One of the biggest concerns of the task force was the student body's reaction to Grizzly and Lady Griz basketball. The report said there are court level seats available for the first 350 students who arrive at each home game. Yet those seats are under the north basket and not along the sidelines where student sections of old were. The report outlines plans for coaches and team members to go out in the student body and begin promotion for their programs. Coaches and players will be putting tickets into students' hands.
Students are more likely to show up.
But Ulysses Doss, a retired UM African American studies professor and long-time Griz basketball fan, said the style of play was the major ingredient in decreasing attendance. He said UM has slowed down their tempo and that has led fans to sit on their hands and lose interest. Men's coach Don Holst said he agreed with Doss' points, but reminded committee members that UM led the conference in defense the last two years, led the conference in dunks this year and are only one year removed from a Big Sky regular season title. He added the Grizzlies were really close to winning a lot of games but self destructed in the final possessions. We didn't have all the kids we needed this past year.