Whoa! Just checked chron.com and saw this from MK.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5621118.html

Big news. Seems like it came out of the blue. Admittedly, there were a lot of injuries this year, but I think it is probably for the best.

I do want to wish Willis and his family all the best. He's been a great ambassador for the university and actually I think it would be a great move to see if he wishes to transition into the fund raising department for the time being.

I also feel badly for his assistant coaches and administrators, who are for the most part 1st year folks.

But the bottom line is we do need a new direction with the new facility. I hope we make a good choice as his successor.

just curious...what was Willis making? what would Rice be looking to pay for a good coach?

Go Tigers!!!
Drew

Well this announcement leaves me with very mixed emotions.

Either way, though, I wish Willis and his family the best, and thank him for his years of service to Rice.

As a private university, Rice typically doesn't release salaries. I do recall seeing a few years back that Coach Wilson was making about $250K a year??

One of the names some Rice fans have been interested in seeing as a possible successor is Jeff Van Gundy, who lives very close to the Rice campus. He's someone who is used to making seven figures a year, so if Rice is serious about going after a big name coach like that, they're going to have to up the salary ante quite a bit.

gomemphistigers1 Wrote:just curious...what was Willis making? what would Rice be looking to pay for a good coach?

Go Tigers!!!
Drew

I have very mixed emotions, as well.

I probably got more involved in the effort to bring Willis back to Rice than I ever have been in any other Rice coaching search in any sport. I still think bringing Willis back was a better move than promoting Grey Giovanine (the two alternatives being considered at the time). Willis, along with Marty and Todd and Trent (who are all now gone, too) could not have been nicer to me and my family when we were privileged to take several trips with the basketball team.

Going back to at least the time of Knodel, I don't think Rice basketball has ever gotten the supprt it needs from the administration (and here I'm talking more about the athletic department administration than the university administration) and I've wondered what Willis could have done with the appropriate backing. I think CDC is changing the part about backing the program, and he has obviously decided that he needs someone else in the coach's chair for it to get done. I will support him fully in that decision, even though I hate that Willis has to move on without seeing what he could do with the full backing of the athletic department and the university.

That being said, it is hard to argue that a change did not need to be made based on the results of the past season. I know they didn't have much luck on their side, but this was going to be a bad year even if they had been fortunate. A coach with as many years in a program as Willis had here should plan well enough not to allow himself to get caught that short. It may have taken a perfect storm to get to 3-27, but some things can be managed better than to allow yourself to get caught in a position where that's in the realm of possibility--for example, you should be able to manage scholarships so that you don't get caught THAT short of scholarship players, even with injuries.

I applaud the players for hanging tough and playing with a lot of fire and effort. It was particularly gratifying to see guys like Beasley and Talbert step into the breach. But face it, from the start this season was a situation that should never have been allowed to happen. Some things were unavoidable, including the nomad status which had to happen for Tudor to become reality. But some of it was controllable, and that part wasn't controlled very well.

They better darn well be going after Van Gundy given the circumstances . . .

Fort Bend Owl Wrote:As a private university, Rice typically doesn't release salaries. I do recall seeing a few years back that Coach Wilson was making about $250K a year??

One of the names some Rice fans have been interested in seeing as a possible successor is Jeff Van Gundy, who lives very close to the Rice campus. He's someone who is used to making seven figures a year, so if Rice is serious about going after a big name coach like that, they're going to have to up the salary ante quite a bit.

gomemphistigers1 Wrote:just curious...what was Willis making? what would Rice be looking to pay for a good coach?

Go Tigers!!!
Drew

I'm torn by this. I like Willis as an individual. He is a gentleman of the game and I know he cares about his team. But, at the same time, I feel like this team (with this past year not counting for all the chaos that they endured) has underachieved under his leadership that last few years. I just don't see a lot of organization from his teams on the court on the offensive or defensive ends of the court. I'm not enamored by the "firing" aspect of it unless it comes out that Willis was unwilling to gracefully resign his post. I wish him all the best. He is a class act no doubt. But, this program needs a spark and he wasn't going to bring it.

Any idea of what kind of coaching search will take place? Or is CDC simply finalizing details of JVG's contract?

Wow! I thought he was a lock to come back next year. I understand the move but I hope we are ready to step up and pay market value for a good (whatever that means?) DI coach. I guess I'll just have trust CDC on this one.

The official press release says an immediate nation-wide search will take place. Pretty standard stuff.

http://riceowls.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl...08aab.html

I don't know about Van Gundy but I would think that this person would be considered...

http://www.arizonaathletics.com/m-basket...px?id=1494

I have to think that the figures that were more important than finishing 3-27 were the season attendance totals. I don't care where we're playing - crowd totals in the low triple digits are not sustainable. Interest in the program had reached an all-time low.

CDC has repeatedly said that basketball needs to be a revenue producer. Tudor Court is step one - today's actions appear to constitute step two.

Quote:Any idea of what kind of coaching search will take place? Or is CDC simply finalizing details of JVG's contract?

We could only hope so. How great would that be. I'm a football guy, and I went to school with Willis and he's a great guy, but it's going to be great to have a basketball season where there is actually some excitement brewing. Whether it's Van Gundy or not, we had to have a change in the basketball program. The obvious goal, assuming it's not JVG, is a Douchebag graham-type who's not an a-hole.

The following is my prediction for what us DMN readers will get in tomorrow's paper - as always I'm expecting the typical broad, expansive, exhaustive coverage that we've come to expect by the Dallas News on all Rice athletic news:

TRANSACTIONS:
Rice - Fired Head Basketball Coach Willis Wilson.

Any of you other Dallas guys think we'll get more than 6 words?

Fort Bend Owl Wrote:I don't know about Van Gundy but I would think that this person would be considered...

http://www.arizonaathletics.com/m-basket...px?id=1494

I would be very much against that.

Pastner will be a good head coach somewhere, someday. But if Rice basketball really needs the huge rocket boost, right now that CDC apparently thinks it needs, then it would be a bad move to turn the program over to a kid who has not yet left the cocoon of the college where he went to school. Let someone else give Pastner his first job that is not on the UA campus.

My knowledge of Wilson has been limited to what I've read and heard. That being said, there seems to be a general consensus as to the quality of his character and his genuine concern for people.

There seems to be considerably less consensus on his effectiveness as a coach. I am sure that CDC gave the matter much thought before coming to this difficult decision. It could not have been easy.
Some may disagree with CDC's decision to "fire" Wilson and would have preferred something more subtle and seemingly more mutual and amicable (e.g. a resignation from Wilson). However, I think that CDC needed to make a statement. He needed to make it obvious that Rice is raising expectations and that the administration is serious about it. A resignation quietly sidesteps the real issue: that 3-27 is not good enough, regardless of the schedule and regardless of injuries. Firing Wilson makes this clear in a very Jack Welch-ian manner.

With that, my heart goes out to Coach Wilson and his family. He has devoted a number of years in service to Rice University and that should not be forgotten. I wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.

wrysal Wrote:

Quote:Any idea of what kind of coaching search will take place? Or is CDC simply finalizing details of JVG's contract?

We could only hope so. How great would that be. I'm a football guy, and I went to school with Willis and he's a great guy, but it's going to be great to have a basketball season where there is actually some excitement brewing. Whether it's Van Gundy or not, we had to have a change in the basketball program. The obvious goal, assuming it's not JVG, is a Douchebag graham-type who's not an a-hole.

The following is my prediction for what us DMN readers will get in tomorrow's paper - as always I'm expecting the typical broad, expansive, exhaustive coverage that we've come to expect by the Dallas News on all Rice athletic news:

TRANSACTIONS:
Rice - Fired Head Basketball Coach Willis Wilson.

Any of you other Dallas guys think we'll get more than 6 words?

I would say we might get 8 or 10 words on the subject from Steve Lamb, the WBAP sports guy, but with it being Saturday tomorrow I'm sure we'll just get the usual drool from their weekend anchor lady. By Monday Lambo will be on to the really important stuff about how his alma mater OU did in the Big 12 tournament.

OwlSD Wrote:

Fort Bend Owl Wrote:I don't know about Van Gundy but I would think that this person would be considered...

http://www.arizonaathletics.com/m-basket...px?id=1494

I would be very much against that.

Pastner will be a good head coach somewhere, someday. But if Rice basketball really needs the huge rocket boost, right now that CDC apparently thinks it needs, then it would be a bad move to turn the program over to a kid who has not yet left the cocoon of the college where he went to school. Let someone else give Pastner his first job that is not on the UA campus.

Somebody else? Who's going to give a young kid his first D-1 coaching gig if not for a school coming off a 3-27 season and one that has suffered near-complete erosion of the fan base? It's not like we're going to let him succeed at some other school and then hire him away if he does well.

I think Pastner sounds pretty interesting given his Houston ties and his background. Surely CDC is quite familiar with him so if he decides that he's the right guy then I would be behind the hire.

I agree that it's probably not going to happen but I wouldn't mind if it did.

Rice93 Wrote:

OwlSD Wrote:

Fort Bend Owl Wrote:I don't know about Van Gundy but I would think that this person would be considered...

http://www.arizonaathletics.com/m-basket...px?id=1494

I would be very much against that.

Pastner will be a good head coach somewhere, someday. But if Rice basketball really needs the huge rocket boost, right now that CDC apparently thinks it needs, then it would be a bad move to turn the program over to a kid who has not yet left the cocoon of the college where he went to school. Let someone else give Pastner his first job that is not on the UA campus.

Somebody else? Who's going to give a young kid his first D-1 coaching gig if not for a school coming off a 3-27 season and one that has suffered near-complete erosion of the fan base? It's not like we're going to let him succeed at some other school and then hire him away if he does well.

I think Pastner sounds pretty interesting given his Houston ties and his background. Surely CDC is quite familiar with him so if he decides that he's the right guy then I would be behind the hire.

I agree that it's probably not going to happen but I wouldn't mind if it did.

We did pretty well with another Arizona assistant.

Fort Bend Owl Wrote:The official press release says an immediate nation-wide search will take place. Pretty standard stuff.

http://riceowls.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl...08aab.html

I don't know about Van Gundy but I would think that this person would be considered...

http://www.arizonaathletics.com/m-basket...px?id=1494

Really it's a Neigborhood not National search that's needed.

This is a move that CDC had to make. How can he, as the Athletic Director, allow a coach to move into Rice's brand new area after putting together a 3-27 record the prior year? We can't have excuses from people not to attend games next year, and WTW has turned off so many fans that this would have been an issue.

This is a great move on CDC's part. Yes, it's tought that WTW is getting canned after such long service to Rice, but it has to be done. I for one, would love to look forward to basketball season for the first time in a while

I'm not qualified to say anything about whether or not the firing was fair, but I agree with D1 - I just think it's a shame that a man of great character (and, let's face it, a lot of wins) has to be fired from his alma mater.

It's a painful move for some of us but a bold move by CDC and it's difficult for me not to think it's been in the works for a long time. One week after the season ends is as quick as you can do it in a professional manner. And it also means that all the heat is now on CDC. The next coach will be his guy (no matter what the selection process) for the program that he claims must make money. CDC is on the clock, but I'm rooting for him and this move gives me even more confidence that he's got a solid plan.

Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:I have very mixed emotions, as well.

I probably got more involved in the effort to bring Willis back to Rice than I ever have been in any other Rice coaching search in any sport. I still think bringing Willis back was a better move than promoting Grey Giovanine (the two alternatives being considered at the time). Willis, along with Marty and Todd and Trent (who are all now gone, too) could not have been nicer to me and my family when we were privileged to take several trips with the basketball team.

Going back to at least the time of Knodel, I don't think Rice basketball has ever gotten the supprt it needs from the administration (and here I'm talking more about the athletic department administration than the university administration) and I've wondered what Willis could have done with the appropriate backing. I think CDC is changing the part about backing the program, and he has obviously decided that he needs someone else in the coach's chair for it to get done. I will support him fully in that decision, even though I hate that Willis has to move on without seeing what he could do with the full backing of the athletic department and the university.

That being said, it is hard to argue that a change did not need to be made based on the results of the past season. I know they didn't have much luck on their side, but this was going to be a bad year even if they had been fortunate. A coach with as many years in a program as Willis had here should plan well enough not to allow himself to get caught that short. It may have taken a perfect storm to get to 3-27, but some things can be managed better than to allow yourself to get caught in a position where that's in the realm of possibility--for example, you should be able to manage scholarships so that you don't get caught THAT short of scholarship players, even with injuries.

I applaud the players for hanging tough and playing with a lot of fire and effort. It was particularly gratifying to see guys like Beasley and Talbert step into the breach. But face it, from the start this season was a situation that should never have been allowed to happen. Some things were unavoidable, including the nomad status which had to happen for Tudor to become reality. But some of it was controllable, and that part wasn't controlled very well.

I respect your thoughts on this, but I don't really agree with the point that coaches shouldn't allow themselves to "be caught short".

In particular, I think this board has seriously downplayed the impact the McKinsey Study had on recruiting and the perception it created for Rice during the period of time it was on everyone's minds.

There was a period of months when a lot of us were 'freaking out', so how do you think the high school recruiting community took it? Sure we continued to recruit, but would the classes have been bigger or incrementally stronger? I think so.

There was a period of time when it must've been abject misery to be a Rice coach and attempting to recruit while all the talk of 'Rice going out of the athletics business", or "downsizing" was going on. I know it was played up on other message boards, and other coaches used it to recruit against us. Frankly, IIRC, I would anticipate the results of those recruiting years would be felt most sharply this year and maybe next year.

So, no, I don't think any coach should've been expected to have planned their way out of the disastrous road situation and lack of decent facilities to practice, and on top of that all the injuries . . . . especially when our own Administration (through that 'study') had a role in hampering our coaches recruiting.

If JVG is not interested, what about another local former NBA coach, my neighbor John Lucas? No idea if he has any interest, but he spends his time mentoring and working with local players who want to make it to the NBA, NBA players who have fallen from grace and want to make it back, etc. I think he would be a fantastic recruiter in the local high schools and can make the case that he knows how to mold a player to make the NBA. Combined with a Rice education, perhaps he may convince a few high profile local players to come to Rice. Who knows, maybe the first one he could get would be his son Jai, who committed to Florida. His age would be a negative, but there are quite a few 60ish coaches in college basketball and a 70ish one patrolling the 3rd base box at Reckling Park.

OwlRon87 Wrote:His age would be a negative, but there are quite a few 60ish coaches in college basketball ...

According to Wikipedia, John Lucas will be 55 on Halloween.

Owl-madeus Wrote:With that, my heart goes out to Coach Wilson and his family. He has devoted a number of years in service to Rice University and that should not be forgotten. I wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.

I think this is probably the first post on the topic of coach Wilson that I agree with Owl-madeus on every word.

I would've liked to see the facilities in place 8 years ago and see what coach Wilson could've done with them, but at this time, I think this decision had to be made. How the situation is handled will tell me a lot about Chris Del Conte and his leadership.

That said, I am saddened by the news, and wish coach Wilson the best. I have many great memories watching the teams that he has coached over the years, and very much appreciate his accomplishments in terms of graduation rates and the conduct of his players.

Rick Gerlach Wrote:I respect your thoughts on this, but I don't really agree with the point that coaches shouldn't allow themselves to "be caught short".

In particular, I think this board has seriously downplayed the impact the McKinsey Study had on recruiting and the perception it created for Rice during the period of time it was on everyone's minds.

Rick, I respect your thoughts and judgement as well.

But I have to say that one big problem with Rice athletics is that we've been so willing to look anywhere for any excuse for poor performance for so long. A lame-duck Ken Hatfield recruited players under the same cloud that were key members of a Todd Graham bowl team.

If you want an excuse, try this one: Willis never did get the kind of support from his athletic director that was needed to build a top-notch basketball program. Ultimately, I think he got worn out from beating his head against the wall. If you want details, I can provide them, but I don't think this is the right forum for that.

That's not meant as an attack on Bobby. He did the job the way he'd seen Augie and Red and Bo do it before him, and they didn't give basketball the kind of support it needed, either. So it really wasn't Bobby's fault that he never understood what was required because he never saw anyone do it. That sounds somehow condescending or nasty, and I really don't mean it that way. I just don't think Bobby had anything in his experience bank to prepare him for what a 21st century athletic director needs to do. I wish he'd had a few years somewhere else, in a successful big-time program, and then come back to Rice.

I remember at one point, as nearly as I can recall this was a year or two before McKinsey, that Bobby took a fact-finding tour to Stanford. He came back totally demoralized by the size of the gap between the way they did athletics and the way Rice did. Sure, part of that difference could be attributable to Stanford's large athletic endowment. But the whole M.O. was different, and that difference just blew Bobby away.

CDC has been in a successful big-time program, and from my conversations with him I can tell you that he does understand what is needed. And in David Leebron he is working with a president who, while not the most vocal supporter of athletics ever to occupy the Rice presidency, has probably done as much or more quietly to make athletics successful than any of his predecessors.

I frankly think the McKinsey report is the best thing to happen to Rice athletics in a long, long time, because they finally documented what was obvious to many of us for a long time--When it comes to athletics, Rice simply could not continue to do things "the way we've always done them." We HAD to change, Todd Graham got the ball rolling on change, and CDC and Leebron are keeping it moving.

As we are changing, Willis is not the first dedicated employee that I'm sorry has lost his job. Saying he deserves better has some merit, but what he really deserved better was more support in 1993 and 1994 and 1995 and ... If he'd gotten it then, today might not have been necessary.

Just wanted to say that we are getting the crap ripped out of us by just about everyone right now. I hope this works out because right now, we look pretty bad.

d1owls4life Wrote:Just wanted to say that we are getting the crap ripped out of us by just about everyone right now. I hope this works out because right now, we look pretty bad.

Which groups are ripping Rice? The same ones that would have been complaining that Rice wasn't serious about D-1A if we kept a 3-27 and sub-0.500 coach.

d1owls4life Wrote:Just wanted to say that we are getting the crap ripped out of us by just about everyone right now. I hope this works out because right now, we look pretty bad.

How do you mean that? Who is ripping us? And what about? And for that matter, who is the "us" you mean?

I can see how people who know what Willis has had to deal with as far as lack of support from above would criticize us for cutting him loose just before we were getting into Tudor. That group would include many in the media, both in Houston and nationally. But I really am starting to think that what we saw this season is that years of banging his head against the wall has worn him down to where he may need to move on for himself more than Rice needs to make a change.

d1owls4life Wrote:Just wanted to say that we are getting the crap ripped out of us by just about everyone right now. I hope this works out because right now, we look pretty bad.

I suspect the vast majority of those ripping us haven't been to more than 3 Rice basketball game's over the past 5 years (I'm giving them credit for catching a couple of games when their "team" came to Aurty - Cougar Matt comes to mind.) Most of the pundits don't have a clue what's been going on with the steady decline of Rice basketball.

I'll echo the sentiments than Willis is a great guy that ran a squeaky clean program, but a change has been long overdo.

Anyone else find it ironic the night Willis gets fired, Michael has his coming our party for the Rockets? What an impresive 4th quarter effort by MH!

Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:

Rice93 Wrote:

OwlSD Wrote:

Fort Bend Owl Wrote:I don't know about Van Gundy but I would think that this person would be considered...

http://www.arizonaathletics.com/m-basket...px?id=1494

I would be very much against that.

Pastner will be a good head coach somewhere, someday. But if Rice basketball really needs the huge rocket boost, right now that CDC apparently thinks it needs, then it would be a bad move to turn the program over to a kid who has not yet left the cocoon of the college where he went to school. Let someone else give Pastner his first job that is not on the UA campus.

Somebody else? Who's going to give a young kid his first D-1 coaching gig if not for a school coming off a 3-27 season and one that has suffered near-complete erosion of the fan base? It's not like we're going to let him succeed at some other school and then hire him away if he does well.

I think Pastner sounds pretty interesting given his Houston ties and his background. Surely CDC is quite familiar with him so if he decides that he's the right guy then I would be behind the hire.

I agree that it's probably not going to happen but I wouldn't mind if it did.

We did pretty well with another Arizona assistant.

By that logic, Rice should hire the coach at San Jac.

All to best to Wilson in all his future endeavors.

d1owls4life Wrote:Just wanted to say that we are getting the crap ripped out of us by just about everyone right now. I hope this works out because right now, we look pretty bad.

Already? Who's commenting? All I see online is MB's article on chron.com.

I've heard multiple radio hosts over the past few weeks provide all sorts of misinformation about this situation. "Wilson has turned down many opportunities to leave Rice for greener pastures and he should be rewarded with the opportunity to coach in the new facility, etc." John McClain was discussing the situation earlier today on 610 and his ignorance was stunning in light of how confidently he predicted that "Willis Wilson will be coaching Rice next year in their new facility". If these guys want to take potshots at us without understanding the big picture then have at it

I don't think he was fired because of 3-27. I think he was fired because of the progressive loss of interest in MBB since his arrival. This has to do with results on the court and expectations not being met. I thought he was able to recruit very well given his limitations... it was his inability to utilize the talent that he assembled that was so frustrating. I don't see the point of recruiting even better players for the new facility if they aren't going to be guided along to their full potential.

I don't know Coach Wilson personally but without a doubt he is a good person given the unanimous praise that he receives from those in the know regarding his character. I wish him well and hope he continues to be involved in some capacity with Rice as long as he chooses to. This had to be difficult for CDC but I don't have a doubt that it was the right move at this time.

I shouldn't have said everyone. We got called classless by Fran Blinebury in his blog during the Rockets game. Just seems like every post I read in places other than here is making us look awful. I can't really understand that. My apologies for the uproar. But, I've got a feeling there are going to be a few more local sports people who make us look bad.

d1owls4life Wrote:I shouldn't have said everyone. We got called classless by Fran Blinebury in his blog during the Rockets game. Just seems like every post I read in places other than here is making us look awful. I can't really understand that. My apologies for the uproar. But, I've got a feeling there are going to be a few more local sports people who make us look bad.

The only ones they are making look bad are themselves since they have absolutely no basis for their comments. I can honestly say in my 30+ years of attending Rice basketball, I've never seen Fran Blinebury at a single game, many of which it was easy to make eye contact with everyone in the building.

Tomball Owl Wrote:The only ones they are making look bad are themselves since they have absolutely no basis for their comments. I can honestly say in my 30+ years of attending Rice basketball, I've never seen Fran Blinebury at a single game, many of which it was easy to make eye contact with everyone in the building.

The one upside to official attendance marks of 119?

stompclapwhoosh Wrote:The one upside to official attendance marks of 119?

The only upside!

Well, now that I've made an idiot of myself, I'll shut up now.

d1owls4life Wrote:I shouldn't have said everyone. We got called classless by Fran Blinebury in his blog during the Rockets game. Just seems like every post I read in places other than here is making us look awful. I can't really understand that. My apologies for the uproar. But, I've got a feeling there are going to be a few more local sports people who make us look bad.

I think you're right and I think it's because the sports folks who deal with other schools and with Rice have fully understood what some of our coaches have had to deal with over the years, as Owl 69/70/75 has alluded to.

To the outsider, they see a coach who has won 20 games, has produced several pro players (not just NBA), ran a clean program, graduated his players, is #1 on Rice's BB coaches win list, played 4 years for the school . . .

and endured the season from hell, . . . .

fired before they moved into the new arena he had campaigned for over his entire career, and built by donations from his teammates . . . .

Yeah, completely bewildering how they could view it that way . . . .

d1owls4life Wrote:Well, now that I've made an idiot of myself, I'll shut up now.

D1, we're not picking on you. I'm irritated with the idiots in the media/press that have been saying for weeks how wrong it would be for Rice to let WTW go before Tudor Palace opens. You know none of these dingdongs have seen more than a handful of Rice games in their lifetimes and have absolutely no basis to judge whether WTW has been doing a good job or not.

But when has lack of knowledge ever stopped one the these "experts" from offering his ramblings as fact?

Rick Gerlach Wrote:

d1owls4life Wrote:I shouldn't have said everyone. We got called classless by Fran Blinebury in his blog during the Rockets game. Just seems like every post I read in places other than here is making us look awful. I can't really understand that. My apologies for the uproar. But, I've got a feeling there are going to be a few more local sports people who make us look bad.

I think you're right and I think it's because the sports folks who deal with other schools and with Rice have fully understood what some of our coaches have had to deal with over the years, as Owl 69/70/75 has alluded to.

To the outsider, they see a coach who has won 20 games, has produced several pro players (not just NBA), ran a clean program, graduated his players, is #1 on Rice's BB coaches win list, played 4 years for the school . . .

and endured the season from hell, . . . .

fired before they moved into the new arena he had campaigned for over his entire career, and built by donations from his teammates . . . .

Yeah, completely bewildering how they could view it that way . . . .

Rick, your loyalty to coaches who have overstayed their welcome at Rice is admirable.

But Ken and Willis both needed to go several years before they did.

d1owls4life Wrote:Just wanted to say that we are getting the crap ripped out of us by just about everyone right now. I hope this works out because right now, we look pretty bad.

I personally don't give a crap myself about how those outside of the Rice community think about this decision. Most of them don't know what they are talking about and they don't support Rice in any other way, so why should we care. Do the Aggies or Longhorns care when we don't approve of their football players getting arrested? Of course they don't!!

I'm sorry for Willis personally, but I'm sure he will be fine and after awhile, change just has to happen.

I'm against this and I'm not one of those guys who never goes to games. We've been season ticket holders for 30 years going to at least half the games each year. My dad and grandfather were both Owls. I love Rice, but the commitment of the university to athletics is deplorable. I hope this day doesn't happen, but most people think the days of Rice in Div. 1 are numbered.

With that being said, expecting Wilson to do much more with what he had at Rice is pretty ridiculous. Playing in probably the worst DI facility in America for his entire coaching career has been hard. Heck, there are four or five high school facilities nicer in Houston. A budget that does not match any other school, administration that doesn't support the program, etc. etc. Willis is an average game coach IMO, but

Says here that the best Rice will do will be a stepping stone coach. Willis deserved a shot to get the team back on the right track next year. JVG is a pipe dream.

While those ripping us point to the fact that Willis has the most wins of any Rice basketball coach they fail to note he also has the most losses. I too could care less what those posting or blogging have to say if they haven't been to any or very few of the games. Jerome Solomon comes to mind as one who couldn't find his way to Rice unless he was riding with MK.

The program needed a change, there was no way that Tudor Mansion by itself was going to attract the excitement the program needs. I applaud Willis for his dedication and his efforts but in the end Willis just wasn't the person Rice basketball needs at this time.

Willis had a lot to do with the fact that there will be a new facility and deserved a season in the new house that he and his former teammate Bobby Tudor helped build.

B.S. move, CDC. "Thank you, and, BTW, don't let the door hit you on the way out?"

I'm stunned.

RiceAggie Wrote:With that being said, expecting Wilson to do much more with what he had at Rice is pretty ridiculous. Playing in probably the worst DI facility in America for his entire coaching career has been hard. Heck, there are four or five high school facilities nicer in Houston. A budget that does not match any other school, administration that doesn't support the program, etc. etc. Willis is an average game coach IMO, but

Says here that the best Rice will do will be a stepping stone coach. Willis deserved a shot to get the team back on the right track next year. JVG is a pipe dream.

Since this is your first post here, I'll take you at your word that you "love Rice", but the words above don't seem to be very loving to me. When I came to Rice, it wasn't because the dorms were the nicest or that I thought the profs would be nice to me, it was because of the education. I think there are at least two or three quality basketball players that would come to Rice each year just for the education and not for the facilities, but apparently I am one of the few who feels this way because everybody continues to talk about how bad Autry is/was to explain our lack of success on the court the last few years. Or perhaps my assumption is right and we do have the talent, just not the results... You said that Wilson is just an "average game" coach, but I guess that isn't the reason we continue to lose; it is the facilities, the budget, the administration, etc.,etc. Well, I personally don't know the right answer, but as I said above, sometimes a change is just necessary.

BTW, about 6 years ago I was laid off from my job after nearly 20 years of meeting budgets, growth targets, profitability objectives, etc.,etc., but industry factors outside of my control were changing our business profile, so headcount reduction was the result. I don't recall anybody (including me) getting righteously indignant about how after 20 years of loyal service, I was being let go. I have many friends who likewise have lost jobs in Houston's up and down economy of the last 30+ years, and I think for the most part we have all ended up just fine, so chill out, sometimes s*** happens.

Rice did the right thing.

Willis Wilson was a good guy from everything I've read and seen personally and sadly sometimes that is not good enough in this life.

However, Rice basketball was not an exciting product to watch. I followed Rice and would even attend a game or so every year simply because Im a degenerate for college basketball. I never had a reason to come back though because it was not an exciting product to watch. The casual basketball fan had ZERO reason to come to a Rice basketball game (at least prior to Tudor) and that was reflected more and more every year by lackluster attendance.

Those who say, "Willis did the best he could in this situation" are selling Rice athletics short. It only takes 2 or 3 players to turn a program around and even with some academic restrictions, good basketball players have played on South Main (3 NBA players come to mind). The goal should be to WIN, not be just ok.

Finally, Rice fans should ask themselves... was this going to be more than an 8-9 win team PRIOR to the injuries. Probably not. Teams have "down years", but the lack of talent on Rice was fairly obvious early on.

The comments from MK's article are just ludicrous.

Quote:Not fair. I hope the basketball karma hits them good for this.

Yeah, I think after 16 years of futility, we are getting some good karma back.

On a related note, why don't we go after Bobby Knight. Just kidding. But if we are throwing names around, I wonder what Rudy T. is up to nowadays?

Rudy T is scouting. I don't think he wants to return to any form of coaching.