Johnny Rapper
Well-known member
What came first?
While I realize that there is a push to upgrade facilities, and rightfully so, if one were to look at the facilities of some of the most successful college hoops programs, which came first, the facilities upgraded or the winning?
Consider Duke University’s Cameron Stadium. By all accounts, the stadium itself is a dump and was when Coach K got there. But after winning became synonymous with the program, the school then expanded its facilities to include beautiful athletic center and a museum like addition that houses the many accomplishments of hoops under Coach K’s leadership.
Gonzaga University’s McCarthey Athletic Center is a state of the art 6,000-seat arena that is home to the Kennel and the Gonzaga Bulldogs in Spokane, Washington. The $25 million McCarthey Center came as the much-needed upgrade from the former Charlotte Y. Martin Center in 2004. Mark Few hired in 1999 built the program into a winner in the early 2000s and the school committed to a new arena.
When you look at. the many successful college athletic programs of today, it was the success of the program that brought about the facilities upgrades and rarely the other way around. I believe that successful college sports programs are all about the leadership, coaching staffs, not the fancy gyms etc. Of course in these times the facilities of these programs go hand in hand with their success but let’s not forget, it’s the Coach of these programs that brought about that success and facilities upgrades to begin with, not the other way around.
I wish that the St. John’s Administration at the time of their greatest success in the early 80s, the Mullin era, could have had the foresight push for donations to make facility upgrades at that time. Sadly they may have missed the boat which may have contributed to the last 20 years or so of the programs mediocrity. Now it seems the school is in a position of trying to catch up which while a necessary push, in no way guarantees success.
While I realize that there is a push to upgrade facilities, and rightfully so, if one were to look at the facilities of some of the most successful college hoops programs, which came first, the facilities upgraded or the winning?
Consider Duke University’s Cameron Stadium. By all accounts, the stadium itself is a dump and was when Coach K got there. But after winning became synonymous with the program, the school then expanded its facilities to include beautiful athletic center and a museum like addition that houses the many accomplishments of hoops under Coach K’s leadership.
Gonzaga University’s McCarthey Athletic Center is a state of the art 6,000-seat arena that is home to the Kennel and the Gonzaga Bulldogs in Spokane, Washington. The $25 million McCarthey Center came as the much-needed upgrade from the former Charlotte Y. Martin Center in 2004. Mark Few hired in 1999 built the program into a winner in the early 2000s and the school committed to a new arena.
When you look at. the many successful college athletic programs of today, it was the success of the program that brought about the facilities upgrades and rarely the other way around. I believe that successful college sports programs are all about the leadership, coaching staffs, not the fancy gyms etc. Of course in these times the facilities of these programs go hand in hand with their success but let’s not forget, it’s the Coach of these programs that brought about that success and facilities upgrades to begin with, not the other way around.
I wish that the St. John’s Administration at the time of their greatest success in the early 80s, the Mullin era, could have had the foresight push for donations to make facility upgrades at that time. Sadly they may have missed the boat which may have contributed to the last 20 years or so of the programs mediocrity. Now it seems the school is in a position of trying to catch up which while a necessary push, in no way guarantees success.
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