[Bigsouthking]

There is no reason why LU cannot be a top mid major program. just need to get right pieces of the puzzle in place, and that will require a major commitment to basketball program, and major changes in current direction.

Liberty is a very conservative Christian university. It is a lot harder to bring in recruits that could elevate us to a top mid major program without sacrificing our values (which is what one coach did back when we won the Big South..not naming any names though)...cmon be realistic.

Totally disagree with the quote above, there are 100's of Christian private HS that has great basketball talent, all it takes is 3/4 of this kids to win a big south championship.... There are Christians on almost every team in America.... If BYU can compete on a National level why not LU?

Stop making lame excuses. The rules at LU now are a joke compared to 10, 15, 20 years ago.

[From the class of 09]

There is no reason why LU cannot be a top mid major program. just need to get right pieces of the puzzle in place, and that will require a major commitment to basketball program, and major changes in current direction.

Liberty is a very conservative Christian university. It is a lot harder to bring in recruits that could elevate us to a top mid major program without sacrificing our values (which is what one coach did back when we won the Big South..not naming any names though)...cmon be realistic.

Totally disagree with the quote above, there are 100's of Christian private HS that has great basketball talent, all it takes is 3/4 of this kids to win a big south championship.... There are Christians on almost every team in America.... If BYU can compete on a National level why not LU?

Stop making lame excuses. The rules at LU now are a joke compared to 10, 15, 20 years ago.

agree

[LUconn]

how many "good" mid major teams do you think there actually are?

[olldflame]

There is no reason why LU cannot be a top mid major program. just need to get right pieces of the puzzle in place, and that will require a major commitment to basketball program, and major changes in current direction.

Liberty is a very conservative Christian university. It is a lot harder to bring in recruits that could elevate us to a top mid major program without sacrificing our values (which is what one coach did back when we won the Big South..not naming any names though)...cmon be realistic.

Totally disagree with the quote above, there are 100's of Christian private HS that has great basketball talent, all it takes is 3/4 of this kids to win a big south championship.... There are Christians on almost every team in America.... If BYU can compete on a National level why not LU?

Stop making lame excuses. The rules at LU now are a joke compared to 10, 15, 20 years ago.

This is kind of scary. I find myself totally agreeing with you on 2 posts in the last couple of days! I´ve always said that one of the problems we had in the past is that we had coaches who went after too many players that didn´t really fit and downplayed the spiritual aspects of the school to try to get them in rather than seeking out the elite athletes that are comitted christians and emphasizing the spiritual component. Like you said, they are out there, and in basketball it really doesn´t take that many. You are also right on target on how relaxed the rules are now compared to back in the day, or even compared to some other schools like BYU or VMI.

[Bigsouthking]

Davidson
Belmont
Kent St
Akron
Ohio
VCU
ODU
Charleston
Bucknell
G mason
Drexel
Butler
St Mary's
Western Kentucky

[Bigsouthking]

Olldflame -- it's not scary that you agree with me, its What smart people do!

[ballcoach15]

All it would take is right coaching/system and a couple of players who are a notch above what we have now. LU can recruit good players, I have seen them here before. (recruit 'em and keep 'em)

[bballfan84]

if it is soo easy then why have we never made it to that level??? its just not that simple..sure there are tons of committed Christians but to be honest if im a high level athlete and the Christian I am today I am still goign to the ACC Big East etc etc...

[LUconn]

Davidson
Belmont
Kent St
Akron
Ohio
VCU
ODU
Charleston
Bucknell
G mason
Drexel
Butler
St Mary's
Western Kentucky

I would agree with this and there's probably even some more that you missed but my point is, that's not very many when you consider there's ~350 D1 teams. If you consider ~290 of them to be mid-major teams, it's a relatively low percentage of good ones. Liberty certainly could be one of them. But it takes a lot of luck to find a coach good enough to take you there that needs the job in the first place, and will stick around long enough to take you there. That's why expectations of that level are silly. Great if it happens but our expectation should be to win our conference. Once we get that in place, and get some consistency in that area, you can begin to think about greater things as well as setting yourself up to be able to replace your coach should he leave.

[Purple Haize]

if it is soo easy then why have we never made it to that level??? its just not that simple..sure there are tons of committed Christians but to be honest if im a high level athlete and the Christian I am today I am still goign to the ACC Big East etc etc...

That's because it takes having someone here who is committed long term to building a PROGRAM not a team. When all you try is for a flash in the pan success, then that is all you will get. And very rarely at that.

[bballfan84]

like LUCONN said lets focus on winning the Big South first then becoming a dominant force year in year out..then you look towards the next step..you dont take directions skip the first 3 turns and expect to get to your destination..it just doesnt happen that way.

[Purple Haize]

It doesn't matter what level you are at

[From the class of 09]

Davidson
Belmont
Kent St
Akron
Ohio
VCU
ODU
Charleston
Bucknell
G mason
Drexel
Butler
St Mary's
Western Kentucky

I would agree with this and there's probably even some more that you missed but my point is, that's not very many when you consider there's ~350 D1 teams. If you consider ~290 of them to be mid-major teams, it's a relatively low percentage of good ones. Liberty certainly could be one of them. But it takes a lot of luck to find a coach good enough to take you there that needs the job in the first place, and will stick around long enough to take you there. That's why expectations of that level are silly. Great if it happens but our expectation should be to win our conference. Once we get that in place, and get some consistency in that area, you can begin to think about greater things as well as setting yourself up to be able to replace your coach should he leave.

I'd settle for winning the conference on some sort of regular basis.

[Cider Jim]

I´ve always said that one of the problems we had in the past is that we had coaches who went after too many players that didn´t really fit and downplayed the spiritual aspects of the school to try to get them in rather than seeking out the elite athletes that are comitted christians and emphasizing the spiritual component.

Names, Olldflame, we want names!

[BJWilliams]

Seeking out elite Christian athletes has to be part of the recruiting philosophy of all the coaches on a staff, not just the head coach.

[bballfan84]

Based on this specific topic I think a lot of yalls expectations are a little unrealistic...but regardless I want us to succeed..and we need to start winning some games. My sophomore year we started out 1-10, but actually played a tough schedule..needless to say we still finished 2nd in the Big South so give it some time...

[Bigsouthking]

Let's get 1 thing straight, there is not 290 mid major teams, like bballfan 84 said....

There are the BCS schools, MM schools and a ton of low major bottom feeders....

I would put PC, Longwood, VMI, CSU, GW as bottom feeders from BIg South.... The rest have the ability to be a good mid major program, NOT all will, but they have resources to do it.

My point is not all D1 are mid major nor do they have the ability to be mid major....

Liberty definitely has potential to be a mid major!!

[flameslinger]

Let's get 1 thing straight, there is not 290 mid major teams, like bballfan 84 said....

There are the BCS schools, MM schools and a ton of low major bottom feeders....

I would put PC, Longwood, VMI, CSU, GW as bottom feeders from BIg South.... The rest have the ability to be a good mid major program, NOT all will, but they have resources to do it.

My point is not all D1 are mid major nor do they have the ability to be mid major....

Liberty definitely has potential to be a mid major!!

On the money, BSK. Yes, Liberty will have some recruiting challenges that other mid-major prospects will not, but let's face it, the behavior expectations (rules) for players at LU would not be that much different than at any program trying to stay out of trouble. I grew up in the heart of Missouri Valley Conference territory and used to follow MVC basketball with a passion. You don't have to be able to score lottery draft level recruits every year to be competitive at that level, but you do have to be committed to building a sustainable basketball program and recruit guys that fit your system. BTW, the #11, 12, and 23 teams in the nation right now are mid-majors.

[BJWilliams]

I agree with BSK, but as I said before, it boils down in large part to recruiting philosophy from the top all the way through the coaching staff

[LUconn]

no! mid-major is not an official term BUT it is generally any team not in a "major" conference. There are some that are arguably major or not (like A-10). Low major is not a thing. I hear and read a lot of people using that term but it's just something that has been used by people who don't know any better and are trying to separate the Gonzagas from the Radfords. It doesn't have anything to do with how good or bad a team is. It just means it's not a team from a major conference.

I will fight to the death over this

[lynchburgwildcats]

no! mid-major is not an official term BUT it is generally any team not in a "major" conference. There are some that are arguably major or not (like A-10). Low major is not a thing. I hear and read a lot of people using that term but it's just something that has been used by people who don't know any better and are trying to separate the Gonzagas from the Radfords. It doesn't have anything to do with how good or bad a team is. It just means it's not a team from a major conference.

I will fight to the death over this

Can't be a mid major if there isn't a low major, because you can't be in the middle if you are at the bottom...

Contrarian view point aside. I agree, mostly. Of course, at this point I don't consider Gonzaga to be a mid major to begin with. Mid majors aren't consistent top 25 teams for a decade. They may be in a mid major conference, but by no means are they a mid major program. They are as major of a program as any other bottom feeder from a BCS league.

[ProudLUAlum]

I think the major problem with the basketball team is that the recruiting is horrible. We either get guys who dont support the Liberty Way or we get choir boys who cant play. There is a TON of talent out there that we are missing. There are guys playing at small Christian Colleges all over the country that are better than most of our players. Also, there are Christian kids playing NAIA basketball that would love to play at LU. Some of these guys get limited or NO scholly $ at their current school.

This team is really ...really bad...... We would get drilled by a number of NAIA and D2 teams.

[FLAMEfromBAMA]

Honestly, it doesn't even look like our players enjoy the game. Yes, I understand with us having a bad season or being behind in a game it is hard to enjoy, but they hardly show any signs of enjoyment at all! When a big play is made (as rare as that is lately, but a few every game) I observe the players and there is no hype, no excitement, no enjoyment. They look like they are just going through the motions game after game, and regardless of how good a coach is at winning he should always have the ability to remind himself and his players of their love for the game. If Layer has gotten to the point in which he and his staff can't doing that, whatever his reason may be or however hard it may be, then I may finally be jumping on board with a possible coaching search, even with our improvement throughout the season record wise. Humans aren't robots, sports must be played with emotion and the players and the coach gotta enjoy it!

[g-webb1994]

Honestly, it doesn't even look like our players enjoy the game. Yes, I understand with us having a bad season or being behind in a game it is hard to enjoy, but they hardly show any signs of enjoyment at all! When a big play is made (as rare as that is lately, but a few every game) I observe the players and there is no hype, no excitement, no enjoyment. They look like they are just going through the motions game after game, and regardless of how good a coach is at winning he should always have the ability to remind himself and his players of their love for the game. If Layer has gotten to the point in which he and his staff can't doing that, whatever his reason may be or however hard it may be, then I may finally be jumping on board with a possible coaching search, even with our improvement throughout the season record wise. Humans aren't robots, sports must be played with emotion and the players and the coach gotta enjoy it!

FWIW, I thought your team played with great fire and emotion down here last Saturday.

[FLAMEfromBAMA]

Glad to hear it, just my experience from many home games this season. Maybe they feed off the crowd intensity more than I realize whether the crowd is for them or against them. Our crowd intensity hasn't been very helpful recently as has already been pointed out by others.