MIAMI UPDATE

[psyclone]

You don't know that. Wasn't assistant salaries part of the reason they all left? That could have been a decision BOV members made that are still here.

From the Mason website: "The 16 members of the board are appointed by the governor of Virginia on a rotating basis to serve four-year terms". Hence, there likely are no remaining board members still here from when Coach L left.

 

[Walter]

I believe Larranaga's starting Miami salary was $1.2M. He has said he probably would have stayed if O'Connor's counter offer had come earlier. O'Connor countered while Larranaga was sitting at air port waiting on Miami plane.

 

[GSII]

L didn't want to leave so he picked up a phone and called Miami when he heard their job was opening? OK. Even using it as leverage he should have known we didn't have the money to pay him 1.5 million a year without jacking up student fees to pay for it.

Would raising fees made us the highest in the state in student fee's charged? And you are assuming we didn't have it while forgetting L got paid as a professor too. The school was searching for ways to pay him and keep him happy, but that doesn't change the fact that L was right and deserving of what the marketplace could bear and for accomplishments he made for program. He put us on the map and that alone is worth atleast 2 million. At least!!

 

[gmutom]

He has said he probably would have stayed if O'Connor's counter offer had come earlier.

Walter, where did you see this? Nothing I have heard or seen leads me to believe Coach L was ever coming back to Mason once his initial raise request was denied and he was offered the Miami job.

This is conjecture on my part based on what I have heard, but I don't think there was anything Mason could have done to keep him once the Miami offer was on the table. That doesn't mean TOC didn't scramble to get him back, but I think L's mind was cemented the second he was offered the opportunity to coach in the ACC.

 

[Walter]

I recall him saying that in an interview and his wife chimed in to say that they are very happy to be at Miami.

 

[JimP]

I recall him saying that in an interview and his wife chimed in to say that they are very happy to be at Miami.

I recall reading the same thing. I think the whole purpose in Larranaga indicating that an offer came while he was waiting in an airport for a Miami bound plane was to express that the offer was too little, too late. Why else would he say it? GMU blew it big time - hopefully the team is relevant again sooner rather than later.

I don't know about the whole timeline of things, but it's safe to say TOC took L for granted. I remember reading the article on mason's website after TOC's retirement. You'd have thought TOC was 95% responsible for leading GMU to the FF (with negligible help from L) instead of the other way around.

If TOC is gonna take that much credit for the FF, than surely he'll acknowledge his role in the program's precipitous decline. And yeah, Merten blew it too.

 

[gmutom]

If TOC is gonna take that much credit for the FF, than surely he'll acknowledge his role in the program's precipitous decline. And yeah, Merten blew it too.

Definitely agree with all of this, Jim. I'm just happy we have a fresh start with Cabrera, Edwards and hopefully a new head basketball coach.

 

[JimP]

I do remember reacting to the news of L's departure with a sense of dread. The idea of TOC sitting in his office and telling himself everything would be fine because he hired Paul Hewitt is kinda funny.

 

[GMUgemini]

I recall reading the same thing. I think the whole purpose in Larranaga indicating that an offer came while he was waiting in an airport for a Miami bound plane was to express that the offer was too little, too late. Why else would he say it? GMU blew it big time - hopefully the team is relevant again sooner rather than later.

I don't know about the whole timeline of things, but it's safe to say TOC took L for granted. I remember reading the article on mason's website after TOC's retirement. You'd have thought TOC was 95% responsible for leading GMU to the FF (with negligible help from L) instead of the other way around.

If TOC is gonna take that much credit for the FF, than surely he'll acknowledge his role in the program's precipitous decline. And yeah, Merten blew it too.

All three of them blew it -- actually all of us blew it (as the community didn't step up to the plate enough post-final four and support the program either.

Coach L did not sustain the kind of success necessary to make the next leap and his accomplishments at Mason were upstaged first by Butler, then by conference mate vcu, and now by Sweet 16 opponent Wichita State it seems.

I don't blame TOC or Merten for L's departure. Yes, we might have gotten him to stay, but coaches leave programs all the time. It's up to the AD to find a replacement to keep the program either on the level it was before, or to surpass that level (as Shaka Smart was able to do after Anthony Grant left). TOC's blame comes in, in hiring Hewitt to replace Larranaga and then overpaying him and giving him ridiculous bonuses which seem to have locked us in to this sideshow.

 

[Pablo]

Quick, name the last assistant coach that went from being on L's staff to getting a head coaching job of their own.....(D-1 job)

Several of Larranaga's former assistants have become head coaches, but I can't recall one who went directly from his staff to a D-1 head coaching position. Mike Gillian left his staff for the Longwood job, but it wasn't a D-1 program at the time.

If so, I believe this will change since he's at an ACC school now.

 

[gmujim92]

the community didn't step up to the plate enough post-final four and support the program either.

This is total revisionist BS.

I don't have time to go looking them up, but there were any number of articles published about the dramatic increase of fundraising after the FF.

Attendance also increased to the highest level in program history, at least until the bandwagon fans went away after we failed to make the tournament a couple times.

How do you define "enough," anyhow?

As GS has noted, Merten looked at the FF as a gift that kept on giving.

While I know you're impressed by the Patriot Center's new handrails and concourse improvements, Merten had no intention of reinvesting Mason's FF money to directly benefit the basketball program in any meaningful way -- i.e., the practice facility that Larranaga was promised..

No matter how much you want to absolve him, the failure to capitalize on the FF belongs mostly to Merten, not the "community."

 

[Pablo]

To me, Merten was an excellent cheerleader. But, he was either incapable or unwilling to lead Mason athletics to the next level.

 

[GMUgemini]

This is total revisionist BS.

I don't have time to go looking them up, but there were any number of articles published about the dramatic increase of fundraising after the FF.

Attendance also increased to the highest level in program history, at least until the bandwagon fans went away after we failed to make the tournament a couple times.

How do you define "enough," anyhow?

As GS has noted, Merten looked at the FF as a gift that kept on giving.

While I know you're impressed by the Patriot Center's new handrails and concourse improvements, Merten had no intention of reinvesting Mason's FF money to directly benefit the basketball program in any meaningful way -- i.e., the practice facility that Larranaga was promised..

No matter how much you want to absolve him, the failure to capitalize on the FF belongs mostly to Merten, not the "community."

I'm not absolving Merten, he's in there. But don't absolve the community either. vcu three years after their final four is selling out every single game and raising almost 300% more per year than they were in 2010. Yes, we had a massive increase in our fundraising after the final four, but our fundraising was so pathetically bad in 2005 that Jollay could have single-handedly massively increase our fundraising. Seriously, look it up. It is shockingly bad how little the community supported Mason and Larranaga before the 2006 run.

And to tout our two year bandwagon jump in attendance, by 2010 we had already lost 1,000 fans per game over our post-Final Four bump.

Those handrails apparently cost us $20 million to put in. I think vcu's luxury suites were something like $8 million?

 

[Pablo]

gemini,

When you say the community didn't step up, I assume that you mean the alumni (local & non-local) & non-alums in this area.

 

[A.-Siegfried]

Several of Larranaga's former assistants have become head coaches, but I can't recall one who went directly from his staff to a D-1 head coaching position. Mike Gillian left his staff for the Longwood job, but it wasn't a D-1 program at the time.

If so, I believe this will change since he's at an ACC school now.

Maybe it will. But doesn't seem odd all of the others (Johnson, Kellogg, Courtney, Cherry, etc) had to leave from L's staff, go be an assistant elsewhere and THEN get their shot at a D1 job? Weird....

 

[A.-Siegfried]

I'm not absolving Merten, he's in there. But don't absolve the community either. vcu three years after their final four is selling out every single game and raising almost 300% more per year than they were in 2010. Yes, we had a massive increase in our fundraising after the final four, but our fundraising was so pathetically bad in 2005 that Jollay could have single-handedly massively increase our fundraising. Seriously, look it up. It is shockingly bad how little the community supported Mason and Larranaga before the 2006 run.

And to tout our two year bandwagon jump in attendance, by 2010 we had already lost 1,000 fans per game over our post-Final Four bump.

Those handrails apparently cost us $20 million to put in. I think vcu's luxury suites were something like $8 million?

Toss Scherrens in there as well.....

 

[99 Patriot]

Merten sucked, TOC made a desperate hire and yes, our fanbase and supporters showed that we're not ready for the bigtime. Post 2006 was the first time they instituted the minimum donations for season tickets, otherwise I'm sure many folks would not have given any more than they did pre-FF.

I guess what fascinates me is the love affair so many still have with Coach L. I can honestly say I've watched less than 5 Miami games since he's gone there, and not an ounce of my day is spent wondering how they are doing or how he is doing. He left here and hasn't glanced back. In 2010 I'd have guessed that he'd retire here, have the court named for him and still receive an ovation every time he entered the arena as a fan (like Heathcoat at MSU). He made the choice not to go out that way. So be it. No need to play Groundhog Day and relive his departure every few months.

 

[GSII]

Maybe it will. But doesn't seem odd all of the others (Johnson, Kellogg, Courtney, Cherry, etc) had to leave from L's staff, go be an assistant elsewhere and THEN get their shot at a D1 job? Weird....

Its not weird to me. OCM was difficult at times. He was all smiles, blue skies and rainbows when selling the school or in public, but you better believe he wanted something for what he was doing. Which makes me wonder why he hated just TOC and not both him and Merten. Maybe Merten was slipping him hungy's after games? As for these coaches you mentioned, I'd guess the cost of living in fairfax was part of it. Which is why he wanted to take care of them. In his later years, he also started listening to suggestions from Cherry and Courtney about tweaking an other wise regiment offense.

 

[couchcoach]

Its not weird to me. OCM was difficult at times. He was all smiles, blue skies and rainbows when selling the school or in public, but you better believe he wanted something for what he was doing. Which makes me wonder why he hated just TOC and not both him and Merten. Maybe Merten was slipping him hungy's after games? As for these coaches you mentioned, I'd guess the cost of living in fairfax was part of it. Which is why he wanted to take care of them. In his later years, he also started listening to suggestions from Cherry and Courtney about tweaking an other wise regiment offense.

what is hungy?

 

[gmu2006]

what is hungy?

Just north of Serbia.