Ben Jones article (link)

[NittanyLion15]

How many fans would wrestling draw to Rec Hall if the term was 0-9 in the conference?

4k-5k - There aren't as many matches, it's more of an individual sport, and central PA people are obsessed with wrestling. Nationally? Basketball and wrestling aren't even comparable. Unless you're in Ohio, PA, Iowa or Oklahoma poor attendance at a wrestling match isn't something people create a thread over.

 

[psudsl08]

Anyone who thinks the administration wants to be successful in basketball is naive. Think any of our big football, hockey and wrestling donors want a dime of resources being taken away from their sport of choice? We have no big money donors who care about basketball, and until that happens, we're going to be swapping one mid-major coach for another every 8-10 years.

 

[WDLion]

4k-5k - There aren't as many matches, it's more of an individual sport, and central PA people are obsessed with wrestling. Nationally? Basketball and wrestling aren't even comparable. Unless you're in Ohio, PA, Iowa or Oklahoma.

Wasn't close to that before they became a powerhouse.
Today high school basketball is more popular than wrestling in Pa. Many schools cant field a full team. I've been to matches this year were as many as six weights were forfeits.

 

[Art]

I'm pretty sure the BJC is getting overhauled as soon as we see an updated 10 year plan from Sandy... So It's not like they're not going to spend some money anyway.

Here, I just spent 20 minutes in photoshop designing a new Rec Hall.

Where's the updated master plan Sandy? Here I saved you some cash on the architect fees for a Rec Hall rehaul.. Free of charge

Has the timeline been accelerated? Thought it was supposed to be a twenty year plan, with the BJC and beaver Stadium coming a the end.

The current “5 Year Plan” is 40% over...... and the next shovel of dirt (or even committed plan to shovel dirt) will be the first.

Unless the BJC “overhaul” is limited to replacing some light bulbs, and installing warm-water bidets in the Administrative Restrooms...... don’t count on it.

Seems like the goal line keeps getting moved. The Plan was first announced, with no detail, at the end of 2015. Then some components were unveiled in March 2017. Believe that Barbour said at the time that we would see either detailed final specs and/or ground being broken on some projects in 2018.

I'll keep it simple: where is Barbour with her plan?

 

[Art]

Anyone who thinks the administration wants to be successful in basketball is naive. Think any of our big football, hockey and wrestling donors want a dime of resources being taken away from their sport of choice? We have no big money donors who care about basketball, and until that happens, we're going to be swapping one mid-major coach for another every 8-10 years.

You do know that when someone make a donation, particularly a very large donation, that the donation can be restricted for a specific purpose? Granted that other monies can be re-directed, but if I saw that happen there would be one extra-crispy athletic director and maybe a senior development person to keep her company.

 

[PaoliLion]

The problem with PSU basketball is all captured in the photo at the top of Ben’s article.

Fade away three pointer by bolton with someone in his face
No one remotely close to the basket to get a rebound or box out
Two PSU players on top of each other, making them trivially easy to defend

Complaining about BJC is like complaining about our uniforms...we have bigger issues to worry about. Until we start winning, the arena we play in doesn’t matter. They should suspend ticket sales until we get 7 wins in conference play two years in a row. They scary thing is that we may be worse next year sine we’ll lose some talent.

 

[fairfaxlion2]

The problem with PSU basketball is all captured in the photo at the top of Ben’s article.

Fade away three pointer by bolton with someone in his face
No one remotely close to the basket to get a rebound or box out
Two PSU players on top of each other, making them trivially easy to defend

Complaining about BJC is like complaining about our uniforms...we have bigger issues to worry about. Until we start winning, the arena we play in doesn’t matter. They should suspend ticket sales until we get 7 wins in conference play two years in a row. They scary thing is that we may be worse next year sine we’ll lose some talent.

The scary thing is that on paper we are way worse next year, and if there are transfers it will be even worse than that

 

[AWS1022]

Anyone who thinks the administration wants to be successful in basketball is naive. Think any of our big football, hockey and wrestling donors want a dime of resources being taken away from their sport of choice? We have no big money donors who care about basketball, and until that happens, we're going to be swapping one mid-major coach for another every 8-10 years.

Then let’s swap one out every 4-5 years and hope maybe we catch lightning in a bottle once every 10-12 years. No sense sticking 8 years with any mid major guy since that has proven not to work.

 

[OaktonDave]

never should have left Rec Hall

During the early 80's, Rec Hall was considered part of the problem. The teams weren't good and weren't fun to watch. Games against the Philly schools drew well (Terrance Stansbury was worth showing up for when he was at Temple), and people came out to see what kind of dunks Tyrone Corbin would put down when we played DePaul. Other than that, a half empty Rec Hall was the norm. I'm with the folks who say it's the program, not the building.

 

[Nittany Ziggy]

Agree 100%. The problem was likely that state dictating the size of the venue as a condition of giving the money. Maybe PSU wanted something different but the state wanted "x" square feet on the floor and "y" seating capacity. Those monster trucks need room to operate.

LOL! Let’s go racing.....

 

[NittPicker]

During the early 80's, Rec Hall was considered part of the problem. The teams weren't good and weren't fun to watch. Games against the Philly schools drew well (Terrance Stansbury was worth showing up for when he was at Temple), and people came out to see what kind of dunks Tyrone Corbin would put down when we played DePaul. Other than that, a half empty Rec Hall was the norm. I'm with the folks who say it's the program, not the building.

That reminds me of when nationally ranked DePaul visited Rec Hall in the early 80s when I was either a freshman or a sophomore. (Too lazy to Google it.) DePaul had Corbin as well as Philly native and next big thing Dallas Comegys. A double header was scheduled with the women's team playing Cheyney State at 6:00 or so and the men playing after. The student line to get in extended down Curtin Rd. past Pattee. We got inside and were directed to the west bleachers which were hardly ever used. The gym was packed before the women's game started. It was likely one of the largest crowds the Lady Lions played in front of and I guarantee Cheyney hadn't see a crowd that big before. The Lady Lions stomped them which got the crowd fired up for the next game. The men played hard but came up short with Comegys not being a huge factor. It was a fun night.

 

[kgilbert78]

It’s not the multi sport that is the problem, it’s that the design was skewed towards concerts and other non sport uses...

I think they had to go that way to sell it to the legislature.

 

[Howie'81]

The BJC would be packed out if PSU was a Top 10 team year in an year out. The problem is getting to a top 10 team.

I agree. I never really bought the arena excuse.

 

[Media Fan]

The BJC would be packed out if PSU was a Top 10 team year in an year out. The problem is getting to a top 10 team.

I agree, having been in it when it was packed during the early years in the Big Ten.