DRC: McCasland points to national title aspirations at celebration event

[Brett Vito]

 

[Magic95Fan]

Let's do this then!

[GrandGreen]

The biggest commitment is if McCasland indeed stays to win that national championship. 

I think overall McCasland is an outstanding recruiter.   Everyone makes mistakes, especially at the g5 level.   However, coming off a great season with a lot of momentum; this should be a very special class. 

NT could have 5 ships to fill, in addition to the 2 already signed and 1 committed.   

Only three returning lettermen with two being starters McBride and Bell.  I doubt he will recruit anymore freshmen unless there is a potentially great one available. 

I predict a couple of graduates or virus transfers and the rest being jucos.   McCasland is not going to be happy with a rebuilding year.  
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Cr1028]

We need to pay him what elite G5 coaches make at the very least. We need to be up there with Gonzagas, Butlers, and VCUs.

[RiseUNT]

1 hour ago, Cr1028 said:

We need to pay him what elite G5 coaches make at the very least. We need to be up there with Gonzagas, Butlers, and VCUs.

No

[UNTLifer]

2 hours ago, RiseUNT said:

No

I would temper that and say, "not yet."  Let's achieve the prolonged success of these programs and then talk money.

[greenjoe]

How much does the Gonzaga and Villanova coach make ?

[UNTLifer]

3 minutes ago, greenjoe said:

How much does the Gonzaga and Villanova coach make ?

Jay Wright makes $6.14 million.

Surprisingly, Mark Few's salary is listed as $1 million

[Mean Green Matt]

36 minutes ago, UNTLifer said:

Jay Wright makes $6.14 million.

Surprisingly, Mark Few's salary is listed as $1 million

Since Gonzaga is private I don’t think we actually know what Few makes. 

[Hunter Green]

1 hour ago, UNTLifer said:

I would temper that and say, "not yet."  Let's achieve the prolonged success of these programs and then talk money.

Three years, three championships.

[Greendylan]

5 hours ago, Cr1028 said:

We need to pay him what elite G5 coaches make at the very least. We need to be up there with Gonzagas, Butlers, and VCUs.

In general I agree with this sentiment, but let's consider a few things.  First, Butler is no longer a midmajor, as they now play in the Big East.  Also, Gonzaga is just about the most anomalous example of a program from a midmajor conference as one could find.  VCU is a more apt comparison, but even then, if you look at what their program has done in relation to ours over the course of the past 40 years, it's not even close.  We finally broke through and made it to the Round of 32, which is awesome, but VCU has done it 9 times.  And, regardless, I don't think there's any chance in hell that we could be competitive with Mike Rhoades's $1.7 million salary, which would mean tripling McCasland's pay.  

I think a realistic starting point would be to bring him up to the top of CUSA (he's already close) HC salaries and also try to get him to the median point of pay in conferences like the Mountain West and AAC.

[Shark84]

I would keep his current salary but put in huge incentives that would pay him for accomplishing bigger goals. Round of 32, 16, Elite 8 Final 4, ect.

[UNTLifer]

3 hours ago, Mean Green Matt said:

Since Gonzaga is private I don’t think we actually know what Few makes. 

Villanova is private as well.

[UNTLifer]

2 hours ago, Greendylan said:

In general I agree with this sentiment, but let's consider a few things.  First, Butler is no longer a midmajor, as they now play in the Big East.  Also, Gonzaga is just about the most anomalous example of a program from a midmajor conference as one could find.  VCU is a more apt comparison, but even then, if you look at what their program has done in relation to ours over the course of the past 40 years, it's not even close.  We finally broke through and made it to the Round of 32, which is awesome, but VCU has done it 9 times.  And, regardless, I don't think there's any chance in hell that we could be competitive with Mike Rhoades's $1.7 million salary, which would mean tripling McCasland's pay.  

I think a realistic starting point would be to bring him up to the top of CUSA (he's already close) HC salaries and also try to get him to the median point of pay in conferences like the Mountain West and AAC.

We make it to the Round of 32 nine times and watch attendance skyrocket.  Then the revenue will justify a $1.7 million salary.

[drex]

The road to basketball continued greatness is a long term coach.  Hopefully, we can do this for a few years more with Mac.

[greenjoe]

Like it (and I do) or not, in the collegiate athletics business, success means a raise.  Grant should be the highest paid coach in CUSA.  He has won 2 conference titles and 1 CBI championship in 3 years.  Other than soccer, no other NT coach has been as successful and no revenue producing sport coach can come close.  Pay the man.  
 

GO MEAN GREEN

[greenminer]

4 hours ago, Hunter Green said:

Three years, three championships.

He was responding to "Gonzaga, Butler, and VCU", right?

We have a long way to go before we are anywhere near those programs.

[Mean Green Matt]

3 hours ago, UNTLifer said:

Villanova is private as well.

Yes, but the number coming out of Villanova makes a lot more sense than the number coming out of Gonzaga. 

[Hunter Green]

2 hours ago, greenminer said:

He was responding to "Gonzaga, Butler, and VCU", right?

We have a long way to go before we are anywhere near those programs.

No, I'm talking about McCassland. Granted, it's a small sample, but what other UNT coach can boast that? Headland perhaps, but that's not a high profile sport. Or is it?

[GrandGreen]

There is no such thing as G5 pr P5 in basketball.  It is beyond foolish to suggest that teams like Gonzaga, Villanova and Virginia Commonwealth are not in the highest level of basketball. 

NT is stuck in CUSA, probably a better basketball than football conference.  Western Kentucky is the best most consistent program in the league.   They get four and five star recruits even though it may take hiring their guardian for a good salary a la Charles Bassey.  

I believe NT is in a prime position to battle for the CUSA championship next year.   A few things need to happen for NT to continue to climb up the basketball ranks.

Keeping McCasland is the most important now.   The home attendance has to improve to an average of at least 5k.  Baker has to pump money into the program.   I strongly question any public financial numbers, but that is all that is available.

Based on 2018 numbers, UTEP has the highest basketball budget in the league at $4.2m.   NT comes in at ninth with a budget of $2.8m.  For comparison, Duke's budget is $22.1m. 

A lot of these budgets are funny money, university allocations, debt service and cost of scholarships.   I mention cost of scholarships because there are big differences in tuition, room and board expenses that really don't exist. 

A high tuition private school actually on a cash basis doesn't spend any more than a relatively cheap state school. 

NT doesn't have to substantially increase basketball funding, but a steady increase to at least get in the top 4 of CUSA should be manageable. 

[BillySee58]

59 minutes ago, GrandGreen said:

There is no such thing as G5 pr P5 in basketball.  It is beyond foolish to suggest that teams like Gonzaga, Villanova and Virginia Commonwealth are not in the highest level of basketball. 

NT is stuck in CUSA, probably a better basketball than football conference.  Western Kentucky is the best most consistent program in the league.   They get four and five star recruits even though it may take hiring their guardian for a good salary a la Charles Bassey.  

I believe NT is in a prime position to battle for the CUSA championship next year.   A few things need to happen for NT to continue to climb up the basketball ranks.

Keeping McCasland is the most important now.   The home attendance has to improve to an average of at least 5k.  Baker has to pump money into the program.   I strongly question any public financial numbers, but that is all that is available.

Based on 2018 numbers, UTEP has the highest basketball budget in the league at $4.2m.   NT comes in at ninth with a budget of $2.8m.  For comparison, Duke's budget is $22.1m. 

A lot of these budgets are funny money, university allocations, debt service and cost of scholarships.   I mention cost of scholarships because there are big differences in tuition, room and board expenses that really don't exist. 

A high tuition private school actually on a cash basis doesn't spend any more than a relatively cheap state school. 

NT doesn't have to substantially increase basketball funding, but a steady increase to at least get in the top 4 of CUSA should be manageable. 

We’ve traditionally been able to have lower recruiting budgets than many of our conference peers in most sports because of how much talent is close to us and within short driving distances. Mccasland has not been very successful recruiting DFW. I would say even Benford was more successful recruiting locally, and Jones definitely was.

Hoping this recent success can give us some momentum with local recruits and allow us to land local recruits on the same tier as guys like Chris Jones, Jordan Williams, Jeremy Combs, etc. 

[Matt from A700]

Doing a little copycatting from Scott Drew, eh? Hopefully it takes Mac less than 18 years to fulfill that potential... 😈

[untjim1995]

So there are 6 power conferences in basketball because of their TV contracts....Big East + the Power 5. They get huge budgets and lots of exposure that the rest don’t get. Now, the AAC, A-10, WCC, and the MWC all get decent secondary network coverage and more money, which then leads to the one bid leagues like ours.

The NCAA Tournament gives everyone a chance, unlike football, but there are still Power conferences that get more exposure and a lot more $$$ from the networks.

[greenminer]

4 hours ago, Hunter Green said:

No, I'm talking about McCassland. Granted, it's a small sample, but what other UNT coach can boast that? Headland perhaps, but that's not a high profile sport. Or is it?

Even with 3 championships in 3 years, UNT has a long way to go before it can match the basketball prestige and brand of those three.  A reasonable raise? Sure.  Let's hold off throwing an amount of cash at McCasland that is in the realm of those mentioned above.

[97and03]

10 hours ago, Shark84 said:

I would keep his current salary but put in huge incentives that would pay him for accomplishing bigger goals. Round of 32, 16, Elite 8 Final 4, ect.

This.