2016-2017 Kentucky Wesleyan basketball thread.

[Looking For 9]

Re: 2016-2017 Kentucky Wesleyan basketball thread.

They are not third graders. They are just full of self hate and the only thing that makes them feel normal is to put down a small religious school that is doing so well.

[kwcpantherfan]

Re: 2016-2017 Kentucky Wesleyan basketball thread.

I don't understand #1 how so many 3rd graders get access to this site and #2 why so many 3rd graders are USI fans.

[Looking For 9]

Re: 2016-2017 Kentucky Wesleyan basketball thread.

Amen very true. I hope the watch parties work. Some younger fans will drive but not the same as in the past. Gas prices, Hotel prices, Health, distance all have hurt but no reduction in love of this team.

[kwcpantherfan]

Re: 2016-2017 Kentucky Wesleyan basketball thread.

Totally agree with that statement...KWC used to travel well over here as well. Watson didn't just turn off bandwagon fans, he turned off a lot of long time fans as well.

Our traveling fan base has been greatly reduced because this year marks the first year the Panther Express is no longer traveling to all of the away games. Billy O'Brien who has coordinated the Express for decades is in poor health and has not been able to do it this year. It's possible they will have it for a couple of the conference trips but I'm not sure. Mr. O'Brien is a wonderful man and has been sitting very near me at the games this year because he's not able to make it up the stairs to his usual seats anymore. I don't think you could find a more dedicated Panther fan, and it's sad to see he's not able to run the fan bus anymore because he got so much enjoyment out of it.

[WestSideMafia]

Re: 2016-2017 Kentucky Wesleyan basketball thread.

Totally agree with that statement...KWC used to travel well over here as well. Watson didn't just turn off bandwagon fans, he turned off a lot of long time fans as well.

KWC always had better fan support than USI. No one showed up at USI games until Pearl started winning big. After he left, the program went south and so did their bandwagon fans.

[Looking For 9]

Re: 2016-2017 Kentucky Wesleyan basketball thread.

I heard another D1 PG coming.

[Looking For 9]

Re: 2016-2017 Kentucky Wesleyan basketball thread.

Lots of things that could hurt us against Mich tech but I think the team will be ready. The time with out class really helps us prepare.

[kwcpantherfan]

Re: 2016-2017 Kentucky Wesleyan basketball thread.

Looking ahead, Michigan Tech at their place, even with them being a bit down compared to most years, is going to be a tough game. I'd say we're a slight favorite going in, but only slight. It's very possible we could drop that one.

Other than that ... Cedarville could challenge us ... and Davis & Elkins has the athleticism to challenge us if they put together their best game. As long as we focus every game and play as a team, though...there's a really good chance we could win out (after Michigan Tech, which I consider to be a bit of a toss up).

[GMAC-Battler]

Re: 2016-2017 Kentucky Wesleyan basketball thread.

I have to believe that our attendance numbers will not fluctuate that much this year. Watson has turned too many long time fans off.

KWC always had better fan support than USI. No one showed up at USI games until Pearl started winning big. After he left, the program went south and so did their bandwagon fans.

[WestSideMafia]

Re: 2016-2017 Kentucky Wesleyan basketball thread.

I have to believe that our attendance numbers will not fluctuate that much this year. Watson has turned too many long time fans off.

So far, USI's only had 3 home games this year. All three were during finals week/weekend. It's tough to get students there as it is, but only having 3 home games the first semester and only during finals week isn't really giving the students an opportunity to get in the habit of attending games.

I'm hoping that the students see we are now nationally ranked and undefeated and they will start attending when conference play starts up.
We had 1095, 1102, and 767 reported as the total attendance for those three games.

[Looking For 9]

Re: 2016-2017 Kentucky Wesleyan basketball thread.

Happy had to give a home and home to M Tech. Also he thought they would be much better.

[schnautza]

Re: 2016-2017 Kentucky Wesleyan basketball thread.

So far, USI's only had 3 home games this year. All three were during finals week/weekend. It's tough to get students there as it is, but only having 3 home games the first semester and only during finals week isn't really giving the students an opportunity to get in the habit of attending games.

I'm hoping that the students see we are now nationally ranked and undefeated and they will start attending when conference play starts up.
We had 1095, 1102, and 767 reported as the total attendance for those three games.

[BlueBlood]

Re: 2016-2017 Kentucky Wesleyan basketball thread.

Cedarville only cracked the 1000 barrier once so far this year. I didn't check, but I bet our volleyball average attendance was better than MBB so far. Hopefully attendance improves dramatically after the break. The schedule so far (like everybody's) has had lots of conflicts with breaks and finals. CU is in a "village". There just aren't a lot of locals. If school is out, getting more than 300-600 is rough.

[Knightmoves]

Re: 2016-2017 Kentucky Wesleyan basketball thread.

Bellarmine probably does better with student attendance than anybody else in the GLVC, but it still seems insufficient. The students come to the evening games, especially on the weekend, but just flat out do not come to afternoon games. Not really sure what they are doing at 3 on a Saturday afternoon, but it's not going to the game. With the geographical spreading out of the GLVC and the rule that says teams more than 200(?) miles away must play during the day, BU plays almost no evening weekend games when school is in session. I do expect BU's student attendance to rise dramatically come January. When the students are there, they really help give Bellarmine a decisive home court advantage.

[MrAugustana]

Re: 2016-2017 Kentucky Wesleyan basketball thread.

In West Liberty's case, being in a town of 1,200 people probably doesn't help. Being the only show in town is a good thing, but they'd have to have half the town show up to get to 600. On the other side, they've got 2,000+ students - amazing that a ton of them don't go to the games.

The most baffling thing across the board is student attendance. We probably get 150-250 students to most games (more for a few important games and homecoming) when school is in session, which is decent for a school our size, but the school puts in a significant amount of effort to encourage them to come too. It's a shame more students today don't come out on their own to show some school pride.

Augie is in the same boat. We're currently averaging 2,317 overall fans per home game and I would guess mayyyyybe 100 of those are students each game. Granted, our enrollment is only 1,800, but we used to have the best student attendance in the conference and probably some of the best D2 student attendance in the country. Now our student section features a group of about 10-15 really passionate fans in the front two rows of the student section and 60-70 more sitting around on their cell phones in the rows farther back. If it weren't for our video board instant replays, I'm not sure those cell phone starers would actually see any plays from the game while they're in attendance.

That last part might be a little bit of hyperbole, but sadly, not much. Interestingly, that seems to be the case all around the conference. Other than, as you mentioned, when certain schools have their big, special event types of nights.