The Book: 2006-2007 Ragin' Cajuns Basketball

[Cajunsmike]

I guess it may be part of the major college athletics landscape, but I don't think it is right to take away scholarships from players who have performed academically and shown up to practice every day. If a coach makes a mistake on a player, then he should not be able to just release the player the following season. What is a guy like Barsksdale supposed to do now? He chose the Cajuns instead of Maryland and other suitors, but now I guess his career is just about over? Does he lose another year of eligibility if he transfers even though he had his scholarship taken away?

What player in their right mind would even consider transfering to Lee's program if precedent shows that they may lose their scholarship the following season?

If there are academic and / or other outside problems, that is one thing, but if a player is making the grades and showing up to work every day, why take their scholarship away?

If the Cajuns somehow had an amazing recruiting class next year would Lee simply cut loose one or more of the new freshmen, players that he has given a four year commitment to?

The reason Coach Lee brought in so many players this year is that the staff felt 2006 would be a stronger recruiting year in Louisiana than in 2007. Also, LSU was not that interested in many of these guys due to having few scholarships and their final four year allowing them to recruit nationally. He felt that the upside of the JC guys is limited and that we would be much better off in the long term by bringing in new guys. We may go 12 and 16 this year, but be ready to challenge in the SBC the following year. Keeping all the JC guys probably would also mean going 12 and 16 but you would have no upside the following year. I do understand your concern for the guys who have been let go. Your fear of other schools using this technique against us is also valid. Hopefully, we won't have to worry much about recruiting in the next few years due to all the guys we brought in this year.

[MiamiCajun32]

The reason Coach Lee brought in so many players this year is that the staff felt 2006 would be a stronger recruiting year in Louisiana than in 2007. Also, LSU was not that interested in many of these guys due to having few scholarships and their final four year allowing them to recruit nationally. He felt that the upside of the JC guys is limited and that we would be much better off in the long term by bringing in new guys. We may go 12 and 16 this year, but be ready to challenge in the SBC the following year. Keeping all the JC guys probably would also mean going 12 and 16 but you would have no upside the following year. I do understand your concern for the guys who have been let go. Your fear of other schools using this technique against us is also valid. Hopefully, we won't have to worry much about recruiting in the next few years due to all the guys we brought in this year.

Thanks for the explanation. That is helpful regarding the high school recruits. I sure hope we don't go 12 and 16 this year though. That would be dreadful and inexcuseable for the Cajuns to have two straight losing seasons and not even competing well in the weak sunbelt. When Lee came in as head coach, the cupboard was far from dry and that is why he won the first year. Seems like things have suddenly gone from great to mediocre and all the excusses in the world will not satisfy me as a fan if the Cajuns go 12-16 this year, following up on 13-16 last year. This incoming high school class is good, but not so amazing that we beat out major programs for players. There is no super blue chipper in the class. I realize they were transfers, but Greene, Wade, Mitchell and Southhall were all super blue chippers. Talent is not everything, but a certain amount has to exist for the team to compete at a high level and have chance to not only make the tourney but win a game or two. If the Cajuns can only get that type of talent from transfers then that is what they must do. If you take OG, Wade and Mitchell off of the '04 and '05 teams then there is no NCAA tourney bid and no excitement. If you take Mitchell and Southall off of '06 team, then it would have been a much bigger dissaster. But transfers are not going to come to Lee's program if they can't trust him to a) honor the scholarship commitment and b) coach them well (whether it is Lee's fault or not, players may wonder why Turner and Barskdale flopped even though they were highly touted by experts and recruited by major programs). Seems like we are 2 years away from simply cmpeting for sunbelt title, something that was a given each year for a long time (that we would at least be competing for title).

[LARaginCajun]

Seems like we are 2 years away from simply cmpeting for sunbelt title, something that was a given each year for a long time (that we would at least be competing for title).

I think you need to give any new coach 4 years to get his program in place. In Coach Lee's situation I think its 5 years in that he was hired so late after the recruiting period.

[Cajunsmike]

Thanks for the explanation. That is helpful regarding the high school recruits. I sure hope we don't go 12 and 16 this year though. That would be dreadful and inexcuseable for the Cajuns to have two straight losing seasons and not even competing well in the weak sunbelt. When Lee came in as head coach, the cupboard was far from dry and that is why he won the first year. Seems like things have suddenly gone from great to mediocre and all the excusses in the world will not satisfy me as a fan if the Cajuns go 12-16 this year, following up on 13-16 last year. This incoming high school class is good, but not so amazing that we beat out major programs for players. There is no super blue chipper in the class. I realize they were transfers, but Greene, Wade, Mitchell and Southhall were all super blue chippers. Talent is not everything, but a certain amount has to exist for the team to compete at a high level and have chance to not only make the tourney but win a game or two. If the Cajuns can only get that type of talent from transfers then that is what they must do. If you take OG, Wade and Mitchell off of the '04 and '05 teams then there is no NCAA tourney bid and no excitement. If you take Mitchell and Southall off of '06 team, then it would have been a much bigger dissaster. But transfers are not going to come to Lee's program if they can't trust him to a) honor the scholarship commitment and b) coach them well (whether it is Lee's fault or not, players may wonder why Turner and Barskdale flopped even though they were highly touted by experts and recruited by major programs). Seems like we are 2 years away from simply cmpeting for sunbelt title, something that was a given each year for a long time (that we would at least be competing for title).

I agree that a losing season this year would be disappointing. However, it may set us up for long term success. If the freshman don't lose confidence, we may see improvement right at the heart of conference play. Going this route may make it unnecessary for us to realize so heavily on transfers down the road. Keep in mind that the SBC commissioner wants us to institute a rule that only one transfer per year is allowed per team (be it JC or from another school). Also, we are not giving up on transfers completely. David Dees will be the best player on the team and he is a transfer. Coach Lee said the other day that there is a strong possibility we will get a Univesity of Houston transfer.

[Clutch0364]

Thanks for the explanation. That is helpful regarding the high school recruits. I sure hope we don't go 12 and 16 this year though. That would be dreadful and inexcuseable for the Cajuns to have two straight losing seasons and not even competing well in the weak sunbelt. When Lee came in as head coach, the cupboard was far from dry and that is why he won the first year. Seems like things have suddenly gone from great to mediocre and all the excusses in the world will not satisfy me as a fan if the Cajuns go 12-16 this year, following up on 13-16 last year. This incoming high school class is good, but not so amazing that we beat out major programs for players. There is no super blue chipper in the class. I realize they were transfers, but Greene, Wade, Mitchell and Southhall were all super blue chippers. Talent is not everything, but a certain amount has to exist for the team to compete at a high level and have chance to not only make the tourney but win a game or two. If the Cajuns can only get that type of talent from transfers then that is what they must do. If you take OG, Wade and Mitchell off of the '04 and '05 teams then there is no NCAA tourney bid and no excitement. If you take Mitchell and Southall off of '06 team, then it would have been a much bigger dissaster. But transfers are not going to come to Lee's program if they can't trust him to a) honor the scholarship commitment and b) coach them well (whether it is Lee's fault or not, players may wonder why Turner and Barskdale flopped even though they were highly touted by experts and recruited by major programs). Seems like we are 2 years away from simply cmpeting for sunbelt title, something that was a given each year for a long time (that we would at least be competing for title).

I hear what your saying but after that first year Coach Lee lost Greene, Hamilton, and Wade. And although the cupboard was not dry, Jesse Evans had hurt the future of the program by just recruiting JC and other D1 transfers. Lets hope for a big next couple of years.

[MiamiCajun32]

I think you need to give any new coach 4 years to get his program in place. In Coach Lee's situation I think its 5 years in that he was hired so late after the recruiting period.

Hopefully it won't happen, but when is that last time a cajun coach was given 4 or 5 years to have winning basketball teams? Fletcher was given a few years because he came in to a terrible situation, but in this case the team was in great shape Lee's first year. Then recruiting mistakes happened with the JC guys or whatever, but the bottom line is I don't think when Evans left Cajuns fans sat around and thought that the team would probably have one good year with Jesse's guys and then rebuild for 4 years.

As long as Cajuns are in Sunbelt, in my humble opinion, there should not be any over all losing records. Two years in a row would be a dissaster, but it could happen this year. We'll see. Maybe things will turn around quicker than it seems. As for me, and I may be in the minority, I am not at all satisfied with competing for NCAA tournament in a couple of years after a few years of losing seasons.

[MiamiCajun32]

I agree that a losing season this year would be disappointing. However, it may set us up for long term success. If the freshman don't lose confidence, we may see improvement right at the heart of conference play. Going this route may make it unnecessary for us to realize so heavily on transfers down the road. Keep in mind that the SBC commissioner wants us to institute a rule that only one transfer per year is allowed per team (be it JC or from another school). Also, we are not giving up on transfers completely. David Dees will be the best player on the team and he is a transfer. Coach Lee said the other day that there is a strong possibility we will get a Univesity of Houston transfer.

Maybe you are right. I am hoping for the best. It would be an absolutely terrible rule for the Sunbelt to enforce only one transfer a year. If that is in place, there is no more Greene, Mitchell and Wade players. Forget about it. And some other smaller conference will get those guys. That rule directly hurts the top traditional sunbelt program like the Cajuns and Western Kentucky, places that top transfers have on their radar.

[Cajunsmike]

Maybe you are right. I am hoping for the best. It would be an absolutely terrible rule for the Sunbelt to enforce only one transfer a year. If that is in place, there is no more Greene, Mitchell and Wade players. Forget about it. And some other smaller conference will get those guys. That rule directly hurts the top traditional sunbelt program like the Cajuns and Western Kentucky, places that top transfers have on their radar.

Many people are looking at what the Northwestern State Demons this year as they recommend limiting transfers. Northwestern had 7 seniors that had been together many years. That experience is why they were able to win a tourney game. None of their guys were that highly rated when they recruited them. I don't think many fans will believe a few average years before returning to success is acceptable. What many of us are saying is that if it happens this coming year, it will be understandable due to youth. Success should return in 07-08.

[Cajun Express]

I agree that a losing season this year would be disappointing. However, it may set us up for long term success. If the freshman don't lose confidence, we may see improvement right at the heart of conference play. Going this route may make it unnecessary for us to realize so heavily on transfers down the road. Keep in mind that the SBC commissioner wants us to institute a rule that only one transfer per year is allowed per team (be it JC or from another school). Also, we are not giving up on transfers completely. David Dees will be the best player on the team and he is a transfer. Coach Lee said the other day that there is a strong possibility we will get a Univesity of Houston transfer.

It serves no purpose to throw roses at swine. The proof of Lee will not take 4 or 5 years. As you know I supported and still support Jesse Evans as a coach of UL. He left the the team with a loaded starting 5, and nothing behind them. Then we brought in the fired coach, and had to live with his recruiting mistakes for a year, even though Coach Lee had a very sucessful season. Last year he made mistakes on key players, and frankly looking at these guys I understand why he refused to keep those mistakes on board. I am more than a little optomistic that not only will this team have a winning season, but that in the end we will go into the tournament with no worse than the 3rd best conference record. Will it be hard to produce a winning season overall? Hell yes,! Unlike Jesse, Robert hasgone out of his way to play big time programs on the road and at home.

[Tripple Threat]

[QUOTE=Clutch0364]Mouton - scholarship
James - scholarship
Hebert
Daigle - scholarship
Wallace - scholarship
Gary - prop
Dees - scholarship
Turner
Frost - scholarship
Lago - scholarship
Millsap - scholarship
Johnson - scholarship
Milson - scholarship
Dison - Scholorship

On the latest roster Pesoli is off the squad...wasn't he previously known as Graham? I saw him today with Ross Mouton and seeing him made me wonder if he is who I think he is. What is the latest update on the roster?

[MiamiCajun32]

I think you need to give any new coach 4 years to get his program in place. In Coach Lee's situation I think its 5 years in that he was hired so late after the recruiting period.

Here is one simple question: When was the last time a Cajun basketball coach had 4 or 5 years to simply build a team that could compete in a weak conference? Evans came in and cupboard was completey bare, but thankfully did not need 4 or 5 years. Same goes for other coaches past.

If UL basketball was logically headed for 4 years of mediocrity just by letting Evans go, then UL would never have let him go.

Maybe in a couple of years Cajuns will be above .500 and then the following year will compete for a sunbelt title, with about 33% of winning it (but only if another program, such as Western Kentucky, is not having a great year.

The reason Cajuns went to NCAAs the last two times was due to transfers. There will be no more great transfers coming in because of what happened this year to Lee's transfers from last year.

This high school class will have to outperform their current status because none are even close to major college blue chip material (such as Greene, Wade, Southall, and Mitchell all were). None are even as acclaimed as Turner and Barksdale coming out of high school. Of course, this year's class has to be academicaly eligible as well, which seems to be a constant problem for many programs...

[Clutch0364]

Here is one simple question: When was the last time a Cajun basketball coach had 4 or 5 years to simply build a team that could compete in a weak conference? Evans came in and cupboard was completey bare, but thankfully did not need 4 or 5 years. Same goes for other coaches past.

If UL basketball was logically headed for 4 years of mediocrity just by letting Evans go, then UL would never have let him go.

Maybe in a couple of years Cajuns will be above .500 and then the following year will compete for a sunbelt title, with about 33% of winning it (but only if another program, such as Western Kentucky, is not having a great year.

The reason Cajuns went to NCAAs the last two times was due to transfers. There will be no more great transfers coming in because of what happened this year to Lee's transfers from last year.

This high school class will have to outperform their current status because none are even close to major college blue chip material (such as Greene, Wade, Southall, and Mitchell all were). None are even as acclaimed as Turner and Barksdale coming out of high school. Of course, this year's class has to be academicaly eligible as well, which seems to be a constant problem for many programs...

We never let Evans go...he was offered more money than we could match to take over at San Francisco.

[lxa656]

Ok, so I am sitting here at work listening to Jay at the Sunbelt coaches preseason conference. Now I know it is a good thing to not have thought about the round ball yet because that means the football team is doing well!!!!

However, it almost November and I havent heard anything about our upcoming season. So now I ask all of you pundits that know a thing or two if you could give up your preview! Come on Clutch, I know you have a preview for us!

Not to mention, we are picked to finish......6th!!! Repeat, 6th in the West...not the confernce but just in the west. YUK!

Would like to read a lil bit about what to expect this season.

[CajunRebel]

Ok, so I am sitting here at work listening to Jay at the Sunbelt coaches preseason conference. Now I know it is a good thing to not have thought about the round ball yet because that means the football team is doing well!!!!

However, it almost November and I havent heard anything about our upcoming season. So now I ask all of you pundits that know a thing or two if you could give up your preview! Come on Clutch, I know you have a preview for us!

Not to mention, we are picked to finish......6th!!! Repeat, 6th in the West...not the confernce but just in the west. YUK!

Would like to read a lil bit about what to expect this season.

This is going to be a tough season. A really tough season.
So far I am am not too impressed with Coach Lee's program. But I'll save that for another day.

[CajunKate]

One word... YOUNG! Okay, two words... young and INEXPERIENCED! That about sums up my preview. Nonetheless, I renewed my season tickets, and I'll be at every home game. Geaux Cajuns!