Flying Dutchmen Fans

Two Hofstra programs that were perennial top 20 ranked teams in year past have regrettably have lapsed into near oblivion. This board has rightfully been critical of the lacrosse team performance, but the other program that gets no mention is wrestling. The loss of Coach Tim Ryan to OSU was the really the tipping point but I never thought it would be so monumental. I’m out of the loop living in Chapel Hill NC for 30 years but is there any glimmer that the program can be revitalized? Is it Coaching, inadequate recruiting, lack of resources, etc? It can’t be, IMO, related to the NIL portal as the drop off began in 2015. From afar, it looks like a real lack of interest by the AD. As I am writing this watching Indiana trounce Oregon; arguably Indiana was worse football team in BIg Ten in the last 40 years, prior to hiring Cignattti (sp) as coach, it speaks volumes about the impact of excellence in coaching.

Yeah it does seem like some programs here nobody cares that much about like the women's basketball program. They have been horrible for years with maybe no end in sight and there have been no managerial changes. The program has had some success in the past making the NIT and winning games in the NIT. It's just status quo and that seems to be very acceptable for this program!!

So HU is in a tough spot now - and IMO, they put themselves here so I don't have much sympathy - this U allowed itself to fall off the face of a cliff in athletics. And now the landscape has shifted so seismically that HU doesn't have much choice in how to approach. Wrestling is a good example of this - this was a program that was producing AA's when I was in school. Battling with the best of the best. Ryan exited and of course there was some dropoff there - but it was exaggerated by HU's lackadaisical approach to athletics - i.e. cheap as hell, resting on their laurels, patting themselves on the back for marginal achievements, and failing to have a true vision for growth and to navigate the very clearly changing collegiate dynamics.

HU was literally sleeping at the wheel while others were forming strategic plans recognizing just how vital athletics will be to University growth and survival.

Now because of that piss poor leadership, HU is very very far behind. We now have no choice but to literally put every last ounce into mens hoops. It is the ONLY sport we have that has any relevance and ability to produce $. Without football, we have zero options - mens hoops MUST win. And win often. I don't mean meaningless 20 games, I mean playing in NCAAT's every 4-5 years. This is how it works. Your cash cow, which is either football or mens hoops, has to be the fuel for the rest of your athletic dept. It's how every program in the country operates. The SEC used their football winnings to fuel their basketball and now they are just as much of a force as the ACC.

I've said many times before, as much as this may not be liked, HU should put ALL of it's eggs into mens hoops. We should cut a sport or two and put that money into that program. I love the other sports - love soccer, love lax, love vball, and softball, and wrestling, etc. but if the mens basketball team doesn't find real success and real $, the rest will not matter and will not survive.

I'm living this same nightmare with both my teams, HU and VT. VT has literally gone through the same course of piss poor leadership BS for the last decade and have paid a steep price to begin to correct it. They are finally on the right track now and investing huge dollars into football to right the ship - and their hoops will suffer for it - but that's what it takes - can't fund everything, and one has to be the bell cow.

Indiana isn't an accident. They landed the jackpot in Cignetti - he's one of a kind. BUT IU also has invested MILLIONS into building their team of talent. Mark Cuban has been a major factor there. This is sports today. It's both leadership and money.

For HU, we need NCAAT bids in mens hoops, and we need them now. Mark my words, there is another realignment coming. And it will be a doozy.

Both the wrestling and women's basketball programs have become dumpster fires and something needs to be done about it.