Final proof USC is a great basketball job

[FoghornLeghornCock]

I know many of you have heard the argument from some on our board how bad our basketball job is and no good coach will even consider it. These people are ashamed of what we have to offer I guess. Reality is these fans have just given up and they are trying to get you to give up as well. They tell you our antiseptic arena is the problem. Few schools in the US have a $64 million dollar 18,000 seat arena that is as new as ours to offer a coach. Few schools are selling as many tickets as we are including Duke who we aspire to be like. In football we have never had much real success. I went to school when Frank McQuire was in his heyday and we were a great basketball school. Dave Odom makes $900,000 a year which I have no doubt puts us in elite company in the top 100 schools in the NCAA. We want to do better and it is rumored we may have to pay $1.25-1.5 million to get a coach like Anthony Grant. Last year we averaged 12,838 fans who bought tickets to our games which had us at number 24 in the NCAA and 4th in the SEC in basketball purchases. This allows us to pay more for a basketball coach than say a VCU does for Anthony Grant. Some fans tell you tear down our arena and I guess fill our gym like a FL does and if you see they averaged 11,826 fans. I guess this is not what I aspire to. When I graduated in 1971 USC was number 9 in attendance that year with 12,524 fans we led the ACC in attendance that year. UCLA the basketball power during that time only had 12,625 fans that same year. The leader in attendance that year was Illinois with 16,128 fans. In my day our main competitor was North Carolina who averaged 20,693 fans last year. Last year Clemson sold on average 7,329 tickets to home basketball games which ranked them at number 75 in comparison to our number 24 ranking in tickets sold. Fans who are nay sayers on this board rarely do any homework in telling you about this being a good job or a bad job. I challenge the fans of today to aspire to the heights reached in my day when went actually went thru the entire ACC season without one single defeat. I want a new era quit listening to the nay sayers they will lead you only to nothing more than to the bottom of the SEC in basketball attendance one day when you believe them rather than me. You chose do you aspire to be great again or like them ready to just give up. I want you to look at basketball attendance for all the years and programs we will be competing against for our next great coach and ask yourself would you want to come to Carolina? I want you to look at especially the year by year top 25 attendance for 1970 to 2006 http://www.ncaa.org/stats/m_basketball/attendance/index.html

SEC ATTENDANCE THIS YEAR
Team | HOME GAMES Avg | AWAY GAMES Avg | NEUT GAMES Avg | ALL GAMES Avg |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama | 15-156784 10452 | 6-74663 12444 | 3-14963 4988 | 24-246410 10267 |
Arkansas | 13-220609 16970 | 4-35338 8834 | 5-29354 5871 | 22-285301 12968 |
Auburn | 12-57977 4831 | 7-61254 8751 | 3-29297 9766 | 22-148528 6751 |
Florida | 15-166181 11079 | 6-92849 15475 | 3-34594 11531 | 24-293624 12234 |
Georgia | 12-91767 7647 | 6-76989 12832 | 3-24023 8008 | 21-192779 9180 |
Kentucky | 14-311735 22267 | 7-78001 11143 | 1-14241 14241 | 22-403977 18363 |
LSU | 11-92568 8415 | 8-79825 9978 | 3-7500 2500 | 22-179893 8177 |
Mississippi State | 12-110080 9173 | 7-54336 7762 | 4-8325 2081 | 23-172741 7510 |
Ole Miss | 12-86850 7238 | 5-63299 12660 | 5-12349 2470 | 22-162498 7386 |
South Carolina | 13-156881 12068 | 5-74594 14919 | 4-12405 3101 | 22-243880 11085 |
Tennessee | 12-240259 20022 | 8-108640 13580 | 3-24778 8259 | 23-373677 16247 |
Vanderbilt | 15-197669 13178 | 8-98156 12270 | 2-1600 800 | 25-297425 11897 |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals | 156-188936012111 | 77-897944 11662 | 39-213429 5473 | 220-231870510540 |

This is this year we are selling 12068 tickets LSU is selling 8415 tickets. We are number 5 in ticket sales in the SEC.

ACC ATTENDANCE THIS YEAR
Team | HOME GAMES Avg | AWAY GAMES Avg | NEUT GAMES Avg | ALL GAMES Avg |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Boston College | 15-81672 5445 | 6-81266 13544 | 1-18007 18007 | 22-180945 8225 |
Clemson | 14-110742 7910 | 7-74691 10670 | 2-445 222 | 23-185878 8082 |
Duke | 12-111768 9314 | 5-79125 15825 | 5-44078 8816 | 22-234971 10680 |
Florida State | 13-106390 8184 | 7-69265 9895 | 4-2796 699 | 24-178451 7435 |
Georgia Tech | 9-82719 9191 | 10-112722 11272 | 3-2100 700 | 22-197541 8979 |
Maryland | 16-269250 16828 | 5-56361 11272 | 3-12085 4028 | 24-337696 14071 |
Miami | 12-44343 3695 | 7-61138 8734 | 4-6645 1661 | 23-112126 4875 |
NC State | 12-170146 14179 | 8-98030 12254 | 3-4067 1356 | 23-272243 11837 |
North Carolina | 13-265539 20426 | 8-97592 12199 | 3-30299 10100 | 24-393430 16393 |
Virginia | 13-161936 12457 | 8-83279 10410 | 1-3871 3871 | 22-249086 11322 |
Virginia Tech | 11-108317 9847 | 9-90992 10110 | 4-24350 6088 | 24-223659 9319 |
Wake Forest | 14-159640 11403 | 8-88345 11043 | 0-0 0 | 22-247985 11272 |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals | 154-167246210860 | 88-992806 11282 | 33-148743 4507 | 221-2165712 9800 |

Clemson is averaging 7,910 paid ticket sales. If we were in the ACC we would be 5th in ticket sales this year.

[uscnoklahoma]

Those numbers are correct but I bet you Arky actually has its announced figure in the seats unlike us.

But like you I think we have a lot to offer.

[hardcock2]

Nice post and research Foghorn!...and I agree OK....we don't have THAT many butts in the seats, but whatever.

There's no doubt we have plenty to offer any coach that thought of coming here. We are continuously upgrading our campus, definitely have the b-ball facilities, and have the money to spend on a good coach.

[FoghornLeghornCock]

Those numbers are correct but I bet you Arky actually has its announced figure in the seats unlike us.

But like you I think we have a lot to offer.

Our problem is people pay for tickets and don't attend games we want these seats full and to sell more tickets not less as some want to do by building a smaller arena.

[willy]

Nice post and research Foghorn!...and I agree OK....we don't have THAT many butts in the seats, but whatever.

There's no doubt we have plenty to offer any coach that thought of coming here. We are continuously upgrading our campus, definitely have the b-ball facilities, and have the money to spend on a good coach.



Any coach that knows anything about basketball history would love to have the job.

[fightingamecocks]

Great story! Thanks for that.

Another great bball job would be Chief Basketball Officer of Fans. One lucky fan will be chosen as the 1st ever CBO, earn a $100,000 salary and trip via private jet with friends to 5 NCAA conference tourney's across the country! Not a bad gig! Check it out at FanU.com/alltel. (http://www.FanU.com/alltel)

[tptgamecock]

Great post!! I sent you points on this one!!

[hardcock2]

Our problem is people pay for tickets and don't attend games we want these seats full and to sell more tickets not less as some want to do by building a smaller arena.

I for one wanted a smaller arena for the fact they are easier to sellout and don't look so bad when people don't show up. It also makes for a more intimate and intimidating setting.

...but I do love the CC, and can't wait for us to sell it out with regularity.

[superstar90]

That's what I have been saying for the past three years when everyone on the internet kept complaining about us. When you take into account the size of our arena it is hard to pack it. The great schools avg. around 12K for bball. There are a few (UT, UNC) that have large arenas, but not most. I do want more people to show up, and be loud and help us win, but as far as revenue we do just as well as most other schools.

[gamecockfinatic2007]

Our problem is people pay for tickets and don't attend games we want these seats full and to sell more tickets not less as some want to do by building a smaller arena.

The Colonial Center was not only built for basketball,volleyball, and whatever else sports can be plaid in there. It was also built to house major events in Columbia. Concerts, wrestling events, monster trucks, etc...My question is how much money does the university make on an event like that? If any at all?

Also the upcoming Kenny Concert at the Brice. over 75,000 tickets are expected to be sold. Will the university make any money from this?

[FoghornLeghornCock]

The Colonial Center was not only built for basketball,volleyball, and whatever else sports can be plaid in there. It was also built to house major events in Columbia. Concerts, wrestling events, monster trucks, etc...My question is how much money does the university make on an event like that? If any at all?

Also the upcoming Kenny Concert at the Brice. over 75,000 tickets are expected to be sold. Will the university make any money from this?
I found the minutes of a board of trustees meeting in 2007 and it says revenue generated from concerts and etc at Colonial Center is $1.642 million dollars it can be read here http://trustees.sc.edu/minutes/comm-min/exe060807.pdf

Please note this figure also includes concerts or events held at Williams Brice of which I kind of doubt there are that many events held here except for high school football games this is under the management company Global Spectrum.

[FinchMcCrunkNasty]

Yea I don't care how many we sell....do you hear the crickets inside the CC every game like I do? NO ONE IS THERE!

[garnetpreacher]

having a lot to offer a coach in terms of facilities and salary is one thing, but coaches don't just look at that. they look at fan support, and over all enthusiasm over the program. we are lacking in that area. recruits don't look at how many tickets get sold, they look at how many fannies are sitting in the seat supporting their team. beutiful facilities that are empty are no help at all. we may pay our coaches well, but if they are going to come here and not get the support they need to recruit and win they will go elsewhere. spurrier wanted to come here because he saw what he felt was a sleeping giant in the sec. he saw a fan base that was passionate about their schools football team and packed 85,000 into the stadium every game. you can draw in good talent with that kind of support. he didn't come here because he saw a great opportunity to make money. if i was a coach i would not think usc was a bad job, but i would be concerned that the fans seem to hold off on their support until they see that their team is winning. that is our history and recruits see it. they want to go where playing at home is fun and exciting. right now the colonial center is not like that unless we are playing a big team in which case most fans are their to see the other team more than ours.

[TheGuitarCock]

The Colonial Center was not only built for basketball,volleyball, and whatever else sports can be plaid in there. It was also built to house major events in Columbia. Concerts, wrestling events, monster trucks, etc...My question is how much money does the university make on an event like that? If any at all?

Also the upcoming Kenny Concert at the Brice. over 75,000 tickets are expected to be sold. Will the university make any money from this?

Yes they do.

The University "rents" the Colonial Center out to a company called Global Spectrum. They manage the concerts and that kind of thing. So the CC makes money from Global Spectrum.

My dad's company does lots of work with GS.

And, yes, they are doing the Kenny concert in April.:thumbsup:

[superstar90]

Didn't the CC finish in the top 25 arenas in the world last season for revenue? This has nothing to do with USC, but I believe the purpose of the building is being reached as a whole. I do wish they would make it more USC friendly, and allow the students and the active fans to get better seats.

A side note: UNC's place sounded and looked pitiful the other night against CU. I guess some of it had to to with losing by ten most of the game, but it didn't look exciting at all. I know as a whole they rock, but it didn't look great on Sunday.

[Freehawk]

I for one wanted a smaller arena for the fact they are easier to sellout and don't look so bad when people don't show up. It also makes for a more intimate and intimidating setting.

Actually I think you are wrong. If our team is playing well, it doesn't matter whether we have 12000 seats or 18000.

But in fact attendance increased when we built the new place, with no increase in team success, and the reason is that the view for the, say 11,000th fan is better at the new place than it was at the FMA.

I agree very much with the first guy that the USC bb job has a good bit to offer. But to suggest there is more interest in our basketball program from our fans because we sell more tickets than some places with smaller arenas doesn't really hold water. Duke and Florida would sell many more tickets if they had bigger places, guaranteed.

I don't think the real money in CBB comes from attendance, it comes from TV and the tournament.

[SportyCock]

If we can average over 12k sold seats and actually seat maybe 9k with a team that is perennially below .500 in the conference, what do you think we could do if the team was a perennial contender for the SEC crown?

I took my son to the So Cal game earlier this year. If the Cocks had won that game and a few others, we would have been back to a couple of games by now and would be looking to attend many more. As it is, I doubt we'll go again. We live in Savannah BTW, which is a little further than West Columbia.

When I was young, McGuire's boys were competing with the nation's best and the Carolina Coliseum was full of excited fans. I expect the same thing happened when we beat Kentucky twice and won the SEC East.

If we get a great coach, recruit a few players (starting with a true center) and start winning regularly, there is no reason we can't sell out the Colonial Center and average over 15k fans in the seats every game.

BTW, we are starting one Sr, one Jr and three So tonite. The entire roster is one Sr, two Jr, seven So and four Fr. With Dave Odom at the helm, this team would compete very well next year and get better the following year. With a new coach there is no reason not to win immediately either. My point here is the cupboard is not bare.

Carolina has an excellent facility for basketball and plans for a new academic center (badly needed but coming), top 25 ticket sales, very good young talent, an excellent AD who will support a new coach, the best conference in the country (overall, maybe second or third for basketball) and can offer an excellent salary. The only downers are a lack of consistent success (tradition?) and fan support subdued by that lack of success (ie easily corrected).

If you're a confident young coach who believes that given the right tools you can compete on the biggest stage of college basketball, what more could you want, short of a job at UNC, UK, UCLA or a few of the other dynasty schools? Besides, this job is better in the sense that you can be considered wildly successful just for competing for the league title and getting to the second round of the NCAA tournament more often than not. You certainly aren't going to be under pressure for only winning one NC in your first decade!!!

[wb12]

I dont care how many seats there are. Right now they are not full. But i think this is a great job for 3 reason.
1. If you look at our past, we can win. We just need the right coach to guide us.
2.The city of Columbus and The university and all the new facilities that are being built.
3.If you can pull together a couple of win and give the fans something to hope for in the future they will come.