JMU Hires New Men’s Hoops Coach (And We Are A Bit Worried About JMU Athletics Right Now)
Legendary Dukes Forward Louis (Lou) Rowe was hired as the 10th Head Coach of JMU Men’s Basketball today. An introductory press conference (not that many old-school fans will need the introduction) will be held Tuesday afternoon at the Fire Hazard Convo. But that wasn’t the only JMU news today. Lost amidst the university’s understandable hype-blitz for the new coach was the fact JMU is really starting to show it’s true colors lately regarding its commitment to Athletics. And those colors are poo-brown, vomit-green, and bile-yellow (with maybe even a little flaming-dumpster-fire-orange mixed in for good measure).
Since there is both good and bad news to cover related to this hire and Athletics as a whole, we’re going to do this football-postgame style with a Good, Bad, and Ugly.
The Good
First and foremost, we LOVE Coach Rowe as a player and all-around Duke. He was one of the all-time greats of our era and has stayed in the game his entire career. He’s also a 2x JMU Assistant Coach, including most recently under Matt Brady where he proved himself a fantastic mentor of young men and a stellar recruiter. Remember that Nation/Cooke/Curry/Bessick class? Coach Rowe had a huge hand in that talented group. And with nine scholarships coming open a year from now, recruiting ability (which is largely the ability to connect with, and relate to, young athletes in addition of course to knowing how to “play the game”) is not a terrible thing for Director of Athletics Jeff Bourne to focus on with this hire. But make no mistake, giving the keys to Coach Rowe is a complete and total leap of faith as he joins the team after non-descript stints at most recently Bowling Green (OH) and before that Rider and FIU (household names of course). We love Coach Rowe too much as a Duke to even whisper the alum-turned-head-coach-who-shall-not-be-named, but we worry we’ve seen this movie before. We’ll be rootin’ but it’s a reach at best.
The Bad
Well if you’re interested, it’s probably time to sit down, grab another cup of coffee, and settle in cause we’re gonna be here a while. Before we circle back to issues further highlighted by the Rowe hire, you absolutely must stop and read the excellent blog LadySwish’s Q&A with arguably JMU’s most successful coach in any sport in its history, departing Women’s Head Coach Kenny Brooks (who also happens to be a fabulous former Dukes player). Because we’ve got to vent about big-picture items before contextualizing our feelings on the Rowe hire (which again, we’re generally ok with) and we’re starting with some nuggets from that piece..
So let’s begin with the following quote from Coach Brooks, an unassailable Duke in every respect: “Madison not offering cost of attendance. That was a tremendous red flag for me. Without cost of attendance in the next few years, there’s no way you’re going to get the Jazmon Gwathmeys or the Precious Halls or the Angela Mickens’ of the world to be able to come to a place like that because it’s such an enticing factor. One of the first things recruits are asking is, ‘Do you offer that cost-of-attendance thing?’ Here in the next few years, there’s going to be a divide between the haves and have nots.”
Really kind of speaks for itself, doesn’t it? And in case you’ve forgotten, JMU’s current President Alger not only signed onto, but in fact authored, the anti-COA letter co-signed by a grand total of nine universities nationwide (including such luminaries as VMI!). So yeah, there’s that. SERIOUSLY PEOPLE THIS IS THE MAJOR ISSUE FOR JMU ATHLETICS THIS DECADE – YES WE ADMIT EVEN BIGGER THAN FBS – AND IT’S TIME TO START PAYING ATTENTION AND MAKING OUR VOICES HEARD HERE. But even worse is when you spend 43M a year on Athletics and then get cheap on the last 200-500k max it would take you to fund the Cost of Attendance stipends that will allow you to stay competitive. Just makes no sense. Of course, neither does calling your 20k-raise offer to a guy who just told you a number that dwarfs yours “a significant counter” when you could’ve just said “thank you very much for your incredible contributions and best of luck in your new position” while moving on. Seriously, you were paying in the 200k range, one of your all-time favorite sons and a true representative of all that’s best about JMU tells you he got an offer from an ACC school in excess of 500k/yr and you thought “well let’s offer him 20k more with no COA or more money for assistants, that’ll probably do the trick”?!?!
Next, let’s move on to Coach Brooks dropping knowledge (or at least implying knowledge) on where the CAA stands in the current college athletics pecking order: “Last summer I sat in the coaches meetings in the CAA and I got a shock. Anucha Browne came to speak about scheduling and how to schedule up and things of that nature and she pulled up our resume and said, ‘I was hoping and praying you guys were going to win because you probably would not have gotten to the NCAA tournament with a record of 29-3.’ She said, ‘You guys didn’t beat any Top 25 teams.’ We did. We beat UCLA, but when we beat them, we knocked them out of the Top 25. When she said that, I lost a lot of hope in what the NCAA considers mid majors.”
Again, kind of speaks for itself doesn’t it? And it’s saying that as the Group of Five (G5) non power-five (P5) FBS conferences keep growing and consolidating power at the mid-major level and a couple of outlying hoops-only powers (Big East and A-10) keep producing high-quality products on the court, everyone else is back to low-major status. And that so clearly includes the Crumbling Athletic Association despite the hollow reassurances of the former commissioner that “we’re almost back.” No, we’re not almost back. When you replace VCU, GMU, ODU, and UMass with Elon, College of Charleston, and Albany you don’t come back.
And finally, what in the name of a logger’s taint did we hire a search firm – like we paid them actual legal tender – to conduct a “national” search for only to hire a guy who played here, was a coach here, and just four years ago was sitting on our bench and our payroll?! You needed ole’ Eddie Fogler to procure a guy who should’ve been at the top of every single one of JMU’s top administrators’ “if the current Coach has a scandal and we have to have a respectable alum to take us through the ‘Interim’ period” list? JMU is like the Jelly of the Month Club to these search firms (i.e. The gift that keeps on giving the whole year round). And it also seems clear that Carr’s pro-ambition, pro-FBS, pro-big move (you know, Withers! Who in hindsight despite all our recent issues was likely sold the same bullshit bill of goods that Coach Brooks was in re: JMU Athletics’ ambitions) was no longer needed and ole’ Coach Fogler was told “find us someone cheap, or that loves JMU so much they won’t notice.” And how do we reach this conclusion? Well, Tony Bennett’s top assistant at UVA, Ron Sanchez, was seemingly the leading candidate throughout the process. He’s the type of up-and-coming dream candidate any in-state rival would have on their list. But if you think he was doing anything but scooting back over Afton Mountain in a hurry after hearing “no COA, CAA4lyfe, and here’s a lowball offer” then you’re delusional. And even scarier, if JMU thought he really might take the job when he heard that, than it’s JMU that’s delusional. A guy like that is not coming to a place that has now quite clearly planted it’s flag in the camp of deemphasizing the importance of Athletics even if they don’t have the cajones to say so outloud. Unfortunately, as always, actions speak louder than words.
The Ugly
What, you thought we forgot The Ugly? We sorta did actually. But here’s a legit story about ODU’s chances for an AAC call-up so you don’t feel cheated.
Quote out of the DNR:
“When asked why JMU needed to hire a consulting firm if its top target was an alum from the start, Bourne answered “because we looked at a broad range of other very well-qualified coaches.””
Yet supposedly Rowe was candidate 1a the whole time…… If he was top dog why are you looking at other candidates?
Makes you worry even more about JMU and the leadership. You don’t spend 20k if you already have you candidate in mind AND know he’ll take it (Rowe was never going to turn us down).
So either Bourne just lied to us and there were other higher candidates that turned us down for some reason (COA cough cough) OR the administration is that incompetent to spend 20k for absolutely no reason.
Should be required reading for EVERY BOV member prior to Alger’s renewal.
The direction of this athletic department is deplorable. “Hey, we have a 65% winning % this year.” Give me a break
You know what really grinds my gears? Feeling compelled to participate in JMU Giving Day and then the Athletic Department nickel & dimes the overall winning effort with a no-COA & low ball salaries for talented coaches.
Today’s article hit every single nail on every single head. I think the university has so much more to gain with a different strategy with the Athletic Department. Stopping here to avoid an extended rant.
Go Dukes.
I don’t philosophically agree/like COA either, but I realize it is a must and a fact of life in 2016+ to remain competitive in recruiting. It’s like cutting off your nose to spite your face…….look at JMU’s athletic budget and student fees to support athletics as well as money spent on facilities/infrastructure….to do all of that and then balk on COA which is a drop in the bucket by comparison starting with mbb and wbb. Geez the NCAA is even kicking in I think $55k for COA if a school offers it.
Alger is the ‘real’ issue with JMU athletics…..got to look at the top. This guy does not value or see the importance of athletics to JMU.
post/complain all you want but until you (we) stop donating, nothing will change! will hear more and more about 65% winning percentage.
Good timing on JMU Giving Day, that’s the last you’ll receive from me for a while. Feel sucker punched for having donated then… at least I didn’t renew my DC membership this year yet.
JMU is going all out this week for April fools, right? right? No? This is real? Ohh my.
I don’t think I respect a coach who’s been through JMU more than Brooks and Rowe, but this has NOT been a reassuring week for JMU or JMU Athletics.
Great article hitting on all points. I don’t like COA but it has to happen if we want to win at this level ore we might as well become a DII school for athletics. The real problem is the administration at JMU. Alger doesn’t see the importance of athletics and gives the same graduation speech every year. Bourne is a joke and needs to be replaced the sooner the better. we hire consulting firms because he can’t and won’t do his job. He is paid to much to keep on monitoring and making bad hires. President and AD nee to go. I wish Rowe well and will continue to root for the Dukes. I did up my DC membership and gave more but I am rethinking this. We all need to contact BOV members and get them to take action against Alger and Bourne.. They are holding JMU back from being the best they can be.
Trying to look at this from a different view… Maybe we will do COA’s once we are in a conference that demands and requires it. Right now, we have no offers to join a new conference and are stuck in bottom-tier league so why even bother offering COA’s when we can beat the competition without it? If we get an offer to go to CUSA, MAC, etc. maybe then we will change our tune, but until then.. why?
Agentzero,
Because we aren’t beating our opponents without COA. MBB hasn’t won a CAAT game in four years can barely be above. 500 in conference. WBB I fear is going to take a slide in the next few years as well, hard to ignore Kenny in the Lady Swish article. If your happy with an overall 65% winning percentage then by all means carry on. I want better for us and to do better we need COA. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out we’ve been passed over for a new conference because we don’t already offer COA and they don’t trust our word when we say we’ll offer it if you take us.
The reason we need to do COA now is because without it we will fall further behind and then we will never get an invite to move up.
Congratulations to Coach Rowe. He is an outstanding Duke, and I will root for him and his team with all my heart…BUT, I will not be spending my discretionary income to support them. I quit the Duke Club a few years ago when I felt the value received was not worth the cost anymore. Football had excitement but the opposing teams were weak, and they could no longer win post-season games. Basketball tickets, men’s and women’s, could be had for next to nothing, so why pay extra when I could just show up to a mostly empty Convo to see a game.
JMU Athletics is spiraling downward, and all the comments from Alger, Bourne, former coaches and players referenced in this article and others for the last few years have been evidence of a desire by the current JMU administration to keep the money coming in, but de-emphasize athletics at the same time. That is the only reason to “monitor” any situation in the CAA dumpster fire, and that is the only reason to not pay COA when all your competitors are doing so.
I have two daughters who are most likely going to play college athletics. Both of them love JMU because their parents met there and they have been taken to that campus all their lives to watch sports. But neither of them even has JMU on a short list because of how the athletics department is being run. My youngest might have changed her mind if she had an opportunity to play for Kenny Brooks, but now JMU will just be the place where mom and dad went. How can the folks in charge at JMU not see the value in athletics? You may wish that academics got as much attention as sports, but they don’t and won’t. You need athletics to have a national reputation and draw students from all over the country, and you need academics to give the non-athletes a reason to come. There has to be a balance and harmony between the athletics and academics to prosper. JMU is not prospering.
Shady nailed it- Alger is the problem. Bourne has made some mistakes, but it is pretty clear that Alger is driving this shitshow. What is Bourne supposed to do when his boss is putting him in a box with things like signing this stupid agreement?
And don’t even start on “JMU Giving Day”….. after watching what they’ve done for the last few years the only thing I want to give them is a request for a refund of all the money I have to build the football stadium.
I was definitely on the patient end of the FBS or bust spectrum, now I’m just crushed.
All the faith I had that JMU was truly waiting on (or even working behind the scenes on) a better conference situation came to an abrupt and heartbreaking end over the past few weeks.
Fully understanding that we have to wait for an invite to another conference, and much of it was out of our control. However, I naively believed little unicorn-elves were working behind the scenes to put us in a great position. After all, we’ve been spending money on FBS quality facilities, and our Athletics do perform very well overall.
Seems appropriate that on April 1, I can acknowledge that I was fooled.
I have NEVER bought into the ridiculously counter-productive measure of withholding donations to make a point. If it weren’t for my 8-yo son’s love of JMU football, I would not renew Duke Club or football this year after 11 consecutive years. This is a truly difficult decision.
This isn’t about whether or not we’re FBS yet, it’s clear now that we aren’t even close with no end in sight.
I feel you Dukie95 —- many of us have been duped and led along over the past 4-5 years.
I’m right there with Dukie95. I’ve long been patient with the FBS thing and even open to the idea that the admin had a clear understanding of what they wanted and a plan to see it through, even if it took a while. Now I think they’re just making stuff up as they go.
JMU doing everything it can to create the idea that it’s emphasizing athletics ($$ millions on facilities, feasibility studies, consultants and search committees, etc) but then refusing to spend a few hundred thousand on a coach and COAs just seems penny wise and pound foolish to me.
I loved Rowe as a player and fully support him, but if this works out, it’s just dumb luck. Nothing on his resume indicates he’s ready. From courtesy interview to the man in a 48 hours. That’s something.
I’ve also had the misfortune of being a Washington Redskins fan the antics with JMU athletics reminds me of the freakshow seen during the Vinny Cerrato era and his relationship with the owner. Bumbling decisions and ass kissing. This Rowe hiring plan is like bringing in Jim Zorn. Probably not even Rowe’s idea to keep Mike Deane around. Complete disfunction Matt Brady is fortune to be able to get out of being involved with an administration of fools.
One of the real problems here is the administration has no plan for the future. The only thing they can do is lie to JMU Nation. I wish the athletes and coaches well but the administration has to go. I am glad Kenny Brooks was able to get out because all he has done he should be with an administration that cares and takes care of him. The next coach we loose will be our softball coach then we have hit rock bottom.
I am truly confused as to why Rowe is an upgrade over Brady.
When Matt was canned, Bourne was pretty clear: “It is a critical time for our program. We have the opportunity over the next few months to make significant progress on fundraising for the new Convocation Center. It is imperative that we have the right coach in place to show continued growth in our program as we fulfill our fundraising goals and ultimately usher in a new era of JMU basketball in a new building.”
That was two weeks ago.
The CAA has had six champions in the last six years. There’s a real opportunity to become the big dog in this two-bit conference, go to the show 3-4 years running, build the new arena, and get invited up.
And then we make the cheapest, easiest, most pedestrian hire possible to lead the program.
I just don’t get it.
You didn’t even talk about the most damning part of the men’s coach hire: They interviewed but didn’t offer the job to Ron Sanchez (top assistant at UVa) or Winthrop’s head coach Pat Kelsey. Sanchez has done exceptional work at UVa as their program has turned around (I’m a big UVa fan in addition to being a JMU alum). Kelsey has taken Winthrop from a below .500 team to three 20+ seasons in just four years. They admitted to interviewing both Kelsey and Sanchez, and then said that neither turned down an offer. Meaning: They offered to Rowe first.
A whole lotta weak sauce happening right here.
Welp, I might be inviting myself to get skewered, but I’ll roll with any punches thrown my way… I’ll go with my thoughts in chronological order for the most part.
I was optimistic that JMU would find a solid replacement for Withers when left, so while we won’t know whether Coach Houston’s hire was a positive or negative for a bit I think that was a solid (if unspectacular) hire.
Then the decision to fire Brady – I understand the reasoning, but I didn’t agree with it at the time. Still though, the CAA is a solid league and a great proving ground for coaches so I thought they could upgrade.
Then, Kenny Brooks goes to VT. The Hokie part of me is excited, but I know how big a blow that is for JMU. It also was the biggest red flag that things aren’t all peachy in Harrisonburg and that was confirmed with the Q&A he did with Ladyswish.
Now, coming to the hire of Rowe… I’ll admit I was pretty shocked considering Sanchez was the other name in the mix. The optics aren’t great considering Rowe was an assistant on mediocre teams compared to Sanchez with UVA, but I wonder if there’s a little more at play here.
Obviously, Rowe has the JMU connection as a former player, but I I’d hazard a guess that style of play had some consideration in this hire. While I respect what Bennett and his staff have done at UVA, I’m not sure you want someone from the coaching tree that implements a pack line defense and an offensive philosophy that emphasizes efficiency over pace – ESPECIALLY if your goal is to excite a fan base in order to donate for a new arena. I can understand the argument that a winning program will do that too though, so I’m just hanging my hat on the one rationalization I can make right now. Hopefully Rowe will provide some insight into his philosophy during his introductory press conference.
But overall, I can understand the fan frustration with Bourne & Alger. From what I’ve seen with my own two eyes, JMU seems capable of much more.
If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take your there.
#COAnotCAA
Just noticed that the Hofstra Women’s Basketball team made it to the quarterfinals of this year’s WNIT Tournament. With the direction our athletics programs are headed, this could be us soon … 🙁
JMU must start offering COA or forget trying to have a competitive Division 1 athletic program.
Coach O deserves a chance to lead the WBB program. Make the decision soon in order that as many as possible of the existing players and recruits may be retained.
Just before tipoff of the NCAA final in basketball, I thought I’d leave this here:
Villanova athletic budget 2015: ~$37mm
JMU athletic budget 2015: ~$43mm
Hmmmmm.
To be fair, Nova saves a lot of money by not bothering to even print the football tickets that their non-existent fanbase opts not to buy.
Just kidding. That’s actually a great stat to pull. Thanks for sharing.
And ‘Nova offers 5 more varsity sports than Jus’ Monitorin’ U.