Spokane, Waco, East Lansing, Lawrence....

All-In [44039]

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You want solutions? Those are easy:

Feb 19, 2017, 11:54 AM

1. Build and maintain top-level facilities. Thankfully, we just built nice facilities, but it was about 10-15 years after we should've. Now the challenge is to maintain them. We need to stay ahead of the curve in terms of trends in player and team amenities. This is huge for recruiting.

2. Attract a coach who is a proven winner at the high major level. It does not need to be a Pitino or Coach K, but it should be someone who has shown the ability to build and sustain a program. We tend to take a chance with mid-major coaches, and this is too risky in my opinion. We need a coach who players know of, who has the personality and skill needed to recruit well but also develop talent well.

3. Pay a competitive salary. Many people on TigerNet think we pay Brownell an exorbitant salary with a ridiculous buyout. We really don't pay him all that much when it comes to compensation. And large buyouts are becoming commonplace these days, unfortunately. If we want to get a coach who gives us a high likelihood of success, then we are going to have to pay more in the $2-$3 million a year range, not the $1-$1.5 million range we have been in lately.

4. Make it obvious that we care about basketball at Clemson. Stop with the ridiculous notion that by putting time and money and energy into basketball somehow makes us less of a football school. It doesn't. We can be rabid basketball fans and commit to having a great basketball program while still being known as a football school and competing for football championships. They can co-exist. We just need to get our minds right on this topic.

5. Have really great fan support. Yes, I know we have had times in our past where students camped out for tickets and Littlejohn was loud. That doesn't happen nearly enough though. Winning will help generate fan interest, but some of the support will have to come from fans while we build our program. I hope our fans are capable of this.

There you go. That's the roadmap. I still say that we can be a great program, but for the first time in our program's history, we have to try. We have fans who are pessimistic and lack belief that we can be great, but these fans are forgetting that we have never really committed to basketball at Clemson. We can't conclude that we will always be mediocre, when we have never really tried to be great. If we had tried and failed, I would understand - but we haven't. It's like complaining because you can't ride a bike, even though you've never practiced and taken off the training wheels.

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"All those 'Fire Brownell' guys can kiss it." -Joseph Girard III

"Everybody needs to know that Coach Brownell is arguably the best coach to come through Clemson." -PJ Hall

However, that doesn't change the fact that we are in year 7 and things have seemed to get stale.

Is it fair that he hasn't really gotten to benefit from the new facilities that he helped build? No, it's not. But I feel that Brownell has lost the fans and another year or two of similar results will cause even more people to check out on basketball at Clemson. What do we think Brownell's ceiling is? It's hard to say since he hasn't really had what he asked for until now, but my guess is that we won't be in the NCAA Tournament every year - and I feel that should be our minimum standard.

You're right, my roadmap doesn't guarantee anything, but it would sure give us a much better chance of having the kind of basketball success we have never had. We typically hire a mid-major coach who we hope does well, support him and the program halfway and/or inconsistently, and act upset when we don't have the success we want or offended when he leaves.

Then we conclude that Clemson can't be successful at basketball, because we're a football school not located in an urban area, and because we are viewed as a stepping stone job. What stupid logic!

You use Dabo as an example. He's a dynamic person and great recruiter, but it's no accident that our recruiting classes improved dramatically after we got the new facilities. He also got what he asked for from the administration, including even more facilities, a higher budget for assistant coach salaries, and additional support staff. And the wins and championships have followed. That is no accident.

Do you think we would have had the success we've had the last few years if we had not built those facilities, not given the coaches raises to keep their salaries competitive, and added the support staff Dabo needed for recruiting? I don't. Yet we expect basketball coaches to come in and magically turn us into a great program, but aren't willing to give them what they need.

My challenge to Clemson remains: support basketball in the above fashion. You've never done it before, so you don't know what is possible. Give it a chance, go "all in," and see what happens. I guarantee we will be very pleased with the results.

Spokane, Waco, East Lansing, Lawrence....

Kansas is a blueblood, so that's a terrible comp

Re: Kansas is a blueblood, so that's a terrible comp

It has nothing to do with the town though

I think he is referring to Gonzaga, that is in Spokane.

Cremins had 6 winning seasons in the ACC 9 losing seasons

Cremons put Tech basketball on the map

Cremins is available,lives on Hilton Head***

I agree

Populations of the cities you mention:

Re: Populations of the cities you mention:

Thank you. That just reinforces it more.***

Re: Thank you. That just reinforces it more.***

There are tons of good basketball players that don't come

It is 100% dependent upon the right coach

Striperfan, you are right

I agree that the coach is a big part of it, but...

Agree 100%. But getting and keeping that coach takes

Re: There are tons of good basketball players that don't come

East Lansing, MI has a population of 48,554?....

ive read enough. Wt£ are we talking about here? Somehow this

Point for "dry as cardboard" .***

Basketball players tending to choose urban areas is a myth.

Agree - That's what I'm saying as well.***

Re: Basketball players tending to choose urban areas is a myth.

That's fair, but there is hardly a smaller city than the

Coot!-#### liar.... wtph is wrong with you people?

Sorry Mrs. Brownell,

if you're tired of excuses, then come up with "answers", NOT

You want solutions? Those are easy:

this is a nice try BUT it's also simplistic....

I don't think Brownell had the resources he needed.

I absolutely support your enthusiasm and continual posts

Ames was more along my lines of thinking...

Now that's a legitimate comp

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