the NCAA games at Conol that season, and couldn't help but get the vibe that he played his last game as a Duke. 

In retrospect, I don't see how you could logically fault him for making the move.  He gave Duquesne and RE two years to get the program in order, and it wasn't happening.  He chose the right time, the right program, and certainly benefitted from the year he sat out.  I think getting out of town, and having another year to mature played a big role in his development as a player; of course it helps that he is playing alongside some of the most talented players in the nation.  We all saw his talent at Duquesne, but at AZ he can relax and facilitate, scoring when needed, rather than trying to do everything.
I hated to lose him at Duquesne as much as anyone but consider how you would feel if he was your son, and wanted so badly to play in the NCAA tournament.  I know I would want him to get the chance. I wish TJ, and the Wildcats good luck in the Tourney, and would like to see them beat Kentucky if they both advance. 
 

I can accept why he left, but I ain't rooting for him, even against Kentucky.