Altman stays, Valley grows

I think the reason Creighton coach Dana Altman reneged on his agreement with the University of Arkansas to be their head coach was the contract Chris Lowry got at Southern Illinois. I think the showing of the Valley this year (the league was finally able to schedule a multitude of major programs) coupled with the return of a hot coach swayed him. The comments from Lowry, SIU Athletic Director Mario Moccia, and even new Southern Illinois University President Glenn Poshard point to a belief and commitment to competing for a National Championship. I think this commitment to prominence is what lead Altman to swallow all his pride and return to Creighton. Years ago, he was the one coach who believed in this league. Soon he was joined by Mark Turgeon at Wichita State, and the program at SIU started by Bruce Weber. Now the Valley shows how good solid college basketball can be, no matter the liquidity of the budget for athletics. With this rise in the conference rankings, the major level commitment SIU & WSU have recently shown, and the Salukis proving that they can compete on an equal level with an elite team like Kansas, Dana Altman, I believe, thought about it, and realized he was closer to a Final Four with his program at Creighton, than he would be at Arkansas buried in the muck on an overblown conference like the SEC. If I read this correctly, he, I, and 16.000 fans per game at Qwest Center suddenly believe that might be right.