re: Why aren’t these schools better in hoops: B1G edition

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Minnesota:

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Wisconsin has pretty much had a pipeline of 7" white dudes who can shoot the three and hail from the Minneapolis suburbs for 20 years now (sprinkled in with other position players). Here's a partial list, if you follow Wisconsin hoops these are prominent names:

• Steven Crowl (Eagan)
• Tyler Wahl (Lakeville)
• Nate Reuvers (Lakeville)
• Brad Davison (Osseo)
• Nolan Winter (Lakeville)
• Jack Janicki (White Bear Lake)
• Braeden Carrington (Brooklyn Park)
• Jon Leuer
• Jordan Taylor
• Jared Berggren
• Mike Bruesewitz
• Kammron Taylor (Minneapolis)

I think they are in a prolonged lull. “Should” they be better? Maybe. They are trying, despite the laziness of the Woodson hire. They did have a stretch in 2013 (I think) where they were #1 in the country.

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Penn State: saved the best for last. Again, huge university, national brand. I’m not even sure they care. Seems like a mid coach can last a while in Happy Valley.

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They usually have to get their talent out of the Philly area, and there are the "big six" in Philly that they have to compete with. Drexel, La Salle, Penn, Saint Joseph's, Temple, and Villanova. If they want to go to the western part of the state Pitt, Duquesne and Robert Morris are over there soaking up talent as well. Wild to consider, but Penn State may be the 10th ranked program in the state as all the 9 others have had more success than them.

Expand the region a little and you have Georgetown, Maryland, Syracuse, UConn all competing for talent as well in the Philly / NY area. Naturally UNC, Duke and others also will swoop in and grab a few of the elite players. If they were to try and get into Northeast Ohio, Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State as well as Kent and Akron dip into there heavily.

Mostly, they also DGAF about basketball there, mostly just wrestling and football and maybe soccer thrown in there as well. They'd have to dip hard into NIL to get their basketball program going and they simply won't do that.

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If I recall, Kentucky was ready to move on from Tubby. I say this as someone who thinks Tubby is a tad underrated as a coach, but I don’t remember him being the hot commodity at that time.

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Tubby was the Larry Coker of college basketball. He won the championship in his first year with pitino’s players, and that bought him a lot of equity.

IIRC losing to uab early in the tourney as a 1 seed was his doom.

If Penn State can’t out recruit:

Drexel
Penn
LaSalle
St. Joseph’s
Duquesne
Robert Morris

Then it’s their own damn fault. You are correct in that most everyone else in the state of PA has achieved more. I just feel like caring even a little bit would get you past some of those schools. I can’t imagine wrestling or something is taking up a significant amount of financial resources and NIL.

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$3 million in NIL to Basketball and $1.5 million to wrestling

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Wow. That surprises me. I didn’t know the market for wrestlers was up there…

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Ohio State: they’ve been shite for about a dozen years now. The resources are there, but damn they’ve been underwhelming.

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Historically of the big name football schools they are one of the better basketball programs. When they would put those lists up of the best football/basketball combination they were usually at the top.

They have good and sometimes great in state talent and border some of the most basketball talented states in the country. They are also a national brand so they can recruit anywhere.

I think the administration has stepped farther away from caring about the program with this NIL era which has caused lackluster coaches and teams. They do have a fan base that cares and wants better for the program.

When you have football schools like Michigan and Florida having success and even Alabama and Auburn there is no reason Ohio State shouldn’t be up there IMO….

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My wife is IU alum and they went through a stretch for about 10 years where the powers that be simply didn't care for athletics.

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I think a lot of people in the Admin and faculty plus people around Bloomington got tired of Bob Knights boorish behavior and antics. That crap will fly when you are winning titles every five years but when you are getting bounced in the 1st and 2nd round every year as he was the last 7 years that changes to a different story. It took a lot of balls for Myles Brand to fire Bob Knight...

Penn State freshman 1974. Their basketball team has never been good. Can’t compete with big east teams on the east coast. Who wants to play in Happy Valley?