VT4700 said:

Kind of a strange way to make a point. Any coach would have a way worse conference record if u didn't count wins against 3 of the worst conference teams.

Everyone loves drooling over Ryan Odom on here. VCU went 11-7 in the A-10 last year. 6-1 against the bottom 6 teams and 5-6 against the top 9 teams.

Click to expand...

From what I've seen of both careers, I think I'd take Odom as a coach over Moon. Odom seems to have the potential & ability to get to the upside. Moon is Moon, & 20 years says so. What you've seen is all you are going to get.

I know comments made about job security as an appealing reason to keep Coach Roussell were made in jest because of Mooney's 10 year contract, but I think that could be one of our selling points (job security, not giving out another 10 year contract). At the end of the day, we have no idea what his aspirations are, or what his family might want that factors in decision-making. But I've seen coaches from other teams I follow and support leave to try and go to bigger name programs and then underperform by those standards and ultimately get fired/become irrelevant after a few years. So the coach went from being beloved by a fanbase and having practically job security for life, to chasing a bigger team and then underperforming and getting fired. The grass isn't always greener. Not saying one approach is better than the other, but its something to think about. Same way Dan Hurley didn't want to leave UConn for the Lakers. I thought that was a great decision on his part. As far as I'm concerned, as long as Coach Roussell continues to do what he's doing (and I don't see any reason why that wouldn't be the case) he doesn't have to worry about job security. And as many discuss, UR tends to have longer leashes for coaches if they underperform.

Obviously, we should pay Coach Roussell whatever we can afford. The A10 is a very good basketball league and I am sure there is something appealing as a coach to try and be the next "Geno Auriemma" in the sense that one builds and maintains a program at national prominence. Coach Roussell is certainly continuing to build our brand and national reputation. Other than A10 basketball getting better as a conference, there's a lot to love about UR and the city of Richmond that I don't need to tell anyone on this forum. There's also a lot of good recruiting talent in the greater Richmond and Virginia area. For instance, Sanai Green is class of 2026 and top 30 high school recruit from Richmond. If we can get home grown talent and continue to build the program as we have, I don't see why we can't become a top 25 caliber program. We really need to give Coach Roussell whatever resources/NIL he wants to succeed. In my eyes, he is the best coach we have at UR right now across all sports. I hope he loves it here because we love having him here and this is his team for as long as he wants it to be. Richmond is a special place and there's no reason why we can't become a top women's basketball program in the country given A10 pedigree and recruiting in this region.

mr.spider said:

But we still lost votes since pre-season polls, right? After winning @Temple?

Click to expand...

Yeah, I don’t know… there was some consolidation as the ORV category dropped from 25 teams to 20 between preseason and last week. Maybe we didn’t beat Temple by enough? Maybe some coaches like to make a few dark horse picks in the preseason to make a statement and then go with more traditional picks once games start?

Only the coaches poll is explicitly mentioned, but they can use whatever they want, including the Stats poll.

Gallipoli said:

Melania didn't actually want to endorse her husband. Afterall, she was wearing Trump Shoes, two Trump Watches, a Trump hat and a Trump hair piece.

Click to expand...

i just find it fascinating situation for a candidate's spouse, let alone for that of a former president's spouse. She was paid to shill for him and his grifts?

Spiderwiz said:

Melania has been paid to appear at political events. What is the distinction being made?

Click to expand...

Melania didn't actually want to endorse her husband. Afterall, she was wearing Trump Shoes, two Trump Watches, a Trump hat and a Trump hair piece.

8legs1dream said:

imagine the publicity and national media attention that would come our way if we made that move.

Click to expand...

I know one thing...he would do a hell of a lot better than Mooney - no question!

8LeggedFreak said:

Make Richmond Basketball fun again

Click to expand...

Just ordered my MRBFA t-shirt. On the back is Hardt sleeping under the desk.

SFspidur said:

Fairfield game was not reflected in that week's polls...it came after those releases.

We've gained a bit in the AP poll...going from no votes to two votes (whoopee!) based on the Fairfield and Gardner–Webb wins.

Next coaches poll comes out tomorrow, and we'll see how much we increase from last week's single vote.

We may pick up some vote momentum with blowout wins over the next few games, but honestly, it's going to take until the second half of the OOC schedule to really get voters' attention.

Click to expand...

But we still lost votes since pre-season polls, right? After winning @Temple?

The QB put his helmet down and pointed it at the Spiders. What was our guy to do?

Click on the links below to listen to their comments.

Greg Gattuso, UAlbany
Chris Merritt, Bryant
Braxton Harris, Campbell
Ryan Carty, Delaware
Tony Trisciani, Elon
Trent Boykin, Hampton
Jordan Stevens, Maine
Kevin Callahan, Monmouth
Rick Santos, UNH
Vincent Brown, North Carolina A&T
Jim Fleming, Rhode Island
Russ Huesman, Richmond
Billy Cosh, Stony Brook
Pete Shinnick, Towson
Mark Ferrante, Villanova
Mike London, William & Mary

97spiderfan said:

Just make him the men's coach, problem solved.

Click to expand...

imagine the publicity and national media attention that would come our way if we made that move.

mr.spider said:

Why would be losing votes with dominating victories? Blowout wins, including by 23 (32 - 7 at halftime!!) over Fairfield who was 31 - 2 last year and receiving votes again as top mid-major. Plus a nice win @Temple.

Click to expand...

Fairfield game was not reflected in that week's polls...it came after those releases.

We've gained a bit in the AP poll...going from no votes to two votes (whoopee!) based on the Fairfield and Gardner–Webb wins.

Next coaches poll comes out tomorrow, and we'll see how much we increase from last week's single vote.

We may pick up some vote momentum with blowout wins over the next few games, but honestly, it's going to take until the second half of the OOC schedule to really get voters' attention.

Just make him the men's coach, problem solved.

brooklyn brownstone said:

A couple years ago I put together a breakdown on this board of Moon's records against the various A10 teams.

It showed that he feasted on the dregs of the league - as he should - but that the results against the better A10 programs, was where it all fell apart. The definition of sports mediocrity is mostly beating the weak teams and mostly losing to the good teams.

55% is the number that defines it all.

The sample size is going on 20 years. You don't need to know anything else.

It's clear the school would rather keep a barely winning coach that they don't have to think about or worry about, than to try to win on a regularly high level by moving on. The sample size is there. Nothing will change.

Hardt is absolutely the wrong person to think might make any move.

Nothing will change. Accept this the way the school accepts mediocrity in results in its flagship sport and you'll have much more peace of mind.

Click to expand...

And then to also add into the 55% is that we typically play 7-8 low mid major programs every year in the OOC. Schools that we have better talent, resources, league that for the most part of our easy W. So, then all Mooney has to do to get to his 55% is win another 7-8 games in conference. And again, half of our own league we have a tangibly better resourced program. So, most years he just has to fall forward to achieve his lifetime achievement mark of 55%.

Given the success he's had at three different stops now, he'll have no issue garnering higher-level offers we will have a hard time matching. If this season goes at least as well as last year, I imagine he'll have a number of options this offseason, and it all depends on what they are and whether he wants to strike while the iron is hot.

Do we dip next year with this year's seniors gone and he should take advantage now, or does he see sustained success where he can bide his time and wait for the perfect opportunity in potentially another year or two?

I will be very surprised if he's our coach three years from now, but I'm enjoying the ride while it lasts.

Gonzaga -9.5 over Aztecs.
McNeese -4.5
Delaware +3.5 hosting Bryant

brooklyn brownstone said:

OK, to cite myself, as of February 2023, Moon's record was 34 games over .500 vs Fordham, Duquesne and LaSalle.

3-0 last year makes him 37 games over .500 against those 3 (note: I don't recall if I was originally including A10 tournament play, but let's ignore that for now bc it will be a small number of games regardless.)

If my quick calculations are correct, Moon's all time A10 regular season record (taking out Peter Thomas's 2-4 record from Moon's count) is 168 and 137. 31 games over .500 (and also exactly 55%, lol.)

Against non-Fordham, Lasalle and Duquesne teams, he is 6 games UNDER .500

What can you say?

(Hardt: "I'll say EXTENSION!!!!)

Click to expand...

Kind of a strange way to make a point. Any coach would have a way worse conference record if u didn't count wins against 3 of the worst conference teams.

Everyone loves drooling over Ryan Odom on here. VCU went 11-7 in the A-10 last year. 6-1 against the bottom 6 teams and 5-6 against the top 9 teams.

Yeah - I am sure they like the area and school - whats not to love about UR. And honestly - if he makes back to back NCAA tourneys, and even if they win a game - he could probably coach here for a very long time and not have to worry about anything.

But its all about money and what the next job looks like. I am not in tune with women's basketball, but what jobs come open would play a role and of course the money they would offer. Like I have always said on the men's side - if the phone rings on at your desk and someone offers you the same job your doing today but is willing to pay 2x-3x more, you at least have to take that call and learn some more. I don't fault any coach for that.

GKiller said:

Anything else u could think of?

Click to expand...

seriously right? he is soooo close to connecting all the dots. Will he get there by March, stay tuned to find out! 😨

U can buy a ticket and then sell it for more than you paid for it?

@Eight Legger is this really true?

Side note this is apparently why all those Swifties go to Europe. There are controls in place with ticketing. My sister in law flew to Germany and saw her in concert & trip was less expensive than some regional US one.

GKiller said:

mr. spider, if I remember correctly, didn't u always say u were all in until we're mathematically eliminated from an At Large bid?

We are mathematically eliminated from an At Large bid

Click to expand...

Yes, you are correct UNTIL the NIL corrupted all that was school pride in college basketball.

In any case, you're right, we are mathematically eliminated well before Thanksgiving!

SFspidur said:

We had 6 votes in the preseason coaches poll, but dropped to 1 this week. No votes in AP poll either week.

I don't believe we've ever been officially ranked in either poll, but I'm not sure. We were getting some votes toward the end of last year, and I think we got as high as ~30 in the coaches poll.

Click to expand...

Why would be losing votes with dominating victories? Blowout wins, including by 23 (32 - 7 at halftime!!) over Fairfield who was 31 - 2 last year and receiving votes again as top mid-major. Plus a nice win @Temple.