Tommy Bell Monthly Newsletter — March Edition
03/31/2018 | 3:42:00 | General
Greetings, Saluki Nation!
In my January newsletter, I promised to provide you with a "State of Saluki Basketball" report shortly after the season ended. Thank you for your patience while we completed this important process.
First, let's talk about our 2017-18 season. We did some good things. We won 20 games. We finished 11-7 and took second place in the conference. There was energy in SIU Arena toward the end of the season with big crowds for the Valparaiso and Loyola games. We slipped a bit down the stretch, but our players gave great effort at the conference tournament and represented us well. We're proud of our team!
To fairly evaluate our place within the conference landscape, however, many pieces of data must be considered. For example, every team except Bradley, Evansville and Southern Illinois has made either a NIT or NCAA Tournament appearance during the last 10 years. Our inability to advance to postseason corresponds with our strength of schedule and record against Top 100 teams. Meanwhile, MVC newcomer Loyola has taken just four years to ascend from last place in the Valley to the NCAA Final Four.
Our mixed results have led to numerous calls and emails directed to my office from fans and donors. Some are excited for next year, when we could return as many as eight seniors, including our top four scorers. They point out we have a solid nucleus with players such as Armon Fletcher, Kavion Pippen, Sean Lloyd and Aaron Cook. Others are less optimistic. We conducted our annual Fan Satisfaction Survey after the season and your comments were carefully reviewed by myself and Chancellor Carlo Montemagno, who, rest assured, shares my commitment to reestablishing our flagship program atop the MVC.
In some respects, I found the volume and intensity of opinions reassuring, because it affirms my belief that we have the most knowledgeable and passionate fans in the Missouri Valley Conference. Since the Salukis joined the MVC in 1975, no current league member has won more men's basketball championships (13) or made more NCAA Tournament appearances (10) than SIU. You rightly expect results in-line with our proud tradition.
Therefore, after much deliberation and consultation, I make the following statement about the future of Saluki Basketball - our sole objective in 2019 is to win a conference championship and advance to the NCAA Tournament. Between now and next March, you will not hear us hedge or equivocate.
Our coaching staff has the resources it needs to achieve this goal, however, we're leaving nothing to chance in our quest for a championship. I am assisting the coaching staff with scheduling, in search of more opportunities for Top 100 wins. I approved a foreign trip for the team during the summer, which will give them additional weeks of practice and games. We also have several major gifts in the pipeline that will directly benefit our men's basketball program.
In conclusion, I want to thank you, our fans, for your continued support through the lean years of the past decade. I am often overwhelmed by your resilience, passion and devotion to our program. I urge you not to give up the fight. Together, we can Restore the Glory of Saluki Basketball.
With Saluki Pride,
