Post by ptctitan on Feb 5, 2024 19:14:03 GMT -5
rbj - facilities alone won't change the program's trajectory. Neither will a branding change back to Detroit. But the college basketball landscape has changed significantly in the past 3.5 years. Now you have to keep recruiting your own players because essentially they are all free agents. So, we have to provide a competitive product. Ray and Perry never had to deal with this kind of coaching environment. We have to give our coaches some tools with which to recruit new players and retain key players. We don't need a $100 million+ athletic complex. But we do need some basic upgrades that we currently do not offer.
Our basic problem is that we have shoe-horned all these men's and women's sports into a pre-Title IX facility. If we are not going to build a practice and administration facility like Oakland, then we need a more efficient use of space in Calihan. And we need to consider things like building a new sports medicine and student health facility on the north end of the Fitness Center where the huge swimming facility was originally envisioned. If we upgrade the Titan Club room, then also make that space usable as an athlete's nutrition and eating center on non-game days. Provide meal plans for athletes that are geared towards their sports. And then add some bells and whistles to Calihan like a real Hall of Fame, a Cureton's Corner, a section honoring the 15 year legacy of Perry Watson, a section honoring Ray McCallum and his 2012 championship team. We need a combination of things together with better coaching and recruiting in all sports.
We have an excellent academic reputation. The Wall Street Journal rating had immediate positive effects - it quadrupled the number of applicants requesting an early admissions decision to about 2200 potential new students - up from a 10 year average of 500. We need to bring similar momentum to Athletics.
We don't need any more 5-year plans. We need a true vision for Athletics and someone passionate about it leading the charge. And that starts with the President.
Our basic problem is that we have shoe-horned all these men's and women's sports into a pre-Title IX facility. If we are not going to build a practice and administration facility like Oakland, then we need a more efficient use of space in Calihan. And we need to consider things like building a new sports medicine and student health facility on the north end of the Fitness Center where the huge swimming facility was originally envisioned. If we upgrade the Titan Club room, then also make that space usable as an athlete's nutrition and eating center on non-game days. Provide meal plans for athletes that are geared towards their sports. And then add some bells and whistles to Calihan like a real Hall of Fame, a Cureton's Corner, a section honoring the 15 year legacy of Perry Watson, a section honoring Ray McCallum and his 2012 championship team. We need a combination of things together with better coaching and recruiting in all sports.
We have an excellent academic reputation. The Wall Street Journal rating had immediate positive effects - it quadrupled the number of applicants requesting an early admissions decision to about 2200 potential new students - up from a 10 year average of 500. We need to bring similar momentum to Athletics.
We don't need any more 5-year plans. We need a true vision for Athletics and someone passionate about it leading the charge. And that starts with the President.