BIG FOUR BRIEFING: CANISIUS UNIVERSITY GOLDEN GRIFFINS
Jack Kreuzer: We’re just a few days away from your 20th anniversary at Canisius University, hired on July 1, 2005… When you think back to 20 years ago, what were your plans when you first came in, and what are your proudest achievements?
Bill Maher: Well, I would say the plan was, and was to try and make us, you know, a consistently competitive program in the MAAC, and very grateful for Father Cook to give me this opportunity. And, you know, I think back on the hips long time ago, but, but in retrospect, and when we look back, it's been, you know, there's been a lot of ups and downs and a lot of change in higher education and at Canisius, but, but we did do that. We really improved the program, the success of our program, the number of championships that our coaches and our student athletes have earned has really been the highlight for me. Anytime you watch a group of young men or women win a championship, there's nothing more rewarding than that, because there's a ton of work that goes into it. And goes into it, and and we really have, over the course of my 20 years here, we've, we've won our share, and I, I'm very proud of the fact that we, you know, we out, we out, punch our weight, right? So, when we overachieve and we have a chance to win a championship, it is terrific.
JK: How, in your opinion, has the city of Buffalo and your location in the heart of it, over the last 20 years, we've seen the growth downtown, just around the university. How has that helped Canisius over your time?
BM: You know, it's really been great. And I would say, when you think about the evolution of a city, 20 years is really not that long of a time and and it does take time, and I think that's probably the you know, for as long as everyone's been talking about the development of the waterfront and all the other investments and developments that are going on, the medical corridor is certainly the thing that's probably impacted our, you know, our local campus community the most because of the growth that's coming both ways up and down Main Street from that. And I think, but it's, it's remarkable that, you know, you say 20 years, and it takes at least 20 years for a lot of these things to take hold and to be built and for things to happen. And it is, you know, you look up and down Main Street and see the redevelopment, you see the development that's going across the street from our building and from our campus in the Monroe building. I mean, that's going to be just a beautiful building that people have put the money into and really looking forward to their grand opening, because it's just another gem here on Main Street that I think is going to help continue to grow the city out from downtown as we keep going out on Main Street.
JK: [It’s been] just a couple of years since Canisius moved from the name Canisius College to now certified University, back in 2023 that change happened. How has that affected the athletics we know that it, you know, allows a lot more grants, for funding and for research. So when you talk about an academic standpoint, but specifically for athletics, how does that name change affect you?
BM: You know, it really hasn't affected us from an athletic standpoint at all. It's just been a that's been a long discussed and a goal that has been for the university for quite a long time. To do that. I think the hardest thing for me has been to get over talking saying college and university, because I've been saying college for so long and and then when I meet with constituents or alums, they they stumble over it a little bit more than, even than I do, and I practice it a lot so, but for us in athletics, it has not been a a huge impact for us. We've been, you know, as I said, it's been a goal of the University for a number of years. So, you know, we removed college from a lot of our official marks and and the things that we were doing anyway, so we were prepared for it, and we've been able to transition relatively smoothly, as as as has the whole university. But you're right, it was a. As you said, it was driven more the decision was more driven on the ability to attract international students, from an enrollment standpoint, that was the driving force behind the decision.
JK: Before we move on to looking ahead and the changes in collegiate athletics with finances and everything, let's look back at the year that was, we're joined by Vice President and Director of athletics and recreation at Canisius University, Bill Maher. Let's start in the fall. Women's soccer finishes a great season, 12, four and three record eight wins in conference play, falling in the max semi final. But overall, what do you contribute their success to this past season?
BM: Well, that was, that was when you talk about one of the What do you enjoy about your your job, and while they didn't win a championship, that was a what that young, that group of young women did was remarkable and really proud of them. They had a great what I attributed to is a really strong group of upper class women on the team who were determined to continue to have success and grow the program. That team didn't win a game when they were freshmen. They were oh and 15, that group of women, and for them to change and turn that program from where they were to where they are. And our coaching staff obviously had a lot to do with that, but the women on the team just determined, you know, we're not going to we're going to keep getting better and and they did. And I was really, really happy for that group of young women.
JK: How has Ryan Louis, Head Coach, been able to guide that group that you say is primarily student led, but with such a big turnaround from like you mentioned when those young women were freshmen, the big changes that have been made when you make a hire, like adding Ryan to the athletic staff and as the head coach of the women's soccer program, what did he bring and how was he able to help them get to this point?
BM: Well, he he assembled the talent right and then he put him in the right places. So, you know, a huge amount of credit goes there and and I remember when I talked with Ryan about the job, and we offered it to him. I said, Ryan, you know, we, we haven't been able to get very many of these western New York flash kids. We haven't been able to get some of the better local players to stay home and play at Canisius and and he says, we'll be able to change that. And he has, which has been great because, you know, you any, any successful program, you you kind of start close and build out from there, and and we've been able to have some really talented women from the Buffalo and Rochester area, and then to to sprinkle in a couple of international kids and some athletes from Canada and a little further away. And, you know, he put those pieces together, and they've had great success.
JK: A lot of these players, at least on the soccer team, are from, like you mentioned, the Western New York Flash and from Buffalo and the Rochester areas playing high schools there. How important is it and how big is the emphasis across all sports to recruit local and retain the local products to come and play in the heart of the city?
BM: Well, we, you know, anybody who's going to any recruiting, they always talk about, you know, put, let's put a fence up around our local area, whatever it might be, to try and get the best kids from the areas and and if you hook across, many of our programs are some of our best players have been people who have come right from, right from our community and and I can go up and down the different sports are, you know, our, you know, our lacrosse programs have been been led by a lot of local players, some of our championship teams for women's lacrosse, heavily dominated by kids from Lancaster like Maria CODIS and and others. And you know, our hockey program with kids like Ryan Schmelzer and, you know, other folks like that that they just have been local kids from Buffalo who decided to stay home and help and help us win. And they've really enjoyed the opportunities. And I can say that across all sports, Jermaine Crump in men's basketball, kids from Niagara Falls High School was a player of the year. You know, Jermaine stayed home and and helped us to have a great run in men's basketball.
JK: Moving to Men's hoops, Jim Christian's first year as head coach, just three wins on the schedule. But what were the takeaways from your perspective of this men's hoop season?
BM: Well, anytime you have a three win season, it's, you know, incredibly difficult for anyone on our campus, for our fans. So I think most people look at it and say, there's transition is difficult, especially in this era as you're, you know, we're going to get to when you have to replace the number of athletes we do, you know, on a regular basis, and you've got a coaching transition and you're trying to hire a new staff, it really puts you behind the eight ball. It puts us in a tough spot, and we took every one of those blows this year. The wonderful thing about him is, he's committed to being successful and saying, you know, we're going to get better. We're going to. Learned from what we did last year. And, and it wasn't enough. I think he made mistakes. I think it was more of a, you know, we just didn't have time to get involved with and be organized to get the number of players we needed when you have as much of an exodus as you do, and, and in today's day and age, I think you're going to be looking at 80% of your roster turning over at our level every year. And it's just about what's been happening, you know, in our league and similar leagues, so it makes it difficult. Transition is hard, and I do believe that he's got a he's been able, he had, you know, was able to recruit a number of freshmen this year and have them planned and ready to come in. Didn't have that last year. And he was able to hit the ground running on the transfer portal at the beginning of the portal, as opposed to toward the end of it, when, when he got hired any kind of staff here.
JK: Coach Christian, [with] over 20 years as a DI coach, clearly knows how to recruit and how to sell his program. How has the pitch to student athletes- specifically in the money sports (men's and women's hoops)- How has the pitch changed, even over the last couple of years? Now with NIL and pay to play situations, what is the pitch now for high school kids and even JUCO transfers to come to Canisius.
BM: Well, I would tell you that I'm a traditionalist, and I would, you know, like a lot of people, I like the values that were, that were, if you will, right? You come in, you commit to an institution, you you you grow through the pain and the difficulties, much like we talked about our women's soccer program previously, and and then you come out the other end as a group committed to doing things that's just not the reality. And in basketball, and I think in in intercollegiate athletics, it's transitioning, you know what? What starts in football and basketball ultimately goes to other sports as well. So it's, it's what's happening across all of our sport platforms. But what's changed is it's much more transactional, and the and the the young men and the young women are making decisions, not for they're not making four year decisions. They're making 12 month decisions. And what? What the opportunities for us our because we're losing our best players to top programs, because they're, you know, they're getting significant and I'll deals. If they come here and do well, they're going to go somewhere else and get paid more money. That's just the reality. So there's we can sell opportunity. We can sell you come here and prove yourself, and you'll get, you'll get the payday that you're looking for, that everyone's out there talking about and and because those those higher level programs are taking our transfers, and I say our collectively, whether it's Canisius, Niagara, Bonaventure, buffalo, whatever the case may be, they're they're taking those they're taking their ready made players, if You will, it's opening up more opportunities for really qualified, talented young freshmen. We are as institutions, I think recruiting better freshmen than we ever have, because they're available to us right now. That being said, when an athlete comes in and has a and really does well and over performs, they've gotten their opportunity, and they're going to take it. So that's what we have to sell, and that's we've come here. We'll develop here for a year or two, and in that, and then you're if you perform, you'll get your opportunities, and that's what you can sell, and that's really our landscape and the reality. I would much prefer just for someone to say, “I'm coming to Canisius. I'm going to stay for four years. I'm going to grow with my friends and get my degree and really think about my four years on Main Street”
JK: That's just not the reality in higher education or in their collegiate athletics at this point. ight now, it feels the days of the four year player are so far behind us now, at least in those money sports, I think you see it a lot more in, I don't want to say the smaller sports, they're all just as significant. But you know, the soccer's of the world, lacrosse and those, those kind of sports that you do kind of need that connection. And I think you even see just in covering the local high schools, from my perspective, students that are more interested in following a career outside of athletics, that have the talent to also play collegiately. They're focused on getting their degree from the School first and following a specific major at a school because of the academics first, that then leads them to stay there for four years on the athletic team. I'm sure there's positives, overwhelmingly from that at Canisius, you mentioned you're kind of competing in a similar space here with the other big four programs, Niagara, UB and st Bonaventure, as sort of pseudo developmental programs for basket. All specifically in this new era, what makes Kenisha stand out as the most optimal place for these freshmen and transfers to come and prove themselves over your big four counterparts?
BM: Well, I think it becomes, some of that comes back to fit and coaching staff and what the coaches feel. You know, how someone believes, what the style of program they play, and how it relates to that young man, and what they feel is best for them, their parents or whomever else. So that always is going to be a piece of it, right? That relationship, that how they feel about who they're going to go, play with, play for I should say that's never going to go away. So that's why you need to have quality people that are leading your program. You got to have quality staff to try and help, you know, recruit and develop those kids for as long as they're here. I think the other thing that really does help Canisius and sets us apart is some of our academic programs. They're, they're built with with a level of flexibility in them, and that gives, you know, that gives people the the ability to say, I'm going to, maybe I'm coming. I'm transferring in from another program. And because of the flexibility of this, I can accomplish a, b and c A little faster than I might at another institution. And in particular, our, you know, our support management program, which is a terrific program for us. There's a number of students that are coming as graduate students. So they're, they've, they've gotten their degree from somewhere else. They're coming here for their final year before they go and play pro somewhere. And they want to be able to demonstrate and grow as much as they can, for for the protein, to sell themselves there. And when they're here, if they're here for an entire year, and they have to work at it, right? But they can't, they can get a master's degree in a year. And that's a selling point for us, because they, you know, they got to work over the summer. They got it, you know, they got to take a number of courses and overloads, but they can finish it in a year. And for some people, that's what they're looking to do.
JK: Moving to hockey. Boy, what a fun run it was a couple of years ago seeing the golden griffins play in the NCAA Tournament. A bit of a step back over the last couple of years, but now with the change that just occurred a few months ago, allowing Canadian hockey league players to have NCAA eligibility, being one of the closest institutions to not only the Ontario Hockey League, but the CHL at the whole how does this move impact Canisius hockey?
BM: I think it's just going to impact all of college hockey, and that it's going to open up a, you know, a door for more talented players to come to the college level that previously had not been able to because of their choice in when they were younger, and because of that, you know, is it an opportunity for us? Of course, it is. I think you're going to see, you know, the elite players in the world or in the country, they're still going to select the, you know, the high end collegiate programs that they want to go to. But for the programs like us that are typically a little bit older, they will have the opportunity that the menu, so to speak, of whom we're recruiting has just gotten significantly larger, and that makes it more competitive. So I think you're going to see the game of hockey at the college level improve, because the talent level is going to improve with this influx of new athletes.
JK: For such a hockey crazy market in Western New York and Southern Ontario. I'm sure that just means more exciting hockey at Harbor center between Niagara and Canisius, specifically when that series gets underway. Boy, is it exciting to watch
BM: Oh, it's, I always say that the rivalry is what makes college athletics and our rivalry with Niagara is a is a special one. I really do think that. And, you know, 20 years into it, as the athletic director, I'm I still look at every one of those games and everyone, every time we play them in anything is vitally important. And, but they are fun. You know, there's a, there's a lot of respect that goes back and forth. But there's, you know, there's a little bit of an edge to everything. And, and that's clearly the case in hockey, for sure.
JK: Moving ahead to next scholastic year, it'll be the first year of competition for women's acrobatics and tumbling. Why add this sport and what potential advantages does this new space present to Canisius?
BM: So you know, the acrobatics and tumbling opportunity, we are the, think we're the fifth program now that has added acrobatics and tumbling in our conference, in the metro, Atlantic Athletic Conference, and Quinnipiac said it for a number of years, they've had a very successful program. This is, you know, this is an answer to, or a piece of. Uh, of an overall institutional strategy to try and grow our enrollment of our undergraduate students, has been no secret. What's happening nationally is there's a smaller number of high school students graduating. So it's become a very competitive marketplace, and we have to try and find ways to either differentiate ourselves or to, you know, to find other doors that students want to walk through to attend in Canisius University and that's what acrobatics and tumbling is, is. It's there are young women who are out there who who have enjoyed their experience, whether it be gymnastics or cheerleading, because that's typically where the athletes are coming from and they want to continue, they may not be able to continue either of those sports at the college level, because, you know, cheerleading isn't necessarily an NCAA sport, and gymnastics is very limited. So this acrobatics and tumbling opportunity is a larger roster sponsored by more institutions, and it kind of answers what we would need, which is, you know, as I said, a door for more students to come through. We can attract them through that door, and we give students an opportunity to experience. I mean, if there's a lot of young women out there and men who who intercollegiate, or, excuse me, athletic experiences has been part of their identity growing up, and they want to continue it, and that's important to them, and if we can provide them that in a meaningful way, and it helps our institution, I think it's a win win.
JK: In the same vein of expanding to get more students on campus at Canisius. Girls Flag Football is exploding in New York state and across the country as a whole. Is there any conversation about being the first DI school to add Flag Football at Canisius?
BM: There's a lot of discussion. Our President is actually on the committee for women's athletics at the NCAA, and he's very aware of the growth of the sport. And we would love to do it. I think we would. We've talked about it a lot, and I know that we're not alone in that conversation, in the region or nationally. You know, our challenge is space, right? Our challenge is space because, both from a locker room standpoint, and we've, we've carved out some space for the acrobatics and tumbling program, but our outdoor field space is really we have six teams on one field. So for me to add a seventh, that would be a little I would really be impacting our other programs. So that's what our limitation is really right now, is facility space to try and manage that. And you know, if we can figure that out and we can resolve that, I think we'd roll downhill in a hurry on flag football.
JK: What was your reaction to seeing a fellow Catholic institution, St Francis of PA, who just made March Madness with their men's basketball program, even won a game this past year, just a few months after that run and garnering all the national headlines, deciding as a University to move their athletics from division one to Division three. What was the reaction like at Canisius? And is there any conversation about that happening in Buffalo?
BM: Yeah, the reaction was, I wasn't surprised. I know that what's happening in higher education across the country is forcing difficult choices for all institutions and people are evaluating any number of different alternatives to business as usual and and I think that's an important thing, is that every institution is looking at at alternatives to business as usual, to evolve in the new marketplace, and then they are making, after evaluating those, they are Making what they think is the best decision for their institution. And clearly that's where St Francis landed with theirs. And I think the when you get inside that decision, and you'd have to ask the people from St Francis a little bit more specifically, but when you get inside that decision, there are, there are a number of different factors that that can lead to it being a, you know, a logical decision for an institution, or perhaps an illogical one. And, and I would say that, you know, all of those are different. When you're going to go to a division three program, your facilities, the space that you have and the breadth of your program is typically a driving factor. And St Francis has the ability to do all of them. They've got a very big program, they've got a lot of space, and they've got tremendous facilities. So it does, you know, it does transition well for them. I think every institution has to make different decisions when it comes to that. And for Canisius specifically, it has a topic. I've been at Canisius, as you said, for 20 years, and we've done that study four times. So it's an evergreen topic, and people will always talk about it. And for for our institution, and for what we've what we think is the right course for us, no, it is not being discussed at this point in time, our board has said we're going to maintain our, you know, our division one affiliation and and I think that division one affiliation is evolving as we all know, but I do think that that's, you know, for a number of reasons. That's the decision that our institution and our board has taken.
JK: If Canisius is to opt in to the new rules that come out of the settlement of house versus NCAA. How will the university compete with those larger schools in the metro Atlanta conference with Fairfield Quinnipiac? How can Canisius compete with the best within the conference, within the new construct.
BM: So as I said when we talked a bit before, when we were setting up this interview, we're still finalizing the decision with the opt in decision or opt out decision, because, you know, the landscape has shifted recently, and our biggest decision when it came to electing when we first made the decision to say we're not going to opt in, was because of the roster cap issue and to we would have to stop opportunities from student athletes, and that's not something we wanted to do. So the NCAA and the final analysis, has provided a path forward on that. So that's what we're evaluating now to try and say, okay, might it be in our best interest to change course here slightly. So that's the decision we're going to make that everyone has to make by July one. So we're getting close to that. But nevertheless, when you talk about how we are going to compete in our league, we've always had Canisius to try and figure out, how do we overachieve? How can we compete against institutions that have more resources than us? So in that sense, it's always been a challenge for us, and we've had, we've, like I said, we've, we've taken our chances and we've, we've had our opportunities to win, and we've done. We've won our share. So whether it's Canisius or Niagara or anyone else, there's always going to be a challenge, because there's someone's always going to have more resources than you, and it's just a matter of, how do you figure out, can you be the most competitive program that you are? And we believe we have a plan to try and move forward in that regard.
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