Sodie to Missouri State?

[brianstl]

Forgot about him and am drawing blank on his name right now. Anyone know if he is he back in coaching? Maybe his desire to go into the private sector was the truth and nothing more is behind his departure.

Beane is at IL State now. He ended up coaching at Soldan instead of going into the private sector when he left SLU.

[Clock_Tower]

Beane is at IL State now. He ended up coaching at Soldan instead of going into the private sector when he left SLU.

What's the real story behind Beane leaving SLU?

[Pistol]

Shot out of nowhere at Lori Flanigan!

(Perhaps the ONLY time in the history of the board her name has been mentioned other than when she left the program? And I'm not even sure that happened then!)

I had to get that in with a mention of Woolard. He was gutless and she was too powerful. She screwed over men's basketball every chance she got. She was the embodiment of the nickel-and-dime nature of the athletic department for so long.

[Pistol]

What's the real story behind Beane leaving SLU?

I think he was politely asked to resign. The story claimed he found 'opportunities in private business' or something of that nature. He honestly was a nice guy but too scatterbrained to be a very good coach.

[Pistol]

minor point - Loras College is in Iowa

Oh man, I knew that. I guess I forgot Brad ever left Wisconsin until he came to SLU. I used to work with a Duhawk in Chicago, can't believe I forgot that. In my head I had it mixed up with Ripon, where Sodie first played in college before transferring to Stevens Point.

[MusicCityBilliken]

Playing for Ed DeChellis (if he survives this season) at PSU would be a nice choice.

When Ed was the coach at ETSU my son went to his Basketball Camp. Also he ran several father/son camps which I attended. At those camps I got to talk with him quite a lot and I always used to see him and his assistants at the Salad Bar at a local Kroger. He always would invite me to sit with them and 'shoot the bull'. He is a super nice guy and had a tremendous relationship with his players.

[Pistol]

I think the Chipola coach was Jans, who left after we got Newborne and became an assistant under Moser at Ill St. I haven't heard or checked on where he went after that. That was the end of our JUCO line from Chipola.

I have said it in the past & will probably have to say it again in the future, but in Brad's last year with Jamal Walker as an assistant replacing Beane, we were recruiting a much higher quality player than previously. Look at Pullen at Kansas St, Swansey at Georgia, Marcus Walker at Colorado St, and others. I do think it was a case of too little too late though. I would have liked to have seen what Brad & Jamal Walker could have done over more time than just one season though.

I think Brad can be a successful coach but he does need quality assistants for recruiting and also for in game help. I hope he has taken this year off and rethought some of what he was doing here--if so he should be a good hire for whatever school gets him.

Yeah, Chris Jans was the guy. Soderberg said he was the meanest SOB he'd ever coached, but respected him as a true competitor as much as anyone he'd ever coached. He had a lot of respect for his talent assessment, too, which landed us Frericks (he had it right, and Tom would have been a beast if he could avoid concussions) and Newborne (not quite the player Brad expected).

[Clock_Tower]

Nice rundown, CT. The thing is, he did have some of those connections you mention, and he constantly was showing us reasons for being optimistic before we struggled through more recruiting losses and tough seasons.

The head coach at Chipola (don't know if he's still the HC) when Brad was at SLU used to play for him up in Wisconsin (at Loras College). Frericks and Newborne both came from Chipola. Lance Randall, now an assistant at Loyola-Chicago, coached in England for 3 years before coming back to the states and eventually joining Brad's staff as a grad assistant, and he had nice international connections. I still think Brad's issue was hesitating, which we've discussed before. I also think that Brad is the kind of guy who admits when he makes mistakes and learns from them- sometimes too slow for D1 hoops, but he's had a year off now to regroup.

You mention Woolard, and he seems to be doing a nice job at USF, but he was lousy at SLU. Didn't seem like his heart was in it at all, and I have every reason to believe it was a jumping-off point to him from the start, not just at the end when he went to USF. He didn't have much personality to go with his habit of just settling for mediocrity- how Hughes and Pizzoti were never fired under him is beyond me. He wasn't a good fundraiser and never seemed interested in pestering Biondi for a longer leash. Cheryl was good at all of those things, and I feel bad about the way it ended for her here. Anyway, I would certainly not have wanted to be a head coach under Woolard. You could be lousy and have job security because he didn't care, but you never got money because he wasn't good at his job and also let Lori Flanagan make too many decisions.

A friend of mine who is a long-time booster of the program told several years ago (while Woolard was still with us), that he had been interviewing for nearly 2 years but never got an firm job offer. Woolard wanted to leave, some people at SLU wanted him to leave but he just couldn't get the offer. Sounded like he many first intereviews but not many follow-up ones. In short, many key boosters were waiting him out and waiting to see who would replace him before donating: hence the arena project stalled.

Think about it, what kind of AD wants to leave prior to a major challenge like building an $80 million on-campus arena? Good ones would relish the opportunity to make sure it is done right, to leave their own personal mark on the project, take credit and then move on to a bigger and better challenge - most likely to another school which has a football program.

Woolard is merely a space holder. Move him into a good program and he will occupy the AD office - fill space - for a awhile. By the time USF's program starts to decline as Woolard replaces A level people with B level people, he will be ready to retire and let someone else come in and rebuild the program.

[Billiken Law]

I just got a call from a friend in Springfield claiming he saw Sodie on campus in a coat and tie. We all forget that he did win 20 games last year. Administrators must be trying to package him with Kramer. Interesting development!!!!!

sure he wore a coat a tie as he slept outside the AD's office begging to see the guy. Mo State might as well have kept Hinson if this is true (which I doubt).

[brianstl]

sure he wore a coat a tie as he slept outside the AD's office begging to see the guy. Mo State might as well have kept Hinson if this is true (which I doubt).

MSU should hire Gregory.

[satrap]

MSU should hire Gregory.

Dino Gregory from Wake? Brian Gregory from Dayton? They both sound like huge pipe dreams for MSU and I don't care if they're building the United Center's twin in Springfooled.

[brianstl]

Dino Gregory from Wake? Brian Gregory from Dayton? They both sound like huge pipe dreams for MSU and I don't care if they're building the United Center's twin in Springfooled.

For years now BLaw has been posting that the Billikens should have hired Brian Gregory. He acts like his one post-season appearance in his first year was a such a great accomplishment.

As for Brian Gregory being a pipe dream for MSU, I think it is more the other way around. Unless Dayton beats X today it will be five straight years without an NCAA appearance for Dayton. It has been four years without any post-season appearances for Gregory. Gregory should be on the hot seat at Dayton.

MSU, with the new building, is now going to be a better job than Dayton and it's old gym.

[billiken_roy]

dayton won that game yesterday in spite of gregory. his tatical moves were bordering on hillarious he coached so badly down the stretch. roberts sitting. roberts not looking to get fouled. keeping the ball in warren's hands even though he is the worst free throw shooter on the team. just stupid stuff. yeah, i am real sad we never got gregory.

i will say this, he wears nice suits.

[satrap]

For years now BLaw has been posting that the Billikens should have hired Brian Gregory. He acts like his one post-season appearance in his first year was a such a great accomplishment.

As for Brian Gregory being a pipe dream for MSU, I think it is more the other way around. Unless Dayton beats X today it will be five straight years without an NCAA appearance for Dayton. It has been four years without any post-season appearances for Gregory. Gregory should be on the hot seat at Dayton.

MSU, with the new building, is now going to be a better job than Dayton and it's old gym.

I like Gregory, in the abstract way one likes an opposing coach without really knowing a damn thing about them. In terms of MSU being a better job, it's just not and never will be. Not that Dayton is better either. It's that both are firmly mid major jobs and a smart coach- who's not desperate- would never make such a lateral move. Dayton has the slight relative advantage of being in the Great Lakes population region, while MSU is in a sparsely populated zone, a factor with huge implications for long term success.

Guys like Brian Gregory want the South Carolina or LSU jobs, not East Carolina or MSU.

[brianstl]

I like Gregory, in the abstract way one likes an opposing coach without really knowing a damn thing about them. In terms of MSU being a better job, it's just not and never will be. Not that Dayton is better either. It's that both are firmly mid major jobs and a smart coach- who's not desperate- would never make such a lateral move. Dayton has the slight relative advantage of being in the Great Lakes population region, while MSU is in a sparsely populated zone, a factor with huge implications for long term success.

Guys like Brian Gregory want the South Carolina or LSU jobs, not East Carolina or MSU.

I agree with some of what you said, but Dayton is falling badly behind in the facilties war. Dayton has more players around the area, but it also has to compete for those player with for many more established programs in the area. The state of Ohio has at least 12 other D-1 programs in the state, led by the heavyweights of Ohio State, Cincy, and XU. They even have to compete against another D-1 program in the city of Dayton.

[OrlandoStewart]

Shot out of nowhere at Lori Flanigan!

(Perhaps the ONLY time in the history of the board her name has been mentioned other than when she left the program? And I'm not even sure that happened then!)

You are right about her but she had her hands tied because the university would not just let the athletic department do certain things. For example, all the teams had to bring cash on the road, so womens and mens basketball had to bring all the money they were going to use for their road trips in cash. they could not use a credit card because there was not athletic department credit card. I heard a story from the old senior manager for womesn basketball for CUSA tournament he was carrying around $12,000 in cash, the only thing paid for was the hotel rooms, but he had to carry that money incase they were at the tournament the whole time.

I know SLoan lost $5000 his year as DOBO too.

Now I think it has changed but you would think SLU would be like every other universitys athletic department, hell they still have to pay for their own cell phones, which has to suck.

[rchif0]

I'll say that there have been numerous names mentioned as possible coaching candidates for MSU in my parts, but not once have I heard any connections or rumors involving Soderberg.