Editor’s note: This piece was written at the Southern Conference Basketball Tournament
in MarchETSU’s last Southern Conference Tournament has come and gone. It’s possible that basketball team went with it too.
So where does this leave ETSU basketball?
To paraphrase a naysayer, in the toilet.
The move to the Atlantic Sun means fun in the sun. Golfing in the sun and tennis outdoors in the beautiful Florida sun. Basketball most definitely takes a back seat -whose our caddy?
As the golf team improves with talent like Rhys Davies, basketball looks to be overshadowed on the links of the A-Sun.
Seasons in the sun.
To repeat it for the zillionth time. ETSU basketball has a storied history in basketball, especially in big games in the NCAA Tournament. If ESPN had a mid-major classics network, the Bucs would have most of the top 10 games.
East Tennessee mecca of high school sports, families leave the farms in the evenings for concrete stands at rural high schools. After a day putting up the hay Mom and Dad watch junior make his name on the football field.
Once the high school football season is over, those families in surrounding Washington County head to Memorial Center. The memories of Keith “Mister” Jennings and Calvin Talford still linger.
Fans of the Bucs have the tolerance of a mountain lion in a court room. And Tim Smith is sometimes their prey. Who takes notice of this?
The man.
That man is athletic director Dave Mullins.
Mullins’s love for the game of tennis is thought by some to skew his fairness angle. He also saw a football program that drew small crowds and drunken students on homecoming day. Placing the blame on him – the verdict is still out.
With fans like ours?
If Mullins sees the declining fan attendance this season, he might be wondering about loyalty. If ETSU has another season like this, only Dr. Bonnie Burchett will show up along with Chef Rick.
If they cannot commit to basketball in the down times how can the struggling relationship endure. The powers that be see fan support, they can’t draw water from an empty well.
Bottom Line.
Fan support and recruiting go a long way. Murry Bartow gives the program clout simply because of his family’s lineage in basketball.
This year’s graduating seniors will remember a vibrant basketball program. When they return to Johnson City later on in life Homecoming may consist of remembering a program on the brink.
Sun burnt.
Even though ETSU will be hosting the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament for the next two years that does not guarantee them a sure shot hope for basketball glory again.
Low seeds will be regular for ETSU if they win the A-Sun. Not many No. 15 and 16 seeds beat those powerful 1 and 2 teams.
Probability for the basketball team in the A-Sun.
Scorcher.

Author