Is Cragg the right AD for the job?

Johnny Rapper

Johnny Rapper

Well-known member
OK, getting this discussion off the Nova thread, I know that many posters feel Cragg is doing a good job and I would like to know why you feel that way. As I’ve mentioned before, my take is this. The most visible aspect of the St. John’s athletic department is its basketball program. It’s what generates the greatest revenue to the school, with TV etc. and ties the alumni to the school, and many donations. That being the case, should not the success of the hoops program be what the success of a St John’s AD be primarily based on?

That being the case, consider this.

1. Cragg gives Anderson a contract extension in only his second year without him ever making a post season tournament and based on his success in a most unusual COVID season.

2. While no one really knows the buy out conditions if it’s lengthy and expensive and the staff once again underachieved and fails to make the Dance, if the school is stuck with a coach because of it, that may finally crush the school and its hoops program.

3. Cragg has failed to secure an adequate OOC for three straight years which has already impacted the teams post season selection as evidenced in Anderson’s second season.

Clearly these issue have severely hindered the success of the hoops program and does not bode well for the job Cragg has done. And I didn’t even mention the $hit show of the coaching search he orchestrated.
 
Johnny Rapper said:
OK, getting this discussion off the Nova thread, I know that many posters feel Cragg is doing a good job and I would like to know why you feel that way. As I’ve mentioned before, my take is this. The most visible aspect of the St. John’s athletic department is its basketball program. It’s what generates the greatest revenue to the school, with TV etc. and ties the alumni to the school, and many donations. That being the case, should not the success of the hoops program be what the success of a St John’s AD be primarily based on?

That being the case, consider this.

1. Cragg gives Anderson a contract extension in only his second year without him ever making a post season tournament and based on his success in a most unusual COVID season.

2. While no one really knows the buy out conditions if it’s lengthy and expensive and the staff once again underachieved and fails to make the Dance, if the school is stuck with a coach because of it, that may finally crush the school and its hoops program.

3. Cragg has failed to secure an adequate OOC for three straight years which has already impacted the teams post season selection as evidenced in Anderson’s second season.

Clearly these issue have severely hindered the success of the hoops program and does not bode well for the job Cragg has done. And I didn’t even mention the $hit show of the coaching search he orchestrated.
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While I'm certainly not happy with the job he's done with the basketball program, I too am curious to hear what he's accomplished in other areas. And please no more "he's a great guy".
 
monte said:
While I'm certainly not happy with the job he's done with the basketball program, I too am curious to hear what he's accomplished in other areas. And please no more "he's a great guy".
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Love it, Monte ! Is it ok to say “he’s a great guy for a Dookie?”
 
Johnny Rapper said:
Clearly these issue have severely hindered the success of the hoops program and does not bode well for the job Cragg has done. And I didn’t even mention the $hit show of the coaching search he orchestrated.
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I'm pretty agnostic when it comes to Cragg and his future here. I think he's significantly better than his predecessors. If he goes, he goes, no tears shed here.

But the shit show (it's ok to write out curse words) in the 2019 coaching search had little to do with him and everything to do with his bosses.

I'm not even sure Anderson was 100% his hire with all the back-and-forth nonsense between the board, the president and athletics.
 
MainMan said:
I'm pretty agnostic when it comes to Cragg and his future here. I think he's significantly better than his predecessors. If he goes, he goes, no tears shed here.

But the shit show (it's ok to write out curse words) in the 2019 coaching search had little to do with him and everything to do with his bosses.

I'm not even sure Anderson was 100% his hire with all the back-and-forth nonsense between the board, the president and athletics.
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This is pretty much where I'm at. And from what I can guess, Cragg probably has his hands tied from implementing alot of the changes he would like to. We already know how toxic the administration is.

So again, this is not to say Cragg is doing a good job. But i don't have any grand vision of someone coming here and being able to execute the changes that the fans want. Didn't we recently have an article shared here about how poor St John's grads donation numbers are? Cragg can't print money, he certainly can't get a new arena built, CMA wasn't his choice so I can't blame him for the team sucking for 4 years (and any coach who was hired was always getting 4 years to turn things around). The extension? We don't know all the details yet.

I say all that to say I don't expect the St John's AD to be a miracle worker. The issues here go well beyond that. Also be careful what you wish for. Remember the AD Anton Goff who was here before Cragg?
 
I lived in Raleigh for a while so I did really like him being a Duke guy. That said, I've definitely soured on him. Not really due to CMA (wasn't his first choice) but rather how he goes into hiding on social media when the team underperforms (aka winter). He's getting paid a lot of money and interacting during tough times should be part of his job.

Unlike CMA, I don't think he should be fired quite yet, but needs a short leash especially when it comes to our next basketball hire. I've heard he's making some progress with a new basketball practice facility, so we'll see how that goes.
 
room112 said:
This is pretty much where I'm at. And from what I can guess, Cragg probably has his hands tied from implementing alot of the changes he would like to. We already know how toxic the administration is.

So again, this is not to say Cragg is doing a good job. But i don't have any grand vision of someone coming here and being able to execute the changes that the fans want. Didn't we recently have an article shared here about how poor St John's grads donation numbers are? Cragg can't print money, he certainly can't get a new arena built, CMA wasn't his choice so I can't blame him for the team sucking for 4 years (and any coach who was hired was always getting 4 years to turn things around). The extension? We don't know all the details yet.

I say all that to say I don't expect the St John's AD to be a miracle worker. The issues here go well beyond that. Also be careful what you wish for. Remember the AD Anton Goff who was here before Cragg?
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I hear what you're saying 112 when you say "be careful what you wish for", and I'm not advocating for letting Cragg go, but honestly, how much worse can the basketball program get under another AD? 8th place, 9th place, 10th place or 11th place, it's all the same to me. Also still waiting for someone, anyone, to tell me what Cragg has accomplished here. Saying he's better then Goff is like saying "well, at least CMA is better then Norm" 😉 And dollar for dollar, Im not even so sure about that.
 
monte said:
I hear what you're saying 112 when you say "be careful what you wish for", and I'm not advocating for letting Cragg go, but honestly, how much worse can the basketball program get under another AD? 8th place, 9th place, 10th place or 11th place, it's all the same to me.
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I get it. But also don't forget, most of us may not care, but an AD has an obligation to all of the other sports teams at the school and not just basketball. Obviously basketball is the premiere program which generates revenue.

I still can't blame Cragg for wins and losses though. It appeared CMA was the best we could do at the time and he was brought in. It hasn't worked. We will see if Cragg is able to do the right thing this off season and move on from him.
 
monte said:
I hear what you're saying 112 when you say "be careful what you wish for", and I'm not advocating for letting Cragg go, but honestly, how much worse can the basketball program get under another AD? 8th place, 9th place, 10th place or 11th place, it's all the same to me. Also still waiting for someone, anyone, to tell me what Cragg has accomplished here. Saying he's better then Goff is like saying "we'll, at least CMA is better then Norm" 😉 And dollar for dollar, Im not even so sure about that.
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Agree, let’s face it, the basketball program is the main cog in the wheel, which can positively impact enrollment and fundraising. The AD imo should be primarily judged by its success or failure. I am not disregarding issues attendant to academic achievement on part of the athletes either.

I too am not advocating firing Cragg, but the “Buck stops here” philosophy seems quite pertinent to his future.
 
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room112 said:
I get it. But also don't forget, most of us may not care, but an AD has an obligation to all of the other sports teams at the school and not just basketball. Obviously basketball is the premiere program which generates revenue.

I still can't blame Cragg for wins and losses though. It appeared CMA was the best we could do at the time and he was brought in. It hasn't worked. We will see if Cragg is able to do the right thing this off season and move on from him.
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That's why I keep asking what else he's accomplished. I would really like to know. As for CMA being the best hire, as I've mentioned before, we'll never know whether he was or he wasn't, since the search was botched from the get go. Let me just say this, knowing what we know now, I have no doubt that for the same amount of money we could have gotten another coach who would have us further along after 4 years. And for a fraction of the money, we could have found a coach who could have accomplished just as little as CMA has. So either way, he was not the best guy for the job, in spite of how things looked 4 years ago. Someone is either a good hire or a bad hire. IMO there's no such thing as "the best we could do".
 
One point, whether Anderson was Cragg’s first choice or not he certainly was excessively celebratory when he brought him in. He bragged what a great hire he was and how lucky we were to get him, much more so then just as a show of support. The reality is when it came to the search and hiring of a new coach, Cragg had no more experience then any of our prior ADs. He was at Duke for many years where we all know there was no turnover in the hoops coaching staff.
 
Can't imagine that had we hired James Jones, he wouldn't have accomplished at least as much(or as little) as CMA has, and at a fraction of the cost. While I can't find actual Ivy league head coach salaries, they are a pittance compared to what CMA is making. Here's an interesting article from last year on salaries of NJ D1 coaches:
nj1015.com

How much do they make? NJ basketball coach salaries, stacked up

Among NCAA Division 1 colleges in New Jersey, Seton Hall head men's basketball coach, Shaheen Holloway is in the middle of the pack — but far behind the top two earners. And, what about the new FDU coach?
nj1015.com nj1015.com
 
otis said:
Don’t believe everything you hear.
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Hopefully his chatter is more prescient than your endless baseless speculation. When I post things that I have heard it is from people I know who know people with connections or relationships with people that are connected with the University and I know that doesn’t make it gospel but it is at least food for thought. You’re posts seem like strictly opinion as you never couch them in terms of “I have heard”. Correct me if I am wrong (PS others too post like they know something for a fact when they really mean in my opinion).
 
The interesting fact that always surprises me is that only 10 days elapsed between the day Mullin resigned and the day Anderson was hired.

One of the major problems (in my opinion) is that, during those 10 days, every single detail of the process was made public. Every candidate, every interview, every offer. For die hard fans, it made those 10 days feel like 3 months. And, for the press and social media, each rebuke became additional fodder.

Who knows if Cragg felt pressure during those 10 days to move quickly or if he genuinely felt CMA was the one. Either way, my hope is that something was learned from the experience.
 
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