For a lot of fans, last week was the last straw.
Not only will Ball State University lose more games this season than in any previous season in the history of their men's basketball program, but The Star Press also reported that the Cardinals' coaching staff committed NCAA violations soon after they were hired. The violations consisted mostly of being present at offseason workouts that were supposed to be players-only. The Cards will likely lose some practice time next year due to the indiscretions.
However, I'm here to tell you something: It isn't quite time yet to give up on Ronny Thompson's regime as head coach of the basketball team.
Here are just a few reasons why, and I promise I won't bring up his coaching lineage, either.
The Cards were outmanned this year. As much as we would like to have believed, Ball State really didn't have as much talent as it first appeared on its team. Only two players on the team, guard Skip Mills and forward Anthony Newell, can honestly create their own shot on a regular basis. Many of the remainder doesn't have much of a chance unless they are found open.
Predictably, as it turned out, the Cards had major trouble winning games when neither Mills nor Newell had a great game.
Injuries, injuries, and more injuries. The team was bothered by ailments left and right. Mills had it particularly tough, starting the season with an aching knee, contracting the flu and late in the season suffering a concussion. All these factors helped prevent him from putting on the same virtuoso performance Cardinal faithfuls saw from the senior leader last season. Mills mustered perhaps one last brilliant performance Thursday at Toledo, managing 21 points and hitting 9 of 15 shots.
That wasn't all, however. Peyton Stovall clearly didn't come back to full strength from his ACL surgery as quickly as he would have liked, and we'll probably never know how much it affected him over the course of the season. He clearly just wasn't the same Peyton Stovall.
The bar has been set. Many first-year coaches, for numerous reasons, have major problems in the beginning. For one example, take Purdue University, a team that is squarely on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament this season. However, last season, in coach Matt Painter's first year, the Boilers suffered through a miserable season, winning only three conference games and nine games overall.
Ball State also recorded just nine wins this season. The fact is, not everyone's going to be a Billy Gillespie - the coach at Texas A&M who turned a seven-win program into a tournament team in just two years and has his Aggies in the top ten in the nation this season.
Ball State faced a murderous schedule. No matter what your stance on the ridiculous non-conference schedule that had the Cardinals facing top teams University of Kansas, Oklahoma State University, Indiana University, Butler University and Georgetown University in the early going, it's obvious the slate didn't help the Cards build confidence. In effect, they were beaten down before they could ever pick themselves up. This likely won't be the case next year as the Cards will look to lighten their non-conference load.
It's been a rough year for all involved. No one expected Ball State to actually take a step back from the miserable ending to the Tim Buckley era.
However, just because they did, doesn't mean there's not a path out of the wilderness and into success.
Write to Andy at amroberts@bsu.edu
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