clodney

If we can't afford a $300k buyout then we shouldn't be at this level. Jeff Boals makes $581k, Groce makes $650k, and their buyouts are double Whitesell's. I've asked this for years but nobody ever seems to be able to answer it: Why are we the only school at this level that never seems to have any money? Everyone else is playing big-boy college athletics while we're constantly broke. Is it our lack of donors? SUNY funding? Our President's lack of commitment? What exactly is the reason we have no money for our athletic department?

Didn't we learn anything from DJ Ill Mix and the Swaggiest Bro-Coach to have ever Swagged? In-house DJ's are incredibly stupid, especially if all they do is play stuff like Cotton-Eyed Joe.

lol! I just had to repost this absurdity so all of the people who blocked you could see it.

I'm trying not to pile on JW in every post but one of my biggest fears is that these kids lose focus on the team element the way the prior class did. JW seems to let the kids run their own show and it bit us in the a$$ with Segu, Mballa, and Jeenathan. I really hope we don't see the same with this class.

That's true but that same "out of their minds" shooting is the primary reason we won the BGSU and Ball State games.

We can talk all day about the talent on this team but these results are miserable. The last time we ended up .500 or lower in conference was 10 years ago with Reggie still at the helm. There's not much more to say. We're back to Reggie days.

Betting by the fanbases of these 2 teams won't put a dent in the degenerates gambling these games. It's all based on perception, not fandom.

I actually think we win tonight too. We seem to play well against teams that like to slow it down. The students are finally back, right? We probably come out a bit over energized and sloppy but I think we recover and pull out a good home win.

As the half glass empty fan, I really hope this isn’t directed at me. I haven’t said anything during these in-game threads. As for the game, this team lacks shooters. We have a roster full of slashers but if nobody can hit an outside shot they’re less effective.

Glass half empty guy here. If we had we shot our season averages of 47%/33%/68% (2pt, 3pt, FT) then it would have been a 4pt game against Ball State. I'm not saying it wasn't impressive but it will be very hard to replicate and is likely an outlier. Prove me wrong tonight, boys, and go take down the Flashes. If they win this one I will be much more optimistic about our chances in Cleveland.

I really hope our athletic director doesn't think this way. Budget constraints never held back Danny White.

I had this pegged as a loss but like the bgsu game they exploded and shot through the roof. This was all started with defense in those first few minutes. It’s be nice if they could focus on that area and do this a little more consistently.

78% from 3? Who is this team?

People complained that we were too rough on JW for blowing games at CMU (#303) and Miami (#306) but now we enter a gauntlet of much tougher challenges. We have Kent twice which I'm counting as 2 losses since we have been blown out by every team of their caliber this year. We have Ball State, Ohio, and Toledo which I count as losses since they're all on the road. And then we have Akron twice which I'm generously counting as a split. Even if we manage to somehow go 5-0 in the other remaining MAC games (which is unlikely given our struggles) we would only end up 9-9 in conference and 13-16 overall. Those 2 losses are friggin' terrible! We could've been fighting for at least an 11-7 record. Who loses back to back games against sub-300 teams??

Incredibly light crowd from what I can see.

A win here would definitely keep the naysayers (myself included) quiet. Let’s hope for the best. disclaimer: I had a rough week at work and cannot be held accountable for my in-game remarks.

I still have my mighty maniac long sleeve shirt with the old bulls head logo on it. Those were great times that I don't think will ever happen again. It's a new era. New players, new marketing, new budget, and even a new arena (wooden bleachers!). You're only a new program once.

A couple things from my perspective. - "Won't show up for anything short of a top 25 team?" - You are severely underestimating the drop off that has occurred. We weren't even in the top-200 before this game tipped off. - "Are there fans who are actually afraid that the team might do well, in which case the coach they don't like would stay (or they'd have to change their tune?)" - Great question. I think it comes down to what type of fan you are. Do you want to shoot for the stars and have tremendous highs and lows? Or do you want a more consistent, mediocre product? After years of Reggie and then the roller coaster of Bobby/Oats, I can safely say I fall into the former group, and to me Jim Whitesell is a return to the Reggie years. Even if he creates a mediocre product and wins a couple games, I have no confidence that he'll take us back to the top of the conference. I have no confidence he will create a team that WVU is actually afraid to play. Maybe the reason we played such a tough schedule this year was because for the first time in a few seasons those big programs weren't threatened by us! The point is, I would rather we swung and missed with a big name. And to me, if we're serious about this program then a coach who doesn't win the conference in 3 years should be seen the door. That's how big boy college sports work. 3 years to win or show everyone that you have a path to winning. If you don't do it in 3, NEXT BULL IN. I didn't like the Whitesell hire but I'm even more upset that we gave him 3 years, he failed, and we are letting him continue with the rebuild. It shows that we are not committed to this sport anymore. That's why our attendance is where it is IMO.

I would argue the greatest brand recognition in the history of our school came just a few years ago when our basketball team was top 25 and one of the trendiest dark horses for millions of brackets across the country. Hats off to our ladies for crushing it but all of Title IX championships in the world won’t get that level of publicity back. We’re turning into just another Florida Gulf Coast.

Looking good tonight. Maybe our players want to prove the naysayers wrong and fight for their coach after all. Good on them. Keep it up!

#253 at home. Can’t lose this one. Don’t even make it close.

My opinion is that these inexplicable losses are no longer outliers in the data. They are a trend. We now have no signature wins and 3 really bad losses to sub-280 teams. We are at our lowest ranking in 2 decades only 4 years removed from the greatest team in UB history. Whitesell was handed a hot rod and he drove it off a damn cliff. In all true honesty, I'm more upset with Alnutt for making such a boneheaded decision and I'd actually prefer to see him fired over anyone. We all knew '22-23 would be a struggle with so many new faces but just a couple weeks ago many of us felt confident that our boys could compete with the top dogs in the conference. Now, I'm not even sure we're in the top half at all. We still haven't played a top MAC team outside of a struggling Ohio squad who we barely beat at home. I'm sure there will be chaos in the weeks ahead but I just can't picture us topping Kent State or Akron when we can't compete with CMU and Miami on the road. Those are the games you need to win. If we don't seriously turn it around I'm not sure what salvages Whitesell's job beyond a complete commitment from 100% of the roster to stay and build for next year. If any of them leave they should probably take JW with them. We cannot afford another rebuilding year. Our entire brand is on life support.

The only fans left don’t seem to care. Honestly.

Welcome back. You were quiet after the last game for some reason.

This team sucks. Plain and simple. We will not win the MAC and the only thing that matters is retaining players at this point.