Opinions on KU women Basketball
-
I want to believe in Bonnie, but last place is hard to accept. Any thoughts?
-
@Gunman SZ kept her when he said he wanted all programs to step up, think she got a raise-maybe 2 years ago? SZ then hired charlie!
-
IMO we should be in the top half of the conference on a regular basis. She’s had some tourney success but the last two years-not cutting it at all. I don’t pay attention-so I don’t know about injuries-recruiting, etc. I don’t know how many good options are out there either. If memory serves she is getting A LOT of money. If so SZ is at fault.
-
@JayhawkRock78 we DO like to blame him!
-
Bonnie needed to go about three years ago. The fan sentimentality surrounding womens’ BB coaches at KU is ridiculous, but the real obstacle for success in the women’s bb program is that any great women’s BB coach and recruiter the AD could hire would demand and deserve a little of the love that the men’s team gets. And that, my friends, makes people very nervous.
So, enjoy the poor to mediocre team with a really, really nice coach who knows her place.
-
Okay- I have had a few cocktails so here I go: I was at KU when was in great shape in KU sports: 70’s
We went to final 4 in bBall. Big 8 champs too-I won’t list. Two bowl games in Football-and won one of them for sure. Track AND swimming OWNED the conference.
Title 9 clobbered the men’s small program so why the hell can’t some of the women’s step up???
The girls track team was PHENOMENAL the last two years. NATIONAL CHAMPS-BIG 12 titles. But how long that took??? Title 9 was FORTY years ago. It is WONDERFUL SUCCESS- but 40 years? and our women bBall team are the worst in the big 12???
-
@DanR that’s really to bad!! Have a hard time buying that.
-
@JayhawkRock78 good job!!
-
@Crimsonorblue22 well I admitted I was under the influence when I went on that rant. Unfortunately most programs don’t get support. Even back in the 70’s when KU men were dominating Track & Swimming the only support came from some parents here or there. So I imagine 95% of women’s sports is still the same-playing in empty venues. We do have a beautiful campus. Maybe the winters are too harsh? Whatever the magic bullet is we don’t have it right now.
-
@JayhawkRock78 Marian Washington coached for 30 years + Bonnie for the past 10. There’s your 40 years! Sweet 16 is the farthest either of them ever made it, and it’s pretty sad that the Jayhawk fan base doesn’t really give a s*** about it.
I guess we have to keep in mind that women’s college basketball is essentially still in its infancy, with just a few pioneer coaches able to build dominant, successful programs (winning, profitable, marketable and well attended). Some guys will never follow women’s basketball, but it IS possible to win over a dedicated fan base.
For example, I lived in Knoxville TN for 10 years during Pat Summit’s last hurrah and final two national championships. UT filled their 24,000 seat arena more consistently for the Lady Vols than the Man Vols basketball (until Bruce Pearl). Granted, the TN fan base was pretty ignorant in general about rules and what constituted a personal foul on the home team, but they bought tickets and gear. People actually followed recruiting the same way we do for the KU men. On the court, the women played fundamental, athletic basketball, and it was fun to watch. Hell, I went to more lady vols games than men’s games while Jerry Greene and Buzz Peterson were cashing their big paychecks and putting crap on the floor for the men’s teams.
Of course, with Pat gone, the good ol’ boys at UT are dismantling the power structure in the athletic department that Summit created to maintain a winning program. Marian W. never had enough success to build the foundation or momentum for a dynasty at KU, and Bonnie can’t seem to compete for the top tier athletes. It’s a shame that KU missed out on being a significant part of history in the inaugural period of women’s basketball.
Anyway, with some of the first generation coaches starting to exit, now would be the time to grab a piece of the action. Unfortunately, SZ doesn’t seem to care. Fans don’t care.
There’s my rant, and I’m not even drinking!
-
If you ask most male athletes, Title 9 was and still is an utter failure. KU now fields only 6 men’s teams and 10 women’s teams and lots of male athletes that would love to compete in sports other than those 6 cannot. Unfortunately there are not enough women interested in sports and if they were to increase their participation more men’s teams could be added but this is not the case, despite Athletic Departments efforts to draft more women. Our idiotic AD went as far as restricting men’s BBall and FBall broadcasts in order to promote women’s sports that have a essentially non-existing audiences and in the process alienated a huge portion of the fan base.
I am not at all anti-women and I wish they can field as many teams as possible, my point is that men’s sports have been disproportionally and negatively affected by the lack of women participation. It should not be this way. Title 9 was a political solution that made the Merlot drinking, pot smoking, politically correct crowd fell good about themselves while completely ignoring the people they hurt; Like most political compromises, the unintended consequences were larger than the actual benefits. Just my 2 cents.
P.S. I am not anti-women, actually I am quite the opposite, so please don’t use my words above to label me as such.
-
@DanR I care! I followed them when they had that great pt guard, angel-forgot her last name. She was really fun to watch!!
-
@JayHawkFanToo I went to the national indoor meet in little rock a couple of years ago, we had great teams! I was watching the Baylor game on my iPad, SZ was at the bb game, we lost. I think we shared w/kstate that year. My point was I thought he should be supporting the 2 track teams that were phenomenonal that year and at nationals. Jmo
-
I agree. We should support ALL teams, regardless of gender, but the reality is that men;s sports will always have the greater audience.
I followed the track and field teams last season and they were great and the Volley Ball team was also exciting and fun to watch; however, wouldn’t be nice to also have men’s volley ball and soccer teams? I would bet that we would have a large number of people interested, particularly for soccer, but this not an option.
P.S. Do you realize that in my area even the women’s sports are blacked out? I know I wanted to watch the women’s volley ball and basketball teams until I found out I could not…how stupid is that!!!
-
@JayHawkFanToo SZ sucks!!!
-
I have to admit my ignorance on this thread. So… I’ll just speak from the hip. Everyone… please forgive me for my ignorance!
From what I understand of Title 9… it is devastating to schools that play football. Many have stated that there should be a different formula used for schools with or without football. The numbers in football simply knock out any hope for males in other sports.
Anything having to do with basketball at the University of Kansas should be treated with importance. We like to consider ourselves as one of the key components to the origin of the game. As such… women’s basketball should be raised to the importance of the men’s program. Gosh… look at UCONN. I have to give them credit… what a basketball school! And the crowds pack in for their women’s games.
Surely, there must be ways of lifting support for the women’s program. What about scheduling some of their games in AFH right before the men’s games? Offer ticket holders for the men’s game to come in and see the women for free. I know I would be happy to show up a couple hours early to see two games.
Up until a few years ago, not too much of women’s basketball was really watchable by general fans. But today, the women have stepped up their game, and they put on an entertaining show. Very watchable, and enjoyable!
Anything saying “Kansas” and “basketball” should be sacred ground for all of us.
I don’t know enough about Bonnie’s situation to throw out any comments. I’m sure she could use some help from all of us. It seems like attendance would be a key factor in recruiting. I think it is shameful if she has to go out on the recruiting trail and mention the historic significance of KU will having to deal with a last place standing and low attendance numbers.
Back on to football… it would help our entire athletic department if football could start pulling it’s fair share of the weight. It seems that all our athletes should canvas their networks trying not only to get fans to attend their events, but also to buy season football tickets and go to games, regardless how we are playing.
It is vital that we build a respectable football program. Vital!
-
@drgnslayr I see sports from WSU women’s bb, nobody there either. I know our men’s bb team supports women’s sports. Our vb has sold out on many occasions. Women’s rowing??
-
Although our record last year did not reflect improvement in the win and loss column-we were playing better. I hope we continue to improve meaning more wins this year. I really think we win four games minimum this year. This specific post was football related.
-
@JayhawkRock78 we are in last place, right? Not good!
Yes-girls bBall is in last place and last year they were terrible too.
-
@Gunman I have zero opinion on KU womens bball.
-
@Lulufulu KU women play basketball?
-
Evidently… not very well!
-
I don’t ever want to hear anything bad about KU women’s basketball. They almost pulled out a road win against a ranked WVU tonight in a 1/3 packed arena. They are gritty…
