EDITORIAL: Davis has a chance to rebuild a losing program
It's been well documented how hard it is for a men's basketball coach to put together a winning season here at CMU.
Since 1980, the Chippewas have experienced just three winning seasons and one Mid-American Conference championship. Not exactly the "championship culture" Athletics Director Dave Heeke likes to tout.
But Keno Davis, introduced Tuesday as the 20th head coach in program history, has the chance to implement a type of change we have not seen for decades. In between short bursts of success, including a trip to the NCAA tournament in 2003, we have been stuck with years of mediocre basketball compounded by location and aging facilities.
Like Ernie Zeigler learned on March 14, those are no longer valid excuses. The facilities, including a $22 million renovation to the basketball arena and installation of a new practice facility, are there. Support for a team that can compete and win is there.
And with some of the program's top players, including Trey Zeigler and Austin McBroom, all but gone, Davis can start anew. Some might stay, but he can begin to recruit his type of players to run his type of offense, an up tempo, run-and-gun style that Zeigler had envisioned but could not produce during games.
Realistically, it might take a few years. Rome wasn't built in a day and neither will a winning CMU basketball program. Davis should not rest on the good will he and his team are bound to receive as "anybody but the Zeiglers."
Recruiting the type of players Davis wants for his offense could take a bit of time. But this Editorial Board extends a congratulations to Davis and hopes he can bring a winning record, and the soaring morale that would doubtlessly come with it, to this beleaguered team.
