Travis Ford finds a soft landing spot at Saint Louis
Ialways thought Travis Ford would be a natural for the Western Kentucky basketball job. Located in his home state, where Ford remains an icon from his days as a Kentucky point guard. Located in the right part of the Commonwealth; Ford grew up in Madisonville, 86 miles from Bowling Green, Ky., where Western is located.
The Western Kentucky job came open about the time Ford was fired from OSU in March. Western Kentucky is a good job. Good basketball tradition, good geography, good fit.
But Ford got a better job. Saint Louis University announced Ford as its coach last week, and that’s a soft landing spot for Ford.
Saint Louis is not as good a job as OSU. Not the tradition. Not the conference. Not the prestige.
But good tradition. Good conference. Good prestige. You’ve got a fighting chance at Saint Louis U.
The Billikens are in the Atlantic-10 Conference, and that’s a high-level mid-major.
Here are the other schools in the A-10: Dayton, Virginia Commonwealth, Saint Joseph’s, St. Bonaventure, George Washington, Davidson, Rhode Island, Fordham, Richmond, Duquesne, UMass, George Mason and LaSalle.
That’s a heck of a conference. VCU and George Mason have been in recent Final Fours. Davidson has been in a recent Elite Eight. Saint Joseph’s, Dayton and LaSalle have made recent noise in the NCAAs. St. Bonaventure and George Washington are solid programs.
The A-10 is a heck of a league. The only downside for Saint Louis is that the geography isn’t a great fit — it’s an East Coast league. Dayton is the nearest fellow conference member, 360 miles away. Next comes Duquesne (Pittsburgh, 588 miles away).
There has been talk that Saint Louis might be better served being in the Missouri Valley, and there would be nothing wrong with that move. A league with Wichita State and Northern Iowa is strong, too.
Ford takes over a program that has had quality success at times. And some decent fan support at times.
Under Charlie Spoonhour, Saint Louis U. became a phenomenon in the city, playing in the St. Louis Blues’ Scottrade Center. Now the Billikens play on-campus, at the 10,600-seat Chaifetz Arena, which opened in 2008.
Saint Louis averaged 6,757 fans per game last season.
St. Louis is just 218 miles from Madisonville, Ky., so Ford is not far from his roots. It’s fertile recruiting ground. Illinois and Indiana and Kentucky have lots of basketball players, especially the kind that can win at the mid-major level.
Ford, at times, had things rolling at OSU, but he didn’t sustain them enough. In the end, it just didn’t work. But it can work for Ford at Saint Louis University.