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Topic: OT: Mark Few and Gonzaga

Topic: OT: Mark Few and Gonzaga

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GoCats105
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Member Since: 1/31/2006
Location: Seattle, WA
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OT: Mark Few and Gonzaga

Posted: 2/18/2015 2:33:39 PM

Great piece here on Mark Few finding that grass isn't always greener on the other side and staying put can be great too. I can only hope a coach see Athens in this same light one day.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/123...

OUVan
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Location: Bethesda, MD
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RE: OT: Mark Few and Gonzaga

Posted: 2/18/2015 2:43:25 PM

GoCats105 wrote:

It's pretty easy to water your grass when you are making over $1M a year. I'm guessing if we had ponied up that kind of cash we'd have a tad more loyalty here as well.

OU_Country
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Member Since: 12/6/2005
Location: On the road between Athens and Madison County
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RE: OT: Mark Few and Gonzaga

Posted: 2/18/2015 2:47:00 PM

OUVan wrote:

GoCats105 wrote:

It's pretty easy to water your grass when you are making over $1M a year. I'm guessing if we had ponied up that kind of cash we'd have a tad more loyalty here as well.

Agreed. If the budget was there for even $800-850k when Groce was looking at Illinois, it could have gone a long way to keeping him.

bornacatfan
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RE: OT: Mark Few and Gonzaga

Posted: 2/18/2015 3:18:09 PM

OU_Country wrote:

Agreed. If the budget was there for even $800-850k when Groce was looking at Illinois, it could have gone a long way to keeping him.

Is there anyone who doubts he would have kept swinging for the fences and some of those Simeon guys he was courting would not have been Bobcats instead of Illini? That is how he is wired. Water under the bridge but I hope Saul is the next few. If we can't be like Butler and have a guy like Collier making great choices we might as well build our house to dominate the MAC

never argue with idiots, they bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.

Winter comes and asks how you spent your summer.....

The game loves and rewards those who love and reward the game

OU_Country
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Location: On the road between Athens and Madison County
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RE: OT: Mark Few and Gonzaga

Posted: 2/18/2015 3:28:21 PM

bornacatfan wrote:

OU_Country wrote:

Agreed. If the budget was there for even $800-850k when Groce was looking at Illinois, it could have gone a long way to keeping him.

I've been imagining all year how this group would have looked last year with Levert and Bradd's next to Kellogg. Yowza. I'm with you on continuing to develop the program into the dominant force in the MAC. It's all about continuity & recruiting the right players, and hitting a couple 'home runs' in recruiting. DJ was a home run for Groce. As was Bassett for a year.

Saul needs a couple guys like that, and then we need Saul to stay in Athens as long as he says he intends to. If that happens, in a handful of years, the budget could be there to offer the kind of dollars and resources needed to keep Saul from leaving for anything but a monster job at a Power 5 basketball school. That's all conjecture, but the potential is certainly there for it to happen.

(maybe Simmons, Dartis, or Kaminski are that kind of player, who knows)

GoCats105
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RE: OT: Mark Few and Gonzaga

Posted: 2/18/2015 3:50:10 PM

OUVan wrote:

GoCats105 wrote:

It's pretty easy to water your grass when you are making over $1M a year. I'm guessing if we had ponied up that kind of cash we'd have a tad more loyalty here as well.

Of course it is. But I imagine he wasn't making that much initially and the salary was raised incrementally.

OUVan
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Location: Bethesda, MD
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RE: OT: Mark Few and Gonzaga

Posted: 2/18/2015 4:03:02 PM

GoCats105 wrote:

OUVan wrote:

GoCats105 wrote:

It's pretty easy to water your grass when you are making over $1M a year. I'm guessing if we had ponied up that kind of cash we'd have a tad more loyalty here as well.

Of course it is. But I imagine he wasn't making that much initially and the salary was raised incrementally.

Don't know the exact numbers but he got a nice bump in 2002 when he was courted by Washington or Washington State (don't remember which). He was one of the highest paid mid-major coaches at the time. But my point isn't that he was chasing money. Only that if you find the right situation they still have to make it worth your while. We've made a commitment to keep the program at a high level so hopefully we are reaching that kind of territory.

giacomo
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RE: OT: Mark Few and Gonzaga

Posted: 2/18/2015 5:05:12 PM

Gonzaga plays in the shadow of the PAC 12, but nothing like what we face in the Big 10, WVU, Marshall, Cinci and Xavier. They don't have football, which wags the dog at most places. If we ever dropped football, maybe. We can't pay 1M+ unless somebody donates it.

bornacatfan
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Member Since: 8/3/2006
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RE: OT: Mark Few and Gonzaga

Posted: 2/18/2015 6:06:08 PM

giacomo wrote:

That has been a key. Not much comp out there for miles and miles. PAC 1- is a good conference but the Zags have been fortunate to be in a next level league they can run or at least be at the top year after year. Recruiting local (and international like st marys)kids to play there is much easier than it is as you start getting bball density coming east and crossing the Mississippi continuing to roll eastward... Just in IN ILL OHIO look at how many good programs there are for the type of kid that will work his butt off and get skilled. Without getting into the philosophy of assembling a Seton Hall, UConn, or St Johns with local kids vs Indiana, Wisconsin etc you got to know there is a hell of a lot of talent flying under the radar with less local choices out west...and the type of kid you get in the west or midwest has a different mindset than those coming out of a lot of east coast situation. Random thoughts pondering the state of the game out there.....

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