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Matta was the head coach at Butler before going to Xavier.

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You didn't ask for final fours. There are coaches in the hall of fame that never made it to a final four. I thought your question was about young coaches hired from the outside who were succesful. We must have different definitions for success.

My quick read made me think you were connecting Lavin to Harrick's shenanigans. Sorry. As gar as Lavin being the limited earnigs #####'t, I'm sure that "limited earnings" at a place like UCLA with camps et al provides one with a fairly comfortable existence. I repeat, I'm not trying to make a case for hiring Lavin. I'm just surprised that his name hasn't come up more prominently, because it's clear to me that a good case COULD be made. It would certainly be viewed as a "home run hiring" from the national perspective.

Mark Turgeon at Wichita State Billy Gillispie at UTEP Bill Self at Oral Roberts Kevin Stallings at Illinois State Rick Majerus at Ball State Tom Crean at Marquette (they were in CUSA when he was hired) Lon Kruger at Pan-American Stan Heath at Kent State Mike Anderson at UAB I'm gonna stop thinking about it now, but suffice it to say that it's not unprecedented.

Decourcy is from Cincy. No surprise that he's pushing the Ohio boys.............

I'm not buying it. No job in D! runs itself anymore. Just look at Indiana and Kentucky for proof. And, if you point fingers at Lavin for working under Harrick, then you have to go after Romar, too. I have enough admiration for Gene Keady to believe that he wouldn't have anyone on his staff without both a great deal of basketball knowledge and a lot of character.

Roy, I know you have no love for Lavin. I'm simply pointing out the bottom line, and the bottom line looks pretty darned good. He wasn't ready to be a head coach ten years ago. He MAY be ready now. I certainly think he's a much more viable candidate than Fraschilla. Fortunately for all of Billiken Nation, I'm not in a position where I'm asked to make that judgement, nor do I want to be.

Not trying to defend Lavin, but yeah, I think he could recruit to SLU. He's high profile with his national tv work, so every recruit already knows him when he comes-a-callin'. And he's certainly plugged into a nationwide network of coaching staffs. Agree that he was a suspect bench coach, but remember that he was very young at the time. Not trying to offend anyone out there, but very few people in ANY profession are at the top of their games when in their early-to-mid 30s. (Obviously athletes are the exception here) I'm guessing that he's learned a lot in the past few years. Also agree that Romar would have been the better hire for UCLA in 1997. Once again, I'm not advocating the hiring of SL, because I'm firmly in the Majerus corner, but if Rick is simply toying with us, we could do a whole lot worse than SL. We have in the recent past.

Let's look at his resume after seven seasons at UCLA.............. 1. 6 20-win seasons 2. 6 NCAA tournament appearances 3. 5 sweet 16 appearances 4. 1 Elite 8 5. 2 recruiting classes named #1 IN THE COUNTRY 6. National Rookie Coach of the Year I agree that there are SERIOUS questions about his bench coaching ability, but are there any candidates out there without warts? He was hired as the UCLA HC at the age of 32. I'm guessing that he's learned a little since that time. He's young, healthy, well-spoken (i.e. media-savvy), high profile, an energetic recruiter. Before he went to UCLA he was on an all-star coaching staff under Gene Keady along with Bruce Weber and Kevin Stallings. He obviously knows basketball, and I'm sure he would be the first to admit he made some mistakes during his first gig. Bottom line--wouldn't even a fraction of what we can see in 1-6 above make him an outstanding hire for SLU? No guarantees that he'll accomplish that, but saying he didn't get it done at UCLA simply doesn't jibe with the facts. That being said, I'm not really a proponent (or opponent) of hiring him. I'm just curious why his name hasn't been raised.

Why no discussion of Lavin on this board? I agree with nearly everybody else that Majerus is the gold standard, but the only "Plan B" coach that's been discussed even a little is Fran Fraschilla. Whether you like Lavin or not (and I know that MANY people don't), you have to admit that his hiring would make a bigger splash than FF. And I would be shocked if his name hasn't been considered by the powers that be.

that's an appetizer worthy of a Matanzas Creek Chardonnay. Can't wait for the entree!

.........that the perception of fans within the conference is that SLU is one of (if not THE) most attractive jobs in the conference. Here? Not so much.

Yeah, there are certainly serious problems. However, there probably isn't a program in the country that doesn't have negatives attached that the outsider doesn't identify. (yep, I'll include Duke, Florida, NC, et al in that statement--do you think the high rollers at THOSE schools don't have ego issues?) We all watch this program closely, so we're aware of all the warts. The point is, the people who are familiar with the A-10 look at this as being one of the more attractive positions in the conference, both for what it offers and for the potential it holds.

top of the page A-10 Forum

Interesting thread on the A-10 board ranking the relative merits of the coaching positions within the A-10. SLU gets a lot of love. BTW, if you read it, stick with the first page or two. After that it deteriorates into a Dayton/Xavier debate.

a Horn hire might get Pettigrew into the Billiken fold.

Ricky signed with Oregon State over the weekend. Willie is deciding between UALR and South Dakota State.

Ricky told me last week he is still undecided and that it's a tough decision. FWIW, his girlfriend is a volleyball player at MAC. Just completed her first season, but would be eligible to move on since she's not at a CC because of grades. Don't know whether or not she's good enough to play at the D1 level. She's an international plyer who is a few years older than most college Freshmen. Although Ricky is from Florida, he likes snow and cold weather. Look for a couple schools from the West to be players in his recruitment.

Gillispie was an #####'t under Self.

In the event that you want to get away from home, Mineral Area College in Park Hills is unique among the area Community Colleges in that they have on-campus dorms. But alas, no tennis team. However, Corey Tate puts an exiting basketball team on the floor.

Henry, a 6'7" G/F from West Memphis has enrolled at Mineral Area College. If he passes 12 hours this semester, he'll be eligible to play in December. Rivals had him ranked as the 28th best overall in the class of 2007, as he was expected to attend Light of the World Christian Academy in Georgia. For some reason, he decided to go the JUCO route, and Corey Tate was lucky enough to receive the call. Rumor has it that Pitino will be on campus next week, and other high profile coaches have been calling. Only 60 miles from SLU...............

Seems to me as though nobody is mentioning what I think is one of the real keys to success this year--improved free throw shooting. With the questionable offensive ability of this team, there a re bound to be several games decided by single digits. Improving the free throw shooting to about 78% should give the Bills an additional 4-7 ppg (many points lost last year by failing to convert the first of 1 and 1). That could translate into an additional 3-4 victories.

Can't speak for anyone else, but I'm here for basketball. The 16 message thread on karaoke was too much to take.

Could be a practice he learned while in the Big 10(11). Don't know if it's still the case, but even though the NCAA allows it, they used to have a conference policy that prevented teams from offering more scholarships than were actually available.