BirdsEyeView wrote:Drakey wrote:What has UNI done the every other school has not done other than lucking into hiring a couple of good coaches? I think other schools have tried just as hard or harder to have success but have screwed up or had bad luck. It amazes me that UNI fans think that their success is because of some greater commitment or desire to win. What exactly has UNI done that other schools could emulate to create Basketball success?
Congrats to WSU and UNI for hitting home runs on their basketball hires, then thinking that translates to them caring or trying harder.
Jacobson, when hired, was only for $159K!!! Here is an article about it:
http://www.thegazette.com/2010/03/24/no ... n-jacobsonSo, it's not like they went out and said "we are willing to pay $1 million to the best coach available". No, they got lucky and NOW are willing to pay him more for it as they see how it helps the economical side of UNI sports.
But, yes you guys all care way more than us minions at the other 8 schools. WE ARE NOT WORTHY
Difference has been UNI and WSU, once success was gained, pushed to keep moving forward. Found donors to pay coaches. Upped program funding. Upped SOS. Challenged themselves to get better at all times. Yes, a decade ago Jake was hired at 159. He's now at a million.
Evansville, Illinois State, SIU, Drake, Bradley, etc... have all shown that they aren't willing to pay to maintain success. They aren't willing to push themselves as hard as WSU or UNI.
Drake wasn't willing to pay Keno and he bolted. Evansville (likely) has the lowest pay in the league. Bradley pays well but can't find a coach worth a damn so they end up over paying.
I found a thread on DrakeNation just now from March 2010, quoting that same number for Jake's pay and it had numerous posters saying he was gone with any kind of post season bid that year. Well, UNI made the S16 and raised over a half million dollars between the Kansas win and the Tuesday after to sign Jake to a new deal. UNI has a top 25 team in 2014 and rather than risking losing Jake what does UNI do? Find another, roughly, half million dollars to pay him to keep him.
This has been beaten to death on here before in an effort to "Bring UNI down" to your level. Yes, until 2004 UNI was horrid. No question. Since 2004 they have the most conference tournament titles, most NCAA appearances, haven't been a PIG team (longest streak in the conference), and have become a house hold name paying their coach a million dollars.
Meanwhile, what has Bradley or SIU done since their 2006 S16? How did they parlay that success? What did they do to drive forward? What has Evasnville done to build off of last years team, the best team? There is still talk about if they have the right coach in place and he's been there nearly a decade.
Keep bringing up salaries and records from 10-20 years ago. UNI has done more for the Valley in the last decade than anyone except Creighton and WSU....and even then UNI has more S16s than Creighton did.
& WSU 
