Say it ain't so ...

[Spider17]

Man, it sounds like there were truly only a handful of schools he would’ve left UR for. Here’s a quote from the article “I mean this with whole sincerity: I was not looking to leave and thought I could stay at Richmond forever ... So it wasn’t as much of a slam-dunk no-brainer as probably people think. That's more of a credit to Richmond than it is detriment to here.”

https://twitter.com/x/status/2042715030437736710

 

[mr.spider]

This stings all over again. As expected...he was very happy at Richmond and was planning to stay. I know with almost certainty he would have taken us to the national stage. Consistent top 25 appearances, sweet 16 and elite 8 runs. Final 4 at Richmond was definitely within reach. It hurts so bad...this was our chance to break through.

 

[mr.spider]

He was true to his word that he loved our school and the area and probably wouldn't have jumped if it was further away than Charlottesville.

He may have taken this opportunity no matter what, BUT it makes you wonder WHAT IF we had offered him big money + extra NIL money. What if we recognized our failed men's program and gave money from that program to women's hoops. What if we flipped the budget between the two. Our women's hoops base was growing. Grow the women's team and let them lead the way and then circle back and bring the men along later.

 

[Spider17]

I wouldn’t be surprised if UVA isn’t his final stop either. Could see him leading Iowa, UCLA, Texas or some other elite program one day too.

 

[mr.spider]

I wouldn’t be surprised if UVA isn’t his final stop either. Could see him leading Iowa, UCLA, Texas or some other elite program one day too.

Very true...I fully expect him to take over Uconn's program when Geno retires, which will probably coincide nicely with his kids being grown and him being ready to leave VA.

 

[mr.spider]

uva is definitely not the be-all end-all. He could have done close to as much at Richmond. uva may be acc, but they are not anything near a superpower.

 

[URFan1]

Coaches like AR dream of a Natty. Final validation.

 

[SpiderLaw]

uva is definitely not the be-all end-all. He could have done close to as much at Richmond. uva may be acc, but they are not anything near a superpower.

I don’t see why Roussell cannot take UVA to a Final Four or a championship. With major donors UVa is on an upswing in football , MBB and WBB - if Aaron retains UVA’s current roster he will start much stronger than Chicago, Bucknell or UR.

 

[mr.spider]

I don’t see why Roussell cannot take UVA to a Final Four or a championship. With major donors UVa is on an upswing in football , MBB and WBB - if Aaron retains UVA’s current roster he will start much stronger than Chicago, Bucknell or UR.

I don't see why Aaron couldn't have taken Richmond to a Final Four either. At least Elite 8, with a pretty decent shot at a Final Four. Hell, with the right match-ups, Elite 8 was doable last year. We were tied at half time in the 2nd round with the #1 overall seed on their home court. Aaron said afterwards that this didn’t have to be the pinnacle of our success, and I know he had the blueprint to keep building our program.

 

[SpiderLaw]

I agree with you also. Let’s all think forward and help our new coach continue with her own trajectory.

 

[MrTbone]

I don't see why Aaron couldn't have taken Richmond to a Final Four either. At least Elite 8, with a pretty decent shot at a Final Four. Hell, with the right match-ups, Elite 8 was doable last year. We were tied at half time in the 2nd round with the #1 overall seed on their home court. Aaron said afterwards that this didn’t have to be the pinnacle of our success, and I know he had the blueprint to keep building our program.

I appreciate the speculation but there’s still a significant disparity between the top women’s programs and everyone else. I don’t subscribe to the little ol Richmond thesis either, I think both men’s and women’s bball can be competitive on the national level with the right conditions. This includes having excellent coaching.

I think we can get another excellent coach and kresge seems to be comparable in a lot of dimensions.

 

[brooklyn brownstone]

What's the money difference, any idea? I assume it was too much to ignore.

Also, if ever there had been a break the piggy bank year and spend all your money on NIL, this past one was it for Spider women's hoops. Needed to replace Budnik and Camden up front and Hill and Jimenez on the wings from a R32 team that was returning 3 of its top 4 scorers, including 2 all A10 players one whom was POY. I wonder if that (i.e. inability to grab impact transfers, all due respect to Simon who was a role player in my estimation) played any part?

 

[SpiderLaw]

Great question - your question reflects how far the WBB program has come as well as our interest level.

 

[mr.spider]

I appreciate the speculation but there’s still a significant disparity between the top women’s programs and everyone else. I don’t subscribe to the little ol Richmond thesis either, I think both men’s and women’s bball can be competitive on the national level with the right conditions. This includes having excellent coaching.

I think we can get another excellent coach and kresge seems to be comparable in a lot of dimensions.

I agree with you on both counts.

There are many tiers and huge disparities in women's basketball. A top 50 team team will crush a Top 100 team. A top 25 team will blowout a top 50 team. A top 10 team can regularly blowout a top 25 team. A Final 4 team can dominate a Top 10 team. Hell, wasn't even the championship game a blowout? We weren't close to winning a National Championship or anything YET but neither is uva, my friends. Roussell could have taken us or uva within sniffing distance, which still might be an Elite 8 blowout loss.

I think we got a good coach, but even so I think it is a step back. But yeah, let's pick up the pieces quickly. Time is of the essence before we lose momentum.

 

[Sections 204and5]

I think we got a good coach, but even so I think it is a step back. But yeah, let's pick up the pieces quickly. Time is of the essence before we lose momentum.

I think most people were expecting a step back even if Roussell stayed. You don't lose three all-time greats in two years and not expect some regression. There's a fair amount of doom and gloom on here but Roussell - as highly as I thought of his program building - is not the only great coach in the country. I watched a couple of Kresge's post-game press conferences today and was impressed with how she handled them. No question she has big shoes to fill but I'm going to be optimistic about this hire until/if proven otherwise.

 

[mr.spider]

I think most people were expecting a step back even if Roussell stayed. You don't lose three all-time greats in two years and not expect some regression. There's a fair amount of doom and gloom on here but Roussell - as highly as I thought of his program building - is not the only great coach in the country. I watched a couple of Kresge's post-game press conferences today and was impressed with how she handled them. No question she has big shoes to fill but I'm going to be optimistic about this hire until/if proven otherwise.

I meant the trajectory of Roussell's program...although I think he would have done fine next year, maybe a stretch to make NCAAs again but in the conversation.

I am hopeful we don't lose much ground with a new coach because if it takes several years to get back to where we were, we wasted a huge opportunity.

 

[mr.spider]

What's the money difference, any idea? I assume it was too much to ignore.

Also, if ever there had been a break the piggy bank year and spend all your money on NIL, this past one was it for Spider women's hoops. Needed to replace Budnik and Camden up front and Hill and Jimenez on the wings from a R32 team that was returning 3 of its top 4 scorers, including 2 all A10 players one whom was POY. I wonder if that (i.e. inability to grab impact transfers, all due respect to Simon who was a role player in my estimation) played any part?

This is a very good point. I was expecting better recruiting after crushing GaTech and playing UCLA a good game. Ucla fans I talked to at the game were very relieved to move on past us, btw It seems we didn't double down on our successes as much as we could have.

 

[Sections 204and5]

UVA presser:

 

[Sections 204and5]

Three assistants appear headed to UVA since they were in the audience at the presser - Ariel Stephenson. Alex Louin and AJ Wahl. I suppose more are possible but Radice and Pinkney were not sitting with the others.

 

[PittFieldDreams]

Three assistants appear headed to UVA since they were in the audience at the presser - Ariel Stephenson. Alex Louin and AJ Wahl. I suppose more are possible but Radice and Pinkney were not sitting with the others.

Added to the mix of the 3 former UR staff members, Darren Guensch will be coming over from Va Tech. He had been with Coach Roussell at both Bucknell and a few seasons at Richmond. Also joining will be former Florida Gator head coach Kelly Rae Finley who was recently replaced by Rhody’s Tammi Reiss.