Firing EK is probably going to be the defining moment of Chun's career as WSU. There is nowhere to go but up, and a kings ransom doesn't need to be spent to get there.
First things first: what are the expectations for the program? I would imagine that Chun would give the typical fluff about being highly competitive and blah blah... we as fans know better. I would say most fans would be happy for a team that was moderately competitive most years, earning at the minimum a NIT berth. Occasionally the team has "good" years in which we go dancing and get bounced early, and rarely we have "wow" years where we get further in the tournament. If we can at least entertain the fantasy that we might cinderella our way to an NC, I think most fans would be ok with that, IF they are honest with themselves about who we are and what we are working with.
"But Bleed, Pullman sucks and so does our athletic department and Spokane and the weather and it all adds up to we'll never, EVER be good."
To that I say - look at the bracket. Any year. Just look. There are teams on there that are light years behind WSU in revenue, locale, academics - everything. Yet... they found a way to field a team and make it to the dance. Montana's coach makes $175k, AND HE JUST GOT A RAISE! Do we want to be Montana? Of course not, but the point is that we don't HAVE to spend $4M dollars on a coach in order to win. We don't have to have Duke's mecca to MBB in order to win. We need an athletic department who will spend time, some money, and energy toward fielding a winning program.
MBB is literally the only other revenue generating (or at least its supposed to be) sport on campus - the fact that it is doing the exact opposite is a testament to how much of an abysmal failure CEK was as well as the program overall.
First things first: what are the expectations for the program? I would imagine that Chun would give the typical fluff about being highly competitive and blah blah... we as fans know better. I would say most fans would be happy for a team that was moderately competitive most years, earning at the minimum a NIT berth. Occasionally the team has "good" years in which we go dancing and get bounced early, and rarely we have "wow" years where we get further in the tournament. If we can at least entertain the fantasy that we might cinderella our way to an NC, I think most fans would be ok with that, IF they are honest with themselves about who we are and what we are working with.
"But Bleed, Pullman sucks and so does our athletic department and Spokane and the weather and it all adds up to we'll never, EVER be good."
To that I say - look at the bracket. Any year. Just look. There are teams on there that are light years behind WSU in revenue, locale, academics - everything. Yet... they found a way to field a team and make it to the dance. Montana's coach makes $175k, AND HE JUST GOT A RAISE! Do we want to be Montana? Of course not, but the point is that we don't HAVE to spend $4M dollars on a coach in order to win. We don't have to have Duke's mecca to MBB in order to win. We need an athletic department who will spend time, some money, and energy toward fielding a winning program.
MBB is literally the only other revenue generating (or at least its supposed to be) sport on campus - the fact that it is doing the exact opposite is a testament to how much of an abysmal failure CEK was as well as the program overall.
