I am with the majority.   Leaving the A10 would be a huge mistake.   I think people only say that because they would like to see some sort of winning

NapaDuke wrote:

Wildwood13 wrote:

Please stop with the excuses for the coach and demoting the Dukes to a lower level. The three most popular excuses are, this is not a fertile recruiting area, COVID and transfer portal. Granted, this area is not nearly as good as what it used to be for major college basketball talent. But the following  teams that I list are in the top sixty of Ken Prom ratings and do not belong to power 5 conferences. Their talent base is no better than Western Pa when it comes to division 1 talent. St Mary’s,San Francisco, Murray State,Boise St, Utah State, Wyoming, UAB, Fresno State, BYU, Colorado St, Belmont, Davidson and North Texas State. I left out a few more non power 5 schools because their recent success has put them in another class. Every coach has had to deal with COVID, some more than others but they all deal with it. The transfer portal is also something each program has had to deal with equally. The better coaches use it to their advantage.

I hear excuses about our facility is not big enough. Well, most Big East schools have older on campus facilities about the same size as ours. But when they have a big game, they move it to their cities main arena. Harper has stated when we put out a quality product and demand is for a larger capacity than the Coop, we will play at The PPG. Same as most Big East Schools. Plus PPG is basically on our campus,

Recruiting, over 90% of high school players choose a college based on their relationship with the coaching staff. Players leave for a variety of reasons. The three most popular are, move to a lower level to get more playing time, move to a Power 5 conference because they feel they can showcase their talent and want to be in a better conference. The third is they have a bad relationship with the coaching staff. IMO everyone with the exception of Williams left because of the third reason and he didn’t leave on good terms. A lot of people on this board said Coaches relationship with LeBron would attract players. I personally do not see this happening. CLK posted an article today that this board has talked about at length. We need a point guard distributor, a seasoned center and then the the other pieces will fall in line. How could this author and our board contributors see this but the coach can’t. 

Harpers first hire really is not working out, but let him have a second hire instead of conceding and moving to a lower level conference. At the time of Dambrot hiring, everyone thought it was a move in the right direction. It just so happens that moving up may be too much or the game may be passing him by. (Relationships with current players). Please do not succumb to the idea of moving to a lower level. Remember the move to the Midwestern conference. Failed miserably. Remember that our last few coaching hires came from lower level conferences. Please hire an energetic young coach that players want to play for and stay put, let's learn from history.
 

OK. Well thought. But ask yourself. Why did RE win here with less?  RE clearly, with less money and little University support, with nearly no asst. coaching staff and for some mindless reason negative support on this board did win here. DU really needs to find a coach with  RE's approach to BB and,or either hire him back for a Million a year, (I'm not sure he would even take it, really) or find a coach with what was RE's  approach, because by all measures, RE won with nothing, and KD is nothing more than an over-priced Danny Nee. And, my God, if the University even cares to read this. Look at the last 40 years of DU BB and one thing stands out, RE, only. Either get him, or ask him, if he would recommend someone like him because, likely, he would know someone with enough BB IQ like his to come here and compete.
 

RE didn't win here.
His teams quit each of his last 2 seasons. He routinely failed to recruit big men of any size or quality. His offensive system was mediocre. He was fired because he was failing after 6 years.

In 19 years as a head coach at the Division I level, he managed to win no conference tournaments & earned no at-large bids. He is 0-3 in the NIT & 1-2 in the CBI. For his career as a Division I head coach, his record is 273-261 with a winning percentage of .511. He has a losing record in the A-10 where his team never finished higher than 4th & there average finish was 7.33. He had only 3 20-win seasons. He never won more than 22 in a season.  He has now been an assitant coach for 8 years.

His entire career demonstrates that he was an average Division I head coach. Some may say below average. The stats certainly don't suggest he was good.

How bad Ferry was after him & the degree to which KD is currently floundering is of no consequence in evaluating RE's qualities as a head coach.

I really like him. I wish that he had been the guy to get DU over the hump. The way he was let go remains a disgrace.

However,for the sake of all that is good & holy, can we please, please, please stop pretending that he was great at DU.

phil95 wrote:

NapaDuke wrote:

Wildwood13 wrote:

Please stop with the excuses for the coach and demoting the Dukes to a lower level. The three most popular excuses are, this is not a fertile recruiting area, COVID and transfer portal. Granted, this area is not nearly as good as what it used to be for major college basketball talent. But the following  teams that I list are in the top sixty of Ken Prom ratings and do not belong to power 5 conferences. Their talent base is no better than Western Pa when it comes to division 1 talent. St Mary’s,San Francisco, Murray State,Boise St, Utah State, Wyoming, UAB, Fresno State, BYU, Colorado St, Belmont, Davidson and North Texas State. I left out a few more non power 5 schools because their recent success has put them in another class. Every coach has had to deal with COVID, some more than others but they all deal with it. The transfer portal is also something each program has had to deal with equally. The better coaches use it to their advantage.

I hear excuses about our facility is not big enough. Well, most Big East schools have older on campus facilities about the same size as ours. But when they have a big game, they move it to their cities main arena. Harper has stated when we put out a quality product and demand is for a larger capacity than the Coop, we will play at The PPG. Same as most Big East Schools. Plus PPG is basically on our campus,

Recruiting, over 90% of high school players choose a college based on their relationship with the coaching staff. Players leave for a variety of reasons. The three most popular are, move to a lower level to get more playing time, move to a Power 5 conference because they feel they can showcase their talent and want to be in a better conference. The third is they have a bad relationship with the coaching staff. IMO everyone with the exception of Williams left because of the third reason and he didn’t leave on good terms. A lot of people on this board said Coaches relationship with LeBron would attract players. I personally do not see this happening. CLK posted an article today that this board has talked about at length. We need a point guard distributor, a seasoned center and then the the other pieces will fall in line. How could this author and our board contributors see this but the coach can’t. 

Harpers first hire really is not working out, but let him have a second hire instead of conceding and moving to a lower level conference. At the time of Dambrot hiring, everyone thought it was a move in the right direction. It just so happens that moving up may be too much or the game may be passing him by. (Relationships with current players). Please do not succumb to the idea of moving to a lower level. Remember the move to the Midwestern conference. Failed miserably. Remember that our last few coaching hires came from lower level conferences. Please hire an energetic young coach that players want to play for and stay put, let's learn from history.
 

OK. Well thought. But ask yourself. Why did RE win here with less?  RE clearly, with less money and little University support, with nearly no asst. coaching staff and for some mindless reason negative support on this board did win here. DU really needs to find a coach with  RE's approach to BB and,or either hire him back for a Million a year, (I'm not sure he would even take it, really) or find a coach with what was RE's  approach, because by all measures, RE won with nothing, and KD is nothing more than an over-priced Danny Nee. And, my God, if the University even cares to read this. Look at the last 40 years of DU BB and one thing stands out, RE, only. Either get him, or ask him, if he would recommend someone like him because, likely, he would know someone with enough BB IQ like his to come here and compete.
 

RE didn't win here.
His teams quit each of his last 2 seasons. He routinely failed to recruit big men of any size or quality. His offensive system was mediocre. He was fired because he was failing after 6 years.

In 19 years as a head coach at the Division I level, he managed to win no conference tournaments & earned no at-large bids. He is 0-3 in the NIT & 1-2 in the CBI. For his career as a Division I head coach, his record is 273-261 with a winning percentage of .511. He has a losing record in the A-10 where his team never finished higher than 4th & there average finish was 7.33. He had only 3 20-win seasons. He never won more than 22 in a season. He has now been an assitant coach for 8 years.

His entire career demonstrates that he was an average Division I head coach. Some may say below average. The stats certainly don't suggest he was good.

How bad Ferry was after him & the degree to which KD is currently floundering is of no consequence in evaluating RE's qualities as a head coach.

I really like him. I wish that he had been the guy to get DU over the hump. The way he was let go remains a disgrace.

However,for the sake of all that is good & holy, can we please, please, please stop pretending that he was great at DU.

Pretty slanted view of RE. He took over teams that were at the bottom at 3 different schools and rebuilt them. So his over all record above 500 is actually impressive. You don't think he won here doesn't matter as much as no one with KD's style of play will out recruit to win here. That's getting very apparent in 40 years of losing seasons. If the next coach comes in here with that idea, I'm betting we keep losing. Also, any good Big that would play here is very likely to transfer out the next year. It's disappointing to hear KD in post game interviews tell us he can't out recruit teams like Dayton, he can't keep kids from transferring out, and his players get tired. You mentioned Ferry and KD floundering here is of no consequence in evaluating RE here. Just compare Ferry's and KD's  records here at DU vs RE's record at DU only.  My point in all this is, I think the next coach in the next year or so should be someone that has an up tempo running style of play. I think we can recruit players that would like to play on a fast pace team.  As a season ticket holder, I do remember RE's teams did fill up the arena at times, did beat ranked teams at times, did play in the A-10 championship and made the NIT once.  That's a lot better than Ferry's years and KD's years. Now, sitting in the near empty stands watching this team struggle again with no idea as to how to improve and next year is another rebuilding year, I just don't see this working.            

CLK wrote:

The discussion of prior coaches' success or lack thereof is irrelevant.  They never had the support, facilitates or financial commitment of the prior administration like the current coach. 

CLK-So True

A83 and El P I am with you guys 100%, get better in the A-10 is the answer!!! CLK you once again hit the nail on the head.  This season's debacle is so so frustrating it is a joke.  The reasons that KD provides for this cliff fall are all on him so let's list them: (i) disgruntled players transferring from prior years; (ii) inexperienced freshman PG's; (iii) not recruiting a true center or seasoned PG; (iv) not giving a big with raw talent (Hima) time on the Court; (v) too many recruiting misses and poor evaluation (remember "best team talent" comment and his quote about Larsen (good grief); and (vi) not in good enough shape.  Did I miss anything guys? 

Good posts gentlemen; supported with facts.  My conclusion as someone who wants to see Duquesne play winning basketball at the A-10 level is that regardless whether Ron over-achieved or under-achieved in his Head Coaching stint at Duquesne; the timing may not be ideal for a return to that position.  I believe he is around sixty years old, and given the rigors of trying to build this program into a winner; it may be important to go with a younger candidate anxious to build his resume.  I think Dambrot was actually late fifties when he was hired.

levon1975 wrote:

Good posts gentlemen; supported with facts. My conclusion as someone who wants to see Duquesne play winning basketball at the A-10 level is that regardless whether Ron over-achieved or under-achieved in his Head Coaching stint at Duquesne; the timing may not be ideal for a return to that position. I believe he is around sixty years old, and given the rigors of trying to build this program into a winner; it may be important to go with a younger candidate anxious to build his resume. I think Dambrot was actually late fifties when he was hired.

Likely too old, but my point was, that I think the next coach in should consider a up tempo, running style of play. It doesn't depend on out recruiting bigger programs for big 6'11" centers, and players that care to run will more likely be attracted to DU. And retaining those players may be more likely. Even Coach John Cinicola back in 1977 used a up tempo running style with Norm Nixon on that team, the last time we got to the NCAA.