Thursday's WAC basketball universe

Dayton Morinaga reports that Coach Gib Arnold is taking his players to the beach but it's not for what you think.

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The USU Stats site folks have the news that Pooh Williams will be playing next in the NBA Developmental league.

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The Fresno Bee's George Hostetter blogs about the Fresno State athletics budget, including these basketball-related excerpts:

"...The jawdropper, though, is the projected gate receipts at the Save Mart Center for the men's basketball team. In 2010-11, the men's hoop program was expected to bring in $1,450,363 at the gate for 19 homes games. That's $76,335 per game. In 2011-12, the program is expected to bring in $988,632 for 16 home games. That's $61,790 per game. In one year, Fresno State is projecting a 31.8% drop in overall men's basketball gate receipts and a per game drop in gate receipts of 19.1%.

I can't recall the last time gate receipts for men's basketball were under $1 million. As recently as 2007-08, the gate receipts were $2,129,937 (and this was actual money at the box office, not a budget projection).

Recession or not, I guarantee no one expected to spend more than $100 million for an on-campus arena only to have a full season's gate receipts for the men's basketball program total less than $1 million.

The men's basketball program has a new coach -- Rodney Terry. I hear nothing but good things about him. I hope the Red Wavers give him and his players a chance..."

Mountain West Conference affiliation will help in both recruiting and drawing more fans when the likes of San Diego State visit but it all still boils down to Al Davis' "Win, baby win."

 

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Will this come to fruition, at least to some degree, in the WAC? That is, signing some players for what they will do in academically lifting a basketball program and not necessarily for on-court contributions?

 

As the Rush The Court braintrust wrote a while back about the 2011 Big Dance under the present rules, certain big time teams would have been missing.