The 7-year plan.... I thought the article was comical. However, just like any statistic or piece of data, it can be twisted to make a point.
For the "7-year plan", I think some of the most important things to look at are:
1) Where were we before Jones? (is it realistic to be a 150-200 rpi team to top 25?)
2) Where have we been since Jones?
3) Where are we heading now as a basketball program? (currently w/ Jones)
Here's a question to ponder and think about:
Would you rather be where we were 10 years ago when we made the NCAA against UConn in the 2004-05 season and still be in the A-SUN (a memorable time for many) or where we are, and heading, now?
Well I was researching and checking some stats out for the past 10 years. Here are some points of interest for each basketball season:
2004-05 season was an exciting season (that's my assumption because I didn't attend UCF yet). It was 10 years ago when we last made the NCAA tournament. The 04-05 season we finished 24-9 (13-7 conference). We were very lucky to make it to the post season that year. We started the season 12-7 (5-6 conference), it was a rough start to the year. We finished the season on a hot streak going 12-2 (1 of those losses to UCONN). We won the conference and went to the NCAA as a 15 seed. The RPI was 182 at the end of the season. This was our last year in the A-SUN, and our last appearance in the NCAA.
In the 2005-06 basketball season we entered C-USA and went 14-15 (7-7). We played a weak schedule, but when we played a ranked opponent we struggled. Lost to UF and Memphis by +30 points.
The 2006-07 season we went 22-9 (11-5). We finished the season losing on the first day of conference play. No post season (this was a fun year though. Wasn't JT a senior and averaging 26 points or something?)
The 2007-08 season we finished 16-15 (9-7). We again had a first round exit in the conference tournament.No post season
In the 2008-09 basketball season we finished 17-14 (7-9). Lost again in the 1st round of the CUSA tourney. No post season
2009-10 season (Kirk's last year), we went 15-17 (6-10 conference play). We advanced to the 2nd round of the conference tourney but lost to UTEP. No post season play
In the 2010-11 basketball season, which was Donnie's first year, we finished 21-12 (6-10) We advanced to the semi-finals of the CBI tournament. We also beat #18 UF and Miami that year. If memory serves correctly, I think we were also ranked top 25. I thought this was a very successful year.
2011-12, we finished 22-11 (10-6). We advanced to the 2nd round of conference play and played in the NIT, losing in the 1st round. We beat #4 Connecticut that year (I was shocked too looking back, but that's according to the schedule on ESPN's site).
In the 2012-13 basketball season, we finished 20-11 (9-7). No post-season (conference or NCAA) play because of NCAA violations/penalties.
The 2013-14 season was our first year in the Big East, err American Conference. This was our toughest schedule probably in school history. We went 13-18 (4-14). We were 0-11 verse ranked teams (uconn, cincy, louis, smu, memphis). However we won our 1st round game in conference tourney but lost to #13 Cincy at the time by 3 points.
The 2014-15 season has been extremely tough! I am talking about as a fan. But It has also been tough on FRESHMAN starters, a limited team, and the coach. We finished the REGULAR season (it's not over til the fat lady sings...) 12-17 (5-13). There were many, MANY disappointments. We had some ugly losses at the end of the season. Here are some major factors.
- we lost our top 5 of 6 scorers
- Kasey Wilson was the 4th top scorer last year. With all the losses, he still dropped to 6th leading scorer this year. I'm not talking about leadership, but for his scoring, it was a major disappointment.
-many other roster problems this year: quantity of players, health and injuries, seniority/leadership, height or weight issues
The 2015-16 season we only lose 1 senior. We have a full roster and add lots of height. We return most of our starters along with an injury. Our talent is being upgraded each year with every recruiting class. Yes the American is a tougher conference, but we should see a much improved season, competitively and statistically.
How's Donnie doing? Well, he came into a very tough situation with Tribble and the NCAA. We jumped into a much tougher conference. And it seems like the fans have forgotten about the 3 years of 20 win seasons.
In 5 years at UCF, he is 19 games OVER .500
I think O'leary just got over the .500% win total last year.
Coaching takes time and investment and we can't, or shouldn't jump from coach to coach.
The article is funny because the author makes it seem like we shouldn't have hired DJ. But the truth is, who would have wanted to come to UCF to get their name muddied up with Tribble and NCAA sanctions if we saw that coming? Then face the few tough years to get UCF back on their feet! Is there potential? Yes, that's what UCF is all about! But potential doesn't turn into immediate results. It takes time, especially with the roster limitations. I have a lot of faith in Donnie.
