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Welcome to Division I, SIUE

We have waited.

The wait is over. 

In 2005, former SIUE Chancellor Vaughn Vandegrift formed a task force to assess the future of the school's athletics program. Over the years, SIUE continued to grow, transforming from a commuter school, basically unknown; into a respectable institution with more than 14,000 students, several residence halls and nationally recognized educational programs in engineering, nursing, education, sciences and in my biased opinion, journalism.

In 1979, SIUE won a Division I title in men's soccer. Unfortunately, that program eventually joined the rest in Division II.

Division II sports are fine. An athletics program does not define a university. It enhances it. The task force published its final report in 2007 with a recommendation.

Go Division I.

At the time, the consensus among the university community seemed mixed. People here don't care about sports. Tuition and fees will skyrocket. We can't compete with these big schools. It will be an embarrassment. If we don't have a football team, Division I membership is pointless.

Vandegrift felt making the move would help the university achieve its ambitious goal of becoming nationally recognized. He wanted SIUE to be recognized for more than letting Kevin Murphy score 50 points and opening the eyes of NBA scouts.

My journey through college took me through nearly the duration of the transition. I grew alongside SIUE and saw the entire process unfold. I was covering student government meetings. I was in a fraternity of all things. I was naive about the complications of the real world and was living at home. Everything was unknown. The same can be said about SIUE. The first time I covered a basketball game I wasn't even covering the game. It was SIUE's last season in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, a lame-duck year after they had made the commitment to Division I. A management class at SIUE was at the non-conference game against Harris-Stowe with an assignment: observe the management style of Lennox Forrester, who was coaching his first collegiate game and write about it.

He has coached 141 games since then.

The transition was difficult. SIUE failed to make the GLVC tournament in Forrester's first year and suddenly the Cougars were in an unknown territory. The first year, SIUE played a mixed schedule. There was a Division I pre-season tournament featuring a victory over Western Michigan and two close losses to East Tennessee State and the College of Charleston. There were NAIA teams, Division II teams and Division III teams playing at the Vadalabene Center because noone would come here. It's RPI suicide. The Cougars lost to Milliken. They made their national TV debut on the road against Wisconsin. They made long trips to Seattle, North Dakota and South Dakota, also being welcomed to Division I tonight.

The next year was tougher. 5-23. This time you didn't have 10 winnable games on the schedule. Everyone was Division I. Everyone had an advantage. Heck, Illinois College, a Division III squad knocked off the Cougars in an exhibition game (even though they did have Jacob Turner). The Cougars made trips to Illinois and Purdue. They didn't win but just showing up was winning in my mind. Winning back-to-back games against Drake and UT Arlington to win the Drake Hy-Vee challenge was a huge accomplishment. The VC was packed when Illinois State came to town.

In 2010-2011, SIUE won another DI tournament, well, sort of. Following losses to Indiana and Northern Iowa the Cougars beat the Citadel and Longwood. They Las Vegas Classic champions. While I was away in Chicago the Cougars beat Kennesaw State, their first home victory over a fully-certified Division I team. That was a milestone. On the other side of the spectrum, Iowa embarrassed the Cougars 111-50, tying the program's largest loss in history. 

And then there was last year. A hard-fought game at Illinois. A terrible shooting performance at Illinois State. A national television audience at the VC against the nation's last undefeated team. A full Ohio Valley Conference schedule. An imaginary post-season race. Kevin Murphy was held to 1-16 shooting as the Cougars beat Tennessee Tech for their first home OVC win. The Cougars actually competed in the conference, a conference that had previously given them fits. A buzzer-beating win over Northern Illinois. The progress was apparent.

In other sports, we saw baseball coach Gary Collins collect his 1,000th victory. Volleyball coach Todd Gober won his 200th and resigned following the season. Amanda Levens led the women's team to the WBI. And, who can forget the fast-tracked men's soccer team's heartbreaking loss to Bradley in PKs during the 2010 Missouri Valley Conference soccer final.

It's not just basketball. Every team has an opportunity to make their presence known.

That brings us to now. Midnight, July 1st, 2012. The Cougars are an OVC team. They are not an independent. They are post-season eligible. They will make a name for the university.

Let's take a moment to thank all of the people involved, in no particular order.

Brad Hewitt, Vaughn Vandegrift, Bill Retzlaff, John Meisel, Sandy Montgomery, Bryan Belt, Jaci DeClue, Jason Coomer, Katie Zingg, Kandice Erwin, Mason Glick, Gerry Schlemer, Lindsey Schmidt, Mary West, James Mays, Ben Heimos, Gary Collins, Tony Stoeklin, Danny Jackson, Lennox Forrester, Mark Allaria, Matt Lauer, Kris Crosby, Daryl Cunningham, TJ Gray, Amanda Levens and her staff, Joe Pott, Adam Young, Michelle Deets, Eileen McAllister, Kurt Bertels, Emily Heikes, Jenna Springer, Patti Makler, Derrick Brown, Jennifer Jakel, former golf coach Kyle Viehl, Kevin Kalish and his staff, Derek Burton and his staff, Eric Hess, Chris Bray, Scott Slarks, Kareem Jackson, Scott Block, everyone associated with the track and field programs, Leah Johnson, Kevin Buhr, Kendall Paulus, David Ray. All of the past assistant coaches I missed, SJ Morrison of the friends of men's basketball, Bill Roseberry and Matt Kamp at the Intelligencer for their coverage, Steve Porter at the Alton Telegraph. All of the fans. All of my readers. All of the student athletes, past, present and future. The SIU Board of Trustees. President Glenn Poshard. SIUE's student government. Anyone and everyone. For myself. For you.

The Cougars have arrived.

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2012 NCAA attendance figures

I don't know if this was actually released today or the SID at Murray State just tweeted it today, but the NCAA has released its attendance report for the 2011-2012 men's basketball season.

SIUE brought in 21,211 fans this past season, an average of 1,625 over the course of 13 home dates. That puts them smack dab in the middle of the seven teams classified as "reclassifying Division I programs" last year. Seattle, which plays its games at KeyArena, former home of the Seattle Supersonics led the way with 2,944, which is impressive, but at the same time a little small when you think about it. North Dakota was second, drawing a shade over 2,000 fans and South Dakota came in right before SIUE with an average of 1,701 fans.

SIUE out-drew 92 other Division I teams, so while they are in the bottom third of attendance, they are not doing as poorly as some may think.

So, who has the worst fans in Division I basketball? That title goes to Chicago State, averaging 429 fans per game.

I know there is a ton to in Chicago. If you want Division I basketball, Chicago State probably isn't your first option. You can go see Loyola, DePaul, Northwestern and Northern Illinois (although who would want to see them anyways) is a short drive away in DeKalb. For an inner-city team, that's poor, though. Even Division III Wheaton College outdrew the Cougars. Whoever is in charge of marketing at Chicago State needs to be fired.

As a conference, the OVC was 19th out of 32 conferences, averaging 2,506 fans. SIUE out-drew Eastern Illinois, Jacksonville State and UT Martin, and was pretty close to everyone not named Murray State, drawing more than 6,000 fans per game and inflating the rest of the conference's numbers.

You can check out the full PDF report here.

Thoughts are welcome.

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Lenstension: Forrester's contract extended

In a somewhat surprising revelation, Director of Athletics Brad Hewitt announced at the men's basketball banquet earlier this week that Head Coach Lennox Forrester has had his contract extended for three more years. His contract hasn't expired yet, but it's nice to get things like this out of the way.

Terms of the deal are not disclosed, but Forrester will be sticking around.

A lot of people wanted to give Forrester the axe, basically because they are impatient. I don't know if Lennox has proven anything to us to show that he is a phenomenal coach, but then again he hasn't really done anything to show he is terrible either. He knows how to recruit, keeps the guys in check for the most part, has a solid supporting staff and his team won 10 games last season, which shows how much the team has progressed.

I don't think everyone realizes just how tough of a job Forrester has here, and plenty of other coaches I have interviewed in the past have attested to it.

You can't expect a Division II team, which SIUE was four years ago to immediately win 20 games. Everything is different now, and SIUE has had to go through a very challenging rebuilding project over the past few years. Let's remember, this is college. You don't get the number one draft pick for sucking. You have to go out and get players on your own. Instead of 29 other teams you are dealing with over 340. In hindsight, it's a miracle SIUE was as good as they were last year, which isn't saying much.

"Lennox brought great values to our program; values like commitment, dedication, accountability, hard work, and character," Hewitt said in a university press release. "He has successfully transferred those values to our student-athletes."

 

"I want to thank Dr. Hewitt and Chancellor (Vaughn) Vandegrift for their continued support in me, in allowing me to run this program," Forrester said. "The commitment is there to get this program where it needs to be."

I will have to agree with Hewitt on his use of adjectives. Stability is another thing, and it is nice to have that guy be the face of your program for a number of years. With Amanda Levens out, the women's team no longer has that firm foundation. The men's team is starting to develop it with Lennox.

We are seeing a gradual improvement back to where this program should be, and I think that is along the same lines of in-conference competitiveness we saw in the Division II days. Lennox might not get us to the Elite Eight, but I can honestly see him taking this team to the tournament at some point. It might not be next year even, but it is going to happen.

They will have a good shot at it next year with Mark Yelovich playing his senior season.

Lennox' first season with the Cougars was their last as a Division II school. That team went 17-11 and 10-9 in the GLVC. I would think that's about where this team should be on an annual basis in Division I.

Overall, I'm happy with Forrester's extension. Share your thoughts here as well. 

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Report: SIUE talking home-and-home with SLU

Saw this come across the Twitter earlier today. Weixlmann covers the A10 for Scout.com, so I'll go ahead and say his sources are legitimate.

This is something the people at SIUE have wanted for quite some time, just because it makes geographical sense.

 For other reasons, particularly from SLU's side of view, it doesn't make as much sense. For one, they don't want to hurt their RPI and for all intents and purposes, nobody expects SIUE to be a "quality" win on their schedule. It hasn't been proven yet.

It makes more sense this year than it has in the past, though.

SIUE is done with its transition. Wins against the Cougars have been counting against the RPI, but this year, they won't be picked No. 345 in the country, at least they shouldn't. SIUE will likely be pre-season 299 or something like that. It's not as big of a hit as it could be, and SLU is more confident given their success.

The A-10 is getting stronger. They added Butler today and the league is looking to go to 16 teams. SLU will have plenty of opportunities to make up for it, and Majerus is able to schedule a few big schools without worrying about his strength of schedule. This isn't a favor for SIUE. It makes sense for all parties involved. I'm pleased he has the balls to come to the VC.

Last year, the Billikens beat Tennessee State, their lone OVC opponent 71-37 long before the Tigers knocked off Murray State. They were a terrible team early on but just got better as the season went along.

They also played a regular season game against Division II Illinois-Springfield and I am pretty sure they played Rockhurst the year before that.

Simply put, SIUE is a better game on the schedule than a Division II team, and Majerus can approach it however he wants. It might make sense to them as well and I'm glad it's being discussed.

Also, great idea to get them in a home-and-home. We have seen some outstanding crowds at the VC when the quote-on-quote sexy opponents come in. See Illinois State (the Osiris Eldridge hype effect) a few years ago and Murray State last season. This year, the Cougars have Carbondale and Murray's target is just as large as ever, though I doubt they'll be undefeated come February.

This is another one of those games.

Stay tuned.

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SIUE recruiting class of 2012

I am unsure about the status on remaining scholarships for 2012-2013. There might be one, there might be none.

Players not returning due to graduation: Kevin Stineman, Corey Wickware, David Boarden
Players leaving the program for other reasons: None
Players coming back from red-shirt status: Maurice Wiltz, (sophomore, Colorado State) Tim Johnson (junior, George Washington)

Incoming recruits: Donovine Stewart (Sophomore transfer, Bradley) Ray Lester (JUCO transfer, Vincennes) Grant Fiorentinos (Sophomore transfer, Tulane)

Donovine Stewart 5'11, 190 pound guard

 

• Allegedly chose Bradley over Scholarship offers from Illinois and West Virginia.
• Has to sit out the season due to NCAA transfer rules.
• "A four-time all-state selection (2008-11), Stewart set the Limestone High School and Mid-Illini Conference career scoring records and he finished as the second-leading scorer all-time in the Peoria Journal Star circulation area with 2,295 points." - BradleyBraves.com
• Had a rough freshmen year at Bradley,  playing in 11 games averaging 4.7 minutes. He was 2-9 from the field and ended the year with 4 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists for a 7-25 team.
• I don't know if his minutes will increase once he sees the floor in Edwardsville, but Stewart does have the ability to score at the Division I level and I don't think he got a fair shot at Bradley. 

Ray Lester 6'6 245 pounds

• Going to be a really good fit for the team, if anything personality wise. Good follow on Twitter @RayRooski. Leading up to his signing he was talking with his teammates as if he was already here.
• Transferred to Vincennes from North Carolina A&T, posting numbers slightly higher than Stewart in his first year of Division I ball. Didn't have the best statistical year playing JUCO ball, but his team was loaded with additional D-I talent.
• Available immediately, adds a little more height, although not a big, he is athletic and strong in the post.

Grant Fiorentinos, 6'10, 225 pounds

• Haven't seen anything on him to SIUE yet, but @_KrisDavis1 confirmed it on Twitter. I guess he will have to sit out at least a semester, as he saw limited playing time at Tulane as a freshman. Nice to get another D-I guy from a quality well-known school. 
• Do the highlights remind you of anyone? How about Nikola Bundalo? We love foreign white guys who can dominate inside the paint with a soft touch. That's this South African. 
• Brings much needed interior presence, balances out a guard-heavy team. 
• Per Tulane website, in high school: "Attended the Hun School in Princeton, N.J., one of the premier college prep schools in America and was coached by Jonathan Stone...Averaged 14.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 4.0 blocks during his career...Was a member of the England Under 18 National Team that finished sixth in the European Championship and led the team in rebounding with 6.5 per game at the 2010 European Championships in Tel Aviv, Israel."

Solid class thus far, as SIUE has added three players with Division I experience. Share your thoughts as always.

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Thoughts on Levens return to ASU

Normally, I don't blog about women's basketball (even though I love the team to death) but let's go right ahead and make this our first topic of discussion this off-season.

After four years leading the SIUE women's basketball team and taking them to their first NCAA Division I postseason, home came calling for Amanda Levens.

I think it was maybe two weeks back when the university issued the press release telling everyone Levens made a very difficult decision to leave the E to become an "associate head coach" (a less degrading title than assistant coach) at her alma-mater, Arizona State University where she was a pretty solid player in her own right.

It had to have been an incredibly tough choice to make, especially given where SIUE is at as a program. Apparently, this offer has been on the table for a few years now and last season the timing just wasn't right for Levens. While now may be the best time for her to leave, stories have indicated the team and athletic director were confused and under prepared for this moment to come so soon. I'm sure a number of people who follow the team to a lesser extent were shocked as well. The season ticket holders found out about this well in advance of the general public.

Someone will be coaching that team come November, we just don't know who.

She caved in and took the job namely because she is comfortable with the direction of the program in her absence. I am under the impression she wasn't just going to take the first bigger job that came her way and run without regard for her former team. It seems like she considered all of the factors involved here. She is leaving behind a young, but experienced team. They lose two players, some of the first she ever recruited to SIUE in Madison Meade and Melia Duncan. She undoubtedly had an emotional investment in those two players and had to see them play their careers out. She led the team to the WBI, and although they were bounced in the first round it was a huge step for the program which is entering its first season of real postseason eligibility.

I am not going to call it a selfish decision, but it is a head scratching decision and life at this level of college basketball, so it is something you must accept. Do I agree with it? No. Does she have every right to pursue a better job opportunity? Of course. We all do.

You have to be comfortable about these ladies no matter who is coaching them. 18-11 was impressive, but in my opinion a coach rarely wins basketball games. That's skill. Coaches can sure as hell lose basketball games though rather easily and Levens didn't do that very often.

Can the SIUE women make a run next year and win the OVC? You betcha. I've always thought it was weaker on the women's side and this team is good enough. It's going to be very interesting to see how this all plays out.

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Discussion: Furst-Bowe "Furst" to bring football to the E?

If I won the recent Mega Millions jackpot the first call I was going to make was to Brad Hewitt. I was going to say, hey, Brad, are you interested in a $10 million donation to field that Division I football team we don't have?

Being a football guy, of course he would jump at the opportunity. All I would ask for in return was the press box to be named after me (a little selfish, I know.)

Julie Furst-Bowe was recently named the successor to Vaughn Vandegrift. She comes from the University of Wisconsin-Stout, and what do you know? They have a football team! Not just some club football team, but an NCAA Division III football team that would blow out SIUE's club football team by 60 points.

So, does she take the plunge and invest in a project which would undoubtedly be a perennial loser for say, five years and hope to raise school spirit a little bit or is football just too much wishful thinking?

That said, we probably need to invest in some infrastructure....

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