A-10 open to adding a 16th member

[97spiderfan]

Is this simply a random unsolicited comment on Christianity at Liberty University or the suggestion there should be a litmus religious test for potential A-10 members? Way off the usual considerations for sports conference membership.

Well, Liberty is not your usual school. It espouses a set of core values that are diametrically opposed to the values of all of probably all of the other A-10 schools. So, I think because of that, that would certainly be a consideration if we were to consider Liberty, which we aren't going to because of those value differences.

 

[fan2011]

I mean, Davidson literally won the A-10 regular season this year and made the NCAA tournament as an at-large team. I'd say they've had some very talented teams. They were not making many at-large appearances in the SoCon.

My point is they also won the A10 regular season and made the tournament as an at-large in their FIRST A10 season. They already had multiple A10 POYs on their roster in their FIRST A10 season. Their highest rated team since joining the A10 was in the FIRST A10 season. This was before they had any benefit to recruiting for being in the A10 over the SoCon. Their recruiting has not gotten better due to moving up to the A10, they were invited to the A10 because their recruiting and performance was already at a very high level.

 

[VT4700]

Davidson's best team since joining the A10 was their first year in the A10, they had no A10 recruits. Their team included multiple all-A10 players already:

Jack Gibbs: 2x first-team all A10, 1x 2nd-team
Tyler Kalinoski: A10 player of the year
Payton Aldridge: A10 player of the year

I don't think their recruiting improve since joining the A10, it was already very good.

While I agree with EL that the A-10 should get you some better recruits than lesser conferences, Davidson was probably not the best example since they went 16-2, 17-1, and 15-1 their final 3 years in the Southern Conference, obviously with good recruiting and good players. And, like you said, they used these same players to go 14-4 and win the regular season title their 1st year in the A-10.

 

[plydogg]

Can we do this proposal?

In: Xavier, Butler, Temple, Belmont
Out: Duquesne, Fordham, St. Joe’s

 

[712_VT]

Look I don’t care what the school stands for and Liberty actually isn’t as radical as they used to be now that Jerry is gone. I care about how a program adds to the A10 competitively. They have outstanding facilities and take all sports very seriously. They would become a top A10 team not just for basketball but across all sports.

 

[Eight Legger]

My point is they also won the A10 regular season and made the tournament as an at-large in their FIRST A10 season. They already had multiple A10 POYs on their roster in their FIRST A10 season. Their highest rated team since joining the A10 was in the FIRST A10 season. This was before they had any benefit to recruiting for being in the A10 over the SoCon. Their recruiting has not gotten better due to moving up to the A10, they were invited to the A10 because their recruiting and performance was already at a very high level.

I'm not really sure what you are saying. Davidson was a top-level team in the SoCon, moved up to a better league in the A-10 and has continued to be a top-level team in the A-10. Are you suggesting that the A-10 was/is no better than the SoCon and that Davidson could have kept recruiting SoCon players and still finished at the top of the A-10 regularly?

If not, you would probably have to admit that in order to maintain status as a top-level team but do it in a better league, Davidson's recruiting got better, too.

Any time you add a team to a league, it's probably going to be a team at or near the top of its existing league, so of course it's probably going to have better players than everyone else in that league, which can translate into a competitive fist season in the new league. But to maintain that high level of play in the new league, it's going to need to recruit at a higher level.

 

[Wood Hall]

Is this simply a random unsolicited comment on Christianity at Liberty University or the suggestion there should be a litmus religious test for potential A-10 members? Way off the usual considerations for sports conference membership.

One of our posters said Liberty was no different than the other church-affiliated schools in the A-10. This is certainly not true.

 

[brooklyn brownstone]

EL - the point they are making is that the A10 "bump" in recruiting was nonexistent for DC because they were already at the level needed to compete at the top of the A10. The league did nothing to enhance their recruiting. Their best class since they joined was already on the roster when they were in the SC. I won't reread but think the original point was that the bump in ability to land great players can be overstated.

Ply - you want to dump St. Joe's, which has a good fan base, fairly recent upgrade to its arena and solid history of success, and keep Lasalle, which has a HS gym, no fans and no money to support the program? Did the Philly fans hit you in the head with a battery? I'm missing this argument somewhere.

Get Temple back, dump Lasalle. Please no Liberty either, that's also a terrible addition candidate.

 

[Eight Legger]

EL - the point they are making is that the A10 "bump" in recruiting was nonexistent for DC because they were already at the level needed to compete at the top of the A10. The league did nothing to enhance their recruiting. Their best class since they joined was already on the roster when they were in the SC. I won't reread but think the original point was that the bump in ability to land great players can be overstated.

if you subscribe to that notion, I would submit that very few teams actually reflect that. The ones that do are the exceptions, rather than the norm. Gonzaga obviously would be one – they aren't going to improve their recruiting if they join the PAC-12 because they're already a top-5 national program.

Perhaps you could argue that because McKillop was an institution at Davidson already, they were getting much higher caliber players than any other SoCon team could, I don't know. I still think they have gotten plenty of guys while in the A-10 who they couldn't have gotten if they were in the SoCon. And generally speaking, if any team elevates to a better conference, it's either going to start recruiting better in order to do well in that league, or it's going to keep recruiting at its previous level and sink to the bottom of the new league.

 

[97spiderfan]

Look I don’t care what the school stands for and Liberty actually isn’t as radical as they used to be now that Jerry is gone. I care about how a program adds to the A10 competitively. They have outstanding facilities and take all sports very seriously. They would become a top A10 team not just for basketball but across all sports.

They are just as radical, reference their 60 plus page student code of conduct, where blasphemous things like giving hugs or wearing shorts to class will get you an official reprimand and fine.

Plus I'm sure the A-10 is chomping at the bit to add the top TV market of Lynchburg, Virginia to its fold. We aren't adding Liberty, as much as you want to bark up that tree.

 

[SpiderTrap]

I think Liberty is too much of a jump - they are more likely to join the CAA rather than the A10.

 

[SFspidur]

They're an FBS football school. They're already headed to C-USA.

 

[Not-A-Homer]

Several disparaging comments about the SoCon conference. I can't quote stats, but I do from watching a few games that Chattanooga was strong this year. The quality of play in the conference championship game was every bit as good as the quality of play in the A-10 conference championship game.

Chattanooga, Furman, Wofford, Mercer, have all had some good teams over the past 10-years, AND all would likely be successful in the A-10. We must think pretty highly of the talent in the conference. Jake Stephens of VMI was at the top of Richmond's portal wish list, and Roche and Bigelow also come from the SoCon.

I know the NCAA committee only chooses the conference winner from the SoCon tournament, and that they don't get at-large teams in, but that doesn't necessarily mean that some haven't deserved it. The conference is a lot better than some here give them credit for.

 

[Eight Legger]

It’s true that the leagues are very close these days, but this discussion was about when Davidson joined the a10 in 2014. Its last year in the SoCon, that league was ranked 30th in the country and the a10 was 6th, according to RPI. Clearly a significant difference.

 

[spider fan]

They're an FBS football school. They're already headed to C-USA.

Yes schools that participate in FBS football are unlikely to join the A-10.

 

[8legs1dream]

Can we do this proposal?

In: Xavier, Butler, Temple, Belmont
Out: Duquesne, Fordham, St. Joe’s

Nobody is leaving the Big East for the A10.

 

[97spiderfan]

They're an FBS football school. They're already headed to C-USA.

Nail in the coffin by SF.

 

[whampas]

They're an FBS football school. They're already headed to C-USA.

Liberty will eventually leave most if not all A10 schools in their athletic wake. They print money and have an administration that places great value on athletics.

 

[Eight Legger]

No lies detected..

 

[urmite]

if you subscribe to that notion, I would submit that very few teams actually reflect that. The ones that do are the exceptions, rather than the norm. Gonzaga obviously would be one – they aren't going to improve their recruiting if they join the PAC-12 because they're already a top-5 national program.

Perhaps you could argue that because McKillop was an institution at Davidson already, they were getting much higher caliber players than any other SoCon team could, I don't know. I still think they have gotten plenty of guys while in the A-10 who they couldn't have gotten if they were in the SoCon. And generally speaking, if any team elevates to a better conference, it's either going to start recruiting better in order to do well in that league, or it's going to keep recruiting at its previous level and sink to the bottom of the new league.

I think they were getting some guys who could play at the A-10 level in 2012-2014. Were they before that? I don't know.
Could they get more of them once they were in the A-10? Likely...

 

[SFspidur]

Some dude named Curry I think? Maybe not A-10 caliber though.

 

[GKiller]

We did well w CAA recruits our 1st year. Beilein & Mckillop have something to do w those results too.

 

[plydogg]

Nobody is leaving the Big East for the A10.

Nobody said anything about realistic proposals, I just want something fun

 

[8legs1dream]

IN: Kansas, UNC, LA Lakers, Harlem Globetrotters
OUT: LaSalle, Fordham, Duquesne, VCU

 

[712_VT]

Liberty will eventually leave most if not all A10 schools in their athletic wake. They print money and have an administration that places great value on athletics.

Wish we would take the same approach. I bet Danny Rocco wishes he stayed over there. He kick started them and just think what they would have done if he stayed. There’s also another school I bet he wishes he stayed at…