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« on: March 31, 2015, 12:06:58 PM »
I’ve never been a conspiracy junkie, but I’m convincing myself that the YSU Athletic Administration purposely makes men’s basketball the red-headed stepchild to the football team. If, for example, men’s basketball became a fairly regular NCAA Tournament participant and did some damage in the tournament, YSU would become much more known nationally in basketball than by winning 1AA football championships (no matter what AD Strollo stated in the recent Warren Tribune article) and I don’t think the YSU Athletic Administration wants this to happen.
1. The coach of a division 1 basketball team earns only $137,000 (far, far less then what he should be earning in the Horizon League) while the coach of a Division 1AA football team earns approximately $250,000. I absolutely love college football and go to most every YSU game, but I’m sorry, this is an embarrassing difference, no matter how important YSU football is to the community. Such a difference in salary alone makes the YSU basketball coach a 2nd class citizen in the pecking order. In other words, Slocum knows his place.
2. Who makes the schedule, is it strictly Slocum? Does AD Strollo have any input? It’s impossible to create interest in a program and recruit players when your out-of-conference home schedule is pathetic. I keep hearing how YSU "doesn’t have the money" to invest in basketball, therefore, be aggressive and play numerous “big-money” games (see Oakland/Oral Roberts schedule for example) to make money. Use the money you earn from these games to upgrade an-outdated Beeghly Center (taking out the embarrassing bleachers and putting in permanent/retractable red chair back seats would be a start or use these games to help pay upgraded salaries). Fan interest will increase by leaps and bounds.
The citizens of Youngstown who have to live through this mediocrity year-after-year are getting shortchanged. There should not be such a disparity between Stambaugh Stadium and an outdated Beeghly Center. I don’t buy into this notion that men’s hoops cannot be successful and believe that men’s basketball should be able to financially take care of itself (and even other sports at YSU) and be a major money-maker.