Comparison

Just a little comparison between two similar midmajors...

Bradley - their main sport is basketball, they have a great tradition - been to Final Fours, draws well - ....8,000 to 10,000 average home attendance all the way from the 1980's thru 2010...great fan base, seemingly always have winning teams.
Partnered in May of 2013 with Nelligan Sports - now Learfield, to market Bradley better in hopes of boosting Bradley's profile and increasing attendance, donations, improved financial situation after a very, very successful 10-year drive for funds and improved on campus facilities...etc...

VCU - their main sport is basketball, they have a great tradition - been to Final Fours, draws well - ....8,000 to 10,000 average home attendance all the way from the 1980's thru 2010...great fan base, seemingly always have winning teams.
They have also partnered long term with Learfield Sports, to market VCU better in hopes of boosting VCU's profile and increasing attendance, donations, improved financial situation ...etc....

http://www.vcuathletics.com/sports/ramFund/2015-RAF-Recap


OK, you get the picture....two amazingly similar schools - both poised with every opportunity back in 2006-2007 to move up to the big time....
Two schools that up 'til just a few years ago - were very, very similar schools in every respect....however quite clearly Bradley was the BETTER school - AT THAT TIME - in a better conference, and poised to jump to the big time in a much stronger sense than VCU!
VCU spent most of the 80's & 90's with losing records - while Bradley did NOT.  Bradley had the BIGGER fan base and MORE revenue!

But somewhere around a decade ago - BOTH schools started a stretch of 20-win seasons and doing exceptionally well on a national scene, going to the post-season, sending players to the NBA, and growing attendance, fan base, and getting record donations & revenue!!!  Then the similarities ended and one school went up, up, up...while the other began a plummet that was historic and painful for the fans.

...VCU made the right decisions at that time and it is definitely debatable that Bradley did not.

The hirings Bradley made starting in 2007 when the Board chose Joanne Glasser as President, followed by coaching changes, and a new AD were disastrous.  In the interval since 2007 Bradley has gone from winning 20 games per year regularly to losing 20+ and finishing at the bottom of the conference, while VCU has risen al most to the BCS-level in national prestige and prowess.
There's also an enormous difference in how things have gone campus-wide.

Bradley dropped to disastrous levels financially with waste and reckless overspending by the admin in charge...practically destroying BU athletics in the process  - only the uprising of a few brave & vocal fans who finally got in the Board's ear and got them to take off their blinders and look at the facts rather than believe the crap being spewed by the admin, the one supporting Board member who had his reputation tied to Dr. Glasser, and the clueless media....saved Bradley athletics.
It was absolutely stunning to see how fast and how BROAD-SWEEPING the changes were once the Board members took off their blinders and read the letters and e mails the fans were sending.
I applaud those fans for their efforts - it has turned night into day!

Remember - the letter writing ONLY began in earnest in November & December of 2014.

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=24493

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=24490

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=24553

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=24390

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?p=299611#post299611

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=24837

Yup - these fans who got the ball rolling saved Bradley basketball - without them we'd be watching Geno Ford rounding up obscure, unknown juco kids who can't play at DI level and we'd be looking forward to another 25 loss season, another last place finish, and another year of Kirk Wessler & Mike Cross telling the fans they are uninformed and don't see how much better Bradley really is - "light years better"!! - LOL

And one more question - why if VCU goes with Learfield and it's a great relationship and boosts their  following, their attendance, their revenue...etc...
then why are we doing so incredibly badly with the same deal with the same people.
The "Learfield position" at Bradley has been a revolving door - half the time they have NOBODY hired and the position is empty and the other half the time it is a frikking revolving door with one person after another there and nothing getting done.  Information from inside sources says the whole thing has been nothing but ineptitude and bungling since Dr. Cross set this whole thing up...but then that's a different story since nothing Dr. Cross did in his five years at Bradley help on tiny bit - with his main bragging point being the development of a silly mascot and a bland looking "B" logo.
The important things like growth of the fan base, boosting revenue, improved athletic performance - especially in basketball, getting attendance and donations going upward, etc...
All those were unmitigated DISASTERS and the worst five-year interval at Bradley for sure - but even perhaps the worst five-year interval at just about any DI school ever - nearly driving Bradley down to Division III not to mention the loss of $20+ million in wasted spending, poor hires, and even misleading financial numbers that shocked the board.

Is it any wonder than within weeks of finally taking off those blinders - the Board fired the President, the Athletic Director, and the head basketball coach -
Has this ever happened anywhere ever in Division I???  Anywhere?? All the big dogs sent packing no matter what the cost because to keep them was even more costly - then the first public statement from the new AD was that basically we are reversing every decision and policy change of the last 5 years !!!
No more cramming fans into the ladies' gym, restart the ITOO, get the fans back and stop alienating them with insulting ego-centered policies...

well - Bradley is on the right track now with the right people - but I would sure love the chance to go back to 2007 when the bad hirings and bad decision had their origins...
had we NOT made that move - and then the subsequent ones og firing Ken Kavanagh and hiring Dr. Cross - things would surely be different.
Would they be VCU-level different??  Don't know - but sure would have loved to find out...now we have to start from literal scratch and dig our way out of a huge hole left to us by those who have been sent packing.  Talk about leaving an empty cupboard...that gang left a cupboard filled with the most unimaginable waste and pestilence.....I'd rather it just have been empty.



One more laugh for you all.....
ran across the column that PJStar's Kirk Wessler wrote right after Bradley beat Jacksonville State to open the 2013-14 season.  The prediction Wessler made was absolutely stunning...

Bradley had just squeaked by Jacksonville State, a team that ended up that year being TERRIBLE (even though some posters on the PJStar board claimed they were a very good team) - 

and Wessler said this...

"After back-to-back last-place MVC finishes, the first under Les and the second under Ford,
the Braves tied for seventh last season. A return to the solid middle this season is likely, 
and a top-four finish is possible. Considering that BU has not finished above fourth since 2001,
that would be considered significant progress."

BUT - of course this touchdown dance over beating a woeful Jacksonville State team was just a little off base - as they turned out to be a bad team and so did we...another horrible losing year with lots of blowout losses and a play-in end to the season.

Now that we've pondered how easy it would have been - what kind of scorers did Geno recruit?

Last post listed all the reasons Geno's recruiting should have been better than his predecessors - and yet it was not...

Here is a comprehensive list of EVERY player recruited and landed at Bradley by Geno Ford - and the career scoring total of all of them.
Every coach Bradley has had developed great scorers - and players who are enshrined in the 1000-Point Club.  Pretty good bet that Geno will not have anyone in the 1000-Point Club.

Player -- Career points for Bradley - updated up thruf Jan 9, 2016.

Tyshon Pickett - 773
Auston Barnes - 607
Omari Grier - 569
Ka'Darryl Bell - 455 (**still active but career likely over/injury)
Tramique Sutherland - 272
Josh Cunningham - 260
Warren Jones - 249 
Jalen Crawford - 217
Xzavier Taylor - 189
Shayok Shayok - 169
Nate Wells - 91
Donte Thomas - 220 (**still active)
Mike Shaw - 58 
Anthony Fields - 56
Jermaine Morgan - 55
Jordan Swopshire - 34
Mason Alwan - 33
Anthony Fields - 32
Chris Blake - 31
Jimmy Gavin - 13
Stefan Zecevic - 12
Darrion Harris - 9 
Donivine Stewart - 4
Devon Hodges - 0
Aaron Ganson - 0
Jackson Kane - 0 
Kendahl Amerson - 0

I guess if Ka'Darryl had a dream season in his 4th year, and averaged double digits, he could surpass Tyshon Pickett (played only 2 years) and become Geno's all time top producer...but he still won't come within a mile of the 1000-Point Club.
I think this just stands to confirm what many smart Bradley fans saw the minute the Geno recruits took the floor in their debut Red-White games.  We saw how weak his recruiting classes were, how poorly they shot and scored, etc....and despite the hype and the incredible touting they all got from Dave Reynolds and Kirk Wessler as "difference makers", "light years better", "go-to guys", and "deep, talented, scorers"....now the story can be told....Bradley fans suffered through a virtual draught of scoring and playing ability during the four year Glasser/Cross/Ford era.  Can there be any doubt this four year span that some fans who wanted Jim Les run out were.excited to see and happy to have....
I have a feeling those clueless fans and PJS writers kinda know how badly they judged the 2011-2015 span, but do you think they'll ever admit it?  LOL

Amazing he couldn't do better

When Geno Ford came in at Bradley ...

-he was paid way more than any coach Bradley ever had and more than a lot of BCS coaches

-he had almost endless resources compared to the previous coach...

-a nearly "unlimited recruiting budget" by comparison

-incredible BCS-caliber campus facilities largely provided and built by the former AD & head coach

-he was allowed to hire any assistant he wanted, something former coaches were not allowed

-he was allowed to pay the new assistants more than twice what former assistants got

-he was given undeserved contract extensions, which normally help a coach recruit better

-he was given carte blanche on who he could recruit - no vetoes or oversight from the admin

-he was given a really, really cushy, soft schedule with which to fatten his record

-he had the benefit of MULTIPLE ALL Conference players left behind for him "in the cupboard" - guys like Lemon, Brown, Dyricus, etc...who were the only spark of optimism for four years - even Nate Wells got him a couple of the only wins he had in year-four!
He did no such favor for the coach that follows...leaving behind a pretty classic description of an empty cupboard.

-he coached during a span that the MVC was far weaker - especially at the bottom

-even one of the top teams left and was replaced by a bottom-dweller

-he was given the benefit, even at the expense of a huge revenue loss, of getting home games in a band box on-campus arena

-he was given the gift of a couple of buy-games as post-season easy wins - which helped boost a 16-16 final record to 18-17, just to lay claim to having a winning season and ask for a raise

-he had an amazingly favorable, lapdog press that complimented his every move even while he was recruiting & coaching poorly and racking up the worst record in the history of Bradley basketball

-he had an amazingly favorable admin that had their whole legacies tied to him winning, so they helped in any way they could to get those few wins here & there to boast about being "most improved" and "on an upswing" and "deep & talented"

-he had the benefit of 9,000 fans - and 7,000 season tickets sold in his first couple years - and no prior coach, no matter how bad - not even in the Albeck era had ever blown off and ran out so many fans as to drop attendances into the 2000-3000 range - yet he succeeded.

-and he even had the benefit of certain recruits that were left behind by his predecessor (Alec Peters, Remy Abell...) who were just waiting for a call and yet he didn't think enough to go after them and instead stocked up on non-scoring jucos and obscure transfers and rejects.

-lastly - he happened to come in when Bradley's revenue & donations were at ALL TIME HIGH, the Braves Scholarship Society was actually being capped as there was no more room for them and lower bowl seats were non-existent....all of which has frittered away and is now gone - and now needs complete rebuilding.

I guess it's an obvious question - how is it that GF could NOT help but be successful - it was practically right there being handed to him??
How did he do so badly?  Most fans know the answer - some still do not and cannot understand it...and some even think he should still be here trying some more with the same failed effort that left us in April of 2015 facing MULTIPLE open scholarships and ZERO recruits signed, ZERO recruits pledges, and even zero recruits or prospects even on the horizon.
I guess some fans know so little about basketball and even so little about success that they can't tell crap from Shinola - thus we got stuck with the crap.

One more Dr. Cross post

It is potentially good for Bradley that Dr. Cross has achieved other employment - even though his salary at Penn State will be only about 1/3 of what Bradley was contractually obligated to pay him according to reports...
..so contrary to some idiotic comments, this is not an upward or lateral move...

If I recall - reports stated

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20150216/SPORTS/150219345

http://wglt.org/wireready/news/2015/03/06892_glassman_EIU_171146.shtml


.. that Dr. Cross had a contract with Bradley that went a couple years into the future....so just as
happened when Coach Les left - I would suspect that by getting employed elsewhere, this might reduce the burden on Bradley for the buyout.

The publicly released info from Pennsylvania indicates that assistants in the Athletic Dept. at Penn State earn up to around $100K...although some less.


(btw- Penn State just hired yet another assistant AD - http://www.gopsusports.com/genrel/080515aab.html

 - sounds like her's is a much bigger job responsibility overseeing 325 other employees!)

I also wonder why the only statement regarding why Dr. Cross was leaving was "Cross declined to give a reason"...
This is pretty strange given the extent that the press dug into issues when KK and JL left - speculating, reporting falsehoods, leaked e mails, rumors, even quoting unnamed "past employees" and "disgruntled ex-staff from the Athletic Dept." just to smear them as they went to better jobs.
They even found someone who had been let go due to his inability to even do his job under Kavanagh - and culled some smear about alleged personality traits!

Wonder if they'll do some digging and get some answers this time or just hug them as they have done recently- well, on second thought - I don't wonder.

For the record...

"...a vastly experienced administrator with significant success in identifying and creatively developing new and enhanced revenue generation opportunities"

"...ferocious fund-raiser..."

..so what are the facts...not the hype....how has "revenue generation" and fundraising gone at BU over the past 6-8 years?


..all facts stated here are from the actual committee reports and minutes of the BU Board of Trustees from October & November, 2014 and other sessions.
And nobody wants to see Bradley succeed both as a University and Athletically than I do - but things were headed badly in the wrong direction - while those steering & cheering kept saying and apparently even believing that things were going in the right direction.  Sad that so few who were misinformed and badly wrong could do so much to hurt such a fine institution, and an irresponsible and inept media failed to report on it honestly and accurately.

Many of these reports and facts were once available on the internet and via links, but some if not many have been "scrubbed" or are no longer available.  This info should not be lost as one who ignores the facts  mistakes of history are doomed to repeat them.


November 5, 2014 - per Bradley University .. financial statements:
"FY13 (fiscal year 2013) had loss of $6.3 million."
"Athletics loss ballooned to over $7.1 million."
"Unrestricted Contributions were down 46% to only $.8 million"
"Bradley's deficit position (that they were facing) ..was $5.2 million in FY14"
(that was before the "cost reductions" that were implemented and "belt tightening" in 2014)

"Athletics losses continue to grow at a pace of about $.5 million more every year.  Ten years ago, the Athletics loss was $2.1 million and it is now $7.1 million."
"Athletics (cost) has increased 240%" - while - "General Administration (cost) increased by 47%)"

Then the clincher that was relevant to the Board's "housecleaning only a couple months later...
"Non-disclosure and lack of transparency at appropriate time has rendered the April 2014 committee report incomplete"

In 2006, 0% of University-wide financial resources went to Athletics, and in 2007 it was 0.5%.
That figure then grew yearly as follows...
2008 - 0.5%
2009 - 0.9%
2010 - 1.1%
2011 - 2.2%
2012 - 3.4%
2013 - 3.9%
2014 - 4.0%

Here are the actual dollar-losses in Athletics from 2005-2014:
(there is a 332% increase from 2006 thru 2014, and 2/3 of that occurred after 2009)
2005 - $2.086 million
2006 - $2.136 million
2007 - $2.746 million
2008 - $2.926 million
2009 - $3.267 million
2010 - $3.165 million
2011 - $4.766 million
2012 - $5.915 million
2013 - $6.698 million
2014 - $7.093 million

So it is pretty easy to conclude that finances and budget were pretty stable and pretty satisfactory until around 2007.  2007's fiscal year began with the hiring of a new President, who was highly touted as a fundraiser and economic organizer.  The deficit and financial irresponsibility then zoomed out of sight - taking off even further exponentially after 2009, when a new AD was hired.
The Board was kinda kept in the dark about all the financial mess (thus the reference to NON-DISCLOSURE and LACK OF TRANSPARENCY) - but once the Board members became aware in late 2014, the decision to clean house followed almost immediately.
So why did the Board not see all this mess coming?  Well, follow the facts.  Many Board members and even Board Chairmen were businessmen who benefited from their relationship with Bradley and whose businesses (insurance, constructions, etc.)  were getting paid by Bradley for contracted services.
In 2013 Robert Turner was elected to the position as Chairman of the Board.  Turner has given tens of millions of dollars to Bradley, has buildings named after him and entire curricula named for him, so nobody can doubt his honesty and sincerity in wanting the best for Bradley.
But shortly after becoming President he became aware of some of the serious problems and "non-disclosure" and attempted to address those issues.  In the end we all know what happened - he was rebutted by the President and at least one other influential Board member and eventually resigned as President over these "UNSUSTAINABLE PRACTICES" - causing the loss of millions in future pledges from Turner.
Those facts can be confirmed here.
http://www.bradley.edu/about/publications/hilltopics/2013spring/notebook/page3.dot
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?p=297155

With the "belt tightening" and the all new leadership over the past year, now Bradley is back on the right track.  The financial year 2014 finances show an OPERATING SURPLUS of $1.1 million.
Yes, you heard that right - not only did the actions over the past year stop the waste and the slide, they've actually begun to create a surplus!
Buying out all the bloated contracts in early 2015 will unfortunately stall that financial turnaround, but those were necessary steps to get Bradley back on the right track.

To recap - Bradley finances were great all the up through 2007.  There were record donations, record revenues, and in Athletics there were great crowds, record attendance, record membership in the higher levels of the Chiefs Club and booster groups....all of which have been thoroughly documented.
Then came the dismissal of the AD, Ken Kavanagh, then the hiring of a new AD in late 2009, then more firings and changes that were terribly destructive and poorly conducted.
In the end - the period from 2008 through 2014 were a horribly bad period with leadership that took Bradley and BU Athletics to the very brink of disaster and talk of dropping down to DII or DIII.
Thankfully the fans wanted better, began posting opinions, writing letters, and got the attention of enough members of the Board to oust a group that had pushed Bradley into fiscal crisis and even may have been deceptive in doing so ("lack of transparency" is a nice way of saying dishonest and up-front).
Had the fans waited for the media to report on this, it would have never happened.

This all needs to be documented so we know how to avoid this in the future, but I am confident we have the right people there to lead us back to success.

For more that was posted at that time go here:
http://bubravesblogger.blogspot.com/2014/12/some-interesting-facts.html

http://bubravesblogger.blogspot.com/2014/12/a-remarkable-letter-from-bradley.html

http://bubravesblogger.blogspot.com/2014/12/bradleys-astounding-plunge-in.html

http://bubravesblogger.blogspot.com/2014/12/letter-of-nov-24-2014.html


UNSUSTAINABLE: (page 37)
http://www.bradley.edu/academic/cio/senate/documents/2013-2014/Bradley+University+Senate+Agenda+May+2014+website.pdf

http://www.bradley.edu/dotAsset/289317bd-9752-4b4c-aa2d-ad71fe9c1b85.pdf

http://www.bradley.edu/academic/cio/senate/documents/2013-2014/Bradley+University+Senate+Agenda+April+2014.pdf

http://www.dacbond.com/dacContent/doc.jsp?id=0900bbc78013c6cc

http://www.bradley.edu/dotAsset/6fd0131a-89a4-4e41-8c14-e01ee26e0fed.pdf

Unprecedented

The massive housecleaning at Bradley is truly unprecedented - not only in DI sports but in sports anywhere.  The President, the Vice President/Provost, the AD, the head coach and just about all the team were sent packing.  Not even where massive scandal led to housecleanings (Bruce Pearl, Dave Bliss, etc..) has this kind of exodus occurred.

And to set the record straight - the nearly dozen players who left were by no means all leaving on their own!  Maybe that could be said of Nate Wells, but more than a few others were ushered out the door.

And where almost everyone who left in 2011 with that housecleaning instantly got s pot elsewhere that was equal or better - this time around - many still haven't found anywhere who wants them and the few who do stepped way, way down.

Gotta wonder if any of the higher-ups - the Prez, AD, coach - if they even apply elsewhere, someone's gonna want to see their resume or talk to their former employer.  But I doubt they'd even have to as I have heard from friends that currently work at other universities that the story of what unfolded here at Bradley is already pretty widely known.  The story of how mismanagement, micro-management, upper-level meddling, and horribly bad self-centered decisions completely deastroyed Bradley's athletics, but even nearly brought down the entire university with a financial disaster that was also unprecedented.

Thankfully that's a nearly closed chapter except for the fallout we're still suffering, but now we're well on the way towards the bright light at the end of the tunnel.
Thanks again to the great fans who helped engineer these massive changes by literally OVERRIDING the few incompetent Board members who had hijacked sensibility and made the bad decisions for the past 6-7 years that have hurt Bradley so much.
Seriously if a guy strikes out all the time but also makes an error on every single play - then turns around and blames everyone else - he has to go.

Summary of the players during the Geno Ford era

Geno Ford era - 2011 thru 2015...tabulation of scholarship players...

31 players either verballed to play at Bradley or were enrolled
30 players either signed a LOI or enrolled (Macari Brooks did not)
29 players made it to Bradley or were enrolled (Michael Tucker also withdrew his verbal)
There were two others that had verballed and signed to Bradley (Remy Abell & Sean Harris) but changed their minds after Jim Les was fired - but I am not counting those as playing for Geno.

Of the 29 whose name made it to the roster under Geno, 8 were Jim Les players who played out the rest of their eligibility and produced pretty well for Geno contributing to the few wins he had.
(Taylor Brown, DSE, Egolf, Thompson, Prosser, Eastman, Lemon, Knezevic)

Of the 21 who were recruited by Geno and made it to the roster, 3 were jucos who played out the rest of their eligibility but one stayed only one year (Barnes, Pickett, Blake).

3 more were jucos who stayed only 1 year then left before using up eligibilty (Sutherland, Morgan, Amerson- none have yet landed at a DI)

Of the 15 who were not short term juco players, 5 were short term anyway & stayed just one year then left (Donivine, Zecevic, Swopshire, Hodges, Cunningham - only 3, and only 2 of Geno's made it to DI)

3 more stayed just two years then left (Crawford, Shayok, Xzavier Taylor), and two other transfers stayed 3 years but sat out one then transferred again (Grier, Fields).
One stayed four years then transferred elsewhere - Wells.

Two more have only a year left then will be gone and not played all four years here (Shaw & Jones).

And only TWO of all of Geno's recruits actually made it to Bradley and have the potential to play all four years here - although NEITHER has yet to accomplish that. (Ka'Darryl Bell, Donte Thomsas).

Pretty horrific record....
Compare to Jim Les...
in his first four years he brought in or got commits from seven freshmen who played their entire careers at Bradley plus MANY more juco kids who played their entire careers here.
(Danny Adams, Daniel Ruffin, JJ Tauai, Jeremy Crouch, Sam Singh, Andrew Warren and POB who left only because the NBA beckoned)
Night & day difference - so much more common sense, stability, and then success....compared to the idiotic way it's been done under the Joanne Glasser/Mike Cross/Geno Ford philosophy of running them in every fall then running them out every spring and replacing them with desperation, bottom of the barrel leftovers to fill the spots that Geno and gang couldn't fill with common sense recruiting.

Hope the fans who wanted the house cleaned and who wanted & welcomed the staff and players brought in by the 2011-2015 crew are proud of what they did to Bradley basketball - sinking it to the bottom of Division I, driving more than half the good, lifelong fans away, half the donors, and driving it to the brink of DII or DIII.

But KUDOS to the fans who hung in there and put up with the crap for the last four years - the solid fans who gutted out the loony toons actions of the Glasser/Cross/Ford crew and wrote letters, called Board members, and posted opinions because that's the thing that got Bradley turned around.  Those fans should be credited for saving this program, getting the waste cleaned out, getting new blood in here and getting Bradley going toward success and quality basketball again!
Thanks fans and boosters - most of whose names are found in Bradley's Honor Roll of donors and supporters.
http://lydia.bradley.edu/pubs/HonorRollProof.pdf

Bradley's search for a new President

Bradley has posted a release about the progress of the hiring search - currently "approximately 15 candidates" are being considered and this will be narrowed down to eight or so by July and further interviews will start.

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=25423


BUT --
after the hirings of Dr. Reynolds as AD & Coach Wardle - I have a renewed faith in the actions of our Board of Trustees - but so much of the Board actions are confidential that obviously we don't even know how much we don't even know - if you get my drift....

obviously - now that we are 7 1/2 years down the road from our last Presidential search & hiring and more than 4 years from the 2011 coach hiring - but now we know that so much went wrong with one single Board member pretty much championing the hiring of the President and a process that brought in Geno Ford that was comical and went terribly awry & got everyone embroiled in lawsuits and disputes that we are still not done with!

I was just hoping the process is a little more orthodox this time around and ends up with far better results.
Most of us - as I have said since 2007 - will be around and BE SUPPORTING BRADLEY UNIVERSITY - long after any bad hires are gone and long after the damages done have hurt the University and the athletics programs, and even long after every one of the current Board of Trustees members are gone...

So we actually have more to lose from BAD DECISIONS than those who are making them - thus why not give people like us at least some voice in the process?

Bradley AD Chris Reynolds' letter to the editor in PJStar

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20150606/OPINION/150609459/2011/OPINION

• Letter: 

• An open to BU 

• athletics fans



• 
  Posted Jun. 6, 2015 at 4:00 PM 
  
  
  

  By Chris Reynolds

  The overwhelming attendance at this past Tuesday’s

  luncheon moved me to extend this heartfelt thank you

  to fans and supporters of Bradley athletics. A sold-out

  crowd of 1,200 at the Peoria Civic Center to help welcome

  Coach Wardle and me to Bradley University speaks to the

  passion and commitment you have demonstrated for our

  program.  Watching the video that honored the history

  and tradition of Bradley basketball was a reminder of

  how connected the university is to the community.

  The tremendous level of support our community provides

  to Bradley athletics is inspiring and special. Few places

  throughout the country could replicate an event in the

  month of June like we experienced this past week.

  We left the luncheon excited and energized knowing

  that the Braves faithful are 110 percent behind our

  efforts to reestablish our men’s basketball program

  in time as a leader in the Missouri Valley Conference.

  It has been my experience that a strong and passionate

  fan base is vital to the success of any athletics program.

  Bradley is committed to central Illinois and central Illinois

  is committed to Bradley.

  We will be reaching out to build relationships, create

  partnerships and show our appreciation to you for all

  of the support you have provided over the years.

  It is an honor to come back home to serve as director

  of athletics at a university that is fully committed to

  helping young people realize their full potential

  academically and athletically. I look forward to seeing

  you at community events throughout the summer and

  in the stands cheering on our student-athletes this

  upcoming season. Again, thank you and go Braves!

  Chris Reynolds

  Director of athletics, Bradley University

  Peoria

More evidence Fallout is disappearing!!

Sellout of over 1200 fine Bradley basketball fans - on reasonably short notice for a Tuesday lunch in June!!
This was an astounding event showing the fans are still there and the destruction caused and fallout produced by the horrible Glasser/Cross/Ford era may yet be reversible, and on the way out.

Here's a rough timeline of the past few months...

Remember the dates....

March 16, 2015 - Chris Reynolds hired as new Athletic Director at Bradley

March 27, 2015 - Brian Wardle hired a new head basketball coach at Bradley


then the results start to flow.....

1 day later - March 28 - huge turnout for the Brian Wardle introductory press conference

1 week later- multiple players, including "star" Josh Cunningham start to "leave", and Drew Adams hired as assistant

2 weeks later three staff members (Adams, plus Jimmie Foster & Rick Karius) added

3 weeks later Ronnie Suggs, Joel Okafor & Dwayne Lautier-Ognuleye verbal to Bradley

4 weeks later Antoine Pittman verbals to Bradley & BU names interim President, Dr. Stan Liberty

5 weeks later - Davante Cooper & Pete Hanley verbal to Bradley & BU hires final asst coach Mike Bargen

6 weeks later - Luuk van Bree & Alex Foster verbal to Bradley, BU track does their best in years!

7 weeks later - Scottie James verbals to Bradley, BU baseball gets first NCAA bid in decades 

8weeks later - STRONG non-conference schedule is finalized but will be released & announced at next week's luncheon

9 weeks later - an awesome mid-week luncheon draws over 1200 and actually has to be capped and even more ticket buyers turned away - one of the most remarkable proofs ever seen that Bradley has begun to overcome the FALLOUT and is on the right track after 4 to 5 years of bad moves, bad choices, and bad results.

10 weeks later - June 5 - Dr. Glasser has "retired" & be prepared for our 9th verbal this spring!!

BY COMPARISON look at the 10 weeks before these two significant events/hirings that took place immediately AFTER the Glasser/Cross/Ford era - in fact it was these two hiring that put an end to that era!!
Lets march backwards from those same dates...and see the misery & fallout so we can get a real sense of how ecstatic Bradley fans are now by comparison!

Remember March 16 - Chris Reynolds hired...

1 week before - bounced from tourney as a play-in team/another season wasted
2 weeks before - season ends with embarrassing loss, boos, and tons of empty seats
3 weeks before - an even more humiliating 56-39 loss at UNI
4 weeks before - Dr. Cross is fired, can't even draw 7000 for the home ISU game
5 weeks before - coach embarrassed when Nate Wells starts winning games & becomes best player
6 weeks before - Bradley players arrested at Big Al's
7 weeks before - terrible 20-pt blowout loss at Wichita, scoring an embarrassing 43 pts
8 weeks before - announcement that Dr. Joanne Glasser will "retire"
9 weeks before - series of bad blowout losses to no-name non-conference teams
10 weeks before - Previously the BIG-WIGS at Bradley had always stuck to their guns and claimed Bradley was doing great and there would be NO FIRINGS & no buyouts!
BUT - Bradley fans begin writing letters to the Board and for publication in the newspaper and thus begins the turnaround...


so I think those dates - when Chris Reynolds & Brian Wardle were hired - are the defining moments in Bradley's history ...not the ridiculous stuff we've seen described as such in the media...

FALLOUT is ending - things look better - bright lights at the end of the tunnel....
All the crap for the last 4-5 years that the Jim Les-haters demanded and got 0 and all the suffering that good Bradley fans had to go through that we now call FALLOUT - is starting to ebb - soon it'll be gone and happy days will be here again.
Go Braves!

The horrific FALLOUT is beginning to disappear over the horizon

We all saw it coming - except some chose to deny it and continue to praise the Glasser/Cross/Ford-triumverate that sunk Bradley to the worst and most disastrous levels in all of history.Not just bad basketball - and I mean sickeningly bad basketball - but horribly bad, losing teams in virtually every other sport that matters...and that doesn't even touch on the financial mess bordering on corruption and mismanagement of funds that also has gone unreported except for the few on message boards who have made this crap known....

WBB, VB, and especially MBB & others all having their historically worst seasons and worst success/offense/defense/blowouts/etc.... ever - all the while the PJStar and their lapdog writers who had their noses up JG's hiney hoping for a cushy teaching job post-journalism retirement - plus a few clueless fans who denied the horrible fallout from the Joanne Glasser moves & actions - simply never got it...
They never actually saw how bad Bradley had become - plus even nearly bankrupt - losing fans by the multiple thousands ..all happening right before their eyes in unprecedented fashion.
Their hate for Jim Les consumed them and drove their shallow minds into praising anything that came after JL's firing because to do otherwise might hint at how horribly wrong they were and how destructive their moves and actions were.  They continue to this day to try to rewrite the fact and history and try with futility to blame JL when it was JG, MC, and GF plus their enablers who were and ARE 100% responsible for the mess & fallout.

But even worse - those PJS folks and the clueless fans who asked & begged for all this to happen were actually the ones who drove the hapless leaders at BU into making untold bad decisions....they caused all this disaster we've had to suffer through the past 4-5 years.
Many of those clueless fans are gone now, but some still hang around refusing to admit how horribly wrong they were in wanting these changes - but their idols - JG, MC, and GF are all gone now -
fired, canned, sent packing, house cleaned.

And it couldn't have happened sooner - we were on the brink of irreversible disaster with home crowds in the 2000-3000 range.  Remember - just as recently as the final Jim Les season we had multiple home crowds over 10,000 and sellouts!

Free at last.....and headed in the right direction...
only a little more than a month into the new, Chris Reynolds/Brian Wardle era and the spirit, optimism, and energy is soooo different - noticably different --
thousands showing up for the intro ceremony and thousands MORE trying to book spots for the upcoming off-season banquet.
Did you know....not once in the entire 5-year Michael Cross era did we ever have even ONE SINGLE post-season banquet - NEVER!
Plus he destroyed the ITOO supper, BU tailgate, and half a dozen other favorite fan events...

History will show forever the failed JG/MC/GF era as the worst period in all of Bradley Braves Athletics.  Someone has to document it because those in charge at BU never will ...
Like a San Francisco earthquake - horribly destructive and needed enormous rebuild - but a platform to show the greatness that is Bradley and the Braves' fan base.

Go Braves!!

Over a year and still no coverage of the mess caused by administration...

Well, as even more of Geno's players bolt & go elsewhere - adding to the historic record high player turnover and disastrous era that was predicted as part of the Glasser/Cross/Ford fallout...

It is indeed amazing yet also predicted that the local newspaper is pretty much ignoring all this fallout or somehow still trying to blame it on someone else from 6, 8, 12, or even 20 years ago!

There are few stories in the newspaper and little coverage about the newest Brian Wardle recruits - but no big deal since all you'd need to know you can find on the message boards.
A few years back when Geno Ford was landing commitments from such studs as Omari Grier, Anthony Fields, Stefan Zecevic, Jordan Swopshire, Shayok Shayok, Chris Blake, etc....
the PJStar writers were drunk with optimism about how great they were...
they were giddy - using such descriptions as "far more talented", "deeper and more talented at every position", "light years better", "difference makers", "go-to guys", "multiple TOP-100 recruits",  etc....

However, now that we have seen the talent brought in by Geno Ford and that none of them came close to the players he inherited in the supposedly "empty cupboard"  (Walt Lemon, Jr., Dyricus, Will Egolf, Taylor Brown, Jake Eastman, etc...)
..now we see that the writers at the PJS were so incredibly over-the-top wrong about the Geno recruits, and that now they are intentionally staying silent either out of embarrassment or because they no longer feel the compulsion to kiss up to the new administration and coaching staff.  Thus, expect a change in tone back to what things were like when Jim Les was head coach.
Watch for hit pieces and harsh analysis and watch for coverage that's always a day late & dollar short.

But where a good reporter would do his job by digging and finding facts and information - this staff seems perhaps quite shorthanded in that arena.
The job of a good reporter requires you go find sources...
you do some work & dig & find information.....
..not just sit at your desk and wait 'til the coach calls...

The PJS has degenerated into woeful coverage in a matter of the past several years.  High school coverage is virtually non-existent & coverage of BU & Valley stuff has dwindled to the press releases Geno & Mike Cross wanted printed & stuff that we've been discussing for several days.

As we said many times - if they wanted a great story on what's going on at BU they could have gone and asked just about anyone on campus

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=25134

... Many people were speaking out but nobody from the PJS wanted to cover that story - which ended up culminating in the simultaneous firing of all the PJS' favorite people up there ..
It really was a BIG story - pretty much the biggest Peoria or Bradley story since Elmo & Edna Batterton -  that they just missed repeatedly even when it was hitting them in the face.

Seriously - no DI school - and likely no college or school of ANY KIND in all of history has ever had such an unprecedented housecleaning - running out their Prez, AD, & premier head coach all in the same action and all at the same time - at a cost of tens of millions of dollars...

and yet the PJS reported it all weeks after it was common knowledge

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?p=306468#post306468

... and reported it as if they were multiple, unrelated, separate events (several separate people retiring & resigning) that had nothing to do with their utterly failed performances.
As has been said - the PJS folks hitched their wagons to those utter failures and so they didn't want to talk much about the whole thing.


One more thing that I recall - way back last July, after we'd been talking about this subject for months already and all the failures & financial mess -
Pam Adams, not even connected to PJS Sports "wrote" a column in which she essentially parroted the propaganda that came from BU admin about the only problem being the little unexpected drop in enrollment. -

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20140604/NEWS/140609581/0/SEARCH


She denied there'd be any repercussions, no layoffs, no buyouts... LOL - but indeed there were - the very biggest "big wigs" at Bradley were all bought out and sent packing!
AND YET - the entire article misses the mark by a zillion miles - they never once point at the massive mismanagement in Athletics which we all knew was the reason for all this...
They never did get it, but at least Pam Adams was sniffing around like a blind squirrel but not really interested in finding anything.
Nobody in Athletics seemed to know a thing and if they did they did NOT want to cover it or talk about it - even the Bradley Scout had far better coverage of the massive changes on campus and in administration that have been discussed openly with references - on the message boards for well over a year.

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=24001

All time historic, record player turnover the past four years under Geno Ford

The player turnover in the Geno era was astounding...we mighta done better if some of the players had stayed more than year or so.....but oddly the media never reported much on this disaster...

Instead they just kept on hammering the point that we were upgrading, getting better, deeper, more talented, and light years better than before....

...BUT...none of them ever seemed to help at all and when replaced by the next wave of come-and-go recruits, none were any better.
By my count Geno landed verbals & commitments from 23 different recruits...from Donivine & Nate Wells, to Jalen & Shayok to Tyshon & Mike Shaw, to Zecevic, and Fields, and then the last batch with Amerson & Morgan were pretty useless....
Of those 22 signed LOI's or enrolled - and 21 actually got onto the Bradley roster and logged minutes...

ONLY two stay until they used ALL their eligibility (Pickett & Barnes) and five more (Shaw, Fields, Thomas, Bell, Jones)
are still here and at least have a possibility of completing their eligibility here... although even more might yet leave..

But, a total of 16 of the 23 (70%) either never made it, or left before their expected eligibility was used up...
16 of 23 thru the revolving door...SEVENTY PERCENT failed to even stay more than a year or two before leaving or getting sent packing.....in and out and never helped us a bit - and even the few who stayed only helped some - & couldn't carry the team.
This has to be the real failure of the GF legacy - that all those highly touted and highly acclaimed (by GF & the media) recruits were so devoid of any ability to help us.

Excitement is back

Wow - all I can say is that it's hard to keep up with all the good news...

First - we unload lots of dead weight & hire new AD, coach, & staff...and then we start with the players & now we're loading up on exciting commits for 2015.
Obviously time will tell if they are the best recruiting class in 20 or 30 years as our media has been saying about the last couple groups that didn't pan out.  But definitely the excitement is back.

Just a few weeks ago I wrote an entry titled
"Used to be fun to talk with fans about Bradley basketball - 
it has become a bit painful"

But now it's fun to talk about Bradley basketball - everyone thinks so and we see it on radio talk shows, on the message boards, and everyone you bump in to.
Let's hope the excitement continues all summer -
remember the event scheduled for June 2 - almost immediately after the departure of the past President - will be coming up fast...

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=25177

NCAA has become completely impotent

A couple years back the NCAA cut back on their enforcement staff....yet claimed they were going to be way more efficient in finding and penalizing the cheaters....
what has happened since is interesting....

First - they take forever (like the cases at Syracuse, Penn State, Miami, Cam Newton ...all of which began 4 to 6 years ago! -
and especially the enormous academic fraud stuff at North Carolina

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=16208

...now headed into it's 6th year .... and cases like this one that just get swept under the carpet...)

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=21419

... to actually come to any conclusion. Then despite massive cheating and really serious harm done, they impose minimal & somewhat soft & laughable penalties (like removing some wins that they later add back on)..
then they claim the whole case is done and guys like Jim Boeheim go right back to work despite all the cheating.

Nobody ever gets the severe penalties like Dave Bliss got...
(BTW- Dave Bliss just got hired again as a college head coach -

http://www.bnd.com/2015/04/07/3753299/disgraced-ex-baylor-coach-bliss.html


Then a study done confirms how terribly flawed the NCAA investigative and enforcement process is - and how biased it is yet nobody seems to care...

http://bdavidrid.authorsxpress.com/2015/03/28/usc-case-exposes-ncaa-enforcement-and-infractions-process-as-flawed-and-untenable-yet-again/

http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-usc-todd-mcnair-botched-interview-20150325-story.html


But the main thing is that over the past couple years - NOT ONE single new major investigation has been launched and they are seemingly no longer even looking into all the cheating going on - so I guess guys like Calipari can feel emboldened to keep cheating...

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/jon-solomon/24560341/all-quiet-on-the-violations-front-is-ncaa-enforcement-dead

BUT - if Bradley has a kid who earns any summer job overtime pay or who gets a taxi ride paid for - you can bet the NCAA would have a couple field agents setting up camp on the quad for weeks until they found something...


One more thing- wonder why when new coaches are hired in the spring - that the announcement of the new assistants seems to lag a bit even when it is known who will be hired?
Here's the reason...
once hired the assistant coaches must, of course, comply with NCAA recruiting rules but if they have NOT yet been hired then there is NO WAY they can be cited with violations even if they view a kid or a recruit during a dead period or visit him when not allowed to NCAA coaches.

In other words - it is a little bit of a recruiting advantage for a potential assistant coach to stay UNHIRED for a few weeks early in the AAU spring period - so he can do a little more of what he's allowed to do on his own before becoming officially a hired D-I assistant!
So don't be surprised if our assistants hit the ground running once they are named - as if they've already been out there checking kids out...
;)

Transitioning to the Brian Wardle era

Since it's obvious that now we will never get any answers to the "hardball" questions posed in the last entry - then we'll move on the the new Brian Wardle era...

Wardle is already offering some new kids and two pressing issues that will be worked on over the next few days are:

-What players are gonna stay and who is gonna leave?
..surely some of the current players on the roster will leave but seems a lot of people think a huge effort should be made to placate Josh Cunningham and get him to stay here.
Well -  I think it's huge disaster to placate anyone.  I think that's exactly what got Geno Ford in huge trouble.  There are numerous reports that right from the start Geno did not discipline strongly.  that players were allowed a lot of leeway and often got by goofing off and doing things that would not be tolerated even on a high school team.
We saw beyond question that some players were total goof-offs and some did finally get run off (Swopshire) and many ended up goofing off and getting into legal troubles (Barnes, Jones, Grier, Bell) - kids who were underage yet allowed to go bar-hopping at 2am on game nights!!!
Plus there were endless reports of players missing team busses, late for practice, wearing sloppy, disrespectful baggy clothing to games when not in uniform... - well you get the picture.

Now there are fans calling for the new coach to go begging and kiss butt to keep a player here - wow.
Nope - I say the coach sets the bar - orders the disciplinary code, and if the kid wants to stay & play then fine - otherwise DO NOT COMPROMISE!
Wardle has done OK at UWGB without having to kiss butt to recruits and AAU-types.


-Then.....who will be Bian Wardle's assistant coaches.
If he wants to keep someone currently on the staff then I will leave that 100% to B rian Wardle - otherwise it is yet another recipe for disaster to force a coach to take staff he does not choose.

I hope everyone knows - that this exact same situation is a large part of why Bradley has been so bad for the past five years.

....in 2010 when Dr. Glasser wanted to "force the issue" but was unable to get Board approval to fire Jim Les,
She required by virtue of cancelling their contracts, that Jim Les fire two assistants (Buescher & Alvin Brooks) and that two new assistants would be hired...
of the two, JL was allowed input on one and the other would be chosen with little or no input from JL..
Willie Scott was one - Jim Platt was the other - and Platt was encouraged to bring in one recruit of HIS own choosing above & beyond any preference of head coach Jim Les - in other words Dr. Glasser essentially brought in Andrew Davis - -- committing a scholarship to a player that was not in any way a preference or choice of the head coach - an incredibly odd & unusual situation that clearly doomed Bradley to a disastrous year in 2010-11.
Thus - when the record was bad that year - it got blamed on the head coach when the real blame was largely elsewhere.

Seriously - how does a school let a President pick the recruits over the judgement of the head coach?  But it happened and now we see the distant fallout from such idiocy.

I say let let's try something new this time - let Brian Wardle run the show & pick his own people without interference.

Remember - Jim Les' overall record when he had ALL his own staff that he was able to choose himself was 102-71 (.590)

But his overall record when one or even TWO of his assistants were chosen by someone else was amazingly - 52-69 (.437)

Let's not make the same stupid mistakes that were made repeatedly this past 4-5 years & that we're all suffering dearly for.

Some actual hardball questions for the departing AD - questions that never got asked by the media

The interviews and tributes that the PJStar have done this past week on Dr. Cross were really softballs - pretty much allowing Dr. Cross to boast and lay claim to lots of things and avoided asking him any tough questions at all about the incredibly bad state of both Athletics & finances...
Too bad the enablers at PJS didn't ask any real questions - would love to know the answers to...

-how did the spending deficits more than TRIPLE in Athletics & explode to over $7.1 million in just the past 3-4 years under your watch.
This irresponsible spending plus inaccurate and "non-transparent" reporting of financial losses, has really hurt the entire University for years to come.

-why not listen to and give credence to the comments of the fans who have left, given up season tickets and openly give their reasons in letters to you and letters in the newspaper - instead of calling them uneducated and impatient and discounting what they say because you don't want to hear it.
These have been the people who tossed your way hundreds of warnings that you should have heeded that you were dragging the programs down & going in the wrong direction - all the while claiming you're headed the right way.

-why do we never heard any comments on all the programs that are doing so badly - only the bragging on Cross Country and soccer (which of course was doing great - Elite Eight - before you got here?)
Volleyball 2-26, WBB & MBB - last place repeatedly, Baseball 2-19 in MVC play - really historically bad performances.
But the real centerpiece of all Bradley Athletics is Men's Basketball - and the quality of play plus the bungling of all the TV deals and marketing have led to record losing seasons, national embarrassment, turning Bradley into a perennial bottom dweller & laughingstock, cancelling all the events, booster get-togethers, bus trips, etc, costing  $ MILLIONS, and dropping attendances to historic lows - all the while you just keep denying all this is happening and keep claiming we are in such good shape and fans ought to shut up and be happy.

-how is it any credit can be taken for Ren-Col when it was already open and VB games being played even before you arrived, and all the plans, funds, construction, etc. were long done even before that?
Much of it was even done before Dr. Glasser arrived and is to the credit of Ken Kavanagh.  Yet your speeches and interviews keep claiming the problems at Bradley all preceded you and were so very deep and severe when you got here and you've done such a yeoman's job fixing all the problems?
Now the proof is clear and even the Board knows it - that we were in FAR better shape before and you need to step up, be honest, and admit your failures and take responsibility instead of stepping even harder on the accelerator and driving even faster over the cliff.

-when firing the past men's basketball coach then hiring the new MBB coach - the TWO most significant event in the past five years - how is it so much of those two processes were bungled so badly and everybody denies and deflects responsibility?
The news of the 2011 firing got leaked to a Chicago blogger before being mentioned in Peoria - and was so badly handled that it angered a large part of the fan base, there were issues made public about the failure to honor the old coach's contract, multiple candidates were brought in to interview then heard something that caused them to leave & decline even though they were turning down an admittedly great position that THEY SOUGHT which doubled their salaries, then we violated the new coaches existing contract and got involved in lawsuits (that have been costly for both Bradley & Geno, then we way overpaid for coaching abilities that clearly were far under what was needed

-lastly - why take the repeated swipes at the fans - the lifeblood of this program?
Why label then uneducated, stuck in the past, too nostalgic, too impatient - hey - it was YOU who promised we'd be better right away - even in the very first year when - as it turned out - we were actually all-time-record worse,
and it was you who promised we'd be competing for championships as soon as Geno got his own players - when in fact the more players Geno brought in to replace the ones left over - the worse we got and the more player issues, suspensions, and arrests we had.

That's just a starter - but even if I never get answers - I am ok with moving on - and hopefully the next AD will man-up and take responsibility for the choices he makes even if they fail.

Career scoring of every player who has suited up for Geno at Bradley

*Walt Lemon 13.24
Warren Jones 11.86
Tyshon Pickett 11.54
Tramique Sutherland 11.33
*Dyricus Simms-Edwards 10.20
*Taylor Brown 9.92
Omari Grier 8.36
*Will Egolf 8.01
Josh Cunningham 7.88
Auston Barnes 6.53
*Jordan Prosser 5.52
*Jake Eastman 4.84
Ka'Darryl Bell 4.28
Jalen Crawford 3.34
Xavier Taylor 3.10
Donte Thomas 2.84
Shayok Shayok 2.52
Jermaine Morgan 2.50
*Anthony Thompson 1.89
Nate Wells 1.57
*Milos Knezevic 1.34
Mike Shaw 1.34
Jordan Swopshire 1.31
Chris Blake 0.97
Anthony Fields 0.81
Stefan Zecevic 0.55
Donivine Stewart 0.36
Devon Hodges 0.00

6 of the top 12 are players who were left over in the cupboard.
14 of the worst 16 are players brought in by Geno - many with tremendous hype as upgrades, better talent, TOP 100 players, game-changers, difference-makers, and go-to-guys.
Nine of the worst 16 have been regular or fairly regular STARTERS the past couple years under Geno.  Seriously - nine guys who don't average 4 ppg in your starting lineup.
We got to get some scorers and guys who can make baskets!
How effective given the current circumstances can Geno possibly be in landing talent?

The search to replace the President, the 2nd in command, the Provost, the Athletic Director, and possibly more...

A new story by WEEK.com has a remarkably odd sounding quote from Councilman Chuck Grayeb..

the story is about the impact all the personnel changes at Bradley might have, and Grayeb says...

Decisions at Bradley University effect the entire city

The decisions Bradley makes about its key leaders has an impact on its future. And that impact extends far beyond this campus.
"They're a leading employer, they do a lot to help our economy, if you subtract 
Bradley you have a huge negative impact on Peoria's economy; nevermind all 
of the other aspects that can't even be quantified by dollars," said 2nd District 
City Councilman, Chuck Grayeb."

http://www.cinewsnow.com/home/Decisions-at-Bradley-Univeristy-effect-the-entire-city-295107091.html

What??  "If you subtract Bradley..." ???
why is he comparing anything to a Peoria with Bradley completely "subtracted" out of the entire equation?

Who ever suggested that Bradley would ever be "subtracted" or completely gone from Peoria?
Or is he suggesting that the current admin has dragged down Bradley so far they are becoming less relevant or it simulates not having Bradley in the community at all..

But Grayeb does get one thing right...
"The status quo cannot continue," Grayeb said. "We have to have not only a 
strong academic program but strong programming as it relates to all athletic 
activities, including Bradley basketball. It is an economic thrust to our 
community."



The accompanying article
"Major shake up at Bradley seen as opportunity for board chair"
"Bradley Board of Trustees Chairman Doug Stewart said they are looking at this as an opportunity, 
"When you look at the leadership in any position, whether it's the Athletic Director, a Dean, the President, 
the Provost, the qualities and the attributes that you're looking at tend to change in terms of the context 
of the landscape you're working in and the landscape is dynamic and changing."
Bradley has already started the interview process for a new AD."

http://www.cinewsnow.com/news/local/Major-shake-up-at-Bradley-seen-as-opportunity-for-board-chair--295073911.html


This seems to hint that this is Doug Stewart's LEGACY-defining moment...this is his "opportunity for board chair"

...let me remind you that just 3 months ago Stewart was hailing everything done recently as GREAT
(see this report about Doug Stewart's letter - http://bubravesblogger.blogspot.com/2014/12/letter-of-nov-24-2014.html )

...and touting that Bradley was doing better than any time in the past 30 years, and that changes did not need to be made - even rewarding the top dogs with contract extensions - in Dr. Glasser's case - 5-6 years into the future!
...all the while assuring us that he's in the driver's seat and he's supporting all the current personnel.
....then massive changes get made with all the top personnel out the door costing Bradley multiple millions in buyouts-- so doesn't this trouble some that just maybe Stewart does not see the problems & the needs as most people do, and as they really are - yet he's in the driver's seat again selecting the direction for the future?

I am troubled that the very guy taking credit for driving Bradley to the brink of collapse is now anxious to be the guy who selects all the next top brass.
Time will tell - but obviously even the Peoria City Councilman believes this has to be done right and that it is currently a disaster waiting to happen comparable to have a Peoria with Bradley subtracted out altogether!!!