Bedford is a DB coach by trade, so he'll have a hand there. More than that, the NCAA limits how many coaches you can have - doesn't matter how big Texas is. I thought both Duane Akina and Darrell Wyatt would have been good to retain, as they are both known as excellent coaches and have always produced results. They also would have brought some stability to recruiting, etc... That said, I think it's far more important that the coaching staff has chemistry, so it's good that Strong was able to pick his guys. I think the defensive staff is lights out, but I'm not so sold on the offensive guys. Time will tell.
If you believe the "insider" stories of how the last few years played out, he was near the top of the list of people that had to go. Those stories suggest that he did not respect Manny Diaz and just kept teaching his DBs his own man-to-man principles instead of Diaz's zone defenses and the like, and that was supposedly part of the blame behind our DBs sucking in Diaz' schemes. Say what you want about Diaz, but if the boss wants to implement a certain style, your job is to do it. Akina should have been fired well before Diaz for insubordination, in that case. It does fit with the whole culture of non-accountability and the rumblings from coaches who leave about the dysfunction, but it's unclear how true this particular thing is.
Students would (rightfully so) throw a fit if UT got rid of such a great huge park for a small basketball arena. I would vote no if I were a student and it came up. It's also a waste of an opportunity when you have to build a new venue. You can make something bigger that the city doesn't have and attract a lot of great shows and events. I'm sorry but 15 games of basketball a year doesn't really move me in any big way. That's a pretty crazy story. I'm betting that people looked for any possible story they could get there hands on for that debacle. Orangebloods has to drive up subscriptions somehow. Pretty crazy if true though.
I would vote yes. building a stadium that is accessible to students is more important than a field that only freshmen who live in the dorms use. Although as someone pointed out above, I don't know that the students are the primary focus of bellmont...though I do think that it will factor into their decision. I don't see them building a stadium across the lake, across the highway in the area of the baseball stadium seems to me a more likely alternative
Like BigBird, I would also vote yes. The only people who use Clark are residents of San Jacinto and Moore-Hill. Jester residents (and everyone else) go to Gregory.
I know. I'm the one who posted about it. I understand your point about the priority of the arena over the park but I don't think the ease of student access should be a bigger deal then all the other factors that are being talked about. The Erwin Center is really accessible but students go to the games. Assuming they do the necessary adjustments, it will be more accessible for the rest of austin to catch a game and they can make it a part of a night out. I would go and then head to rainy or soco
Building this new arena near Town Lake will turn our hoops atmosphere into a Toyota Center-esque morgue. The one thing special about college hoops is the atmosphere, and it's going to be damn hard to pull students from campus on Big Monday when they've got classes and homework.
Classes and homework will not stop UT students who would be going to a basketball game on a Monday night. The distance and hassle will hurt attendance. That said, the better location for post and pre game celebration will help attendance, but probably not enough to offset the hassle. I think Clark field is a bad idea. It was a good open field as well as good outdoor basketball. Too bad they couldn't build it just north of current location on other side MLK on the parking lot and Red River (who needs Red River to be continuous any way?).
Of course the hassle of having to bike/cab/bus down to Town Lake is the issue #1 with the arena proposal. The others (labs, homework, etc) just compound the issue since you're taking additional time out to attend weeknight games that are off campus. I don't know if Clark Field is ideal or not, but it's one of the few feasible locations on or near campus. The Disch parking lot might work too.
Honest question (know I'm with y'all on Town Lake being a less-than-ideal solution): why couldn't UT ramp up the buses on game days to downtown? Students already travel to the IM fields on a daily basis, which is about the same distance from campus than Town Lake. If the city intends to use the new arena for the same purpose that the Erwin Center has now - concerts, graduations, etc. - than there may not be another spot on campus for a structure this size. Town Lake is also appealing to the city from a concert-going perspective, I imagine.
The Erwin Center is a morque. If the attendance was comparable to other schools then the school would not be considering moving it that far away but it is what it is. I agree that the "college atmosphere" is awesome but UT basketball games are not that. UT was 32nd in attendance this season. These are the teams ahead: 1. Kentucky 18 415,775 23,099 2. Syracuse 19 426,347 22,439 3. Louisville 16 345,129 21,571 4. North Carolina 16 309,603 19,350 5. Indiana 19 330,832 17,412 6. Creighton 17 291,643 17,155 7. Wisconsin 18 303,172 16,843 8. Tennessee 17 282,794 16,635 9. Ohio St. 18 297,428 16,524 10. Kansas 18 295,889 16,438 11. Memphis 18 294,044 16,336 12. North Carolina St. 17 277,087 16,299 13. BYU 18 287,750 15,986 14. UNLV 22 334,320 15,196 15. Marquette 16 240,530 15,033 16. New Mexico 16 240,351 15,022 17. Illinois 17 255,213 15,013 18. Michigan St. 18 258,138 14,341 19. Arizona 16 226,505 14,157 20. Arkansas 19 261,242 13,750 21. Iowa 20 272,496 13,625 22. Iowa St. 17 227,683 13,393 23. Minnesota 17 213,865 12,580 24. Kansas St. 18 225,503 12,528 25. Maryland 21 262,264 12,489 26. Dayton 17 211,446 12,438 27. San Diego St. 15 186,210 12,414 28. Michigan 18 218,490 12,138 29. Missouri 17 203,929 11,996 30. Purdue 19 225,286 11,857 31. Alabama 20 223,171 11,159 32. Texas 16 175,116 10,945 Moving the Erwin center a 3rd of a mile closer to campus will not help that. Closing the upper level in a 20,000 arena would also help keep all the fans close to the court. I think that is very likely. Again, going to the game and then going to SOCO, Rainy or dirty sounds like a fun night. It works with your plans as oppose to the Erwin Center which requires you to work around it.
That list makes no sense. College hoops home court advantage has absolutely nothing to do with total attendance. Cameron Indoor Stadium at Duke seats only 9,300 and is absolute hell on visiting teams. Ditto places like Phog Allen (Kansas) and Gallagher Iba (Ok State). The reason the Erwin Center blows is that it's a mixed use facility and the fans in the upper deck are totally removed from the game. The basketball only arenas, the fans are right on top of the court creating a hostile environment for visitors.
It matters that a school with 60,000 people can't get as many people to games as Iowa ST. It's a testament to the apathy of ut students when it comes to basketball. It's beyond silly for us to build a 12,000 seat arena that will house 15 games a year because we can't get more students to come.
If it is silly to build a basketball stadium for basketball reasons, it is silly to build a basketball stadium for non-basketball reasons. Incorporate those reasons into the stadium sure, but it is being built for those 15 games and for the students. I would not lose Clark Field for it. If I was student, I wouldn't mind a downtown stadium as long as there are buses to the stadium for games and students get preferential seating since venue can make money on other events. In exchange for court-side seats, alumni should get swanky luxury boxes if it goes this route. I would prefer a stadium to be on or near campus, though.
