Alright. Onward and upward. There were rumors about Grace being in some hot water, perhaps that facilitated this move by her.

Regardless, I hope we get a quality AD in here and that there isn't too much of a delay.

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Cigarboy sucks!

It's official:

http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/news/m-gr ... nnsylvania

I never met Grace Calhoun. I only know of her from talking to people in the department and following her moves through the athletic department communications, the message board, videos of her, and seeing her in action while attending the MVC press conference. I know there were some problems, but there were also some plusses.

POSITIVES
Obviously, joining the MVC. Huge. Probably more important than any other item by a good measure.
Instilling a sense of cold-hearted professionalism in the athletic department (clearing out some dead wood)
More winning, especially with sports other than men's basketball
Presiding over increased prominence of athletics in the university culture
Adding additional assistants to sports and paying them better (I assume)
Hiring of Sheryl Swoops as women's basketball head coach*

NEGATIVES
Instilling a sense of cold-hearted professionalism in the athletic department (firings/slightings of longtime fixtures in Loyola athletics)
Relationships with other human beings (fans, donors, employees, total strangers)
Terrible fan support, especially given the assets she was working with
Questions about nepotism/favoritism in filling jobs
Hiring of Porter Moser as men's basketball head coach*

* Still too early to judge, probably, but it seems to be trending this way in my opinion. I only included these two specific hirings because they have such a large impact on perceptions and other areas.

From what I heard, the LU administration was EXTREMELY DISSATISFIED with Calhoun's fundraising and efforts to build fan support-- so much so that the Arch Madness fan participation drive was taken away from athletics and given over to development.

Don't get me wrong, I am relieved that Planek left. I doubt that we'd be in the MVC today if he were still in place, and his personal animus toward me (because of comments on the site and the message board several YEARS prior) once boiled over into a 15-minute diatribe when he cornered me in 2010 which caused me to not attend any sporting events for three plus years and nearly disengage entirely from Loyola. I didn't care if he didn't like me personally and held a grudge, but doing it in public 30 minutes after a game-- many years (almost a decade) after the relatively mild, offhand comments he didn't like-- was a pretty revealing glimpse of his character. He was a guy who thought small, always, and Calhoun was at least a good step up in that regard.

I thought the accepted wisdom was that Garanzini was the driving force behind Loyola's move to the MVC, and that Calhoun was just along for the ride.

Why should Calhoun get any credit for the continuing success of the men's volleyball program and the achievements of the track/cross country squads. Those teams were coached by holdovers from Planek's regime.

The Sheryl Swoopes' hire was pure luck, a gift that fell into Calhoun's lap. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while.

Are/were you a Planek fan, swella? Do you think we'd be in the MVC with him in charge of the athletic department? Whether or not Calhoun was "along for the ride," she certainly did not impede or oppose the move as I imagine Planek might have done. I also imagine that Planek would not have released the women's basketball coach (possibly a wise move anyway), or if there had been a vacancy, would have simply referred Swoopes to the future incoming coach when she asked about being an assistant. Give Calhoun credit for envisioning Swoopes in charge rather than simply an assistant, at least.

That's fair.

I think for year through a variety of ADs we operated as a Division III program and maybe should have gone that way if we were not going to change direction and investment. Now we have done so,publicly. We now need to get a DI AD who can relate to the CHicago media,continue the support of the minor programs that have been progressing and SUPPORT the basketball program through marketing and resources. It will always be hard to truly judge the basketball coach unless he has at least equal support to the programs he is supposed to compete with. In my opinion the new AD needs to be bigger in stature than PM.

Here's Loyola's press release announcing Calhoun's departure:

http://www.loyolaramblers.com/genrel/032414aac.html

The fact that the Provost John P. Pelissero, rather than Dr. Robert Kelly, made the announcement adds credence to the report that Kelly is a goner. It was Kelly who was quoted in Loyola's press release announcing Calhoun's hire.

Yes, Dr. Kelly is also leaving: http://luc.edu/ramblerbuzz/homecenter/s ... nges.shtml

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MBB Scholarship Chart

Pretty exciting times at Loyola. It seems to me at least, that the administration is rather serious about raising the profile of the school through athletics and doing so ASAP. Here's hoping they hire the right person for the job.