New Facilities Update

dk423 said:
It's also good he doesn't have an ego, and doesn't mind letting Pitino basically run the basketball program.

I'm editing this to be clear, I'm making a compliment. Other personalities wouldn't mix well at all.
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Indeed, and while everyone has an ego to some extent, when you hire Rick Pitino you know what comes with it. There is a tremendous amount of unity in mindset and mission on what needs to be done with the basketball program. For the first time in seemingly forever you have President, AD, Legal Council, Board Chair and power players on the board all in lockstep of getting the basketball program back to where it needs to be. Now we just need to win on the court to keep the wheels turning.
 
dk423 said:
It's also good he doesn't have an ego, and doesn't mind letting Pitino basically run the basketball program.

I'm editing this to be clear, I'm making a compliment. Other personalities wouldn't mix well at all.
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Keep in mind Mike C. is super experienced with a hands on coach who got involved in a micro way with everything - Coach K, who remains a dear friend and has offered to help SJU in any way he can.

Cragg toes the line between being inclusive while having a very strong voice of his own.

Great posts Dk and sjudave.
 
SJUDave said:
I would just like to piggy back off this post and say Mike Cragg deserves a lot of credit as well. For whatever reason he's been a punching bag for some disgruntled fans, but many don't understand how difficult of a job he inherited and has to do. This project has been one he has been hands on with and has been working on well before Rick Pitino got here. He had a major helping hand in doing these types of projects at Duke and he deserves a lot of credit for helping get this here as well.
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I am a big Mike Cragg fan. Many posters criticized him for the failure to improve facilities overlooking the fact that during his first year at StJ's he presented the BOT with a detailed plan to upgrade the facilities only to be told that there was no money to do so, and it was not an immediate priority. His hiring of the lacrosse coach was hampered by the schools limited budget which excluded those with serious D1head coaching experience. He plays the hand dealt him well.
 
Cragg has done a great job. He came into a situation where every part of the athletics programs were old and in need of improvement. With the Pitino hire, more funds will flow to SJU and thus will enable him to update facilities, programs, public presence, etc.
 
SJUDave said:
I would just like to piggy back off this post and say Mike Cragg deserves a lot of credit as well...He had a major helping hand in doing these types of projects at Duke and he deserves a lot of credit for helping get this here as well.
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Agree... wish he could help make a DUKE game at the Garden come to fruition next year... They will be LOADED...
 
People criticized Cragg thinking he had unlimited money for these things. He tried to get things done but was only able to do so much with the donations/budget he was given. And he has done a good job with fundraising as well.
 
Over the last 25 years, how many ADs are better than Cragg? It's obviously not simple because a main part of their performance is tied with the President and Board of Trustees. But can anyone here really think this would be working out if we had Monasch or Goff (lol)?
 
I do not claim to be an expert on construction costs, so if someone is, can you tell me the cost difference between this structure versus a new on campus arena and what causes the cost difference? Thanks in advance
 
Knight said:
Cragg has done a great job. He came into a situation where every part of the athletics programs were old and in need of improvement. With the Pitino hire, more funds will flow to SJU and thus will enable him to update facilities, programs, public presence, etc.
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"Great" is overselling it a bit, don't you think? He was responsible for bringing in a recently fired CMA then extending him and let's not forget the very weak scheduling he would have signed off on.
 
Plenty of time, but curious to see if school creative/marketing eventually considers some rebrand to logo that gets incorporated into final phases of design & build.
 
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