Significant well deserved praise for Harper and Burt.  Agree there.

Ferry seems to be on hot seat.   Agree there as well.

FAM wrote:

Nice praise for the AD and Dan Burt.  What he DIDN'T say about the men's head coach speaks volumes.
Hey, take us to an NIT/NCAA tournament and you are in control of your own destiny.

Few ADs are going to come right out and say that. You don't try to put your coach on the spot in public. That may well have been said behind closed doors, which is the way to do it. If GA had told Ron that before his last season, I'd have more respect for him.

Best thing he said:
You always want to invent a new set of glory days.
 

Not exactly faint praise!!

Gormley:  "Well, it’s all about building a program and Jim Ferry is in his fifth year, I believe, and the program is being built. Last year was the first time in five years that we went to a postseason tournament. That was a significant accomplishment. We have had some great success in recruiting the past year, so this is an important year, and I think there’s good reason to hope that we are going to see some good things — some results of the steady-building that has been going on."  Sounds to me like he says the say things coach Ferry says.

Some similar comments to Coach Ferry; but most coaches wouldn't say they expect to see continued improvement this season based on a good recruiting class after losing three top players. If I were the coach I would point out that the newcomers might take some time to acclimate to college competition.
I really like the comments by the new Prez; and look forward to seeing him at the games.

ElDuque wrote:

So here's the perspective of someone who has spent 35 years providing media training to executives and developing statements, messages and talking points.

Gormly's first sentence isn't exactly a ringing endorsement, but there is some optimism attached to the end. If the new president were enthusiastic about Ferry, he could have said "it's all about building a  program, and we're on target to reach our goals of being a top-tier A-10 program, and competing on a national basis." Not that I view the "and the program is being built" comment negatively; I see it as being lukewarm. The rest of the comment is what I would classify as carefully worded: "I think that there's good reason to hope..." It doesn't mean that Gormley either loves Ferry or is looking for a reason to replace him. It's an executive giving himself room on either end of the conversation, is all. 

After reading the preview on the DU athletic website (http://www.goduquesne.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/093016aad.html), I actually am starting to come around to the idea that we might taste some success this year. Real success. Not a .500 record, an early exit in the A-10 Tournament, and a cheesy postseason. But at least what we could expect "back in the day" when we could compete with Pitt, play with the big boys, and handle lesser competition. I say this for three reasons:
1. Like us, Ferry doesn't know what he has yet. He'll start to see that as the team practices and plays together, and he can see how certain combinations work, etc. But he lost four starters who were together for three years and he has four guys who started with other programs (Castro, Smith, Blackman & Abrahamson), four freshmen, two guys who were largely tethered to the bench, one guy who got good minutes as a reserve, and two starters. He really seems open-minded to how everything will unfold. 
2. Ferry's focus on accountability caught my eye. "We expect Robinson to step up," etc., types of comments are really important. We shouldn't expect 18 year old freshmen to step into the savior role every year, but we should expect guys who have been in the program to take next steps (ditto for Lewis and James).
3. I've said for many years (40 to be exact) that to be a top tier player in the A-10 you need a top of the line PG and a big man who can dominate (plus a couple good role players). Example: Norm Nixon was the best Duquesne PG I've ever seen. He had some role players, but no dominant big man. BB Flenory won more games, but not until Atkins and Arnold arrived and guys like Fred Moon stepped up. AJax had a young Damian Saunders and Billy Clarke. On paper, Tarin Smith has the potential to be one of the best PGs in the A-10. The complementary big man could be an emerging Nakye Sanders; it could be Isiaha Mike; it could be Darius Lewis putting it all together; it could be Jordan Robinson doing likewise. Castro, Blackman, Abrahamson and James could add scoring options (and, hopefully, defense).

So, yeah, we won't know anything until we see these guys in action. But there's legitimate reason to be optimistic right now.

 

Well said ED. It's time for Ferry's rebuilding to bear fruit. That said, some act like the program is where it was when Danny Nee was fired. It's nowhere near that. People keep complaining about Ferry saying the cupboard was empty when he came in. It was. The people who are still mad about Ron being fired take that as a slap at Ron, it's not. The fact is that we lost our two best players (TJ and BJ, both of whom were far better than what we lost off of last year's team by the way), plus we lost our recruiting class when Ron was fired. That didn't leave very much. Coach K couldn't have won with the "talent" that was left after Ron departed.

PhoenixRising2 wrote:

No doubt that there was nothing here when Ferry took over; and his first recruiting class was a fire drill due to the late hire. But for argument's sake, I would lay money that Coach K and other good coaches would have had winning records in Year 3 and 4, especially with the weak non-conference schedule that was set up and a soft underbelly of the A-10 conference (4-5 teams other the the Dukes with RPI's over 150).  As you said, duq81, Ferry's rebuilding has to bear wins now.

Totally agree with this. Time to shine now. Of course top coaches would turn this around quickly, but my response was to those who get angry when Ferry says there was nothing here when he arrived. There wasn't. Had TJ and Talley remained, and the kids Ron was recruiting still had come, he couldn't have said that. Derrick Colter was probably the best player on that team as a freshman. We're well aware of his shortcomings, so that tells you a lot. Martins Abele, Kadeem, Marhold, Derrick Johnson, Jerry Jones, Sean Johnson? You weren't going to compete in the A10 with that roster. TJ and BJ carried the team the year before, and we were only a .500 team (one D2 win, as many are quick to point out for last year's team). The recruiting washout in 2011 really set the program back. If those kids had come, Ron would have never been fired.
 

ElDuque wrote:

Why are we still rehashing the past and having the RE discussions?

Let's turn the page already.

I totally agree. It is now year 5 under Ferry. He has had more than enough time, and plenty of money, to go shopping.  According to Ferry the cupboard is now fully stock.  Let's see if he can coach and win in the A10.  
 

Westender wrote:

duq81 wrote:

PhoenixRising2 wrote:

No doubt that there was nothing here when Ferry took over; and his first recruiting class was a fire drill due to the late hire. But for argument's sake, I would lay money that Coach K and other good coaches would have had winning records in Year 3 and 4, especially with the weak non-conference schedule that was set up and a soft underbelly of the A-10 conference (4-5 teams other the the Dukes with RPI's over 150).  As you said, duq81, Ferry's rebuilding has to bear wins now.

Totally agree with this. Time to shine now. Of course top coaches would turn this around quickly, but my response was to those who get angry when Ferry says there was nothing here when he arrived. There wasn't. Had TJ and Talley remained, and the kids Ron was recruiting still had come, he couldn't have said that. Derrick Colter was probably the best player on that team as a freshman. We're well aware of his shortcomings, so that tells you a lot. Martins Abele, Kadeem, Marhold, Derrick Johnson, Jerry Jones, Sean Johnson? You weren't going to compete in the A10 with that roster. TJ and BJ carried the team the year before, and we were only a .500 team (one D2 win, as many are quick to point out for last year's team). The recruiting washout in 2011 really set the program back. If those kids had come, Ron would have never been fired.
 

​'81, would you please refresh my memory by spelling out what you mean by the 2011 " recruiting washout" ?

Sure. Ron had commitments from 3 players who never made it to the Bluff. They were:
Shakore Grant, a 6'7" forward
Cheikh Fail, a 6'9" forward
AJ West, a 6'8" forward

For various reasons, none of them ever made it here. Of course, we will never know how they would have panned out, but all three had the one thing that most of Ron's later teams lacked, which of course is size.  These guys would have been on Ron's last team. If any of them were any good, perhaps we win 19-20 games instead of 16, as that team was just so small. Perhaps if we win 20 games, and knowing these guys would be back, TJ would have stayed. Certainly, GA wouldn't have been able to get Ron fired. Losing a class like that is just a killer for any coach, especially when the class was designed to fill such a void on the team.

Westender wrote:

Thanks '81. I remember all of those names, but probably dropped from my memory because they seemed to be here one day and gone the next with little or no fanfare whatsoever. Yes, signing them might have saved Ron, but I think TJ would have left anyway. Miller was on him and TJ wanted a bigger stage.

Possibly, but if it looked like we were within reach of the elusive "next level", perhaps he would have stayed. At the very least, RE would have remained the coach, as there is no way Charlie would have agreed to fire him after winning 20 games. In fact, GA likely would have known better than to even try.