TU could have the greatest coach in the world but currently the results would be the same recruiting wise. Tulsa's team is playing before empty seats in the arena. Kids want to play in a full house. Look at WSU full arena resulting in good recruiting and yes it does help to have a good coach. Tulsa used to play before a mostly full house of fans. Then Tulsa had better recruiting mostly. That's been a while. You must have decent crowds before recruiting will pick up and Tulsa won't win until recruiting gets better. TU is in a catch 22. Why are crowds so poor? Tulsa isn't competitive in the local entertainment market. Ticket prices are too high and too many fees to inflate ticket prices. Results in empty arena's and stadium's. A new coach wouldn't help either. Until Tulsa's non-competitiveness in the local entertainment ticket market is solved recruiting and the number of wins per season will stay the same. Everything starts with butts in seats. With butts in seats then Tulsa can begin to rebuild the right way.
This has been pointed out MANY times... and while the issue could be caused in part by ticket prices, scheduling, and so on, it really falls down in the community (and the AD who is responsible for connecting the university to the community). While WSU has been great, you can’t say that they’ve had a better schedule than us. Their fans come out and support them regardless of who they’re playing because they’re excited to see WSU... TU “fans” only come to big name opponent games because they dgaf about TU outside of the few times per year that a name opponent comes in.
And that’s the issue... TU is only supported by Tulsa when it’s convenient for Tulsans. There is zero city pride and zero commitment to TU from the city of Tulsa and its citizens. Look at other city schools around the conference and around the country - their communities support their teams. They are treated like big time programs by their local media and it flows through the community. Unfortunately that doesn’t happen here in Tulsa. All of the local media (TV and print) make sure TU is always 3rd fiddle... so of course the average sports fan is going to feel the same way.
TUs issues are multifaceted, but the overall perception of our athletic programs are a major contributor to our attendance issues... which absolutely plays a role in recruiting in both football and basketball.
Unfortunately there aren’t many positives coming out of TU athletics lately.