The Nagy Years

[JackJD]

I was browsing the Media Guide (online) and reviewed the Nagy years, comparing the competition in the transition years to the competition in the DII days and studying the year-by-year win/loss records. Coach Nagy's SDSU-career win-loss record is impressive by any standard -- ignore the transition years and the win-loss record borders on incredible. Some fans started to have doubts when the going got tough -- transition hell -- and the two seasons coming out of transition were not exactly easy.

And then there was last year: the first winning season since DII days. So, I put the numbers on a chart and the trend becomes very clear: the Jacks are back. My opinion: this year’s team can never be counted out in any game, any place, any opponent.

Here’s a quick season-by-season review with a highlight or two…

Year - Win/Loss -- Highlights
1995-96 24-5: North Central Regional at Hays, KS. Beat NDSU but lost to Ft Hays State

96-97 25-5: N Cent Reg at Brookings. Beat Kearney and Ft. Hays. Elite 8 at Louisville, KY, lost to Lynn

97-98 26-3: N Cent Reg at Brookings. Beat Metro State and lost to Northern State

98-99 17-10

99-00 21-9: N Cent Reg at Denver, Lost to UND

00-01 22-7: N Cent Reg at St Cloud, Lost to Metro State

01-02 24-6: N Cent Reg at Brookings, Beat UNO, Lost to Metro State

02-03 24-7: N Cent Reg at Kearney, Beat Ft. Hays, Lost to Kearney

03-04 27-7: N Cent Reg at Denver, Beat Northern State, Lost to Metro State

04-05 10-18: FIRST YEAR (TRANSITION) DIVISION I
05-06 9-20
06-07 6-24
07-08 8-21: FINAL YEAR OF TRANSITION, FIRST YEAR IN SUMMIT LEAGUE
08-09 13-20: SUMMIT TOURNEY, BEAT ORU IN ROUND 1, LOST TO OAKLAND
09-10 14-16: SUMMIT TOURNEY, LOST TO IPFW
10-11 19-12: SUMMIT TOURNEY, BEAT IPFW, LOST TO OAKLAND

Here's a graphic representation of the trend of where this program is headed under Coach Nagy:

[smoothjack]

Re: The Nagy Years

Thanks for the post, excellent work.

[Nidaros]

Re: The Nagy Years

Good job. The transistion period was not easy on any one especially the coaches record. The decision to go D1 was made at a time where it look right for the institution, but not Coach Nagy's record. I say that because IRC, we had seven or eight seniors on the roster due to medical redshirts and want not, and there was no room to go look for new recruits during the 2003-04 season. Without an opportunity to recruit, the cupboard was bare the next year it seemed. Plus Moller left and other bad things seem to go on and on.

I have to admit that after the one incident, I wanted Nagy gone. Now that has been forgotten and all is forgiven. I was watching his media day presentation on the Argus website, and coach seems to be dealing with shyness as a public speaker still after all those good years of coaching. Privately he still is on the shy side. Maybe it's his humility showing. We could not find a better coach.

[Theee Catrabbit]

Re: The Nagy Years

Nothing soothes the masses like a good chart! Please send to Stu Whitney. Looks like Nagy's "getting serious" about basketball. Finally. Thanks JD!

[JimmyJack]

Re: The Nagy Years

Any doubter should ask Greg Kampe what he thinks of Coach Nagy. Coaches out there know that Nagy is an outstanding coach.

[NoVaJack]

Re: The Nagy Years

For some reason I am hoping they emphatically add another win to the column tonight... Not sure why but it just feels right to lay hurtin' on others for awhile now.

[NebraskaJack]

Re: The Nagy Years

I would even settle for a loss if I have too.....I just want Nate to come through this game healthy. To be honest, I would even sacrifice the Washington game and have him come back on December 28th ready to go for conference season.

[JackJD]

Re: The Nagy Years

Any doubter should ask Greg Kampe what he thinks of Coach Nagy. Coaches out there know that Nagy is an outstanding coach.

I can tell you that Coach Kampe thinks highly of this year's Jackrabbits...I have that in his own words. Kampe knows what he's talking about -- he's been through the transition etc.

(I'm a Kampe fan -- guy like that is entertaining and great for the Summit League.)

[Theee Catrabbit]

Re: The Nagy Years

(I'm a Kampe fan -- guy like that is entertaining and great for the Summit League.)

If anything his hair certainly is entertaining.

[JackJD]

Re: The Nagy Years

Nothing soothes the masses like a good chart! Please send to Stu Whitney. Looks like Nagy's "getting serious" about basketball. Finally. Thanks JD!

I tried to chart the impact of SDSU's wins on Stu's IQ. It was amazing, for every win, his IQ, which only started at around 93, dropped five or more points. The problem with the chart is the graph line showing Stu's IQ dropped off the bottom of the chart last year when SDSU won 19 games.

[rabbit_boy]

Re: The Nagy Years

I have to admit that I was wrong in wanting Nagy to lose his job. I have been eating crow and admitting my error. I do so gladly and am basking in the winning. Not that I think everything is perfect, but will not complain.

[JackJD]

Re: The Nagy Years

ESPN's Joe Lunardi's Bracketology has SDSU the #15 seed in the Midwest Region for the NCAAs (Lundardi's 12/15/11 update). Lundardi's best guess at this point is SDSU wins the conference tourney and gets the auto-bid. Yeah, its plenty early but the Jackrabbit are a team to watch.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/bracketology