Have to say Iāve seen some head scratching stuff at Target. Was in the Afton Ridge store in Kannapolis recently but didnāt check to see if they had any Niners gear.
Head and Shoulders?
1 Like
They have always had plenty of niner gear every time Iāve checked.
Got my wife a sweet UNCC retro tank top there a few months ago.
1 Like
The deal with Sanchez to me is confounding- why would you do that? I think Hill is learning on the job.
3 Likes
Everything Mike needs to accomplish to be a successful AD can be accomplished by one thing, consistently winning in revenue sports. We have not done that under Mikeās leadership. We are a combined 56-78 in those 2 sports during Mikeās tenure.
You can develop relationships, embrace the city, hold events throughout the city, make numerous radio and tv appearances and change the brand all you want but the bottom line is, no one cares if you suck at football and basketball.
Right now we suck at football and basketball. Thatās how he will be and should be judged.
3 Likes
clt says getting into the AAC earns hill an A-
That was 90% location and 10% AD. He certainly had a role in it but that role was donāt screw it up. If we are in Gadsen, Alabama its a different story.
1 Like
Based on their selections it seems like we mostly just had to be in a city and not as bad as FIU or as isolated as UTEP.
The 10% AD factor is probably what kept ODU out because theirs is pathetic with his public whining about budget and travel costs.
1 Like
Hill deserves a lot of credit. He is doing all the right things we should have been doing for years. He is building a very strong foundation for when we return to success. A lot of people will want to pile on the bus at the right time.
Give Hill time and he will get us there!
2 Likes
100% AGREE
Christ, think of where we can fromā¦ Judy Rose.
I donāt want to bash Judy. The job outgrew herā¦Mike is the guy for us at this stage
elvis
The Target in North Pineville on South Blvd has decent selection of Charlotte gear most of the time.
100% correct. Basketball has got to be fixed ASAP. I went down a rabbit hole today and our basketball attendance held on till 2013-2014. There was a long time where a small crowd was considered 5500 for us. Heck, pretty sure that we only had 4200 for the Davison game this year
Itās fallen off ever since our steady 10-15 year decline and is the lowest it has been. Some will mention the conference move, but itās really because weāve sucked and apathy will set in. Major, Price, Sanchez all have 0 personality.
If we can right the ship in basketball, I donāt see why we canāt average 6k+ again. Weāve lost too many basketball fans over the years, but I think we could gain them back pretty quickly if we turned it around
2 Likes
ODU is in a pretty big Metro area so itās more than that.
The AAC wanted 4 schools in TX and we were one of two from the East that made the cut. The alternative was the apocalyptic CUSA rebuild. He gets credit for getting us in and avoiding disaster.
Of course the grand slam would have been if we had gotten that last spot two years ago but we will still be in a better conference going forward when we could have been left behind.
It wasnāt that long ago when most people on this board were saying that we had no chance at getting an invite to the AAC. Now people are acting like Mike Hill just sat back waiting by the phone for the inevitable call from the AAC. I think he and his staff deserve a lot more credit than that. Heās been working towards getting us in a better conference since day 1 on the job.
14 Likes
I would definitely agree with that @Mr_Bojangles
He needs to fix revenue sports now though. This is probably a tougher job than he imagined. He can score all kinds of points though if he can turn the two big moneymakers around. He has corrected a lot of the other foundational and ancillary stuff.
2 Likes
To be fair, it isnāt exactly the same American conference eitherā¦ Happy we are headed there but itās quite a bit more watered down than it was.
2 Likes
No doubt. A solid foundation is being laid. Our head coaching job for basketball and football are much more attractive jobs today than they were the day he took over.
As we have learned through our frequent conference hopping, itās about what the best option is at every inflection point. Of the options available to us, it was the best one. Besides the money and the exposure (both platform and time slots), it was a better fit for our entire athletic department (especially basketball).
I donāt disagree, I just donāt want us to delude ourselves into thinking we got into āThe Americanā that we all pined for so long. I absolutely think it was the best move, but in this new landscape the member institutions will REALLY have to earn the P6 moniker. The playing field is a bit more level now too with a stronger SBC, a weaker American, and an intact MWC.
FWIW We were #2 into the AAC. UAB was the first in. If they had stopped at 2 it was us two. I know this for a fact. We didnāt beg our way in like we did with CUSA 1.0 and we didnāt get a lifeline thrown to us like CUSA 3.0. We were wanted and proactive. What got programs in was faith in a vision to compete and committing to significantly increasing budget.
I agree at the end of the day an AD is judged on Ws and Ls of the two big sports.
Will is basically .500, I dont count the covid year. I would say that is the right direction given where we had been. Next year will tell us a lot with direction. Has Will leveled out or still on right path. IMO just depends on the D. Either way he has gotten us a ton of publicity and gotten recruiting fixed. If we have to let him go we are in a better place than where we were. I never expected to win big in football. 7/8 wins most years and a few down years I am thrilled.
Basketball, after Ronās second year we sat a record for wins in Halton and looked to be a threat at the conf tourny and that got derailed. We havenāt recovered. if we go .500 with possibly the FPOY and a CPOY candidate he has to go. This is the sport I want to win in and the record that concerns me the most. We know we can win in basketball. Continuing to fail here is unacceptable.
After Mikeās second year it looked like both programs were up upswing. After his 4th year one looks stalled and one looks to be failing.
1 Like