What's happened to ODU women's basketball?

[dbackjon]

Only one win so far?

[TheDancinMonarch]

Only one win so far?

Bad recruiting. And most in the CAA no longer fear the Lady Monarchs. The "mystique" is gone never to be recaptured again.

[dbackjon]

Only one win so far?

Bad recruiting. And most in the CAA no longer fear the Lady Monarchs. The "mystique" is gone never to be recaptured again.

That is too bad. Quite a run for them

[∞∞∞]

It's a combination of a lot of things. Like DancinMonarch said, recruitin' has really gone downhill the past few years and teams like James Madison and Drexel have caught up. But how much can you really blame Wendy Larry? Unlike the FCS, the CAA isn't exactly a premier basketball conference. With the growth of women's basketball over the last decade, the recruits are going where they'll be seen on a national stage, and the CAA simply doesn't offer that. Most of us aren't kidding ourselves...we know the Lady Monarchs will probably never reach the powerhouse level they used to be known for. At least some of us were lucky to see the last great LM team in 2007-2008, one that went 31-5, gave us one of the greatest basketball games at the Ted in the second round (UVA vs ODU), and ended the season in the top 10. But those days are over and it's sad that future students will never witness how great the Lady Monarchs were.

On that sad note, our current team is pretty young and have shown a bursts of promise heading into the future. They'll still be a force to beat in the CAA itself, as ODU always is, but on a national stage, they're just not the same. Granted, ODU has the toughest schedule in the country, but even two years ago, we would have been at least 4-3. Larry usually schedules such hard teams to prepare us for CAA play, but I don't think it's gonna do much this year 'cause I don't see us cruisin' through the conference like in years past. This is the deepest the league has ever been.

ps. no one wants Wendy fired, but when she leaves, many of us think that Nancy L. or Anne D. would do wonders to revive our program...so I take back the statement that we'll never reach powerhouse levels again...it is possible. Would ODU have the money to actually hire them, or would one of them even accept? I don't know.

[TheDancinMonarch]

Only one win so far?

Bad recruiting. And most in the CAA no longer fear the Lady Monarchs. The "mystique" is gone never to be recaptured again.

I retract these comments and in the process I demonstrate both my ignorance and my honesty. All hail Wendy Larry!

I guess I should have mentioned that we beat JMU at JMU today.

[Mvemjsunpx]

This has been a pretty sudden death (though perhaps temporary). ODU was 31-5 just two years ago.


As the major conferences have put more effort into this sport over the last 15-20 years, they've been crowding out the classic mid-major powers. In addition to ODU, LaTech has plummeted since Kurt Budke left in 2005. The Techsters made the first 25 NCAA Women's Tournaments, but haven't been there since 2006. Montana's down performance this year is an aberration (rebuilding year), but they still haven't won an NCAA Tournament game since 1995. Also, Stephen F. Austin made four Sweet-16s in five years (1989-93) and had 15 consecutive NCAA appearances (1988-2002), but has only made the field once since.


Things are even more ridiculous the last couple years in terms of lack of parity, as the second-best team in the nation couldn't even hang with UConn anymore.

[mcveyrl]

Bad recruiting. And most in the CAA no longer fear the Lady Monarchs. The "mystique" is gone never to be recaptured again.

I retract these comments and in the process I demonstrate both my ignorance and my honesty. All hail Wendy Larry!

I guess I should have mentioned that we beat JMU at JMU today.

Yea, that was actually a big win for your guys. Although we've been pretty bad in conference.

I remember when we ended the conference winning streak at our place. I was in my car and heard the score and made it over there by halftime to watch the end of the game. Good stuff.