WH's Previews

[X-band '01]

#1 - Xavier Musketeers
#2 - Massachusetts Minutemen
#3 - Dayton Flyers
#4 - Temple Owls
#5 - La Salle Explorers
#6 - Richmond Spiders
#7 - Charlotte 49ers
#8 - Saint Joseph's Hawks
#9 - George Washington Colonials
#10 - Rhode Island Rams
#11 - Saint Louis Billikens
#12 - St. Bonaventure Bonnies
#13 - Duquesne Dukes
#14 - Fordham Rams

For the posters who don't usually frequent the A-10 board, WH is a longtime poster (UMass fan) who puts together annual previews on all the A-10 teams. They're very detailed and more informative than you'll see in any of the preseason mags out there.

[GoMuskies]

And so ends the DW era at Fordham.

[XU05and07]

And so ends the DW era at Fordham.

Airballs again

[X-band '01]

They need to end the Frank McLaughlin era at Fordham - Whittenburg is becoming "Fordhamized" much like Marvin Lewis is being Bengalized by the front office.

[nuts4xu]

The A-10 needs to end the Fordham era in this league.

[PMI]

Not that this hasn't been discussed at least a million times, but the A10 really needs to cut it down to no more than 12 teams, and I really wouldn't mind just 10, like they advertise. Maybe get rid of Fordham, St. B's, LaSalle, and Dayton for starters.

[MADXSTER]

Make it a million and one times now.

[jdm2000]

I thought Fordham was going to turn the corner a couple of years ago. Apparently they turned two more corners and ended up right back where they were.

[GuyFawkes38]

Not that this hasn't been discussed at least a million times, but the A10 really needs to cut it down to no more than 12 teams, and I really wouldn't mind just 10, like they advertise. Maybe get rid of Fordham, St. B's, LaSalle, and Dayton for starters.

It makes sense for St. Bonaventure to leave the conference (both from the A10's and St. B's perspective).

As for Lasalle, the situation is more mixed.

As for Fordham, the school has too many positives (a Jesuit school with great academics, in the largest media market in the country, which has been able to attract high profile coaches). If the facilities improve slightly, they should be able to attract a lot of talent.

[muskienick]

Despite the fact that LaSalle's stock is rising due to the quality of its present head coach, three programs from the same City in the A-10 is at least one too many. And no one in his right mind would suggest that St. Joe's or Temple be excluded from the A-10 lineup before LaSalle.

For years we have had to endure the whining by those in the Eastern half of the Conference that they cannot draw larger fan interest to their teams due to the competition for the sports entertainment dollar in the larger cities. Philly points to its having 5-6 D-1 basketball programs as well as both the Flyers and 76er's to contend with. To that one might respond that both Villanova and Temple have proven that false (Villanova more traditionally and recently than Temple).

Fordham fans point to the equally large number of NY/NJ/Conn area D-1 programs, the NHL's Devils and Rangers and the NBA's Nets and Knicks, and the high cost of real estate in the area as some of its many stumbling blocks toward national prominence in college basketball.

GW fans have also used the high cost of real estate as their usual excuse for their program not being able to upgrade to a facility that could cause the Colonials to be a more relevant rival to the Georgetown Hoyas.

The fans of UMass and URI have usually come to the defense of their eastern bretheren when any of the more "hayseed" element of the A-10 question the commitment of the Philly, DC, and NYC A-10 members. None of those folks will ever concede the fact that their metro populations generally dwarf those of Cincy, Dayton, St. Louis, and Charlotte. Furthermore, Charlotte and St. Louis both draw quite well while competing with either an NBA or NHL franchise as well as other D-1 basketball programs in the erea. UD and Xavier always lead the A-10 in attendance figures while competing with pro hockey teams and in-town D-1 programs (each with arenas bigger and better than any eastern A-10 program except Temple) in mid- to high-level D-1 leagues.

Complacency by some of its members and the lack of solid leadership, innovative efforts, and tough standards by the A-10 "Central Command" have stunted the growth potential of our League. One can only hope that the new leadership of the A-10 under Commissioner McGlade and the League's new President Council President, Fr. Michael Graham, will get the ship righted.