WAC Basketball Facilities Ranking

I wrote the following post on the WAC message boards on CSNBBS.com. I had pondered it for a while, and after rediscovering an article where the Sun Belt Conference coaches ranked College Park Center the best in the conference, I had a renewed vigor to do the same for UTA's current home. After a robust conversation on Twitter, there is no better home for this than here on the Maverick Rambler.

I ranked all 13 current members in the conference. New Mexico State and Sam Houston State will depart, but since there are no new members on the horizon, I say the more the merrier.

The list includes on-campus venues only. All schools played three-quarters of their games on-campus and as such, I believed that ranking was best. 

With out further ado, ranked worst to first, here's the list of best on-campus basketball venues.

The Grass is Decidedly NOT Greener

 I came across some interesting tidbits due in part to the UT Arlington men's basketball coaching change. I briefly mentioned it in the last post, but one of my main concerns is losing the High School pipeline that was temporarily halted when Scott Cross was fired.

Some of that was mended when Royce "Snoop' Johnson was added to the staff of failed head coach Chris Ogden. That still didn't help as many of the local coaches had a loyalty of some kind or another to Cross. Some of the coaches were his former players and highly looked down on the way the school and Athletic Director departed with Cross.

When Greg Young was promoted and Johnson stayed on, the pipeline started re-opening, as freshmen Brandon Walker and Chendall Weaver have shown this year and Montez Young, Jr last year, that is paying dividends. One reason Mavs fans were frustrated with the coaching change, at least those I talked to or observed, was that Greg Young compiled a talented, young team and then tried to fill the gaps with older, experienced transfers. There was no doubt they were getting better as the year progressed. There's also no doubt the inconsistent play exhibited is a trademark of young teams. 

But let me get to the point of this post. A large fear is that some of the talented youngsters may depart at the end of the year. Obviously nothing can be done now except let it play out. But in the meantime, I wanted to take a look at a few recent Mavericks who utilized the transfer portal and may be regretting that decision. 

A Coaching Change Hold my Beer

This one won't be a long one. Maybe there's too much deja vu from the last time the UT Arlington men's basketball team made a coaching change. It was announced on Friday that Greg Young has essentially been fired mid-season. I'm just in a WTF frame of mind. 

It's not like the Mavericks were underperforming. The currently sit in 10th in the WAC, right where the media pre-season poll had them and one spot better than the coaches. There's a young roster full of potential talent. In the current NCAA era, that doesn't mean much for the long run as the transfer portal has made some non-power schools a farm system for the "bigger" universities. There are only two seniors on the team. Had G.Y. stayed, next year could have been a big year. Now, maybe not. Roster turnover is common in coaching changes. I see no reason that won't be the case here too.

A young team will struggle, as evidenced by close games against good teams and inexplicable losses to teams at or below the Mavericks. But there have been upsets this year too. At this point, the only reason I'd see you firing a coach would be due to that young talent not being developed. That's now not the case. UTA has won four of seven. Of the three losses in that time frame, only Abilene Christian was lopsided. Yes, letting Tarleton slip away hurt, but again, that's what young teams in Division I do the vast majority of the time.