The talent pool in MBB over the entire country is drying up. Watching the NCAA Tournament this year was like watching top-tier high school ball. With the exception of Kentucky and Duke, two schools who will continue to suck up the "talent" from high school because that is a kids best chance at a 1 and done and get to show themselves in the tournament to make millions.
True basketball is a team game but 5 guys that "work hard" will lose to 5 guys who could play in the pros. Everytime. In other words you cant teach talent. And now to expect ANY coach to go to YSU and convince kids to move all the way across the country to live in Youngstown for 4 years for a "chance" to make a tournament is crazy talk. I highly doubt Slocum likes to lose but he cant win. It is not in the cards. And the new ruling about extra money has now just created a bidding war for the power 5 scraps. So the question that is left is how to recruit basketball players away from the Power 5 conferences without a massive ignorance of the NCAA rulebook, to place with the highest rate of citizen flight?
How does that explain the success of the YSU WBB program? YSU WBB has recruited players from PA, MI, and IN. There are not routine defections of players.
Is there a larger pool of talent of WBB collegiate athletes?
Because of title IX there is one thing anyone with a moderately athletic daughter knows...someone, somewhere will have a lot of money with no blue chip to spend it on. There is actually less of an elite talent pool for women in ALL sports. But there is also an embarrassment of riches in the form of opportunities that women have to play, because of the mandate of hosting women's sports. There is a reason why the ACC and Pac-10 have near Olympic caliber soccer teams and the ones at YSU's level resemble high school matches, though the money and opportunities are identical.
In basketball this translates to less opportunities per team, making the great teams harder to make, leaving better talent out on the fringes, with a lot of other schools willing and able to pay, which means more talent slips through the cracks. WAY more than on the men's side. And until the WNBA gives out million dollar a year contracts, the only real way to get "paid" is to get a full scholarship (women tend to be better students, and also less delusional about professional sports) get some tv time and hope to be a top three draft spot for the WNBA, if not they have a degree. With the current rule changes a lot of schools are going to have to make a lot of choices about the theory of "revenue sports"
If my child decided to run away from home......I could explain it away by saying it is the "age" we live in. I could make excuses to justify in my mind...why it wasn't something I could have changed. Or I could look at the problem my "family" fostered and attempt to change it.
That's the problem. Change is feared....for so many reasons...but it is truly what is necessary.
We are "losing" the talent on these teams! Because they are quitters? I don't believe that. These kids have a small window to be successful in their collegiate careers...and they see apathy! They see attendance that is negligible, a fan base that lives for football and no hope on the horizon for change. These kids are sold a song and dance on how they can make a difference...be the start....of something great! They are young...and they are not patient....like a lot of you are. I would assume that staying the course is a sign of patience.....and not apathy...or worse yet...stupidity.
I am not blaming the fans. This is entertainment and you pay for what you value....what you enjoy. There hasn't been a lot to enjoy over the years.....therefor a lot have chosen to "change the channel".
I would hope things couldn't get worse....but maintaining the "status quo" is even worse. Something has to change.
The things that actually need changing would upset ALOT of apple carts, don't look for real change anytime soon. Unless you mean merely changing paint colors on the titanic.
