Don't hold your breath if you are waiting for Davis to enact short-sighted publicity stunts like this....Davis moves deliberately with a long-term view.

Exactly. When has UCD ever dismissed a coach who wasn't getting terrible results ? Matt Vaughn (baseball) comes close, but I think "terrible" is a little strong, and he wasn't fired. I think his contract was up anyway. Maybe a pre-Biggs football coach ?

Nobody is defending mediocracy. I don't think I can type the same thing over and over again like this.....lol....please review my previous posts

I agree about the need to improve the program. My point is that while Sac is making a lot of noise, it may just be noise.

Mediocrity isn't being defended. Rash, knee-jerk responses to Sac State's actions are being rejected.

I disagree. I think the program is too good, and it needs to lose more often.

Knee jerk? Coach Les has been head of mens basketball for over 10 years. Go ask anyone on campus who their favorite mens basketball player is, or even what the name of the coach of basketball is, and there is your answer.

Yes, knee-jerk reaction. You clearly saw the announcements about Sac State, flipped out, and said, "OMG, Davis needs to do this immediately-or else !" Except perhaps you wouldn't say OMG.

Student indifference to UCD sports teams is nothing new. Had it not been for the Aggie Pack rewards system I would've probably skipped most, if not all, basketball and football games, while never seeing soccer, volleyball, gymnastics, or water polo. Call it what it was-a bribery system. The people who stood in line for hours at Aggie Jam-all of them there for the t-shirts. How many of them actually showed up for regular season games ? More than one game ? The other students I saw at these events were never classmates and rarely even from my dorm, which suggests to me even the influence of the Aggie Pack during its heyday was not that deep; they just reached enough students across the school who wanted free stuff to make attendace figures impressive. Once in the door if they stayed they participated, if only just to yell mean things at the visiting team and "fight" for pizza. Absent the regular bribes I don't see how they can even approach getting students interested today. And then you would have to fight larger growing factors among students like general disinterest in sports and extreme social anxiety. You can't fix these with just a flashy new coach.

Some marketing geniuses need to find ways to get people interested again without resorting to frivolous expenditures.

how about stop pretending we are still a D2 program? If we commit to a winning program the students will come. We have to strive to be better on the court. If we are satisfied with being mediocre why would students care about the team?

When we move to the Mountain West the competition is going to get a lot better. You want to see Davis be seen as a loser program? Give the students some hope. Give them a reason to cheer for the program.

D2? Ridiculous analogy.

Article from the Sac Bee yesterday by Joe Davidson:

Mike Bibby and Campus Leaders Abuzz on Tour of Sac State’s New Basketball Venue

They were handing out hard hats and bright green vests on Friday morning, required garb for any construction site, including a quick tour of a work in progress at Sacramento State.

The renovation project for a long-needed, bigger basketball venue on campus is no longer rumor and speculation. It’s happening, and it serves as the backdrop of the rolling momentum for the men’s basketball team that has been buzzing with former Sacramento Kings star guard Mike Bibby taking over as head coach and Hall of Fame great Shaquille O’Neal accepting the program’s general manager post in an unpaid, voluntary position.

Bibby and O’Neal have been friends for years, never mind their fierce rivalry days in the NBA in the early 2000s, when the Kings-Lakers playoff showdowns made for rich global entertainment. That pairing makes for quite a dynamic as the Hornets aim to produce a winner in a sport that has managed just two winning seasons since moving from Division II to Division I in 1991.

The venue, located just past the north end zone of Hornet Stadium, has been busy with activity for months. The new floor covered is covered by plyboard sheets to hold materials, new 24-second shot clocks and equipment. Expected to be ready by summer, the pavilion will feature 3,200 seats, two big video boards and other trappings that sparkle in rendering images.

The days of the Hornets basketball teams competing in the 73-year old Nest, a charming yet outdated 1,000-seat venue, are over. The Nest will remain as a practice venue and be used for other sports, but it will no longer be labeled as the poorest Division I basketball venue in the country.

“Big improvement,” Sacramento State president Luke Wood said Friday. “No more lipstick for a pig.”

The pig reference was from when Wood said in a November 2023 interview with The Sacramento Bee that all the new green paint in the tired old Nest was nothing short of putting “lipstick on a pig.”

On Friday, Wood along with Hornets athletic director Mark Orr, Bibby and Otto Construction project manager Corbin Martin took The Bee on a venue tour of the new home court.

“It’s a sign of progress,” Orr said. “We’ve needed this for years. It’s the evolution of the program. Since I was a kid growing up here in Sacramento, Sac State has always been looking for a sustainable venue. We will finally have it, and our school and our student-athletes deserve it. We want to maximize the student experience.”

A moment later, Orr pointed to the ceiling to announce: “Look! We even have air conditioning!”

Hornets Want a Rabid Home Setting

Bibby was radiant in peering into the venue and into future.

He envisions a Duke-like atmosphere in this pavilion, to channel some of the decades-long love affair that Sacramento has showered on the Kings into this venture. He can see students and fans standing, cheering, stomping in this venue during games, and having to shout during time outs to be heard above the noise.

Bibby has 12 newly signed players on board, mostly through the transfer portal. He has former Kings strength and conditioning coach Al Biancani on his staff to get players in tip-top shape. Bibby wants to pressure teams on defense and to “run teams out of the gym”, adding, “We’re going to be exciting, and 3,200 seats may not be enough.”

The project has been anchored by the relentless efforts of Wood and Orr, experts in rubbing elbows and working a crowd and the phones. Sacramento State in late 2023 announced that funding for an events center in The Well fitness and health facility had been approved. Wood thought this was a more feasible plan of a basketball venue than trying to raise some $100 million for a brand-new arena on campus, which could take years. Wood doesn’t want years. He wants now.

In late 2023, the Board of Directors for the nonprofit that runs The Well and Sac State’s University Union hall unanimously approved a resolution to provide up to $5.2 million from reserves for the project. Wood and Orr said their phone lines are open for potential signage and sponsorships. The two hustled off to the airport Friday morning to meet with donors in Southern California.

Who’s Playing at The Well?

Sac State’s current roster has no holdover players from last season’s 7-25 campaign. Turnover like this is common as athletic scholarships are a year-to-year deal, and college sports has become something of a turnstile of players coming and going. The Sacramento State football program has brought in national-leading 50 players through the portal, with more coming, under first-year coach Brennan Marion.

Bibby vowed to bring in big names when he was hired. His first big name addition was Shaq’s son Shaqir O’Neal, a 6-foot-8 forward who will be a senior this season after transferring from Florida A&M.

Another four-star prep prospect now in the program is 6-3 guard Mikey Williams, who scored a San Diego Section-record 77 points in a high school game as a freshman. He later accepted a scholarship to Memphis and wound up at UCF, where last season he played in 18 games and missed 19 due to injury.

Taj Glover, the son of retired NBA player Dion Glover, is a 6-3 guard who transferred from South Florida. Jahni Summers is a 6-6 guard who comes from Indiana State. Jeremiah Cherry is a 6-11 post from UNLV, and Brandon Gardner is a 6-8 forward from USC. In a dunk contest in Los Angeles, Gardner soared over eventual NFL No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams, now a quarterback with the Chicago Bears.

There is also a local flavor on the revamped roster. Sacramento Bee Player of the Year Mark Lavrenov, a 6-8 forward, was signed by the previous Hornets coaching staff and appears to be the sort of player Bibby wants — fundamentally sound, versatile, easy to coach and tough-minded.

Former Capital Christian High School of Sacramento star Jayden Treat is a 6-2 guard who transferred in from the Utah Utes. He played three seasons at Jesuit before his transfer to Capital Christian, today known as Destiny Christian Academy.

Bibby said he expects to sign three more player to fill out the roster at 15. He said that the emails that pour into the basketball office include hundreds of video clips from players from across the country.

Bibby feels the buzz because he’s a big part of that buzz.

“We’re giving guys an opportunity to play, to get coached up,” Bibby said. “We can do big things here.”

https://www.sacbee.com/sports/college/article306007126.html

the Hornets aim to produce a winner in a sport that has managed just two winning seasons since moving from Division II to Division I in 1991.

Holy crap.....

Has anyone been to The Well?

How does a medium-sized student workout facility transform into a playing venue and not limit student access and its original intent?

There is a video included in the Sac Bee article that I can't find a way to copy and post but Orr also talks about a whole section of seats at one end of the court that will be reserved for donors and VIP's. The video ends by saying that Woods and Orr immediately left to meet with donors in southern California immediately after the tour of the Well.