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.
3 comments:
now all we need is the announcement that football is in the works. lol Congrats to SIUE, this is the start of great things to come
Maybe I am in the minority but I don't want football. It just drains the athletic budget. If you aren't an FBS school I can't see much of a following. FCS schools don't get much publicity. I would rather have money go twords basketball the other other sports we already have. UNLESS, this means we could join the MVC then I could maybe get on board. But traveling to the OVC schools just doesn't do much for me for football.
Happy the D1 transition is done though. Expecting big strides from the Men's basketball team this year.
If they add football, it needs to be done in a timely manner, so can plan for any money issues. I know they are expensive, but also help I think with alumni and such. I know if they had a football team, I would go to everyone game and be much more involved. Soccer is ok to watch, but football is 10 times better
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