2200 days of Brad Edwards

[GSII]

Dave Paulsen: 407-235 career record, 2003 Division III national champion, back-to-back DIII Final Fours, two-time DIII national coach of the year, four Patriot League regular-season championships in seven seasons at Bucknell.

DJ3: No coaching experience whatsoever.

Hmmmmmmm.......

So we can talk about what he did at a d3 school but give him excuses here in the a10? Cmon now. OCM came in here and in one year turned it around. It can be done with body ready recruits and/ a transfer or two.

 

[gmujim92]

So we can talk about what he did at a d3 school but give him excuses here in the a10? Cmon now. OCM came in here and in one year turned it around. It can be done with body ready recruits and/ a transfer or two.

 

[gmutom]

It's only a flesh wound! I just cut your bleeding arm off. What? It's only a scratch.

Love it! Not often we get Monty Python and Shawshank references in the same thread! This one has real potential, fellas!

 

[gmubrian]

2) Edwards stated in his letter to season ticket holders they need 1.5 million to start construction. No clue where they are at, but until the money comes in, nothing will start.

A good start would be to not blow off people that were looking to get you a significant portion of the way to that goal...

The last straw for me with Mason was when I gave them what is like the 10th or 20th chance to make up for pissing me off on so many fronts, even after the season ticket snub incident last season. I even met with with someone from Mason mid season last year. Here is a summary of what I said:

I am not interested in investing in Mason basketball until I can see that things have changed from the last administration. I see no signs of any progress on fronts that need progress. I am interested in making a significant contribution to a basketball practice facility, but, I want to see what the plan is. I don't want what I saw I under TOC (the just give us money and we'll do something good with it attitude). I want to see a plan for a facility and I want to see that there is going to be a campaign for it. I don't want to be the only person giving to this. I would be glad to meet with Brad if he would like to convince me that things have changed.

Guess what I heard in response? Absolutely nothing. Well, that was when I lost the enormous passion I used to have for Mason basketball almost completely and have moved on (literally and figuratively).

To top it off, I heard from two people associated with Mason during the off season. A ray of hope? I was honest with them that it was an uphill battle to get me interested again, at this point, but I would be glad to meet with them to discuss the issues I have, or to hear Brad out to convince me that things have changed. I was told to expect a meeting invite on both occasions. That was months ago. I'll give you a clue how many meeting invites I have received: you won't need any fingers or toes to count them.

So, why do I go into this? Well, I can come to only one of several conclusions from my experience:

1. Mason has a problem with me, specifically. I could understand that, but, if that is the case, though, please stop contacting me to give me hope. I haven't reached out to Mason since I requested season tickets last year and got no response. Everything since then has been Mason reaching out to me and then not following up all the way.

2. If it is not intentional, how can so many things go so wrong? That leads to a conclusion that the staff are incompetent throughout the department.

3. If they are actually doing their jobs, but Brad is dropping the ball (intentionally or accidentally), well then that leads to the conclusion that he is incompetent.

I don't see a lot of other conclusions to draw from my baffling experiences. Unfortunately, all 3 conclusions don't look good for Brad's ability to run a successful AD.

 

[MasonSAE4]

A good start would be to not blow off people that were looking to get you a significant portion of the way to that goal...

The last straw for me with Mason was when I gave them what is like the 10th or 20th chance to make up for pissing me off on so many fronts, even after the season ticket snub incident last season. I even met with with someone from Mason mid season last year. Here is a summary of what I said:

I am not interested in investing in Mason basketball until I can see that things have changed from the last administration. I see no signs of any progress on fronts that need progress. I am interested in making a significant contribution to a basketball practice facility, but, I want to see what the plan is. I don't want what I saw I under TOC (the just give us money and we'll do something good with it attitude). I want to see a plan for a facility and I want to see that there is going to be a campaign for it. I don't want to be the only person giving to this. I would be glad to meet with Brad if he would like to convince me that things have changed.

Guess what I heard in response? Absolutely nothing. Well, that was when I lost the enormous passion I used to have for Mason basketball almost completely and have moved on (literally and figuratively).

To top it off, I heard from two people associated with Mason during the off season. A ray of hope? I was honest with them that it was an uphill battle to get me interested again, at this point, but I would be glad to meet with them to discuss the issues I have, or to hear Brad out to convince me that things have changed. I was told to expect a meeting invite on both occasions. That was months ago. I'll give you a clue how many meeting invites I have received: you won't need any fingers or toes to count them.

So, why do I go into this? Well, I can come to only one of several conclusions from my experience:

1. Mason has a problem with me, specifically. I could understand that, but, if that is the case, though, please stop contacting me to give me hope. I haven't reached out to Mason since I requested season tickets last year and got no response. Everything since then has been Mason reaching out to me and then not following up all the way.

2. If it is not intentional, how can so many things go so wrong? That leads to a conclusion that the staff are incompetent throughout the department.

3. If they are actually doing their jobs, but Brad is dropping the ball (intentionally or accidentally), well then that leads to the conclusion that he is incompetent.

I don't see a lot of other conclusions to draw from my baffling experiences. Unfortunately, all 3 conclusions don't look good for Brad's ability to run a successful AD.

I'm in total agreement that way too much of the school's fundraising is done behind closed doors and isn't widely known about. The most publicity they've given the practice facility is a short article buried at the bottom of the Faster, Farther website (which I doubt too many people know exists). I don't get what their issue is with just blasting out an email to alumni and asking for small donations. This isn't a top secret project. Hopefully Darrell Green helps to sort some of this out because that seems to be his sole role.

 

[MasonFanatic]

I'm pretty sure Paulsen did originally intend to redshirt Dixon, but the cupboard was so bare, he had to use him just to fill minutes. Jenkins picking up lots of fouls, Royal injury prone, and Mayimba ineligible did a number on our front court depth last season.

 

[MasonFanatic]

A good start would be to not blow off people that were looking to get you a significant portion of the way to that goal...

The last straw for me with Mason was when I gave them what is like the 10th or 20th chance to make up for pissing me off on so many fronts, even after the season ticket snub incident last season. I even met with with someone from Mason mid season last year. Here is a summary of what I said:

I am not interested in investing in Mason basketball until I can see that things have changed from the last administration. I see no signs of any progress on fronts that need progress. I am interested in making a significant contribution to a basketball practice facility, but, I want to see what the plan is. I don't want what I saw I under TOC (the just give us money and we'll do something good with it attitude). I want to see a plan for a facility and I want to see that there is going to be a campaign for it. I don't want to be the only person giving to this. I would be glad to meet with Brad if he would like to convince me that things have changed.

Guess what I heard in response? Absolutely nothing. Well, that was when I lost the enormous passion I used to have for Mason basketball almost completely and have moved on (literally and figuratively).

To top it off, I heard from two people associated with Mason during the off season. A ray of hope? I was honest with them that it was an uphill battle to get me interested again, at this point, but I would be glad to meet with them to discuss the issues I have, or to hear Brad out to convince me that things have changed. I was told to expect a meeting invite on both occasions. That was months ago. I'll give you a clue how many meeting invites I have received: you won't need any fingers or toes to count them.

So, why do I go into this? Well, I can come to only one of several conclusions from my experience:

1. Mason has a problem with me, specifically. I could understand that, but, if that is the case, though, please stop contacting me to give me hope. I haven't reached out to Mason since I requested season tickets last year and got no response. Everything since then has been Mason reaching out to me and then not following up all the way.

2. If it is not intentional, how can so many things go so wrong? That leads to a conclusion that the staff are incompetent throughout the department.

3. If they are actually doing their jobs, but Brad is dropping the ball (intentionally or accidentally), well then that leads to the conclusion that he is incompetent.

I don't see a lot of other conclusions to draw from my baffling experiences. Unfortunately, all 3 conclusions don't look good for Brad's ability to run a successful AD.

This is infuriating to hear.

The admin does seem inexplicably reluctant to release detailed plans (whether it be the baseball stadium or the basketball practice facility) to the general public in an easily accessible way. They seem afraid to say too much until they are most of the way to their fundraising goal, probably because they fear the blowback of promising something and not delivering it. And I get that. But if that's the case, then our athletic department is still dreaming too small. I'd love to see a slick website detailing specific plans and dollar amounts for athletic facilities, and a progress meter to show how fundraising is going.

I have mentioned this to at least one person at Mason in the past, but I should probably suggest it again.

 

[MasonSAE4]

This is infuriating to hear.

The admin does seem inexplicably reluctant to release detailed plans (whether it be the baseball stadium or the basketball practice facility) to the general public in an easily accessible way. They seem afraid to say too much until they are most of the way to their fundraising goal, probably because they fear the blowback of promising something and not delivering it. And I get that. But if that's the case, then our athletic department is still dreaming too small. I'd love to see a slick website detailing specific plans and dollar amounts for athletic facilities, and a progress meter to show how fundraising is going.

I have mentioned this to at least one person at Mason in the past, but I should probably suggest it again.

Please do. They have different campaigns going (locker room, RAC renovation, baseball stadium) and I would love to see different meters to see where each one is. I bet people would be more likely to donate if they saw a project was close to completion as opposed to wondering if they were the only people donating.

The problem is it isn't just the athletics department that does this, it's the entire school. Faster, Farther got like $300 million before they said anything. And on top of it they don't really say what it's for. As best I can figure nothing has changed; you can donate to whatever you want and they're just counting it towards a general goal of $500 million to have something to point to I guess.

 

[Falco]

lol. I am glad your done, because in my opinion your irrational. Take a look at my list, rebuilds do happen within 3 years all the time. Just last year we saw a first year coach at Arkansas-Little Rock take his team to the 2nd round of the NCAA tourney. His predecessor had 3 losing seasons in 4 years.

Steve Forbes turned East Tennessee State around. First year he went 23-10.

Eric Musselman turned Nevada around. 1st year he won the CBI. and went 24-10

Eran Ganot of Hawaii brought finished his first year with a 28-6 record. Advancing to the 2nd round of the NCAA tourney.

Obviously Alabama is a BCS school but Avery Johnson brought them to the NIT in his first year.

Take a look at history. Rebuilds don't take as long as you think.

I don't even understand what you are trying to say. You'd rather have a bunch of transfers to have a few more wins in years 1-2 instead of building up young talent to make a run in year 3 or 4? A coach is only successful during a rebuild if they win 20 + their first season?

I don't even understand what you are trying to say. You'd rather have a bunch of transfers to have a few more wins in years 1-2 instead of building up young talent to make a run in year 3 or 4? A coach is only successful during a rebuild if they win 20 + their first season?

My post didn't a mention transfers. So..... The purpose of my post was to say lets stop giving excuses for the lack of success. I don't think a rebuild takes 4 years. I mentioned several programs who were able to rebuild their program in one year. I know that's not the norm, but I was hoping to see more progress then I do now. We lost to a CAA team. We were down at the half to a D3 program.

Yes Hewitt drove the program into the ground. But he was a pretty good recruiter. He left Paulsen some talent. Jenkins, Moore. Dare I say Thompson, I know this post will get destroyed because of the Thompson comment.

But since you brought up transfers I will admit I think a transfer student could of speeded up the rebuilding process. A JUCO transfer could of filled in gap (shooting) while we wait for our 4 year scholarship players to develop. We have 7 guards on our roster! I know its to early to tell how they will all pan out, but lets hope one of them can become a pure shooter soon!

 

[Vurbel]

Your "3 year methodology" for evaluating a coach doesn't apply to Paulsen, granted the situation he took over. However, makes a lot more sense when applying it to Hewitt (unfortunately, the Admin waited an extra year before canning him). Hewitt walked in the door and inherited a solid team and program. He completely failed to a.) maintain the momentum L had achieved, b.) be the "excellent" recruiter he laid claim to be, c.) develop a winning team on/off the court.

Paulsen had to come in and try to fix that s*** storm. Expecting him to make the Tourney in year 3? After inheriting a program that lost just as much confidence and integrity as it did games? Dude, give me a break.

I feel like you're stuck in a time warp and are actually speaking as if it's 2012 or 2013. Give the guy a chance to fix the mess he didn't ask for or create.

Are you saying Anali Okoloji wasn't a great recruit?

 

[mkaufman1]

A good start would be to not blow off people that were looking to get you a significant portion of the way to that goal...

The last straw for me with Mason was when I gave them what is like the 10th or 20th chance to make up for pissing me off on so many fronts, even after the season ticket snub incident last season. I even met with with someone from Mason mid season last year. Here is a summary of what I said:

I am not interested in investing in Mason basketball until I can see that things have changed from the last administration. I see no signs of any progress on fronts that need progress. I am interested in making a significant contribution to a basketball practice facility, but, I want to see what the plan is. I don't want what I saw I under TOC (the just give us money and we'll do something good with it attitude). I want to see a plan for a facility and I want to see that there is going to be a campaign for it. I don't want to be the only person giving to this. I would be glad to meet with Brad if he would like to convince me that things have changed.

Guess what I heard in response? Absolutely nothing. Well, that was when I lost the enormous passion I used to have for Mason basketball almost completely and have moved on (literally and figuratively).

To top it off, I heard from two people associated with Mason during the off season. A ray of hope? I was honest with them that it was an uphill battle to get me interested again, at this point, but I would be glad to meet with them to discuss the issues I have, or to hear Brad out to convince me that things have changed. I was told to expect a meeting invite on both occasions. That was months ago. I'll give you a clue how many meeting invites I have received: you won't need any fingers or toes to count them.

So, why do I go into this? Well, I can come to only one of several conclusions from my experience:

1. Mason has a problem with me, specifically. I could understand that, but, if that is the case, though, please stop contacting me to give me hope. I haven't reached out to Mason since I requested season tickets last year and got no response. Everything since then has been Mason reaching out to me and then not following up all the way.

2. If it is not intentional, how can so many things go so wrong? That leads to a conclusion that the staff are incompetent throughout the department.

3. If they are actually doing their jobs, but Brad is dropping the ball (intentionally or accidentally), well then that leads to the conclusion that he is incompetent.

I don't see a lot of other conclusions to draw from my baffling experiences. Unfortunately, all 3 conclusions don't look good for Brad's ability to run a successful AD.

I'm sorry that you have experienced that and they basically threw you to the wolves. Its disappointing to hear. All I can judge my opinions on are what I hear and see- and obviously the letter about the practice facility was a nice start. Of course hearing anything since, hasn't happened. I'd love to see some diagrams on the concourse at a home game so that I can look at what the plans are. The closest to that was a drawing in the Patriot club magazine.

I'm a "small" donor by any standard so I don't go poking and prodding for too much information. Occasionally I'll see how things are going if I run into someone or go to an event. That being said, I'd love to see Masonfanatic's idea of a website showing all the projects.

Also I don't think we're that unique in wanting to know more information and not getting it. GW seems to have similar issues. On the other side, Rutgers announced an athletics campaign and got their money very quick (of course completely different schools etc)

The key that I think all of us want is that the athletic department is doing enough to keep up with the Atlantic 10 from a recruiting and facilities perspective. They have the coach, the recruits look good, but now you need to ensure that these recruits can develop as much as possible and that the recruiting can continue to keep up. At some point Paulsen needs to start winning, but its too soon in my opinion to make a full judgement based on where the program is. It seems like things are headed in the proper direction.

I've been told and others I'm sure have been told that Brad wants to win more than anyone, so hopefully that will be shown sooner than later.

 

[Falco]

well apparently I am on an island, or everyone who is on my side is like a trump supporter afraid to be ridiculed if they show support/

 

[gmu05]

But since you brought up transfers I will admit I think a transfer student could of speeded up the rebuilding process. A JUCO transfer could of filled in gap (shooting) while we wait for our 4 year scholarship players to develop. We have 7 guards on our roster! I know its to early to tell how they will all pan out, but lets hope one of them can become a pure shooter soon!

And what if that JUCO transfer was instead of bringing in Otis? What if what if what if.

Of course he's bringing in guards, there were none when he got here!

You are even out-trolling me at this point.

 

[EXpatriot13]

Yes Hewitt drove the program into the ground. But he was a pretty good recruiter. He left Paulsen some talent. Jenkins, Moore. Dare I say Thompson, I know this post will get destroyed because of the Thompson comment.

A "good" recruiter who did absolutely nothing with said talent. Drove the program underground and half his talent either transferred out of the program or decommitted when he was fired. The only thing Hewitt left Paulsen was a heaping pile of s*** and a few good players.

 

[gmujim92]

A "good" recruiter who did absolutely nothing with said talent. Drove the program underground and half his talent either transferred out of the program or decommitted when he was fired. The only thing Hewitt left Paulsen was a heaping pile of s*** and a few good players.

I'd love to know the standard anyone would use to call Hewitt's recruiting at Mason "good."

He did get a couple guys with 4 stars next to their names, so if that makes your leg tingle, jolly for you.

But mostly what he did was recruit a bunch of kids with the same attributes -- long, athletic -- while ignoring the fundamentals of dribbling and shooting the basketball and preventing the opponent from scoring.

He was Chernobyl. You don't just rebuild an entire program from radioactive ashes in 3 years.

 

[gmutd127]

I just don't understand how we will ever complete in the A10. The top teams continue to out recruit us.
and yes Mason eventually beat Lebanon , but we were outcoached in the first half by a d3 coach. We won purely on athleticism in the 2nd half.

Maybe Paulsen should have recruited a shooter instead of 5 PGs.

It is hard to recruit when your facilities are the worst in the entire A-10 conference. It is not easy to recruit when your up against the facilities that players at places like vcu, Richmond, and Dayton have access to.

 

[Falco]

And what if that JUCO transfer was instead of bringing in Otis? What if what if what if.

Of course he's bringing in guards, there were none when he got here!

You are even out-trolling me at this point.

A "good" recruiter who did absolutely nothing with said talent. Drove the program underground and half his talent either transferred out of the program or decommitted when he was fired. The only thing Hewitt left Paulsen was a heaping pile of s*** and a few good players.

Thanks for the paraphrase.... I said he drove it to the ground but left some good players.

I am so shocked a tournament bid in three years is such a lofty goal especially since I said I am ok with an NIT bid. 100 teams are selected between the NCAA and NIT tournament.

I wasn't expecting another final 4. But I thought we could get an invite at least. Numerous coaches do it in less time. Larranaga did it in two seasons with Mason. It only took him 1 season at Miami.

Call me crazy all you want, but a post season birth in 3 years is totally reasonable.

 

[Pablo]

It is hard to recruit when your facilities are the worst in the entire A-10 conference.

Surely, you don't believe that La Salle has better facilities than Mason?

 

[Washingtonian]

Surely, you don't believe that La Salle has better facilities than Mason?

LOL! I went to our game there last season, there are high school gym's in VA better than that "arena".

 

[gmutd127]

A good start would be to not blow off people that were looking to get you a significant portion of the way to that goal...

The last straw for me with Mason was when I gave them what is like the 10th or 20th chance to make up for pissing me off on so many fronts, even after the season ticket snub incident last season. I even met with with someone from Mason mid season last year. Here is a summary of what I said:

I am not interested in investing in Mason basketball until I can see that things have changed from the last administration. I see no signs of any progress on fronts that need progress. I am interested in making a significant contribution to a basketball practice facility, but, I want to see what the plan is. I don't want what I saw I under TOC (the just give us money and we'll do something good with it attitude). I want to see a plan for a facility and I want to see that there is going to be a campaign for it. I don't want to be the only person giving to this. I would be glad to meet with Brad if he would like to convince me that things have changed.

Guess what I heard in response? Absolutely nothing. Well, that was when I lost the enormous passion I used to have for Mason basketball almost completely and have moved on (literally and figuratively).

To top it off, I heard from two people associated with Mason during the off season. A ray of hope? I was honest with them that it was an uphill battle to get me interested again, at this point, but I would be glad to meet with them to discuss the issues I have, or to hear Brad out to convince me that things have changed. I was told to expect a meeting invite on both occasions. That was months ago. I'll give you a clue how many meeting invites I have received: you won't need any fingers or toes to count them.

So, why do I go into this? Well, I can come to only one of several conclusions from my experience:

1. Mason has a problem with me, specifically. I could understand that, but, if that is the case, though, please stop contacting me to give me hope. I haven't reached out to Mason since I requested season tickets last year and got no response. Everything since then has been Mason reaching out to me and then not following up all the way.

2. If it is not intentional, how can so many things go so wrong? That leads to a conclusion that the staff are incompetent throughout the department.

3. If they are actually doing their jobs, but Brad is dropping the ball (intentionally or accidentally), well then that leads to the conclusion that he is incompetent.

I don't see a lot of other conclusions to draw from my baffling experiences. Unfortunately, all 3 conclusions don't look good for Brad's ability to run a successful AD.

So what exactly are the things that you need to see changed from the last administration? I see almost zero similarities between the last several years of TOC and Alan Merten's reign and the first few of Brad's so I am wondering why I may be on an island here. Am i missing something? In your opinion, what fronts NEED progress that you aren't seeing progress on?

This just doesn't add up to me. My guess, based on your 3 bullet points is that there is more to the story because there is no chance Brad and the the patriot club would just ignore a potential donation of that magnitude if it was legit.

1. If there is a personal problem between you and the administration, and you do not want to be contacted any longer, have you asked them not to contact you?

2. I can guarantee you the staff is not incompetent. With regards to your request for a plan of what is happening, have you attempted to attend any of the many fundraising events the admin/patriot club has done over the last 6 months? If so, you would know of the plan, the time frame and would have even seen the renderings of what the locker room and facility updates will look like.

3. This sounds like a personal vendetta for some reason or another.

Curious to know, if your willing to share, how they have pissed you off 10-20 times? If not, i understand but I just cant buy that they have blatantly ignored you.