PR Tipoff-sidebars

[Super]

In no particular order:

The new president & family attended the first 2 games. He was clearly into it and did not just stand in the corner. I hope some of his time in the MidWest gave him an appreciation for what hoops can do for a school.

New AD (Gene) sees higher standards for all programs and believes we're able to gain some more prominence in the Metro NY area.

Another (sigh!) feasibility study is being conducted to assess the possibility of re-orienting the basketball court to gain additional seating.

I went over to the arena for the WMU game with the Maryland coaching staff. (Most of them were at Texas A&M previously.) They are intending to have a recruiting presence in the NYC area and will be playing Kentucky as the second game in the debut of college hoops at the new Brooklyn arena. (LIU & Morehead St are in the opener.) They had some questions about why SJU doesn't;t schedule us. They understood. They indicated they would love to play us in a home and home after next season. Our new AD has strong ties to their new athletic administration as a result of West Point ties. One of the Maryland administrators acknowledged talking with Gene about future scheduling.

As a result of the Sr.Susie fiasco, budgets are being watched tightly, affecting some needed "flexibility" in moving money around in the athletic budget.

[ako]

Nov 21, 2011 7:07:20 GMT -5 Super said:

Another (sigh!) feasibility study is being conducted to assess the possibility of re-orienting the basketball court to gain additional seating.

I heard that they may be thinking of turning the court on an angle, giving the possibility of behind the backboard seating. That would look sharp for the TV coverage games

[Cjb]

Nov 21, 2011 7:07:20 GMT -5 Super said:

Another (sigh!) feasibility study is being conducted to assess the possibility of re-orienting the basketball court to gain additional seating.

I also heard this recently and my first thought would be it may be tough to justify given we don't sell out every game and play a minimal amount of home games compared to others. However, for what it's worth, it was mentioned that the goal was more to achieve "a look" rather than increase capacity. Turning the court to run east/west rather than north/south might provide enough room to accomodate some behind the basket seating, but not sure how much unless a wall was removed and Hynes was extended toward the direction of the parking garage.

Marist did a nice renovation to McCann. Not quite a "bowl" but pretty decent for an on campus MAAC facility.

[ako]

I heard the east/west move was axed, they said it just wasn't going to work, probably the garage as one of those reasons.

I just think its best for iona to improve the basketball program at any cost....it's a great way to take the school to the next level. basketball programs prove to be tremendous marketing exposure.

I'd go as far as to say to remove the football turf and expand the arena out in that area.....(and also redirect the road). The lax, soccer, rugby games can be played off campus (as they do with baseball). I know the other D-1 sports would hate this, but its just business and whats best for the school. Other than a few select games, most women's lax and soccer games have a fan base limited to family and friends of the players... (who then would still travel to an outside field). It just doesn't seem to me like we would lose much...and we have a lot to gain with that space.

Also, as many know, the field never received the permits to build the bleachers, so the field really just looks unfinished with those huge concrete slabs....it just didn't turn out the way it should have...time to improve the space and the school in general.

[epatrick]

Think you need to recheck your info.

[ako]

Nov 21, 2011 23:57:06 GMT -5 epatrick said:

Think you need to recheck your info.

for what its worth, i spoke to an Assistant AD - this past week.

maybe i misunderstood him but i take you heard differently then?

[Cjb]

Besides cost, some other considerations would probably be: the time frame to do the work and the resultant window it would have to be done in (hell, they could start right after the LIU game!) and the displacement of two full basketball courts currently underneath the Hynes seating - with the main court turned east/west in a rectangular footprint I presume these would be lost.

I'd love to see something done to improve Hynes, but given the potential hurdles and in this uncertain economical climate, it might be a stretch to get it done.

Hynes needs improvement, but at least it isn't the Broncs Zoo Laundrymat.