What's the real reason he stepped down? Someone has to be in the know. Yes clues were offered in his letter, but no more elaboration offered to our beat writer.
How was his relationship with the president?
Padilla announced the resignation was “bittersweet”, whatever that implies.
There have been a lot of cuts and pay cuts at the University.
we would be foolish to think this wouldn’t possibly bleed into athletics.
Let’s hope Roger feels he has the support.
@nocru He just accepted a good faith contract extension so he still believes in the university most likely.
Nice article by Nikki Coryell on the Interim:
https://www.valpotorch.com/sports/article_c184f0da-f2fb-11ee-a2d9-2beb8dcc6f67.html
Nice article, but will she have any power to make a difference?
@usc4valpo Considering she has the full confidence of Padilla, I expect her to do well. They are both on the same page as to the future of the program, which is addressing the facility problem. (Shameless plug of Valpo Day tomorrow. Donate if you can) I doubt talks on that front were being done exclusively with Small anyway. It almost seems like Padilla spearheaded that effort. I like the focus on growth, and that is evident from the improved presence on social media, and her good faith extension for Powell. Ultimately, what good is a shiny new arena if you cant fill the seats? I am liking the extension from Powell to focus our lacking NIL efforts on building the fan base in the region. Seeing as those talks and improvements have not ceased according to the article, I assume its just picking up where Small left off. I feel like she has the potential to not be just an interum, but we will have to wait and see.
Nothing against Hosmer, but I really hope that a true national search is undertaken, and looking for someone with strong AD experience already under their belt. We are not at a point with our university, that we can miss on this next hire. It can't be a position that someone is learning on the job. Maybe I am in in the minority, but we need to be poaching a current AD from a smaller conference D-1 program.
Nothing against Hosmer, but I really hope that a true national search is undertaken, and looking for someone with strong AD experience already under their belt. We are not at a point with our university, that we can miss on this next hire. It can't be a position that someone is learning on the job. Maybe I am in in the minority, but we need to be poaching a current AD from a smaller conference D-1 program.
I fully expect this to happen, but from what it seems, Padilla had a major influence in athletics. I assume Hosmer will be little more than a talking head for Padilla, as her motive has been mainly focused on keeping the visions of Small and Padilla.
@rezynezy Well, if she can make an impact, then why is Evans still coaching the WBB team, especially as WBB has significantly escalated in interest? How can one justify a 5-26 season which has not been an outlier?
@rezynezy Well, if she can make an impact, then why is Evans still coaching the WBB team, especially as WBB has significantly escalated in interest? How can one justify a 5-26 season which has not been an outlier?
If We are being honest WBB is going to take a massive hit once Clark leaves. I also don't think the school cares about the WBB program enough to make a change sadly
I totally disagree -- many fans have really enjoyed this tournament. And now JuJu will be at the forefront!
I totally disagree -- many fans have really enjoyed this tournament. And now JuJu will be at the forefront!
I feel like a lot of the fans were wanting to watch Caitlin Clark first and foremost. Considering the high prices to get early Fever tickets this seems to be the thinking of a lot of people. I expect those fans to move over to watching the WNBA as opposed to another NCAAW tournament. Don't get me wrong I would love to be proved wrong by this, but judging from the hype that surrounded Clark, this seems to be the most likely thing to happen in my eyes
Circling back to the Coaching thing, I feel like firing a coach immediately after being named the new AD would be the worst possible PR move one could ever undertake. Might take another year for her to be let go.
@usc4valpo With so many people talking about valpo's most likely troubling financial state, I'm surprised how many still think they'd have the money to just buy out the women's basketball coach contract...with all that's going on at what point is it really worth it? she can't have much left on her contract anyways
@rezynezy I hope you are wrong but we will see! This senior class of women changed the game, but this just leaves more room for other stars to start shining. Maybe not Caitlin Clark level, but I think the amount of young girls who were exposed to this season will have a lasting impact on viewership and attendance down the line. (And there is still Beuckers next season)
