I will blame her. Despite his shortcomings, at least Coonan was a man of the people.
The job is as much handshakes and personal connections as it is operations and management. The AD is an ambassador, not just a department head.
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Not sure where you guys are getting your info but Heather is pretty much at every home game both women’s and men’s. I see her interacting with fans all the time. Now she doesn’t sit on the floor like Renee so maybe that’s why you guys don’t see her. Heather sits in the 200’s because being a former baller she likes that vantage point to see the game. She also doesn’t lead cheers because that was part of the conflict between Renee and the administration. Julie Sullivan felt it was unbecoming of the AD to lead cheers.
I wholeheartedly agree that Dan Coonan was a train wreck as AD
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One could argue that the 18,000 at Chase did not see a good game, but I digress. 
Nashty’s point is a good one regarding the wealth of entertainment opportunities in the greater Bay Area. Tack on the 16,000 plus at the Quakes game just across the tracks from us, plus 17,000 down the Alameda at the Shark tank, and we’re looking at over 60,000 paying customers on a Saturday.
“Good college” and “pro hoops” are disjunctive there! I didn’t look to see if SJSU or other teams were in action!
Rough guess on my part, but based on what I’ve seen, SMC probably averages about 2700 to 2800 or so actual bodies in the gym throughout the season. Their gym is smaller and the population base around them much less dense. But with 70-80% of the seats filled, you have a pretty damn good environment.
With Leavey’s size, that tracks for 3500 or so per night. With an NCAA bid, that might be manageable. But with reported attendance at 2400 last night, there’s quite a lot of room to grow. Then again, energy begets energy. So the more you have regularly attend, the more will want to.
That growth will come a little from the students but mostly from the alums and community, who will need the AD to coax back into Leavey. As with anything, the “grown ups” can’t make things cool for students. They can help set the conditions and nudge in little ways, but student culture has to shift organically. But the AD can make conditions better for the rest of us to get to games (more outreach, better PR, cheaper tickets, further investment in experiences/tailgates outside the games)
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We’ve had this fan support discussion numerous times over the years, I won’t repeat all the regional/Bay Area arguments.
We have a little Bronco who recently graduated. It was interesting to experience the school again but through their eyes and perspective and compare to our own experience. A few observations on how things have changed and how that may impact student support:
- students seem to branch out more beyond SCU proper…..more Caltrain trips to the City, Palo Alto/Stanford, etc.
- As the enrollment has grown, SCU is drawing from a larger set of students from across the country. My kiddo’s sophomore year, they lived in a 8 person suite….no local kids, 1 from SoCal, 2 from the Pacific NW, 2 from the South, 2 from the East Coast…..that would have been unheard of in my time. And aside from my kid, none of them had any families connection of any kind to SCU and only one of them attended a catholic HS. There’s less connection to SCU. And they may have heard of Steve Nash or Brandi Chastain but that’s not why they’re attracted to SCU.
- Most kids aren’t coming to SCU for the college sports. My kid’s roommates noted above could have gone to SEC, ACC or Big12 schools if the sporting experience was critical to them. And if they were simply avoiding the massive public schools but still wanted a high level sports experience they still had smaller, private school options like Baylor, TCU, Vanderbilt, Miami, Duke. Or the Big East schools if hoops attracted them over football.
Just some random observations.
Consistent winning and an occasional NCAA tourney appearance could move the needle towards SMC and consistent crowds of ~3,000 and more student engagement. But it’s an uphill battle. Selling out Leavey more often than not didn’t even happen in the 80’s….even harder to do today.
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We’ve had this discussion many times before, including this point: The best case scenario for a school like SCU is Villanova. That’s not a fair comparison with multiple national titles, Big East attention and opponents, etc. Plus, Nova is going to make the Tournament this year and has new energy under Willard.
But the Wildcats had no problems filling their 6,500 seat arena when Butler (a pretty bad BE team) came to town several days ago. Villanova is also in the suburbs of a decidedly pro-sports market.
You don’t need to be the biggest or even the best show in town. You just need to be the “best” show in town for the critical mass of folks who will fill (or mostly fill) your arena. SMC is that for an otherwise sleepy East Bay.
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I respectfully believe your comments about Heather are based on incomplete information. I felt it necessary to correct some false assertions you made: 1) Heather indeed attended the pregame fan event at the WCC Tournament, and 2) she indeed was in the tunnel for the Senior Day ceremony, personally spending time with our senior student-athletes and their families before they took the court. Those moments matter deeply to our students and reflect her genuine investment in their experience.
In less than two years, Heather has also made alumni engagement a central priority. She has traveled extensively to connect with alumni across the country (including Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles multiple times, San Diego, Chicago, and Phoenix) and has attended and spoken at alumni gatherings in Santa Cruz, Monterey, and the Central Coast just this year. Candidly, the volume and intentionality of this outreach in just 2 years have vastly exceeded what occurred over the entirety of Dan Coonan’s and Renee’s tenures combined. That level of engagement is neither accidental nor superficial; it is strategic and sustained.
The recent success of both our men’s and women’s basketball programs is not coincidental. Sustained competitive success is built on aligned leadership, energized supporters, and clear strategic execution. Heather has galvanized momentum in a remarkably short period of time, and the results on and off the court reflect that.
It is always appropriate to hold high standards. At the same time, it is important to recognize leadership that is actively investing in the program’s growth and long-term trajectory. Heather’s visibility, work ethic, and strategic focus have made a tangible difference, and I am grateful for the direction she is providing.
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Once again, Heather was indeed at this event. Once again, she has extensively engaged with alumni.
This feels like an offseason thread that usually gets going once a year.
My list of fixes in order of easiest/cheapest to drive more butts in seats - though I fully believe the single biggest factor is making a tourney and sustained success.
- marketing to students
- Cheaper and easier to buy tickets - the whole website is so outdated
- Marketing to Bay Area alums/fans (maybe a Caltrain ticket deal that gets you $X off your ticket)
- Leavey refresh - concessions, concourse, and I would LOVE if we could flip the bleachers so that the students are on TV. I have always thought that being on tv as a student would build momentum to get a good student section going. Then a full student section rocking on espn2 would pull in fans to the other parts of the stands.
- Pregame atmosphere - the walk from the nearest boozer (ie. hut, Bellomy, etc) is pretty tame. What if we could throw up a tent on the intramural fields for a little tailgating environment?
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Sort of off-topic, but I will sincerely miss the guys at The Payton Years podcast on Oregon State basketball. They are good natured, funny, and sincere in their fandom for a pretty middling program–our kind of people.
I mean this in the most laudatory way: The Payton Years is the best version of a college basketball podcast that I could see myself putting together with a buddy. I think that Thomas and Zack are too smart and even handed. Jack and Gavin are too cool and are team insiders.
The Payton Years is a couple of endearing, goofy dudes talking about their alma mater’s team over whom they’ve developed a pathological fandom, and I love that. I’ll miss those guys when the Beavs are gone for good.
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Haven’t seen it mentioned yet, so shoutout to Cam Tongue and Giordan Williams showing up to the game last night.
Also in the crowd was Raymond Townsend, who was a Warriors first round draft pick in 1978.
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Also Corky, if anyone else remembers him.
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A very late OSU game comment but haven’t seen it mentioned and I think kudos are in order……
w/ Bukky and Graves on the bench w/ foul trouble, Chukwudebelu played a solid 10+ mins in the first half, missed a couple of FT’s but corralled 4 rebounds and played solid D on OSU’s bigs and in help D. Things could have gone sideways in the first half w/ Graves and Bukky both on the bench and with the Free Throw parade. But we hung in and maintained a small lead at half time; Chuk’s steady if unspectacular minutes aided in that.
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Korky Nelson was at the game? Cool.
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Yes, in a red shirt a row or two behind the announcer.
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These are great. I have a bunch as well. Do we have a thread dedicated to atmosphere/student engagement?
I don’t recall one. Start one. If moderators determine there is a better place for it, they’ll move the thread.