While in recent days we have been eagerly looking forward to November, taking a look back at some summer developments might also help us see where we’re headed this season. More than anything, and contrary to what the press releases on AUEagles.com would have us believe, the summer was marked by a series of departures, however tempered with formidable additions.
As we recently discovered, Mike Technow transferred to the Division II University of South Carolina – Aiken. While something can be said about the athletic department’s failure to inform us of his departure, we wish him the best, as he will surely be a standout player for the USC-A Pacers. The incoming freshman class notwithstanding (who will certainly be analyzed in great detail in the near future on this blog), the athletic department did find it prudent to point out a key addition to the team – Troy Brewer. Troy transferred from the Georgia Bulldogs of the SEC, (likely with similar intentions as Technow) and like fellow transfer Vlad Moldoveanu who will start this January, will certainly be a force when he becomes eligible to play in the 2010-2011 season. Until then, I’m sure he’ll add quite a bit of challenge to practice with two full seasons of experience at UGA under his belt.
This trickle of players down the college basketball hierarchy doesn’t even come close to the strangest swap of the summer, however. In another departure left unannounced by our athletic department (where transparency is like football), assistant coach Michael Brennan left to take an assistant coaching position with our cross-town nemesis, the Georgetown Hoyas. Who vacated the spot he took? None other than OUR new assistant coach Robert Burke. Yes, folks, we did just trade coaches with the Hoyas. I do believe we came out on top of this strange move, however, as Burke was the last original assistant to come in with Georgetown head coach John Thompson III. He’s been a recruiting force for Georgetown, bringing in some of their best players of the last five years. So why would a fellow of his caliber move from the Big East to the Patriot League? Despite academic success that puts even Georgetown to shame, truth be told the Patriot League won’t be dominating NCAA basketball any time soon in the manner of the Big East. This leaves one probable scenario: Burke is after Coach Jones’ job. After back-to-back tournament runs and a 24-8 season, as well as a history with UVA, it would be presumptuous to assume that Coach Jones hasn’t had his own fair share of offers from relatively big-time teams. Whether this is just premature rumor mongering or obvious foresight remains to be seen – more on this in a future investigative piece right here on American University Basketball Central.
Finally, I want to touch upon the newest, and likely most attractive new member of the Eagle’s squad this season. Alright, he’s not entirely new, but certainly looking a whole lot better than before. I am referring to none other than the redesigned Clawed Z. Eagle costume that debuted at the Bender Blue Out women’s volleyball game this past weekend. As Bill mentioned, the Associated Press took a stab two seasons ago at our proud eagle mascot, calling him “shopworn.” While that might have been a little much, it is clear that athletics decided to invest a little more in this iteration of our beloved mascot, and I think really hit the mark. Here’s a visual comparison of the new Clawed with his last two versions:
Frankly they hit the nail on the head. The leftmost Clawed looks very mascot-esque, but he looks very sad about something and for Pete’s sake they couldn’t even get the “AU” symbol right. The more recent version certainly looked more like an Eagle, but was rather scrawny and even a bit hairy – some might even say cuddly. Well this time they nailed both aspects quite well. Clawed looks buff and intimidating and not sad or like an awkward chicken. The marks and logos are spot on (take a look at his shoes when you get the chance), and he certainly had a real spring in his step as he was dancing among the crowd and on the court. During our next tournament run I hope the Associated Press takes notice. I know our unfortunate adversaries certainly will.
Go Eagles!
** “Bare-chestedest”: Superlative referring to the most bare-chested fan in attendance at an AU Eagles Basketball game. “Those guys from track team are the bare-chestedest Eagles here!”
I have to disagree with your theory that Robert Burke would be next in line if Jeff Jones leaves for a major program (which I believe is likely). I think the more natural succesor would be current assistant Kieran Donahue. He's been here 10 years and has worked with Jones even longer. There is a possibility that Donahue could leave with Jones but you have to assume that his goal is to be the head coach somewhere someday. It is more likely that he could leave AU for another job before Jones leaves. But if he is still here in the situation where Jones leaves, it would be questionable if AU did not offer the job to someone who has learned from the great Jeff Jones.
ReplyDeleteThe argument for Donahue's succession seems logical, but if you look at similar programs (say, Holy Cross), you see outsiders from bigger programs being brought in instead. When Ralph Willard recently left to join Rick Pitino at Louisville, they hired an assistant from Notre Dame to replace him. Not sure if they had any assistants who had been there as long as we've had Donahue, I'll have to check on that. Just saying it is plausible that bringing in an accomplished name from Georgetown as a contingency plan wouldn't be beyond them. Also it would leave Burke's reasoning for leaving Georgetown unexplained (although I have seen it hinted on other blogs the parting was not amicable, although their athletic department is nearly as tight-lipped as ours).
ReplyDelete- Josh
I agree Burke's leaving Georgetown is a curious decision but it's simply possibly he had a rift with the school and wanted to stay in town, making us a logical choice. My only opinion is that I would prefer Donahue over an outsider like Burke, especially because Donahue does have some experience at a big school while at Virginia.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, if Jeff Jones was going to leave, he would have done it this past season. His stock isn't going to be any higher than it is right now for at least 3-4 seasons unless the freshmen and sophomores really step up this season and deliver a third straight PL championship. I think he'll be staying around for a while (he did just sign that contract extension); with Ralphie gone up at Holy Cross that makes JJ the Don of the Patriot League.
ReplyDeleteI think Burke coming in lends us a real recruiting force if his time at GTown is any indication.
I could be wrong though. It's known to happen at least once or twice an hour.