It's taken me more than a month to write this 2023-24 season recap, as it's not just me, but many Bronco season ticket holders and fans are conflicted as to what kind of season it was or wasn't.
Given the past 30 years of Men's Basketball, one has to be happy with another 20 win season; the fourth 20 win season in the past five. Add two NIT appearances, two first round NBA draft picks in that stretch and it's undeniable that Coach Sendek and his staff have made great progress.
The open question from many is progress towards what? In 2015, there was a big hoopla over the President's Blue Ribbon Committee on Athletics where the strategic decision was made to fund athletics and commit to a "National Reputation" by 2020 for Santa Clara. With the hiring of Renee Baumgartner in 2015, and, soon after Coach Herb Sendek, Men's Basketball was the focal point for this national focus as Women's Soccer was already established as SCU's most successful program.
The "what" measure of success for Men's Basketball has yet to be either defined or made public. Women's Soccer's goal is clear - make the NCAA tournament every year AND compete for the NCAA championship.
What is our Goal in Men's Basketball? Winning breeds the desire from season ticket holders to want more. They don't think we built the AEC just to win 20 games a season without more, like - WCC titles or NCAA tournament invites.
Commitment to goals can be difficult for universities and SCU is no exception. If you've ever read an administrator or coaches' bios, you know that they are always rosy. Why go out on a limb? Just ask Jerod Haase, now former Men's Basketball Coach at Stanford, who stated publicly, they expected to be in NCAA tournament or the season would be a failure. It got him fired when they fell woefully short. It would be refreshing for SCU fans to know what we are shooting at for MBB.
There are many schools our size who really are "national" in Men's Basketball and have top 25 rankings to prove it. I mean if the Zags in Spokane and Creighton in Omaha can, why not us? If two first round draft picks, and another NBA candidate declaring, is moving the needle, imagine what adding NCAA tournament bids would do? Coach Sendek is a builder and has built a solid foundation but with eight seasons in the books, it seems we're still parked in third in the WCC. More on this in another write.
This past season was designed to make a push upward. We played eight NCAA tournament qualifiers and had big wins over Oregon, Washington State, Duquesne, and Gonzaga. That was a step up and could have been six wins if not for two meltdowns late in the second half. As good as those wins were, losses to SJS, Cal, Portland and San Diego were death knells to the post season.
Injuries were also a factor, but every team faced them and we just didn't respond as well as we could have. To be honest, it seemed as though we played to our hype level too few times and key players were non factors too many times. Some believe there was "playing for pro scouts" instead of teammates. Not buying that, but it seemed we were unable to find a floor leader to get us into a rhythm and exploit favorable matchups like the top three in the WCC have on their rosters.
As a team, we turned it over more and had more than 30 fewer steals than in the past two seasons. That's a tough combination and a lot of possessions to overcome; especially with eight new players to the roster. At the highest echelons in college basketball, teams like UCONN can make that happen and as their Coach Hurley said "we recruit 5-6 future pros and let them play." A luxury we can't reach.
Everyone has their opinions, but for me, I'd grade this season a "B." Achieving 20 wins is great, but it's no secret to fans who watched we left a lot on the table. Yes, people got hurt, and there was lots to overcome, but we just didn't play to our potential often enough to break out of third in the WCC and reach an NCAA. It was there, but we fell short, only if the expectations of fans is one shared by our A.D. and coaches?
It seems to me the staff and players feel this way as with the exception of Adama Bal declaring for the NBA draft, no one on our roster jumped into the transfer portal. My guess is they want a mulligan for last season and by sticking together believe more can be achieved.
So, we're back to the infamous line, "there's always next year" chatter. After almost 30 years since the last NCAA invite, it's starting to feel like "Groundhog Day."
