Blue shirts rushed the floor of Case Gymnasium on March 12 as AU men’s basketball clinched its first Patriot League title since 2009. A roster predicted to finish ninth in-conference, consisting of only one senior, a new head coach and a brand new playbook defied the odds and gave the AU community an underdog to support on the national stage. For the first time in a long time there is a conscious sense of school spirit on this campus.
But how long will that last?
AU has been here before. Fans remember 2008 and 2009 when men’s basketball won back-to-back conference titles under Jeff Jones. Both teams went on to lose the NCAA tournament, and enthusiasm for AU athletics waned as a result. Now that the 2014 Eagles share half of that fate, it will be the AU community’s responsibility to sustain school spirit and build off of this year’s success.
Credit should be given to first year coach Mike Brennan and his staff who transformed a sub-.500 team into the league champion. Brennan implemented the Princeton offense, which translated into the sixth highest field goal percentage in the country. The season included an 11-game winning streak, starting center Tony Wroblicky won Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year and AU held Boston University to less than 40 points in the conference championship. Students are right to take pride in this team.
But if years past are any indication, that pride is very thin. Without the national media attention that inevitably comes with an NCAA Tournament birth, AU athletics will once again lull into the community’s afterthoughts. That needs to change.
The athletics department will obviously play a major role in that change. They will need to recruit and coach at a higher level year after year in order to build a reliable fan base. For now they are moving in the right direction, but none of that will matter if we don’t see another Patriot League Championship for five years.
The Editorial Board is confident AU Athletics understands that pressure to win. A much bigger question will be whether or not the fans will do their part. Fans need to translate the passion of March Madness into passion for every athlete representing AU. Women’s basketball, field hockey, both soccer teams and the wrestling team have all given the school something to be proud of in recent years. Yet these efforts are barely recognized by the average student.
If students truly want to build an athletics program to be proud of they will need to put in their own conscious effort. Support every winning team. Attend every rivalry game and promotion. Give the same effort you expect out of the teams. But there will always be losing seasons, and when they come around the fan base should not wither away. -E
