All good posts, and I agree with almost all of it. I like where we are now, and i think due to the media availability, people are going to continue to get a strong dose of VCU. We need to continue to win, however, to make sure of that. I agree with you Horn, about the caliber of our earlier NCAA wins, but that is also somewhat a result of our being seeded nicely, with the success we achieved back then. We did not have to constantly play the Dukes or the UCLAs in the first round. But you are correct in what you are saying.
However, i do not agree about the over-all competition. Sure- we weren't facing monsters day-in and day-out. But we were in a power-packed mid-major conference that was difficult- top to bottom. And for the record, IMO- no way was the Metro a better league than the Sunbelt of that era. I remember at one point in 85' when you had: VCU # 11, UAB #13 ( Gene Bartow), Western Kentucky # 17 (Clem Haskins), and you had Soth Flo (Barnes I think?), South Al, UNCC (Mullins), and ODU (Paul Webb) right there, knocking on the door of Top-20, and all receiving votes at one point or another. There was no Top-25 back then.
And you were stacked with players like Lamb & Duncan from VCU, Terry Catledge from USA, Kenny Gattison and others from ODU, Jeff Hodges & Junie Lewis also from South Al, Tellis Frank and a fantastic crew from Western KY, an incredible team (no names are coming into my head) with UAB, etc.
Although you had the obvious monster in Louisville, and Southern Miss and Tulane were pretty good at the time, no way would I stack the Metro up to the old Sunbelt from 79' - 85.' Again, JMO.
Still, all of that said, I like where we are now. but we HAVE GOT to keep it rolling, and continue to grow it. The next step is to continue to win. That's always the central ingredient. And ou capitalize by getting a Top-25 here and there, a few more NCAAs, and then a Sweet 16 or 2. And then you have it- the recruits will continue to come in, as will the better coaching candidates, and you have the system you are looking for that will allow you to remain a mini-power. Or maybe even better. And that is what we lost after the 85' season, and man- it seemingly took half a life-time to gain it back. Let's look ahead now. I can't wait!!