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Since were on the cusp of throwing out random coaching candidates...I say bring back 40 Minutes of Hell!!!! When Mizzou and U of I played this season Nolan Richardson was in town...Cusamono and Ramer interviewed him on 590 and it sounded very much like he would love to get back into coaching...and with Mike Anderson 2 hour up the road I think it would be a great match. Just a thought.

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After the Duquesne loss a couple weeks ago, I was really frustrated and had a day or two off work around that time, so I spent some time looking around for potential coaches in the case that things continued to be bad. Anyway, here's a summary of what I remember finding.

I looked around at the head coaches of schools in the Mid-Major Top 25. I started with schools located in the midwest, mainly because I think the best case scenario would be to get someone from the midwest, as they would be more familiar with the area and have more contacts around here. The MVC or the MAC would be the most likely conferences to fit that bill. Unfortunately, I'm not too optimistic about the possibility of luring the good coaches in these conferences away from their current schools, unless we could offer more money and a coach would be blown away by the idea of a new arena. Below are some coaches in the from somewhat midwestern schools that have had success.

Chris Lowery-SIU-SIU Grad, coaching at his alma mater.

Jim Les-Bradley-Bradley grad, coachiung at his alma mater.

Todd Lickliter-Butler-Butler grad, coaching at his alma mater.

Darrin Horn-Western Kentucky-WKU grad, coaching at his alma mater.

Keith Dambrot-Akron-Akron grad coaching at his alma mater.

In case you noticed, there is a bit of a pattern here. These coaches all have had some success at their respective alma maters, so honestly I don't see them leaving their current positions unless they were offered a position in either the Big 10, Big East, SEC, ACC, Big 12, or Pac 10. Throw in Mark Turgeon(Wichita State) and Dana Altman(Creighton), and I'm not too optimistic about getting someone from that to come to SLU.

Your next option is to look at assistant coaches from around. Once again I would prefer someone with some existing ties to the midwest. here is a list of names I remember.

Gene Cross-Notre Dame-Currently at ND, followed Dave Leitao to Virginia before moving back closer to his hometown of Chicago. When Rivals.com made a list of top recruiting assistant coaches, he made the list. Coaching stops at ND, UVA, Depaul, and Illinois-Chicago. Helped DePaul and UIC land respected recruiting classes. Supposed to be very strong in Chicago. Played at Illinois. In one final tidbit, his grandfather, George Cross, was the coach of Vashon in the 1960's.

Joe Dooley-Kansas-Was head coach at East Carolina in his early 30's. Was fired with a winning record, which apparently has been rare for coaches at ECU. Has been integral in KU's recruiting over the last couple years. Also on the top 25 recruiters list from a few years ago.

Chris Collins-Duke-From Chicago, so has some midwest ties.

Another option would be to grab the assistant from another part of the country and just expect them to use their recruiting skills to develop connections in the midwest, especially St. Louis. Here's a list of possibilities there.

Kerry Keating-UCLA

Tom Moore-UCONN

Butch Pierre-LSU

Steve Wojciechowski-Duke

Frank Martin-Kansas State

Personally, should we have to find a new coach, I would think the best option would be to go with a guy like Gene Cross, presuming we couldn't land a current head coach with a good track record by dangling more money and the new arena in front of him. The local recruiting ties would be big, and it wouldn't hurt to have a coach with strong ties to Chicago.

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I am not advocating a change but talking about getting a new coach is like wishing to bring in the Back Up QB. There are very few times that Trent Green goes down and the NFL MVP steps in. But here it goes:

What about Matt Doherty he is in his 1st year at SMU and doing alright so far. He previously was at Florida Atlantic and lead them to their best record ever. Before that he was an analyst, didn't achieve what UNC wanted but went to the Final Four in his 1st year there and was 00-01 National Coach of the Year. He did well at ND but some may think he under acheived with the talent he had Troy something or other. He is a recognizable name and face and I think that SLU maybe a step up from SMU (very slightly).

I went to see an SMU practice the other day because I just happened to be in the area. I wacthed a few defensive drills and it looked pretty good but I'm no expert.

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Nor am I advocating a change ... but IF the team doesn't turn it around over the next month & IF it is determined a change needs to be made at HC ... THEN I'd like to see somebody in the mold of a Bob McKillop at Davidson.

He plays uptempo ... averaging around 80 ppg this year. His teams have won their conference 7 of the last 11 years (Southern Conference). He's not afraid to schedule tough non-conf teams. Maybe most importantly, he's graduated 95% of letterman. He appears to be Catholic (by education, & kid's school). Appears to recruit Chicago (2 of this better players), though he's a NYC'er by birth. Only 56 & has been a head coach for 18 years.

Downsides: Not sure he'd want to leave Davidson after so long (22 yrs). Not sure he'd be a big enough "name" for some on this board (thereby initiating another cycle of 'I was opposed to him from the start' type attitudes).

FWIW.

Pat D.

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I thought about the Davidson coach but he's been there so long I would think that others have shown interest before and he hasn't left. What about the Winthrop Coach? They seem to win their conference alot, the Belmont coach? They have beat some in the area lately.

I'm not advocating a change just an interesting conversation. I remember the hum on this board during the last coaching change. I think most wanted Gregory.

SLU doesn't have to get a name coach but it is possible, Bobby Cremins is coaching at College of Charleston and Doherty is at SMU.

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The last 3 coaches have recruited in clumps.. some good years, some not so good. Romar and Spoon have had success recruiting before or after SLU, so just making a change in coaches may not guaranty success.

Regardless if BS stays or the admin decides to make a change ( which would NOT be to an established D 1 coach IMO ) a number of issues need to be addressed, outside of academics, facilities and the other excuses real or imagined. For instance;

salaries; both for coaches & assistants, are they in line with the programs SLU aspires to match? If not will they?;

recruiting budgets; see above;

recruiting approach (if BS stays) Is the staff in place to identify AND recruit (read that as close)the kind of recruit to suceed in the program or are all better developers of players as opposed to recruiters?

Imho, the admin would be well served to look for an asst. (like Brian Gregory, who was an established recruiter for MSU)... and support him, IF they decide a change is in order. Of course, the coach must recognize the goal of the AD and the approach.

Amaker and Snyder have many flaws, not the least of which was trying to sculpt their recruiting in the image of Duke.

No coach (asst or HC) will leave a program if he doesn't KNOW he will suceed. The ducks gotta be in a row... and if a school takes the "cheap" approach they will never come or leave as soon as they have some success.

Again, just my opinion.............

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