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Message: [QUOTE="freescooter, post: 4295967, member: 1023"] No sugarcoating this. It is an unmitigated disaster for the NEWBIE. Villanova was the sole national program in the league. If they regress, the NEWB will be a bunch of eh programs that will rarely need to pack extra uniforms for the Tournament. Val is probably rolled up in a ball in the corner of her office wondering why she left the A10. I suppose it does leave an opening for someone to climb, but reality is that there is a huge difference between climbing to the top of the NEWB and climbing to the upper reaches of college basketball. And in terms of resources very few NEWB programs have enough to get there. And it is probably unlikely that another really successful coach will stick around long enough to take a program where it needs to be. Jay was from a different era. If St Johns were to make a final four run next year, as an example, my guess is Anderson would be coaching at Florida State or Iowa in 2024. I would think UConn is one of the few NEWBIE members who could make the move. We have facilities, financial resources, and we’ve been there before, though it has been close to a decade. And it would require a number of pretty major changes in the way the program is operating now. I doubt there is the stomach for it. The only others I see having any potential are Xavier and Creighton, but both are long shots. It is really really hard to build a national program. And it is even more difficult to do it in a league where you are the only one. Jay had the advantage of having built Villanova in the Big East competing against Top 10 programs week in and week out. Maintaining it was a great feat, but not as hard as building something new in a much less fertile environment. If it were easy the A10 would have top 10 team every year. [/QUOTE]

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