We Turned Down an NIT Offer! Why?

[skeller6]

Mar 21, 2024 18:41:06 GMT -5 joe48 said:

Who hired Manhertz? Not a good fit for a small university. He only worked at large schools. He is living in a couple places. He was looking for another job right after he started.
The article in Olean Times mentioning MAW being a problem for Schmidt this year makes sense. Players notice and things like this can really disrupt the team dynamic. This probably explains lack of focus in losses to LaSalle and SLU.

Manhertz never developed any affinity or knowledge of Bona history, in fact the only time I met him and talked with him all he talked about was Duke and the huge Duke ring.

After two years as AD and he has yet to know of and appreciate Bona history and culture?  Fire him asap.

Guess what, my BAF funds are now on hold......watching and waiting..........let your cash speak for you......

[Swede]

LEADING means telling these young adults that “we are playing in the NIT if selected. You can either follow or get out of the way”. FOLLOWING means asking the young adults what they want to do and then saying, “gee willikers, whatever you guys want is ok with us”.

We totally blew this one.

[chippie76]

To me the biggest issue is that many alumni question if we can compete in this new environment and are met with requests for added $ to attempt to do so. The entire handling of this issue does not make me feel comfortable that we have the administrative team in place to compete and perhaps should re-evaluate the future of our program. They asked the players what their future plans were but didn't ask them if they wanted to play further if invited? We feel it is better to be highlighted in a group of teams that opted out rather than playing on national TV against teams that accepted including Ohio State, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Xavier, Vilanova, etc. I must be missing something.

[BONA82.5]

This is a time for quick and decisive action. Clean out you locker JOE - "and don't let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya ..."

He just doesn't get St. Bonaventure - and never will.

[Chuck]

Following is from Chuck Pollock’s attached article.

After Duquesne eliminated the Bonnies in Saturday’s A-10 Tournament semifinals, coach Mark Schmidt was asked if his team’s 20-13 record was good enough to earn an NIT bid.

Here was his response: “Hopefully. Who knows? “I don’t know what they think, but we won 20 games. I’ve been here 17 years, and I think we’ve only done that five other times. This was the sixth time that we won 20 games. So we had a good year. It was up and down. The last game never defines you.” Does that sound like a coach who, the next day, through Manhertz, would be asking his team be removed from consideration?

Reading Chuck Pollock's article it certainly appears it was Manhertz decision. Manhertz should be fired for the simple reason that it is unforgivable for him failing to let everyone know about Bona refusing consideration for a NIT bid.


hornellsun.com/2024/03/21/pollock-st-bonaventure-made-every-excuse-not-to-play-in-the-nit-except-the-eclipse/?fbclid=IwAR0pxqud8GZf4nADROLdaERhNRQy9h8A5MqkMlr-Eoy0NPQsJ4ecpvVhh1o

[gregmitch70]

Manhertz's stupid statement to the BV yesterday may seal his fate, depending on donor uproar, but as usual most on this board give Schmidt, on the other hand, every benefit of a doubt. However:

--Consider that every statement by Manhertz claims the decision was shared by him AND coaches. If you don't trust Manhertz's honesty--well, Schmidt has not disputed that so far.

--In any case, it would have been Schmidt's role to inform players of the decision and we know he did not, so they learned of it via ESPN. He has not explained why he did not.

--Some here have said the players should have been pressured or ordered to play if we got bid. Again, that would have been Schmidt's role. We don't know if he did but if he did, nothing came of it.

--Manhertz gets full blame from some for the two-day "coverup" of not informing fans and alumni. You think Schmidt didn't go along with this? As with everything else related to this, do you think Manhertz is the big man on campus for sports and that he can make Schmidt do anything he doesn't want to do? Schmidt towers above him in salary, accomplishment, fan and alumni support etc. And, again, Schmidt certainly had the ability to contact his players or go to the media etc. if he opposed Manhertz's "coverup."

--The fact that Schmidt said postgame on Sat. that, sure, we were good enough to be considered for postseason, means little. Asked directly by a reporter, what else could he say--that the team was no good, don't even consider us, we are going home? And if he did hope for a bid, that doesn't mean he felt that way the next day when some players said they would enter the portal, or were banged up, or whatever else they might have said. It's possible that Schmidt was more inclined than Manhertz to play but not to the extent that he used his muscle to really push for it or ultimately disagreed with a "joint" decision. Maybe he felt team would be embarrassed in any game due to disinterest or injuries. Maybe he was right?

--Of course Schmidt might release a statement today that refutes that the decision was "joint" or that he wanted to tell the players and the fans that we asked not to be considered but Manhertz (despite power imbalance) ordered him not to. We'll see.

[BONA82.5]

And the saga continues ... GM70 makes good points - It is time for Coach to make a definitive statement.
This story isn't going to just go away on its own.

[eks2002]

Mar 22, 2024 8:37:06 GMT -5 BONA82.5 said:

And the saga continues ... GM70 makes good points - It is time for Coach to make a definitive statement.
This story isn't going to just go away on its own.

I agree. I understand that Manhertz is the AD but if people really think that coach is not the end all be all when it comes to the men’s basketball team, you need to get your head examined. This decision was not made without him knowing. Do I think the AD needs to go, maybe, but please don’t think this was made without coach knowing or being part of the decision. I may be proven wrong but I find it hard to believe.
I also think the AD shouldn’t be fired for the decision, he should be fired for how they communicated everything from the jump. To me that is basic PR and if you cannot do that, how the hell can you run competitive DI sports programs.

[NILsucks]

Why haven't we heard from the 2 million dollar coach? As much as AD Joe botched this the silence from Schmidt is deafening. It's past time we heard from him.

[ctm77]

Because we never hear from Schmidt if he doesn’t want to talk. He walks all over Bona’s PR handlers and has no respect for the Times Herald or Chuck Pollock (which was certainly not gained after those opinion pieces— did anyone even attempt to procure comment from him? They had time for an unnamed source to call Mika a problem but no line about not receiving a return for comment? A Bonaventure journalism class can get comment from Manhertz, get Manhertz in the room, but the Times Herald cannot? Greg can explain the journalism part of this much better than I can).

I agree that Schmidt shares some blame here and would appreciate his insight into the situation. We know his love for Bona and its alumni, not to mention his obsession with coaching and game planning, so we know not playing must have been incredibly difficult for him. I just wouldn't wait around for a statement from the guy who doesn’t do media.

[demourse]

While this debacle is not an NCAA violation, it does display a lack of institutional control. the illustrious JvBK was run out of town on much less evidence. Send smug Schmidt packing. Congrats on the 18 years of service but his time has come to an end.

Meanwhile, he is likely playing the victim and trying to get another raise.

I wonder if the admin didn't want to pay the cost to update the NIT banner to include 2024. Sure hope they raise season ticket prices next year!

[BONA82.5]

Mar 22, 2024 9:40:03 GMT -5 ctm77 said:

Because we never hear from Schmidt if he doesn’t want to talk. He walks all over Bona’s PR handlers and has no respect for the Times Herald or Chuck Pollock (which was certainly not gained after those opinion pieces— did anyone even attempt to procure comment from him? They had time for an unnamed source to call Mika a problem but no line about not receiving a return for comment? A Bonaventure journalism class can get comment from Manhertz, get Manhertz in the room, but the Times Herald cannot? Greg can explain the journalism part of this much better than I can).

I agree that Schmidt shares some blame here and would appreciate his insight into the situation. We know his love for Bona and its alumni, not to mention his obsession with coaching and game planning, so we know not playing must have been incredibly difficult for him. I just wouldn't wait around for a statement from the guy who doesn’t do media.

Hard to argue with that logic. There are a ton of unanswered questions that we would all like to hear from Coach on in regards to the team's performance and a 3rd consecutive year of Mass Migration(s). He has dodged those issues in the past, and will likely continue to dodge them - but this one is bigger and speaks to a much larger problem. Need some transparency Coach ... What happened and where does BONA basketball go from here ?

[BONA82.5]

The truth will (and may) set you free ...

[ctm77]

Mar 22, 2024 10:15:42 GMT -5 demourse said:

While this debacle is not an NCAA violation, it does display a lack of institutional control. the illustrious JvBK was run out of town on much less evidence. Send smug Schmidt packing. Congrats on the 18 years of service but his time has come to an end.

Meanwhile, he is likely playing the victim and trying to get another raise.

I wonder if the admin didn't want to pay the cost to update the NIT banner to include 2024. Sure hope they raise season ticket prices next year!

As usual you don’t have a clue what youre talking about

[chrismoses]

Mar 22, 2024 10:15:42 GMT -5 demourse said:

While this debacle is not an NCAA violation, it does display a lack of institutional control. the illustrious JvBK was run out of town on much less evidence. Send smug Schmidt packing. Congrats on the 18 years of service but his time has come to an end.

Meanwhile, he is likely playing the victim and trying to get another raise.

I wonder if the admin didn't want to pay the cost to update the NIT banner to include 2024. Sure hope they raise season ticket prices next year!

You want to fire Schmidt for not playing in the NIT?