Contract extension for Marty Simmons

[BirdsEyeView]

I agree with every Wichita fan posting right now. That's not normal for me.

This is easy folks...

Good team = Challenging noncon schedule = chance for at large = not required to win Arch

Evansville had the good team....the rest was missing.

Marty missed an opportunity to schedule correctly to take advantage of his once in a lifetime roster. Instead relied on winning Arch Madness....then missed NIT showing just how bad he scheduled.

Now his fans are defending an extension with a team sans Balentine and Mock.


Yikes.

[AndShock]

Different schools in this league have different goals, it is as simple as that.

[purple&orange]

After staying out of this thread I'm torn........ Evansville has struggled since joining The Valley, there is no debating that. The non-conference schedule left a lot to be desired last season in terms of scheduling to get a potential at-large. It all depended on winning game one vs Providence in Anaheim, then getting another Power 5 in Arizona (who barely got by Santa Clara) and then either Boise State or Michigan State. Losing that first game meant Santa Clara and the UC-Irvine, not resume building wins or SOS positive games like winning game one. With what I would consider the best team Marty has had at Evansville. He's been here nine seasons without an NCAA and NIT.

With all that said, as well as not knowing the terms of the contract I'll lay out why I feel the way I do.

In my opinion, Evansville needs to be able to prove that they aan reload and be a top half team after losing so much instead of a complete rebuild. He inherited a mess early on and after the Colt Ryan era it was a Thursday night season, then 5th, then last year finishing 2nd. In a lot of ways this upcoming season is very similar with a lot of unknowns. Can he take this group and get them into an upper half finish, avoiding Thursday. There are a lot more question marks this rebuild/reboot due to so many newcomers, DJ was a freshman when the Colt Ryan group were seniors.

The other point, prefaced by not knowing the length of the deal has to do with his ability to recruit, not being a lame duck. How much that matters in recruiting can be debated but to have that security to say I just got extended I can only think helps, not hurts.

Looking at what I would consider the flagship programs right now in this league, WSU hired a guy in Marshall that won at Winthrop and has built WSU into a true program. UNI hired Jacobson and has maintained a steady level of success, NCAA wins during their appearances, etc. A proven head coach and a promoted assistant. The challenge is finding the right guy, not having tunnel vision for the guy who got the big NCAA Tournament upset, etc. I think Evansville is one of the more challenging jobs in the league, but that doesn't mean that it's an impossible job either. The era of college basketball has changed a lot since then but Evansville rebuilt a program from the worst day in the city's history, December 13th, 1977, and made the NCAA Tournament in 1982. It can and has been done, albeit in a completely different era.

To me in many ways the next two seasons will tell so much. How can UE rebuild/reload/recover from losing so much this season and depending on how they finish in 16-17, is it a blip because I imagine Evansville has to fall back this season to some degree, just how large, and then what does 17-18 have in store. If it's a two year down cycle then it looks bleak and I believe a change should be in order.

There are valid points about the competition that UE has racked up wins against over the last couple seasons when you look at the records they've achieved. I think it's time, as much as I like Marty and what he's done as a player, how he views the community, the way the kids who play here embrace the community, etc I do believe that Evansville has to become a team that can compete with the best of the league on a more consistent basis, because I feel if they can do that it gives them the type of team that can be a legitimate threat to make the postseason on their own merit, NCAA or NIT.

[acepurple84]

the horse is dead lets quit beating it and move on. What has happened, has happened. Does matter anymore.

[mvcfan]

the horse is dead lets quit beating it and move on. What has happened, has happened. Does matter anymore.

I say if Evansville supporters are happy, then let's move on. After last year, I don't see them being relevant at the top half of the MVC for some time. Their time in the spotlight never was.

[Ricardo del Rio]

Why?

[Ricardo del Rio]

Is Simmons the son still a starter?

Playing 4 on 5 is not easy.

[acepurple84]

No he is out for the season.

[mule]

Why?

the horse is dead lets quit beating it and move on. What has happened, has happened. Does matter anymore.

I say if Evansville supporters are happy, then let's move on. After last year, I don't see them being relevant at the top half of the MVC for some time. Their time in the spotlight never was.

Why to which comment, relevant or spotlight? Or, after stating that we should all move on,you just couldn't without comment.

[SubGod22]

What has happened gets discussed. That's how these boards work. We either work with speculation about what will happen or discuss what did happen. And what happened here was laughable to many outside of Evansville, and apparently some within Evansville.