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Horizon Connection

Jon LeCrone Interview

3/05/06
by Bill Kintner

Milwaukee – The Horizon League Quarterfinals opened in Milwaukee at US Cellular Arena Friday with UIC facing Green Bay and Detroit taking on Loyola. These teams won games in the first round at campus locations to advance to Milwaukee.

Aside from these teams, their fans and administrators, there were players, coaches and administrators from the number one and two seeds; Milwaukee and Butler.

Between the two games I had a chance to sit down and talk with the Horizon League Commissioner Jon LeCrone.

Bill Kintner: This is the forth year of using this tournament format, how would you say it is working?

Jon LeCrone: This is our third year in a row in Milwaukee and they have done a marvelous job. I think it is the kind of format that may not be for everybody, but it works for us. All the feedback we get from our directors of athletics and coaches say they really like it. It is not perfect, I think things can always be improved, but it works for us at this point.

BK: Off the top of your head are there any improvements that can be made to it?

JL: Interestingly enough we are talking about taking the games on Friday to the home courts. I am not saying we will do that. We have one or two athletic directors that are really interested in looking at that game. After tonight’s game (Quarterfinal on home courts) they would play Sunday and Tuesday at the highest ranked team’s court. I think right now there are no major changes in the works, but it is definitely working pretty well.

BK: Are there any other conferences looking at this format?

JL: I think more conferences than we realize might do conference tournaments like this. I can’t tell you off the top of my head, but we have had a number of inquiries about how it has worked, how we got here, what our coaches and athletic directors think. Other conferences have brought all the teams together at a central location and it works for them. I think what is important is that we found something that works for us.

BK: Youngstown has been in the league now for five years. How has that worked out so far?

JL: They have been a great member of the Horizon league. To be able to get a team in that market has helped us solidify Northeast Ohio. They are a great travel partner for Cleveland. They have excelled in a number of sports, namely track. Their athletic program is growing. We knew when they came in and they knew when they came in, that having come from the Mid-Continent Conference, that they were going to be behind competitively. We are really excited about the new coaches they have for their basketball programs. We are really pleased in the direction they are going in.

BK: There are now nine teams in the HL, how is the hunt going for a tenth team?

JL: It’s going well. There is way more interest than people realize. Schools are calling us and inquiring as to how you get in and what the process is. It is a matter of timing. We don’t want to do anything that would disrupt other conferences. I think schools we might be interested in are already members of other conferences. So it is a delicate thing. We don’t want to get too far out in front of it or cause any problems for other conferences. So we have to patient, wait and see when the timing might be right. Mike Cusack (WSU Athletic Director) chairs the membership committee. We talk about everything from schools that might contact us or with regard to schools that we might have an interest in. It is an active committee and Mike has chaired it for a long time. We do talk quite often. But we will just have to wait and see. The membership committee is actively engaged in the work they do, which is to recommend or make recommendations on memberships issue to our executive council and to our board.

BK: Aside from being contacted by IPFW and South Dakota State about potential membership are there schools that we are contacting within the framework of what you previously said?

JL: I think you always have a list of schools that you would be interested in if at a point in time they felt they were ready for a move. So I think that is the extent of our activity of the membership committee. I think you also have a list of schools that if something would happen to any of your membership you could act quickly to remain at whatever number of schools you wanted to have.

BK; What is the criteria the HL looks for when considering potential new members?

JL: I think there are four key things in no particular order. There have to be an athletic fit. That means a school should have a similar athletic budget. Two, I think you have to have a geographic fit. You don’t want to be adding somebody two or three states away. Three, you have to have an institution that approaches athletics like everybody else in the league. And finally I think you have to have a fit in terms of competitiveness. You don’t want to bring in someone who may take a long, long time to get up to your level or if you bring in someone that is too far ahead then everyone else is playing for second place.

BK: Where does basketball fit into the mix?

JL: I think if we were to bring a tenth member on we would want someone who had some amount of sustained success in basketball. Basketball is certainly one of the key elements. With Youngstown they brought other things to the table. We thought they would have great potential in basketball and I think in the next two, three or four years you will see that.

BK: Last question. What do you expect this weekend?

JL: Oh, good basketball and a lot of fun.

BK: Oopps, there is always a follow up to the last question. Did you see the HL being so competitive this year?

JL: There wasn’t the degree of separation in the League that we might have had in years past. But that is not a bad thing.

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