PSAC WEST

[CALUPA69]

Well that certainly was a larger response than I expected. Pretty much all true to one degree or the other. WBB NC in '04 really got AA fired up to go all in on athletics and it may have come closer to paying off if '07 FB had made it to the NC game against NWMSU. Woulda, coulda, shoulda.....

[Fightingscot82]

I have mixed feelings on the Angelo Dome. Looking back, it's obviously way too big for California. It's also like the freaking centerpiece of the whole campus. They're stuck with it now.

I think the actual Cal campus is nice. It's certainly a small college vibe. I never liked building all that student housing up by the stadium (Well, I think it's student housing that is privately owned?). That has to be a pain to drive down there (or take the bus) every single day. The town is the killer. There's just nothing there. No nightlife. No restaurants. No hotels. No shopping.

Current-day Cal athletics is very, very fortunate it survived the Angelo era. It was walking on pretty thin ice.

Agreed. I think Clarion is the model for everyone else: a very nice, modern fieldhouse. The biggest crowd most PSAC fieldhouses have is usually graduation. Gotta build for that, which I think is part of the Angelo Dome capacity. But also built when Cal was at peak enrollment. Agree on the rest of their campus. It's hands down the prettiest campus in the system. Its the location that sucks. Most people from greater Pittsburgh have to take a toll to get there, and similar to IUP its not a very direct drive. That matters for people especially as Pittsburgh's population continues to turn over and has more transplants unfamiliar with backroads and the "routes." The town does leave a lot to be desired - I think its because so few employees live there. They live in WashPA, Peters, and even Connellsville and Uniontown. Edinboro has begun to struggle for this very reason - most employees live in greater Erie. The town would be struggling more if Edinboro in the summer wasn't a mini Conneaut Lake (probably the best PASSHE town "off season" maybe except for Lock Haven).

[IUPbigINDIANS]

He tried selling naming rights to Bob Eberly similar to what was done with Glassboro State/Rowan University. The state told him he didn't have the right to do so and I believe the dollar amount was questioned as well. The Rowan gift was $100 million in 1992. Unsure of what amount was floated to Eberly but he did give $6 million toward the science building named after him.

Armenti struck me as jealous of IUP's stronger reputation and the low-end privates in our region he viewed as inferior but had D1 athletics. The goal was similar to what a lot of mid-major D1 schools do: leverage some high profile athletics achievements to elevate the profile of the academic side. I don't know if D1 was ever viewed as a goal but he did want national championships and the sense of superiority that you sometimes sense in this region from IUP folks. So he invested every available dollar into athletics to make them look the part. The strangest vision is that he wanted Cal U to be a hub of activity & commerce between Morgantown and Pittsburgh (that's basically WashPA/Canonsburg/Southpointe). He lobbied for a light rail system to be built between the two with a stop at the Cal campus. The Angelo Dome was to be the centerpiece of the plan with Cal hosting small conferences and big concerts very similar to what is now being done at IUP & RMU. The biggest problem was parking, so he hastily built a parking garage but it was on the opposite side of campus. He justified this by thinking visitors would have to wander through campus on their way to a big event and will appreciate Cal's campus. When he couldn't find money for a baseball stadium like Slippery Rock, he signed a long term agreement to have the baseball team play 45 minutes away from campus at the Washington Wild Things stadium (it also sits next to I-79). Unconfirmed but I have been told that he used Technology Fee money meant for computer & classroom tech to buy that Wave Cam they had at football games...because he also directed half of the annual marketing budget be spent to "buy" airtime on Root Sports for football broadcasts with "name" broadcasters. His funding of scholarships and "big time" athletics accoutrements caught the ire of faculty who built a case against him with the system. The growth of athletics staffing (supposedly an eleventh hour shifting of salary to cover the Walt Harris hire) was apparently the final straw for faculty. HIs "Privatization Without a Plan" campaign also pissed off legislators who felt targeted.

Honestly though, if not for the football transfer brawl scandal, I don't think we would be talking about him as much.

I have mixed feelings on the Angelo Dome. Looking back, it's obviously way too big for California. It's also like the freaking centerpiece of the whole campus. They're stuck with it now.

I think the actual Cal campus is nice. It's certainly a small college vibe. I never liked building all that student housing up by the stadium (Well, I think it's student housing that is privately owned?). That has to be a pain to drive down there (or take the bus) every single day. The town is the killer. There's just nothing there. No nightlife. No restaurants. No hotels. No shopping.

Current-day Cal athletics is very, very fortunate it survived the Angelo era. It was walking on pretty thin ice.

[Fightingscot82]

Don't quote me on this but I seem to recall Dr Armenti came close to taking the school private with a mega-endowment from a local family. Only problem was the family wanted to self-name the school which apparently killed the deal. Time will tell if the system can be saved but the state will lose a lot if close to 90,000 students take the tuition $$$ to other states.

He tried selling naming rights to Bob Eberly similar to what was done with Glassboro State/Rowan University. The state told him he didn't have the right to do so and I believe the dollar amount was questioned as well. The Rowan gift was $100 million in 1992. Unsure of what amount was floated to Eberly but he did give $6 million toward the science building named after him.

Armenti struck me as jealous of IUP's stronger reputation and the low-end privates in our region he viewed as inferior but had D1 athletics. The goal was similar to what a lot of mid-major D1 schools do: leverage some high profile athletics achievements to elevate the profile of the academic side. I don't know if D1 was ever viewed as a goal but he did want national championships and the sense of superiority that you sometimes sense in this region from IUP folks. So he invested every available dollar into athletics to make them look the part. The strangest vision is that he wanted Cal U to be a hub of activity & commerce between Morgantown and Pittsburgh (that's basically WashPA/Canonsburg/Southpointe). He lobbied for a light rail system to be built between the two with a stop at the Cal campus. The Angelo Dome was to be the centerpiece of the plan with Cal hosting small conferences and big concerts very similar to what is now being done at IUP & RMU. The biggest problem was parking, so he hastily built a parking garage but it was on the opposite side of campus. He justified this by thinking visitors would have to wander through campus on their way to a big event and will appreciate Cal's campus. When he couldn't find money for a baseball stadium like Slippery Rock, he signed a long term agreement to have the baseball team play 45 minutes away from campus at the Washington Wild Things stadium (it also sits next to I-79). Unconfirmed but I have been told that he used Technology Fee money meant for computer & classroom tech to buy that Wave Cam they had at football games...because he also directed half of the annual marketing budget be spent to "buy" airtime on Root Sports for football broadcasts with "name" broadcasters. His funding of scholarships and "big time" athletics accoutrements caught the ire of faculty who built a case against him with the system. The growth of athletics staffing (supposedly an eleventh hour shifting of salary to cover the Walt Harris hire) was apparently the final straw for faculty. HIs "Privatization Without a Plan" campaign also pissed off legislators who felt targeted.

Honestly though, if not for the football transfer brawl scandal, I don't think we would be talking about him as much.

[CALUPA69]

I think at one point Cal thought they were going D1 then all the BS with the President, etc happened. From that point it turned awful in a hurry with an arena to big for a small university!

Don't quote me on this but I seem to recall Dr Armenti came close to taking the school private with a mega-endowment from a local family. Only problem was the family wanted to self-name the school which apparently killed the deal. Time will tell if the system can be saved but the state will lose a lot if close to 90,000 students take the tuition $$$ to other states.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Who were the D1's???

Stetson, Bellarmarine, NJIT

[IUPalum]

Ohio guard Tasos Cook, who holds offers from (15) D2 schools including SRU, Gannon and Mercyhurst, has seen his stock explode in the past 24 hours. He's picked up (4) D1 offers.

So, we won't be seeing him.

Who were the D1's???

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Ohio guard Tasos Cook, who holds offers from (15) D2 schools including SRU, Gannon and Mercyhurst, has seen his stock explode in the past 24 hours. He's picked up (4) D1 offers.

So, we won't be seeing him.

[IUPalum]

I think at one point Cal thought they were going D1 then all the BS with the President, etc happened. From that point it turned awful in a hurry with an arena to big for a small university!

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I remember that game. It was part of a small college showcase that ESPN was doing. The game was televised on ESPN 3. Which meant you still had to use your computer to watch it, but they at least had the quality picture, camera angles, and professional broadcast crew doing the game. I can't recall if the women's game was televised earlier (I think it was). But I can recall watching on tv that and vividly seeing more IUP fans there than Cal for the men's game.

I was at the game. I'd guess for the men's game there was maybe 125 people. I'd say 75 us from IUP and 50 from Cal -- in a 6,000 seat arena. It was very odd.

[IUP24]

The KCAC and the Angelo Dome ARE nicer than many, many D1 facilities (mid-major level).

The Angelo Dome is so freaking big. I was shocked the first time I went in there. The actual basketball arena portion makes the KCAC look small. When IUP gets 3,500 ... it looks sold out. If Cal could get 3,500, the place would still have 2,500 empty seats.

It's really bizarre what happened down there. Cal basketball had such a huge following for so long. I understand the end of the Bill Brown era was pretty bad and that likely turned many away. But, all seriousness, I've been to games in the Dome recently where IUP had more fans than Cal (for the men's game).

The other thing that is very obvious when you go in person is a HUGE number of people leave after the women's game. Obviously, Cal has a tremendous women's program with a nice following, but, nonetheless, that is odd. I mean, you're already there. Why not stay.

A couple years ago IUP and Cal had a huge women's game. The men's game was going to be the D2 Game of the Week on whatever TV channel. The women's game probably had close to 2,000 people. There MIGHT have been 150 there when the men's game tipped off.

I remember that game. It was part of a small college showcase that ESPN was doing. The game was televised on ESPN 3. Which meant you still had to use your computer to watch it, but they at least had the quality picture, camera angles, and professional broadcast crew doing the game. I can't recall if the women's game was televised earlier (I think it was). But I can recall watching on tv that and vividly seeing more IUP fans there than Cal for the men's game.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

It would help if somebody, ANYBODY, showed up for the games !!! We have a very nice D2 even D1 facility and I wish every game that they never left HAMER !! Oh well, at least there's a chance for a season in '21-'22.

The KCAC and the Angelo Dome ARE nicer than many, many D1 facilities (mid-major level).

The Angelo Dome is so freaking big. I was shocked the first time I went in there. The actual basketball arena portion makes the KCAC look small. When IUP gets 3,500 ... it looks sold out. If Cal could get 3,500, the place would still have 2,500 empty seats.

It's really bizarre what happened down there. Cal basketball had such a huge following for so long. I understand the end of the Bill Brown era was pretty bad and that likely turned many away. But, all seriousness, I've been to games in the Dome recently where IUP had more fans than Cal (for the men's game).

The other thing that is very obvious when you go in person is a HUGE number of people leave after the women's game. Obviously, Cal has a tremendous women's program with a nice following, but, nonetheless, that is odd. I mean, you're already there. Why not stay.

A couple years ago IUP and Cal had a huge women's game. The men's game was going to be the D2 Game of the Week on whatever TV channel. The women's game probably had close to 2,000 people. There MIGHT have been 150 there when the men's game tipped off.

[CALUPA69]

Times are changing. He's been on the market a while now. Still time but if a D1 was coming ... they probably would have already. The fear of a strong D2 taking him now would be he'll do this again next year after the season.

Sancomb could have had a loaded team next year if all those guys hadn't left. I mean loaded (us IUP folk like the word 'loaded' per some). Lol.

He can recruit very well. Retention has been his killer down there.

It would help if somebody, ANYBODY, showed up for the games !!! We have a very nice D2 even D1 facility and I wish every game that they never left HAMER !! Oh well, at least there's a chance for a season in '21-'22.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

He's a nice player but not big time D1. St Francis, YSU or Cleveland State could use him as a 6/7. Lakewood OH is western suburbs of Cleveland. Traded some IM with his Dad who always felt DS was mis-using him as a shooting forward. This didn't surprise me.

Times are changing. He's been on the market a while now. Still time but if a D1 was coming ... they probably would have already. The fear of a strong D2 taking him now would be he'll do this again next year after the season.

Sancomb could have had a loaded team next year if all those guys hadn't left. I mean loaded (us IUP folk like the word 'loaded' per some). Lol.

He can recruit very well. Retention has been his killer down there.

[CALUPA69]

From the Twitter world it doesn't appear Cal cast-off Tim Smith has landed anywhere. I can't locate any offers. Looks like his camp was really making a push for D1.

He's a nice player but not big time D1. St Francis, YSU or Cleveland State could use him as a 6/7. Lakewood OH is western suburbs of Cleveland. Traded some IM with his Dad who always felt DS was mis-using him as a shooting forward. This didn't surprise me.