Is anyone else envious of the SIU Salukis right now?

Since 2002, the Salukis have made it to the NCAA tournament. Wouldn’t it be nice if the Huskies could make another run at the tournament and make predictions that NIU will beat or upset a team in our brackets?

The announcement of new NIU men’s basketball head coach Ricardo Patton still has people buzzing about those kinds of possibilities – something Huskie fans would like to see after a disappointing 7-23 record last season. Patton took two Colorado teams to the NCAA tournament, has had three 20-plus win seasons, and has a 184-160 career coaching record.

However, this isn’t Boulder, Colorado. This is DeKalb, Illinois.

Emphasis on Illinois.

This is the reason why it’s going to take more than a new and successful head coach like Patton for the Huskies to become a MAC powerhouse, and return to the NCAA tournament after an 11-year absence.

NIU athletics director Jim Phillips noted Patton’s recruiting skills, but those skills will be tested in upcoming years.

The two most notable universities Patton will compete with for recruiting – the University of Illinois and SIU Carbondale – made the NCAA tournament this year. SIU is in the sweet sixteen and faces Kansas tonight in hopes of upsetting the Jayhawks to advance to the elite eight.

Patton, according to an ESPN.com article, said he wants to recruit some of the top players out of Illinois, especially Chicago. Patton will have to work his hardest there, because those prospects don’t hear as much about NIU basketball.

What’s worse is culture shock some players may have once arriving at NIU. Some prospects may come from a “basketball” high school to a university where the attendance at the Convocation Center is about 800 or less in a building with a capacity of 9,100.

This is where the Huskie fans come into play. The Huskie players returning next season and the new teammates need an raucous atmosphere at the Convo that’s similar to Huskie Stadium, and not a high school concert band performance.

I’m not saying more fans at the stadium will bring more victories than last season, but it might keep new freshman recruits at NIU and not transferring after one year. Fans also should realize that success does not come overnight.

It took NIU football head coach Joe Novak four seasons (8-36) to finally go .500 in a season. Now, the football team gets ESPN coverage and is going to bowl games. Former NIU basketball coach John McDougal (136-141 with NIU) took the Huskies to its first NCCA tournament after six seasons. Brian Hammel (117-138) had five seasons before taking NIU to its second appearance. Jim Molinari (42-17) only took two seasons to lead the Huskies to their third appearance before heading to Bradley.

If the fans, recruits and even Patton stay patient and committed to Huskie basketball, who knows? Maybe the Huskies will make a fourth appearance sometime in the near future.