State of the program
posted by Pete @ LetsGoNova.com11/17/2006 03:13:00 PM
Dana Pennett O'Neil of the Philadelphia Daily News writes a long article on how close Villanova is to joining the national elite set of hoops programs like Duke, Carolina, Kansas, et al.
I tend to agree with the article's conclusion that we are right on the cusp of going national-elite. Villanova is now a national-level recruiting player. The piece correctly points out that even the recruits we didn't get speak well of the program, as several top prep players had Villanova on their short lists.
Another interesting topic raised by the article is venue scheduling. Now that Villanova is such a strong program, how should we balance the games between the Wachovia Center and on campus? DPO says Jay Wright and the higher-ups are considering a UConn-like arrangement, playing half their games on campus, and half off, with the toughest opponents on-campus, to benefit from a more-raucous crowd in a smaller venue.
Says Jay:
My take on this is that we should definitely schedule our toughest opponents on campus, and fill the Wachovia Center on our own name against weaker foes. I am not sure I would advocate a 50-50 split, like UConn. Instead I would recommend playing one-third of our games off-campus, and two-thirds at the Pavilion or whatever replaces it.
What are your thoughts?
I tend to agree with the article's conclusion that we are right on the cusp of going national-elite. Villanova is now a national-level recruiting player. The piece correctly points out that even the recruits we didn't get speak well of the program, as several top prep players had Villanova on their short lists.
Another interesting topic raised by the article is venue scheduling. Now that Villanova is such a strong program, how should we balance the games between the Wachovia Center and on campus? DPO says Jay Wright and the higher-ups are considering a UConn-like arrangement, playing half their games on campus, and half off, with the toughest opponents on-campus, to benefit from a more-raucous crowd in a smaller venue.
Says Jay:
"I don't know if we're at their level yet, but we're going down that line," Wright said. "How we mesh our place with the Pavilion, that's the final piece for me."
My take on this is that we should definitely schedule our toughest opponents on campus, and fill the Wachovia Center on our own name against weaker foes. I am not sure I would advocate a 50-50 split, like UConn. Instead I would recommend playing one-third of our games off-campus, and two-thirds at the Pavilion or whatever replaces it.
What are your thoughts?
Labels: Jay Wright
2 Comments:
how's the search for a possible doner for the Pavilion? Would be nice to have that in place this year so construction time line can begin.
From what I hear they are trying very hard to find one ... I think it is a question of how much naming rights are worth.
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