You can stop all the "We want Brad Huse to go" threads

[John K]

In the 11-team Big Sky Conference, Montana State is better than seven teams in men's basketball and probably overall, along with UM, the strongest athletic department in the league. As an athletic director at a FCS/mid-major Division I school, what else do you want?

Oh, and I might add, how about not losing half of our returning players every year, so we're not having to recruit a whole new team every season? That would be a pleasant change. I have to say that I'm curious about your continued defense of Huse. Do you really believe the things that you write, or are you simply playing devil's advocate? I posted this in another thread, but I think it bears repeating...it's almost worse to be consistently mediocre, year after year after year, than it is to be truly terrible. Being truly terrible forces you to attempt to make positive changes. Being mediocre for an extended period of time lulls you into accepting the status quo.

[DicTater]

Huse is 93-117 overall, 55-61 BSC, and 2-7 in the tourney (both wins in same year). I wouldn't call any of those numbers "success". I guess, the problem is that over 7 years, there has been no improvement. Neither the players or the coaches appear to even want to be out there. I was at the BSC tourney, and it looked like the Cats really didn't care if they won a game, they just wanted to get the season over with. That may be the reason for the annual late season collapses and the defections. By the 2nd half of the season, everyone's going through the motions so they can get it over with. I don't know why, I have no inside connections, I just know what I see on the court.

I do know one thing. Re-upping Huse is just institutionalizing mediocrity.

[ilovethecats]

In the 11-team Big Sky Conference, Montana State is better than seven teams in men's basketball and probably overall, along with UM, the strongest athletic department in the league. As an athletic director at a FCS/mid-major Division I school, what else do you want?

Oh, and I might add, how about not losing half of our returning players every year, so we're not having to recruit a whole new team every season? That would be a pleasant change. I have to say that I'm curious about your continued defense of Huse. Do you really believe the things that you write, or are you simply playing devil's advocate? I posted this in another thread, but I think it bears repeating...it's almost worse to be consistently mediocre, year after year after year, than it is to be truly terrible. Being truly terrible forces you to attempt to make positive changes. Being mediocre for an extended period of time lulls you into accepting the status quo.

i agree john. i too have been curious as to where colter is coming from in regards to our basketball program. i think he does an excellent job for us and unlike some i don't think the fact that he grew up a griz hinders his work in any way. that fact however does make his take on the cats even more confusing to me. he knows first hand what a successful program should look like and he knows first hand that fans do not tolerate crappy play from the major sports. right or wrong...people care far more about football and basketball than the other sports. can you guys imagine what would be going on at um if their football team had the exact amount of "success" as our basketball program has had over the last 10-15 years?! it would be crazy!

so my question again is why should the cat fanbase be accepting of mediocre to bad play when we all know for a fact there is NO CHANCE the um fanbase would? as wbtfg said...i don't think our expectations are too high. maybe host a conference tourney more than once every 10 years. maybe represent the conference in march madness more than every 20 years. is that really too much? should we REALLY be fine with crap season after crap season because we happen to be in the middle of a lousy conference? i just can't wrap my head around this. and it seems to me that a life-long griz fan who knows about fan expectations would understand more than anyone that watching crap performances year after year after year after year isn't fun and eventually the fans will be fed up. in missoula it takes about a season. in bozeman it's been a decade plus and yet we're still being told we should lower expectations?! no chance from me....

[Colter_Nuanez]

In the 11-team Big Sky Conference, Montana State is better than seven teams in men's basketball and probably overall, along with UM, the strongest athletic department in the league. As an athletic director at a FCS/mid-major Division I school, what else do you want?

Oh, and I might add, how about not losing half of our returning players every year, so we're not having to recruit a whole new team every season? That would be a pleasant change. I have to say that I'm curious about your continued defense of Huse. Do you really believe the things that you write, or are you simply playing devil's advocate? I posted this in another thread, but I think it bears repeating...it's almost worse to be consistently mediocre, year after year after year, than it is to be truly terrible. Being truly terrible forces you to attempt to make positive changes. Being mediocre for an extended period of time lulls you into accepting the status quo.

i agree john. i too have been curious as to where colter is coming from in regards to our basketball program. i think he does an excellent job for us and unlike some i don't think the fact that he grew up a griz hinders his work in any way. that fact however does make his take on the cats even more confusing to me. he knows first hand what a successful program should look like and he knows first hand that fans do not tolerate crappy play from the major sports. right or wrong...people care far more about football and basketball than the other sports. can you guys imagine what would be going on at um if their football team had the exact amount of "success" as our basketball program has had over the last 10-15 years?! it would be crazy!

so my question again is why should the cat fanbase be accepting of mediocre to bad play when we all know for a fact there is NO CHANCE the um fanbase would? as wbtfg said...i don't think our expectations are too high. maybe host a conference tourney more than once every 10 years. maybe represent the conference in march madness more than every 20 years. is that really too much? should we REALLY be fine with crap season after crap season because we happen to be in the middle of a lousy conference? i just can't wrap my head around this. and it seems to me that a life-long griz fan who knows about fan expectations would understand more than anyone that watching crap performances year after year after year after year isn't fun and eventually the fans will be fed up. in missoula it takes about a season. in bozeman it's been a decade plus and yet we're still being told we should lower expectations?! no chance from me....

I'm not defending anyone and like I always say, I won't express MY opinion on the situation. I'm just saying what the athletic department's perspective is and playing devil's advocate to stimulate discussion. Mission accomplished.

The only thing worse that mediocrity is settling for it. I will whole-heartedly agree with that...

[ilovethecats]

and coming back full circle...if this is really the mindset of the department i think we have good reason to be pissed. i don't pretend to know the ins and outs of an athletic department and i'm sure a lot goes into all their decisions. this isn't fantasy football we're talking about. but at what point is enough enough? at what point do we look at the direction we're going and demand more? fan support for hoops is as low as i have EVER seen it. and it will be terrible next season. we've been fooled too many times thinking anything will change. and the poor kids that do decide to stick around under huse are going to continue playing in near-empty stadiums because the locals are finally just fed up.

[Old Skool Cat]

Definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.

[MSU01]

and coming back full circle...if this is really the mindset of the department i think we have good reason to be pissed. i don't pretend to know the ins and outs of an athletic department and i'm sure a lot goes into all their decisions. this isn't fantasy football we're talking about. but at what point is enough enough? at what point do we look at the direction we're going and demand more? fan support for hoops is as low as i have EVER seen it. and it will be terrible next season. we've been fooled too many times thinking anything will change. and the poor kids that do decide to stick around under huse are going to continue playing in near-empty stadiums because the locals are finally just fed up.

One hopes that someone in MSU athletics is reading this thread and sees what the attitude towards MSU men's basketball is from the group of fans that generally include those that should be the MOST enthusiastic and the MOST loyal and the MOST dedicated to following the team. When even your most die hard fans don't care all that much any more, that's a big problem.

I can't imagine that Fields is satisfied with the mediocre performance of the team every year or with the plummeting attendance numbers - so he must still believe that Huse can turn things around and build MSU into one of the top programs in the conference. Hell, maybe Huse does have the team on the verge of competing with UM and Weber. They've certainly got the players here who can do that, just look at the win over Weber and the two close losses to UM this year. What Fields should be concerned with, in my opinion, is fixing the problem of constant player turnover and the "building from scratch" mentality that we end up with every single year. That's not how you build a winner unless you're Kentucky and have your pick of the McDonalds All-America teams every year, so fix it with Huse or with someone else at the helm. Every time mslacat retweets something from one of our players' Twitter accounts, I feel like I have to peek at it through my fingers because I'm afraid it'll be the start of the annual player defection parade.

[John K]

and coming back full circle...if this is really the mindset of the department i think we have good reason to be pissed. i don't pretend to know the ins and outs of an athletic department and i'm sure a lot goes into all their decisions. this isn't fantasy football we're talking about. but at what point is enough enough? at what point do we look at the direction we're going and demand more? fan support for hoops is as low as i have EVER seen it. and it will be terrible next season. we've been fooled too many times thinking anything will change. and the poor kids that do decide to stick around under huse are going to continue playing in near-empty stadiums because the locals are finally just fed up.

One hopes that someone in MSU athletics is reading this thread and sees what the attitude towards MSU men's basketball is from the group of fans that generally include those that should be the MOST enthusiastic and the MOST loyal and the MOST dedicated to following the team. When even your most die hard fans don't care all that much any more, that's a big problem.

I can't imagine that Fields is satisfied with the mediocre performance of the team every year or with the plummeting attendance numbers - so he must still believe that Huse can turn things around and build MSU into one of the top programs in the conference. Hell, maybe Huse does have the team on the verge of competing with UM and Weber. They've certainly got the players here who can do that, just look at the win over Weber and the two close losses to UM this year. What Fields should be concerned with, in my opinion, is fixing the problem of constant player turnover and the "building from scratch" mentality that we end up with every single year. That's not how you build a winner unless you're Kentucky and have your pick of the McDonalds All-America teams every year, so fix it with Huse or with someone else at the helm. Every time mslacat retweets something from one of our players' Twitter accounts, I feel like I have to peek at it through my fingers because I'm afraid it'll be the start of the annual player defection parade.

Reading mslacat's post about Huse having a "closed door" policy was the final straw for me. I think that largely explains the inconsistent effort that we see from his teams (we beat WSU, and play UM very tough twice, while getting spanked by 30 plus points by bottom-feeder ISU), as well as the large number of defections. Contrast that with UM, where Tinkle seems to have a great relationship with his players, and has cultivated a family environment within their program. Huse said that he took being described as a "taskmaster" as a compliment, but I'm not sure that approach works very well with the athletes of today.

[CelticCat]

Definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.

I get the feeling that the results are expected and encouraged by the AD.

Team gets good grades and graduates (although I don't understand how with all the players that leave - does it hurt if they transfer?), and we somehow make the tournament every year. If that is all the AD wants, then Huse is your guy. And honestly I can't really argue with that. We are stable in terms of production (mediocre) and grades (excellent).

Now if you want greatness, excitement, and the fanbase to come back to the Brick, then obviously Huse is not your guy.

But the risk appears to be greater than the reward for the AD - we could very easily be worse with a new coach.

[bobcats35]

Bottom line; He can't coach, recruit, keep players, or do anything required of a sucessful D-1 program. Anyone watching the "Big Dance" would not even recognize the game as the same one played at MSU. The good teams actually know how to run the fast break, set screens, run the pick and roll, the give and go, pass the ball and set a screen and all the other things that make a team a success.
My season ticket seats will be empty next year, I already paid for them but why waste the time and gas to watch the same old sh-- again.
Maybe we'll get lucky and the Board of Regents won't agree with the goofball AD. He needs to go and so does Huse and all of his worthless assisitants.
No one in that program has a clue. Don't think Coulter does either
That's my opinion.

[John K]

Definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.

I get the feeling that the results are expected and encouraged by the AD.

Team gets good grades and graduates (although I don't understand how with all the players that leave - does it hurt if they transfer?), and we somehow make the tournament every year. If that is all the AD wants, then Huse is your guy. And honestly I can't really argue with that. We are stable in terms of production (mediocre) and grades (excellent).

Now if you want greatness, excitement, and the fanbase to come back to the Brick, then obviously Huse is not your guy.

But the risk appears to be greater than the reward for the AD - we could very easily be worse with a new coach.

I've wondered about that as well. How can the program have a good APR, with all the defections? Although, I readily admit that I don't understand the intricacies of how APR is calculated.

[CARDIAC_CATS]

Definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.

I get the feeling that the results are expected and encouraged by the AD.

Team gets good grades and graduates (although I don't understand how with all the players that leave - does it hurt if they transfer?), and we somehow make the tournament every year. If that is all the AD wants, then Huse is your guy. And honestly I can't really argue with that. We are stable in terms of production (mediocre) and grades (excellent).

Now if you want greatness, excitement, and the fanbase to come back to the Brick, then obviously Huse is not your guy.

But the risk appears to be greater than the reward for the AD - we could very easily be worse with a new coach.

I've wondered about that as well. How can the program have a good APR, with all the defections? Although, I readily admit that I don't understand the intricacies of how APR is calculated.

I think as long as they either re-enroll in another school <or> go to the NBA it doesn't count against the APR. I remember a piece they did on Kentucky where they were talking about that.

[John K]

Bringing him back for one more season is one thing, although I'm not even in favor of that, but PF wouldn't really sign him for another three years would he? In reading that piece from the Chronicle, it sounds like that's a possibility.

[John K]

Definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.

I get the feeling that the results are expected and encouraged by the AD.

Team gets good grades and graduates (although I don't understand how with all the players that leave - does it hurt if they transfer?), and we somehow make the tournament every year. If that is all the AD wants, then Huse is your guy. And honestly I can't really argue with that. We are stable in terms of production (mediocre) and grades (excellent).

Now if you want greatness, excitement, and the fanbase to come back to the Brick, then obviously Huse is not your guy.

But the risk appears to be greater than the reward for the AD - we could very easily be worse with a new coach.

I've wondered about that as well. How can the program have a good APR, with all the defections? Although, I readily admit that I don't understand the intricacies of how APR is calculated.

I think as long as they either re-enroll in another school <or> go to the NBA it doesn't count against the APR. I remember a piece they did on Kentucky where they were talking about that.

Thanks for the explanation. That seems logical, although I wouldn't normally use logical and NCAA in the same sentence.

[GRIZFNZ]

http://bobcatblog.bozemandailychronicle.com/?p=11605 He's coming back, according to Assistant AD for Media Relations Bill Lamberty. They're working on "an extension," Lamberty said. Fields and Huse were not made available for comment.

The rest of the BSC thinks this is great news, especially in the second half of the season and tourney time.
Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2

[grizzh8r]

http://bobcatblog.bozemandailychronicle.com/?p=11605 He's coming back, according to Assistant AD for Media Relations Bill Lamberty. They're working on "an extension," Lamberty said. Fields and Huse were not made available for comment.

The rest of the BSC thinks this is great news, especially in the second half of the season and tourney time.
Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2

Too true

[Colter_Nuanez]

Bottom line; He can't coach, recruit, keep players, or do anything required of a sucessful D-1 program. Anyone watching the "Big Dance" would not even recognize the game as the same one played at MSU. The good teams actually know how to run the fast break, set screens, run the pick and roll, the give and go, pass the ball and set a screen and all the other things that make a team a success.
My season ticket seats will be empty next year, I already paid for them but why waste the time and gas to watch the same old sh-- again.
Maybe we'll get lucky and the Board of Regents won't agree with the goofball AD. He needs to go and so does Huse and all of his worthless assisitants.
No one in that program has a clue. Don't think Coulter does either
That's my opinion.

First of all, it's Colter. Get it right, it's my user name and the byline on 276 articles on this site. Second of all, I have more of a clue than any of you ever will. I won't opine because I work with the entire athletic department professionally on a daily basis.

and coming back full circle...if this is really the mindset of the department i think we have good reason to be pissed. i don't pretend to know the ins and outs of an athletic department and i'm sure a lot goes into all their decisions. this isn't fantasy football we're talking about. but at what point is enough enough? at what point do we look at the direction we're going and demand more? fan support for hoops is as low as i have EVER seen it. and it will be terrible next season. we've been fooled too many times thinking anything will change. and the poor kids that do decide to stick around under huse are going to continue playing in near-empty stadiums because the locals are finally just fed up.

One hopes that someone in MSU athletics is reading this thread and sees what the attitude towards MSU men's basketball is from the group of fans that generally include those that should be the MOST enthusiastic and the MOST loyal and the MOST dedicated to following the team. When even your most die hard fans don't care all that much any more, that's a big problem.

I can't imagine that Fields is satisfied with the mediocre performance of the team every year or with the plummeting attendance numbers - so he must still believe that Huse can turn things around and build MSU into one of the top programs in the conference. Hell, maybe Huse does have the team on the verge of competing with UM and Weber. They've certainly got the players here who can do that, just look at the win over Weber and the two close losses to UM this year. What Fields should be concerned with, in my opinion, is fixing the problem of constant player turnover and the "building from scratch" mentality that we end up with every single year. That's not how you build a winner unless you're Kentucky and have your pick of the McDonalds All-America teams every year, so fix it with Huse or with someone else at the helm. Every time mslacat retweets something from one of our players' Twitter accounts, I feel like I have to peek at it through my fingers because I'm afraid it'll be the start of the annual player defection parade.

Reading mslacat's post about Huse having a "closed door" policy was the final straw for me. I think that largely explains the inconsistent effort that we see from his teams (we beat WSU, and play UM very tough twice, while getting spanked by 30 plus points by bottom-feeder ISU), as well as the large number of defections. Contrast that with UM, where Tinkle seems to have a great relationship with his players, and has cultivated a family environment within their program. Huse said that he took being described as a "taskmaster" as a compliment, but I'm not sure that approach works very well with the athletes of today.

I'm not sure where all this comes from. In my two years around this program, Brad is a good coach who cares about his players. Go watch practice. You'll see a teacher of fundamentals and details, not a "taskmaster" who refuses to talk to his players...Maybe I missed something, but I've never seen this kind of thing. Brad's door is always open to players, his staff and the media.

and coming back full circle...if this is really the mindset of the department i think we have good reason to be pissed. i don't pretend to know the ins and outs of an athletic department and i'm sure a lot goes into all their decisions. this isn't fantasy football we're talking about. but at what point is enough enough? at what point do we look at the direction we're going and demand more? fan support for hoops is as low as i have EVER seen it. and it will be terrible next season. we've been fooled too many times thinking anything will change. and the poor kids that do decide to stick around under huse are going to continue playing in near-empty stadiums because the locals are finally just fed up.

One hopes that someone in MSU athletics is reading this thread and sees what the attitude towards MSU men's basketball is from the group of fans that generally include those that should be the MOST enthusiastic and the MOST loyal and the MOST dedicated to following the team. When even your most die hard fans don't care all that much any more, that's a big problem.

I can't imagine that Fields is satisfied with the mediocre performance of the team every year or with the plummeting attendance numbers - so he must still believe that Huse can turn things around and build MSU into one of the top programs in the conference. Hell, maybe Huse does have the team on the verge of competing with UM and Weber. They've certainly got the players here who can do that, just look at the win over Weber and the two close losses to UM this year. What Fields should be concerned with, in my opinion, is fixing the problem of constant player turnover and the "building from scratch" mentality that we end up with every single year. That's not how you build a winner unless you're Kentucky and have your pick of the McDonalds All-America teams every year, so fix it with Huse or with someone else at the helm. Every time mslacat retweets something from one of our players' Twitter accounts, I feel like I have to peek at it through my fingers because I'm afraid it'll be the start of the annual player defection parade.

You're crazy if you think anyone in the MSU athletic department reads this board on any sort of a consistent basis. They have an account to promote things, but they certainly don't read the boards. So if you think the venting on here will change things, you are mistaken.

I feel for the apathy surrounding this fan base and this program. Like I said, the only thing worse than mediocrity is settling for being mediocre. But if you think I don't have a clue, you're wrong. You just aren't going to get a better coach than Brad Huse in Bozeman for $120,000 a year. Of the 65 NCAA tournament teams, only Oral Roberts, Southern, Northwestern State, Albany, Murray State, Northern Iowa and Montana have coaches who make less than $200,000 per year. Only Oral Roberts and Northwestern State pay their coaches less than Huse makes at MSU.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/g ... /flash.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And until the facility is upgraded, MSU will not beat the two top dogs in the Big Sky recruits. Huse brings in most of the same "big time" recruits the Big Sky powers do. Guess what? They all choose to go elsewhere and I'd say the majority of that has to do with facilities. On signing day, Rob Ash told me kids these days are really simple: they want to play for a winning program and they want nice facilities. That's it. The latter usually proceeds the former.

No dynamic coach who could turn this program into something like Montana or Weber is going to come to a Division I school and make $25,000 less than the women's basketball coach. It's just unrealistic unless you do what Montana did and hire a famous alum like Krystowiak, then Tinkle. Someone dropped Danny Sprinkle's name.

[MSU01]

You're crazy if you think anyone in the MSU athletic department reads this board on any sort of a consistent basis. They have an account to promote things, but they certainly don't read the boards. So if you think the venting on here will change things, you are mistaken.

I would disagree with that somewhat - I know at least one MSU athletics employee who is very well aware of what gets posted on here. You're right though, venting on here won't change anything and shouldn't change anything.

[John K]

Bottom line; He can't coach, recruit, keep players, or do anything required of a sucessful D-1 program. Anyone watching the "Big Dance" would not even recognize the game as the same one played at MSU. The good teams actually know how to run the fast break, set screens, run the pick and roll, the give and go, pass the ball and set a screen and all the other things that make a team a success.
My season ticket seats will be empty next year, I already paid for them but why waste the time and gas to watch the same old sh-- again.
Maybe we'll get lucky and the Board of Regents won't agree with the goofball AD. He needs to go and so does Huse and all of his worthless assisitants.
No one in that program has a clue. Don't think Coulter does either
That's my opinion.

First of all, it's Colter. Get it right, it's my user name and the byline on 276 articles on this site. Second of all, I have more of a clue than any of you ever will. I won't opine because I work with the entire athletic department professionally on a daily basis.

and coming back full circle...if this is really the mindset of the department i think we have good reason to be pissed. i don't pretend to know the ins and outs of an athletic department and i'm sure a lot goes into all their decisions. this isn't fantasy football we're talking about. but at what point is enough enough? at what point do we look at the direction we're going and demand more? fan support for hoops is as low as i have EVER seen it. and it will be terrible next season. we've been fooled too many times thinking anything will change. and the poor kids that do decide to stick around under huse are going to continue playing in near-empty stadiums because the locals are finally just fed up.

One hopes that someone in MSU athletics is reading this thread and sees what the attitude towards MSU men's basketball is from the group of fans that generally include those that should be the MOST enthusiastic and the MOST loyal and the MOST dedicated to following the team. When even your most die hard fans don't care all that much any more, that's a big problem.

I can't imagine that Fields is satisfied with the mediocre performance of the team every year or with the plummeting attendance numbers - so he must still believe that Huse can turn things around and build MSU into one of the top programs in the conference. Hell, maybe Huse does have the team on the verge of competing with UM and Weber. They've certainly got the players here who can do that, just look at the win over Weber and the two close losses to UM this year. What Fields should be concerned with, in my opinion, is fixing the problem of constant player turnover and the "building from scratch" mentality that we end up with every single year. That's not how you build a winner unless you're Kentucky and have your pick of the McDonalds All-America teams every year, so fix it with Huse or with someone else at the helm. Every time mslacat retweets something from one of our players' Twitter accounts, I feel like I have to peek at it through my fingers because I'm afraid it'll be the start of the annual player defection parade.

Reading mslacat's post about Huse having a "closed door" policy was the final straw for me. I think that largely explains the inconsistent effort that we see from his teams (we beat WSU, and play UM very tough twice, while getting spanked by 30 plus points by bottom-feeder ISU), as well as the large number of defections. Contrast that with UM, where Tinkle seems to have a great relationship with his players, and has cultivated a family environment within their program. Huse said that he took being described as a "taskmaster" as a compliment, but I'm not sure that approach works very well with the athletes of today.

I'm not sure where all this comes from. In my two years around this program, Brad is a good coach who cares about his players. Go watch practice. You'll see a teacher of fundamentals and details, not a "taskmaster" who refuses to talk to his players...Maybe I missed something, but I've never seen this kind of thing. Brad's door is always open to players, his staff and the media.

and coming back full circle...if this is really the mindset of the department i think we have good reason to be pissed. i don't pretend to know the ins and outs of an athletic department and i'm sure a lot goes into all their decisions. this isn't fantasy football we're talking about. but at what point is enough enough? at what point do we look at the direction we're going and demand more? fan support for hoops is as low as i have EVER seen it. and it will be terrible next season. we've been fooled too many times thinking anything will change. and the poor kids that do decide to stick around under huse are going to continue playing in near-empty stadiums because the locals are finally just fed up.

One hopes that someone in MSU athletics is reading this thread and sees what the attitude towards MSU men's basketball is from the group of fans that generally include those that should be the MOST enthusiastic and the MOST loyal and the MOST dedicated to following the team. When even your most die hard fans don't care all that much any more, that's a big problem.

I can't imagine that Fields is satisfied with the mediocre performance of the team every year or with the plummeting attendance numbers - so he must still believe that Huse can turn things around and build MSU into one of the top programs in the conference. Hell, maybe Huse does have the team on the verge of competing with UM and Weber. They've certainly got the players here who can do that, just look at the win over Weber and the two close losses to UM this year. What Fields should be concerned with, in my opinion, is fixing the problem of constant player turnover and the "building from scratch" mentality that we end up with every single year. That's not how you build a winner unless you're Kentucky and have your pick of the McDonalds All-America teams every year, so fix it with Huse or with someone else at the helm. Every time mslacat retweets something from one of our players' Twitter accounts, I feel like I have to peek at it through my fingers because I'm afraid it'll be the start of the annual player defection parade.

You're crazy if you think anyone in the MSU athletic department reads this board on any sort of a consistent basis. They have an account to promote things, but they certainly don't read the boards. So if you think the venting on here will change things, you are mistaken.

I feel for the apathy surrounding this fan base and this program. Like I said, the only thing worse than mediocrity is settling for being mediocre. But if you think I don't have a clue, you're wrong. You just aren't going to get a better coach than Brad Huse in Bozeman for $120,000 a year. Of the 65 NCAA tournament teams, only Oral Roberts, Southern, Northwestern State, Albany, Murray State, Northern Iowa and Montana have coaches who make less than $200,000 per year. Only Oral Roberts and Northwestern State pay their coaches less than Huse makes at MSU.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/g ... /flash.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And until the facility is upgraded, MSU will not beat the two top dogs in the Big Sky recruits. Huse brings in most of the same "big time" recruits the Big Sky powers do. Guess what? They all choose to go elsewhere and I'd say the majority of that has to do with facilities. On signing day, Rob Ash told me kids these days are really simple: they want to play for a winning program and they want nice facilities. That's it. The latter usually proceeds the former.

No dynamic coach who could turn this program into something like Montana or Weber is going to come to a Division I school and make $25,000 less than the women's basketball coach. It's just unrealistic unless you do what Montana did and hire a famous alum like Krystowiak, then Tinkle. Someone dropped Danny Sprinkle's name.

So you're implying that the two major impediments to MSU's improvement are facilities and the coach's salary. I know that the Brick is not ideal, but is it really that terrible? I've never been to a college game at any other mid/low major venue, except for MSU and UM, so I'm in no position to make a judgement about that, but I can't believe that our facility is among the 50 worst in D-I (which is where we ranked in RPI this season). And as for the HC salary, is it just not even up for discussion to consider bumping the salary up to a more competitive level, in order to lure some qualified candidates?

[wbtfg]

And until the facility is upgraded, MSU will not beat the two top dogs in the Big Sky recruits. Huse brings in most of the same "big time" recruits the Big Sky powers do. Guess what? They all choose to go elsewhere and I'd say the majority of that has to do with facilities.

Are UM's facilities THAT much better? I like their arena slightly better for bball, but locker room/weight room? Why are the MSU women competing (and winning) on recruits with Weber and UM?

Of the 65 NCAA tournament teams, only Oral Roberts, Southern, Northwestern State, Albany, Murray State, Northern Iowa and Montana have coaches who make less than $200,000 per year. Only Oral Roberts and Northwestern State pay their coaches less than Huse makes at MSU.

I don't think anyone is expecting MSU to put a national contender on the court. I think fans just want to be in the mix for an occasional BIG SKY CONFERENCE championship and an RPI somewhere north of 300. How many of the 320+ DI coaches who finished ahead of MSU have salaries in the ball park of what MSU pays?

Someone dropped Danny Sprinkle's name.

This....It sort of seems like a no brainer to me. I hear he would love to get back to Montana and may end up at Carroll College.