Gonzaga

Sadly I see some parallels with where the University is right now overall. One can only hope that basketball can raise the profile as it did with Gonzaga.

http://www.espn.com/blog/collegebas...ll-program-helped-gonzaga-university-flourish
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Great article! There is no reason that the Gonzaga success cannot be duplicated at St. John's. Success breeds success. That is why I get so frustrated with some of the low expectations midset of some here whether it be regarding academics or basketball. I'm tired of justifying building from the ground up, of 5 year plans, of making excuses for coaches, etc. Get the job done! Be aggressive in your approach. Hire better talent around you. I'm tired of paying Ferrari salaries to coaches and being delivered Mazda Miata's to compete on the racetrack.
 
St. John's strategically decided to head in the opposite direction a long time ago. Whether based on mission, or just cagey business strategy, they decided to grow enrollment to take on a student population that came with hefty government subsidies.

Spokane is almost remote - a few hours from Seattle, and not really close to anything. It's not a thriving city. I was on their campus a couple of years ago. Students were friendly and accommodating when I asked for directions. It's Jesuit, so even 20 years ago, it offered a quality education - 1190 back then was still a decent SAT score so they opted for quality even as enrollments declined.

Obviously, the school invested in their program, but got very lucky with how Few worked out. We can't and won't replicate on court success to academic excellence. .
 
Private schools have to rely on donations so much more than state schools, or private schools with football. This is why it's important for St. John's to re-energize it's alumni & fan base (using a Lavin term) : ) But for whatever reason SJU has never had a strong donor base when it comes to alums, even former players don't contribute as much as others at similar schools do. Hell, I can barely get folks on here to answer a survey LOL. Hopefully the new folks leading the athletic department will help change some of this.
 
St. John's strategically decided to head in the opposite direction a long time ago. Whether based on mission, or just cagey business strategy, they decided to grow enrollment to take on a student population that came with hefty government subsidies.

Spokane is almost remote - a few hours from Seattle, and not really close to anything. It's not a thriving city. I was on their campus a couple of years ago. Students were friendly and accommodating when I asked for directions. It's Jesuit, so even 20 years ago, it offered a quality education - 1190 back then was still a decent SAT score so they opted for quality even as enrollments declined.

Obviously, the school invested in their program, but got very lucky with how Few worked out. We can't and won't replicate on court success to academic excellence. .
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It was really Monson as an assistant and then HC that put Gonzaga on the map. Few continued what he built. Gonzaga got lucky in that Few stuck around so long.
 
I had a second career as a college admissions representative and often had the opportunity to interact with colleagues from other schools throughout the country. It is amazing to learn how the success of a high profile athletic program can influence the number of applications that a college receives in a given year. Or how the application rate is negatively affected by schools that do not do well in high profile sports.

A friend of mine worked for the University of Michigan. I ran into him several years ago a day after they had beaten Notre Dame in football on national TV. He told me that that one single win would increase their application rate by at least 15% that year. And they get tens of thousands of applications in a normal year!!

That's why these coaches make astronomical salaries. A good season virtually ensures that the school will fill their freshman quota for the next year, generally with students of equal or higher credentials than usual. A bad season could result in the school not meeting their target number for freshman enrollment the following year.
 
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