But what's the plan

[JoeFedorowicz]

I want to start off by saying that this is not a thread that is an indictment of Fran Dunphy. He's forgotten more about basketball then I'll ever know and his presence on the team was a real godsend when the school needed someone established but inexpensive. He really does love the school and he is working his butt off to make the team as good as he can. There, established that premise.

I was going to wait until after the season to write this thread, but the debacle that was last night...when La Salle lost to the worst team in the Atlantic 10 in a game that was never, ever close...I wanted to get my thoughts on paper. What is the plan for after Fran and how soon are we nearing that point?

The Tom Gola 2.0 account, who I do not know, posted this last night:

I replied with a simple "Why." There was a single reply from an account that might be Lionel Simmons that said this:

We always do this as a school and as a fanbase. And seeing this reply got me thinking as to what the plan is for this team and the coach of this team in the next one-three-five-ten years. Sorry for another long post.

I've been very clear about my thoughts regarding La Salle and the Atlantic 10 over the last 5-7 years. You can read about it here and here. I think the school is in the wrong conference and I think that, from a men's basketball standpoint, La Salle connot succeed in an NIL world against the other teams in this conference. All of the talk of the collective and getting money together...the money isn't there. La Salle has some big-ish donors, but they don't have McGuire and Hagan like at Joe's. They don't have what Villanova has. They don't have what Fordham has. Or Duquesne. It's just not there both because the alumni base is different than those places and the basketball team has had only one bright spot in almost 35 years.

And none of this is Fran's fault. When the Ash Howard tenure became untenable, and from what I hear it had been untenable for some time, Fran stepped up and helped his school by taking a shit job he didn't need for what I can only assume is below market rate. I know he loves coaching. And La Salle was on the hook for millions for a coach they didn't want after being just off the hook for their last coach. It was a mess and Dunphy stepped up.

But what's the plan?

Fran Dunphy is 75-years-old. And I am not making the argument that his age is a prohibitive reason that he cannot coach, but is he the oldest coach in D1 basketball? He cannot, literally, do this forever. And at some point the school has to stop finishing where they are finishing. There was a minor discussion on a different thread about what expectations were and whether a 12-seed finish would be considered a success for La Salle who was picked to finish 15th. It looks like the school will actually finish 15th now, but is a bottom-four finish the ceiling that we're setting for ourselves? And most of that is the conference and what I perceive to be La Salle's misplacement in it.

But what's the plan?

If that tweet is correct (and I don't think there's evidence one way or another) and Fran is certainly going to coach the team next year...does he have an endless runway? Maybe he does and maybe that's ok. I'm actually not going to make an argument one way or another, but I will say what I said when they hired him: the situation is not a normal one. And perhaps La Salle can't do normal because of the state of everything. But the hire was abnormal and, if the runway is endless, the retention forever is also abnormal.

Last season, La Salle was 15-19. This year, they're looking to be slight worse than that having played a schedule that should be easier than last year...when it was the easiest SOS they had since 2006-07. You look at the roster and there are bright spots but they seem like tiny ones very far away. There is no certainty that they will ever get bigger or brighter. Following the Joe's game, everyone was ready to make Brickus the main cog, which he probably is anyway, but yesterday he went 1-6 for two points in 37 minutes. There are a couple exciting newcomers next year...but how exciting? As mentioned elsewhere recently, we often overrate the guys coming in. We're not in the running for many 3* recruits anymore. Maybe we never were.

But what's the plan?

Brian Baptiste didn't get to pick a coach. He came in after Ash was hired and circumstances that we mentioned earlier brought Fran in. Now we have Ash Puri, who I've never met but have been incredibly impressed by in his statements and the couple filmed speeches I've seen. I like some of the moves he's made with the staff. The people I talk to in the building like the direction. But going back to the tweet from Lionel...is he going to get to pick a coach?

La Salle isn't hiring an Ash Howard again. You guys might say "WELL I HOPE SO", but I mean they aren't hiring the best name available to them for more money then they can likely afford. I also don't want to be restrained to someone that has to sit for a year under Fran. When Fran is ready to hang it up, should he be consulted on whom he believes should be the next person to lead his alma mater? CERTAINLY. But there are 100s of low-level D1 and not-D1 coaches who would pounce at the opportunity to coach at La Salle and the school pays Ash Puri and his staff to locate and land that person.

The biggest question mark is the renovation. Are shovels in the ground in March? Is the school playing home games in November? In January? Will it make a marketable difference in recruiting? In attendance? To how the games look on my television? Will it spur donations? Or more NIL money? Will a bad Power 6 team want to come play here? Is it going to be marketed in a way that says to the city's college basketball fans: "COME WATCH US PLAY." I don't know about any of that because details are thin.

But what's the plan?

So I'll probably have more on this in the offseason. And who knows, maybe the team wins a few games in the A10 tournament and we all feel different than we do right now. At the moment, I just don't know how I feel about the direction and the next year or five for the Explorers. I feel like we need to know more about the next steps. Does Fran plan on staying for five more years? Until the renovations settle and he can hand the program off? Until a stead pipeline of international recruits is fully established? I don't know.

But what's the plan?

---

_{p.s. Anything to push this thread off of topic specifically around the shooting of three pointers will be deleted. There will be no warning, but a second post by the same user will result in a suspension of posting privileges. If you want to mock what I think the team should be doing from a basketball standpoint, do it on an appropriate thread or create your own thread to mock me. This might seem heavy-handed, but I don't care. You can certainly complain about it on the other La Salle Basketball message board. Thanks.}

[mookie]

Lot to unpack there but I would simply say, we are the worst program in the A10 instead of we got trashed “by the worst team in the Atlantic 10”.

Last night was actually the only game where I had the team with a greater than 50% chance of winning. The rest of the games were, and now, are likely Ls in my opinion.

[JoeFedorowicz]

Feb 8, 2024 10:24:24 GMT -5 mookie said:

Lot to unpack there but I would simply say, we are the worst program in the A10 instead of we got trashed “by the worst team in the Atlantic 10”.

The former worst team in the A10 beat the new worst team in the A10 in their house by 20+ in a game that was never close.

[bigjohnny2]

I think a lot of this get decided next season after we open the new arena. Maybe Fran was like "I did my job"
- got the arena done, and he moves on, or maybe not. It will be dependent on what attendance looks like, can we recruit in this new setting, and if not, we have to look at what our future might truly be.

I think your post is thoughtful, and are things to really think about. There is no question you care.

I really think it comes down to the next season. According to Ash last night, the place will be open in September.

Fran's plan is Fran's and Ash's. I don't think we will know that answer for a little while.

[giveansk1]

I feel better about La Salle basketball than I did two years ago. I'm not sure why there is so much panic and angst relative to how all but a couple years have gone this century. While expectations are low for the arena renovation, it is happening even if details are limited.

I know some people want to drop down leagues but I'm not one of them. I don't trust La Salle to drop down and take advantage of it so I'd rather stay in the A10 until the next round of realignment where naturally La Salle will sink further without all the negative press that will come with dropping down.

There should have been an informal succession plan in place for Dunphy from the day he was hired and despite the rumors from Trilly Dononvan, its hard to imagine there being anyone on staff being in line to be the head coach.

I'd love to see a major pay for play initiative that would help La Salle be more competitive in Philadelphia while the city 6 is all down. I would proudly donate some chump change to this if 100% went to the players.

[explorer88]

I actually have no answer to last night. A team that is undermanned has played hard all season completely looked disinterested last night. I am sure Fran talked to them about a big let down after an emotional game we lost on Saturday but that did not work.

Big question I have is how does this team respond? Do they fight hard and possibly steal a couple of wins with a schedule that isn't overwhelming after Saturday? Or are they checking out the rest of the season?

To me that, will really dictate what happens to this program moving forward. If they compete and play hard I think there is a chance Dunphy can get some players to stay that he wants to stay. Regardless we are obviously going to get some turnover. I do fear if they don't play hard and check out the rest of the year we have another mass exodus which Dunphy will not recover from. We cannot turnover our roster and sign 6-7 transfers. I just won't happen.

2 guys signed but Dunphy needs scholarships to replace any who leaves and needs experienced players. Preferably experienced D-1 players. I know we are scouting JUCO and D-2 hard but they are hit and miss usually. I would prefer 2-3 D-1 players in the transfer portal. Dunphy needs to beg, borrow, and steal anyway he can to get these players.

Otherwise I am worried he will not feel he can turn it around. I think Dunphy wants to leave the program on stable ground if there is any possibility he can. He has 2 things working against him right now - (1) How does he get experienced players to commit to him, (2) Who on that bench would you leave the team to?

Tall order for a great coach. This is his toughest job of his career.

[GlitterBro #2]

Feb 8, 2024 9:54:37 GMT -5 JoeFedorowicz said:

Last season, La Salle was 15-19. This year, they're looking to be slight worse than that having played a schedule that should be easier than last year...when it was the easiest SOS they had since 2006-07. 

Out of conference schedule was weak except for Duke and Miami. The A10, however, is stronger than last year, going from 12th in NET ranking as a conference with only 3 teams in the top 100 to 8th with 7 teams in the Top 100. Looking at that, it isn't unreasonable for us to finish worse in the conference. Other teams improved and have taken players out of the portal  We did not really do either.

Our shooting is also a lot worse in conference than it was last year as is our perimeter defense..again..maybe because other teams upgraded.

In conference games only:
2022 - 46.4% from 2; 35.5% from 3
2023 - 44.5% from 2; 32.5% from 3

Opponents:
2022 - 51.7% from 2; 35.3% from 3
2023 - 51.1% from 2; 38.6% from 3

I hope this doesn't violate your moratorium of bringing up 3-point shooting, but shooting woes and perimeter defense are reasons this squad has a worse record than last year. We've gone down 3% points while our conference opponents have gone up 3. That's a wide gap to make up behind the arc when we are already giving up more than half the shots inside.

[victoriouslasalle]

Feb 8, 2024 11:36:23 GMT -5 explorer88 said:

I actually have no answer to last night. A team that is undermanned has played hard all season completely looked disinterested last night. I am sure Fran talked to them about a big let down after an emotional game we lost on Saturday but that did not work.

Big question I have is how does this team respond? Do they fight hard and possibly steal a couple of wins with a schedule that isn't overwhelming after Saturday? Or are they checking out the rest of the season?

To me that, will really dictate what happens to this program moving forward. If they compete and play hard I think there is a chance Dunphy can get some players to stay that he wants to stay. Regardless we are obviously going to get some turnover. I do fear if they don't play hard and check out the rest of the year we have another mass exodus which Dunphy will not recover from. We cannot turnover our roster and sign 6-7 transfers. I just won't happen.

2 guys signed but Dunphy needs scholarships to replace any who leaves and needs experienced players. Preferably experienced D-1 players. I know we are scouting JUCO and D-2 hard but they are hit and miss usually. I would prefer 2-3 D-1 players in the transfer portal. Dunphy needs to beg, borrow, and steal anyway he can to get these players.

Otherwise I am worried he will not feel he can turn it around. I think Dunphy wants to leave the program on stable ground if there is any possibility he can. He has 2 things working against him right now - (1) How does he get experienced players to commit to him, (2) Who on that bench would you leave the team to?

Tall order for a great coach. This is his toughest job of his career.

"2 guys signed but Dunphy needs scholarships to replace any who leaves and needs experienced players. Preferably experienced D-1 players. I know we are scouting JUCO and D-2 hard but they are hit and miss usually. I would prefer 2-3 D-1 players in the transfer portal. Dunphy needs to beg, borrow, and steal anyway he can to get these players."

so true the talent gap between us and the other A10 squads now puts us on the bottom.

[thelasallelunatic]

As soon as you hire Dunph at his age, on the cheap, you know it's a short term, transitional sort of hire. There should already be some sort of plan in place. I'd stack the money that we're saving and push the chips all in on Phil Martelli. It's gonna be some type of Bruiser Flint re-tread, so swing for the biggest one we can get.

Or you can go for a systems coach that runs the Princeton or some other offense or temple match up zone that doesn't predicate his program on getting the best recruits. Those are my only 2 options after watching Billy Hahn and Ash Howard fail as top assistants from Maryland and Nova. Unless you think G wants to coach again (which he doesn't).

I was glad to see G go. He fumbled the post Sweet 16 run badly and didn't seem to have any clear cut plan. But if we're being honest, the program is probably worse now, than when G was fired. That's saying something considering his final 3 years...

9-23
15-15 (with loads of talent)
13-18

[JoeFedorowicz]

Feb 8, 2024 11:36:23 GMT -5 explorer88 said:

2 guys signed but Dunphy needs scholarships to replace any who leaves and needs experienced players. Preferably experienced D-1 players. I know we are scouting JUCO and D-2 hard but they are hit and miss usually. I would prefer 2-3 D-1 players in the transfer portal. Dunphy needs to beg, borrow, and steal anyway he can to get these players.

I mean good luck with this.

[explorer88]

I wish G was recruiting for Fran. Dude identified talent. I can tell you stories of his escapades that would amaze you. Guys we were the 1st or among the 1st to get involved with. He knew how to identify talent early and work his ass off to secure talent in a place that is tough to recruit to.

If he was 15 years younger I would higher him as the top assistant in a Top 5 conference school if I were coach.

[las71]

This is a great topic because there's so much uncertainty within the program. It begins with Coach Dunphy's status. How long will he continue to coach? I suspect he will stay as long as he continues to enjoy it provided there's no health issues. Somewhere on this blog I read that he's recruiting some 2025's including Aaron McKie's son. If he lands him surely he will stay around to coach him for a couple of years. I also believe that Fran will have a lot of input as to who succeeds him but Ash likely is already thinking about possible successors. It will be a significant hire for sure. As noted, we are out of scholarships for next year and likely won't know how many until the transfer portal opens and we see how many enter. I suspect we may lose as many as 3 foreign players who aren't getting any playing time as well as a couple of players in the rotation. I can see Brickus at least looking to see what's out there. He simply may want to play for a team with a chance at the tournament. Gill may make the same choice. Hard to say what Shepherd may do but if he works on his handle and jumpshot it's hard to believe he will find a better opportunity than La Salle. I think Marrero and Rokas will stay. A harder read is Khalil. Does he want to look for a possible tournament team or is he happy enough here to finish his career with us. Once these players declare and assuming some will leave one has to wonder if we can sign any 2024's who have been on hold because we have none to give currently. That leaves the portal. Can we compete for 2 or 3 kids from the portal that improve us immediately. Can we get NIL money if that's the difference maker. This will be an interesting off-season.

[GlitterBro #2]

I would imagine one of Ashwin's major priorities is a succession plan for Fran once this renovation is complete. Regarding the tweet, I think Fran is absolutely back next year to enjoy the new digs and have his legacy be that this happened under his watch. My fear, though, is that the luster of the shiny new arena fades quickly if we continue to be bottom dwellers. They needed a somewhat decent year this year to help convince people to buy tickets next year.

Beyond the arena...what's getting people to pony up money for season tickets? It certainly isn't the prospect of being in the PIG year-on-year. I was on the fence about renewing this year but did because they announced the plans. Will I next year? Who knows? I guess it depends on how we finish this year and who stays and who joins. Wondering also about ticket prices. Raising the price for a team that finishes 14th or 15th doesn't seem logical, but the I'm guessing it will be necessary.

I can't imagine the stands will even be half full the remainder of the year this year (and as I typed this sentence, an email came through from La Salle promoting the final three weekends games including the "final home game of Tom Gola Arena.") In the backdrop of all this, the University has larger immediate financial issues, and the FAFSA debacle is hurting admissions even more. The replacement for Fran may very well not even be Top 10 in the list of things worrying this administration.

[mookie]

Alternative and somewhat wacky take?
New arena with new blood. Assuming Dunphy’s job ultimately was to get the team better positioned for success, a new arena and identify a successor, he can go out after this season knowing he could accomplish 2 out of 3 things. One could argue if Marrero, Jocious, Fasasi all stay and Jones is a legit starter from Day 1 then he has a core in place.

Dunphy could play a role in identifying a new coach using 2 different approaches: big name coach combined with new arena to generate “excitement” OR a younger coach who’s ready for the next step in his career. Given we saw how that played out with Ash, I don’t think anybody on the board wants that route so that leaves the first option. I’m hoping there isn’t a 3rd option where we get a retread or a coach out of left field. I have my preferences for candidates but I’m not speculating on anything until we’re in a position where we don’t have a coach or something along the lines of Dunphy saying it’s his final year.

[SICguy84]

Feb 8, 2024 15:21:51 GMT -5 GlitterBro #2 said:

(and as I typed this sentence, an email came through from La Salle promoting the final three weekends games including the "final home game of Tom Gola Arena.")

Should be allowed to rip the shit out of the place Connie Mack Stadium style after final game!

[JoeFedorowicz]

Feb 8, 2024 15:58:58 GMT -5 mookie said:

Alternative and somewhat wacky take?
New arena with new blood.

My first draft started down this road, but it came off as dismissing what is an obviously bad situation for the school. Will the people on this board be ok with someone that most of them never heard of? I think they have to be, but Giannini was a hard sell. Then he was here 13 years. I’d find the unique coach nobody has heard of…but I’m not an athletic director.

[explorerman]

Hi guys,

Just a couple of things:

Basketball coach not an AD decision. Goes higher than him, not one person..

Dr Allen knows the situation and importance.. A-10 is valuable real estate you don’t give it up…

He also knows athletics is marketing.. It is free marketing to the world

Was a ton of interest in the job. From coaches, you know and coaches you don’t. There will continue to be a ton of interest in the job as long as La Salle is in the A-10. The A-10 is a gateway to the big leagues.

I think you have to hire a systems coach.

[JoeFedorowicz]

You always say this about the A10. I don’t have the data, but I think we lose money. And I know about the coach not being AD lone decision, but I don’t think the board is involved anymore right?

[mookie]

Feb 8, 2024 19:18:53 GMT -5 explorerman said:

Hi guys,

Just a couple of things:

Basketball coach not an AD decision. Goes higher than him, not one person..

Dr Allen knows the situation and importance.. A-10 is valuable real estate you don’t give it up…

He also knows athletics is marketing.. It is free marketing to the world

Was a ton of interest in the job. From coaches, you know and coaches you don’t. There will continue to be a ton of interest in the job as long as La Salle is in the A-10. The A-10 is a gateway to the big leagues.

I think you have to hire a systems coach.

I believe the job of finding the next head coach ultimately is the the AD’s job. People above them can weigh-in but it should be the AD. If Coach after Coach fails, it’s the AD who’s fired, not the president, not the BoT…

Anything else, to me, is just too many voices and interference. If you’re going to hire an AD to run the Athletic Department, then let them do their job. If the President wants to make the decision, then he should be the AD and not the President.

[diehardexplorer]

just a heads up for you, but tom gola 2.0 has no idea what is going on with dunphy or the long range coaching plan.  saying he will be back next season isn't really going out on a limb.  he has a history of throwing stuff out there just hoping it will stick and he's been wrong as much or more than he's been right.  and the twitter l train is not the real lionel.

[explorerman]

Feb 8, 2024 19:29:23 GMT -5 mookie said:

Feb 8, 2024 19:18:53 GMT -5 explorerman said:

Hi guys,

Just a couple of things:

Basketball coach not an AD decision. Goes higher than him, not one person..

Dr Allen knows the situation and importance.. A-10 is valuable real estate you don’t give it up…

He also knows athletics is marketing.. It is free marketing to the world

Was a ton of interest in the job. From coaches, you know and coaches you don’t. There will continue to be a ton of interest in the job as long as La Salle is in the A-10. The A-10 is a gateway to the big leagues.

I think you have to hire a systems coach.

I believe the job of finding the next head coach ultimately is the the AD’s job. People above them can weigh-in but it should be the AD. If Coach after Coach fails, it’s the AD who’s fired, not the president, not the BoT…

Anything else, to me, is just too many voices and interference. If you’re going to hire an AD to run the Athletic Department, then let them do their job. If the President wants to make the decision, then he should be the AD and not the President.

I agree… I still get confused why anyone uses search firms in this day in age.

Anyways just providing clarity at mechanisms at play

Technically, it is a sub-committee of the BOT too.. Not the whole thing that would be crazy

[explorerman]

Feb 8, 2024 19:25:14 GMT -5 JoeFedorowicz said:

You always say this about the A10. I don’t have the data, but I think we lose money. And I know about the coach not being AD lone decision, but I don’t think the board is involved anymore right?

Oh sorry.. Yes, we do lose money so not free.. The sport restructuring helped with basketball finances. I think the idea is that people become aware of La Salle when they play other teams on the road and on TV whether ESPN family of stations (We were recently on ESPNU), CBS Sports Network, USA Network, Local TV etc. And we bad last year were expected to be bad this year and we got this airtime. CAA, Patriot League, etc etc do not have games on any of those networks. All of that marketing comes with having a team in the A-10. Heck, we got an at large bid by being in the A10 and hosted College GameDay the following season because of it. You can’t put a price on that. Having margin of error to be in multiple bid league is huge where you are not forced to win conference.

I recognize that comes with a tougher hill to climb.

[JoeFedorowicz]

But I can put a price on it. Enrollment is through the floor and the A10 is a one-bid league. Brand awareness doesn’t pay the bills. Conversions matter.

[GlitterBro #2]

Feb 9, 2024 5:03:04 GMT -5 JoeFedorowicz said:

But I can put a price on it. Enrollment is through the floor and the A10 is a one-bid league. Brand awareness doesn’t pay the bills. Conversions matter.

exactly what I was going to write. That "marketing" is getting the needed students that provide the revenue. People aren't going to watch La Salle versus George Mason on a Saturday afternoon on USA unless they have a vested interest in either school. That's not high school juniors and seniors. And (as we discussed before) La Salle isn't getting kids from the other markets the A10 serves (North Carolina, Richmond, st Louis, etc) to make the cost of travel for all the other sports worth that free marketing.

[JoeFedorowicz]

And it’s hard to envision La Salle in a small regional conference and I’m not sure that’s what I want, but the A10 is choking the school’s primary sports team.

[mookie]

Feb 8, 2024 22:34:26 GMT -5 explorerman said:

Feb 8, 2024 19:29:23 GMT -5 mookie said:

I believe the job of finding the next head coach ultimately is the the AD’s job. People above them can weigh-in but it should be the AD. If Coach after Coach fails, it’s the AD who’s fired, not the president, not the BoT…

Anything else, to me, is just too many voices and interference. If you’re going to hire an AD to run the Athletic Department, then let them do their job. If the President wants to make the decision, then he should be the AD and not the President.

I agree… I still get confused why anyone uses search firms in this day in age.

Anyways just providing clarity at mechanisms at play

Technically, it is a sub-committee of the BOT too.. Not the whole thing that would be crazy

Thank you and hope my post didn’t come across as if you didn’t know or anything. Simply stating how I feel it should be. So appreciate your initial post and you not taking it offensive or wrong despite how my post came across.

I do see some value in a search form though. To help narrow the candidate list when there’s a huge pool of candidates and likely tons of inquiries and applications for the role. At the same time, I think any one of us could put together a list of maybe 50 candidates and narrow that down to 10 and place feelers out to see of those who would be interested or reach out directly.

At the end of the day, I think Dunphy will play a major role identifying the next coach (ie personal relationship) vs a typical interview and giving feedback.

[mookie]

Feb 9, 2024 7:02:12 GMT -5 JoeFedorowicz said:

And it’s hard to envision La Salle in a small regional conference and I’m not sure that’s what I want, but the A10 is choking the school’s primary sports team.

To be fair, we did a great job choking the program ourselves.

[JoeFedorowicz]

Feb 9, 2024 8:17:25 GMT -5 mookie said:

Feb 9, 2024 7:02:12 GMT -5 JoeFedorowicz said:

And it’s hard to envision La Salle in a small regional conference and I’m not sure that’s what I want, but the A10 is choking the school’s primary sports team.

To be fair, we did a great job choking the program ourselves.

The conference and landscape of college sports changed so much since 2012-13 season. I think La Salle BUMBLED that year. For sure. They took care of the coach with a chunk of the money they should have invested directly in the program and athletics. 

But the conference lost Butler (for that one year!), lost Xavier, lost Temple, lost Charlotte. Replaced them with Davidson, Loyola MD and George Mason. It's a (much) worse conference and, in aggregate, more spread out now. 

And NIL is a problem if you're going to try and compete with Dayton and VCU and even St. Joseph's. La Salle cannot be expected to compete. The money just isnt' there.

[GlitterBro #2]

Feb 9, 2024 7:02:12 GMT -5 JoeFedorowicz said:

And it’s hard to envision La Salle in a small regional conference and I’m not sure that’s what I want, but the A10 is choking the school’s primary sports team.

Yeah.  I think back to my freshman year (L-Train's Sr year). I got to enjoy 2 NCAA tourneys and an NIT while we were in the MAAC. I had friends from high school that went to some of those other schools. When we jumped to the MCC in my senior year, the program suffered and there weren't really any school rivalries (No one from my high school in Delco went to Detroit Mercy or Evansville).

There was an excitement and a buzz with the program in the MAAC and chance to dance every year. The schools seemed similar to La Salle. Now...we don't have much in common with the majority of the schools in the A10.

[explorer88]

Feb 9, 2024 9:04:21 GMT -5 GlitterBro #2 said:

Feb 9, 2024 7:02:12 GMT -5 JoeFedorowicz said:

And it’s hard to envision La Salle in a small regional conference and I’m not sure that’s what I want, but the A10 is choking the school’s primary sports team.

Yeah.  I think back to my freshman year (L-Train's Sr year). I got to enjoy 2 NCAA tourneys and an NIT while we were in the MAAC. I had friends from high school that went to some of those other schools. When we jumped to the MCC in my senior year, the program suffered and there weren't really any school rivalries (No one from my high school in Delco went to Detroit Mercy or Evansville).

There was an excitement and a buzz with the program in the MAAC and chance to dance every year. The schools seemed similar to La Salle. Now...we don't have much in common with the majority of the schools in the A10.

I wish we could form a conference with St. Bonaventure, Fordham, St. Joe's, Duquesne, Siena, Iona, Manhattan Fairfield, St. Peter's, and Niagara.

The other A-10 teams wouldn't leave though. I don't want to go to the MAAC as it is currently formed