Cajuns lose replacement for Lee and SBC basketball gets better

[DestinCajun]

Thanks for showing your support. Unfortunately not all fans do so in the bad times and this is the bad times when Cajuns performance on the court was one of the worst of any team in D1A last year. Hopefully it will improve dramatically, especially now that it is Lee's 4th season. Lee needs to show he can win without the veteran and very talented team he had his first year. But if team loses 20 games, he will likely be back for 5th year I suppose, with all these funding problems...

You're in Miami, right? Well, the next time the Cajuns play FIU or FAU show up in UL red and support them. Then come back and give us your thoughts based upon first hand observations of the coaching, the talent and play on the court.

[Just1More]

What the heck happened? I mean, did the basketball team lose another game? Is someone starting up an anti-Lee thing again? Oh, the sanctions coming out, finally, got the anti-movement back on the scene. Same arguments as prior? Oh, OK, SSDD.

See you at the basketball games this year.

[MiamiCajun32]

_ They arent really fans then.

Z. _

I don't know of many programs around the country that would fill basketball arenas in 20+ loss season.

[MiamiCajun32]

_ What the heck happened? I mean, did the basketball team lose another game? Is someone starting up an anti-Lee thing again? Oh, the sanctions coming out, finally, got the anti-movement back on the scene. Same arguments as prior? Oh, OK, SSDD.

See you at the basketball games this year. _

No all is still the same with basketball program unfortunately. Since the season ended, it is still arguably the worst season in the program's history and it was still year 3 for the coach running the show. Nothing has changed.... A couple of months of offseason has not erased what happened the past two seasons.

[Cajunsmike]

No all is still the same with basketball program unfortunately. Since the season ended, it is still arguably the worst season in the program's history and it was still year 3 for the coach running the show. Nothing has changed.... A couple of months of offseason has not erased what happened the past two seasons.

The only thing that can help the future is improvement of current players and the bringing in of new players. Current players are working on their game on their own at this point. Key will be the upcoming end of semester exams for the four players who sat out for academic reasons this past year. If they do as well as they did in the fall, that will be a positive. Now that the sanctions have been announced, Coach should be able to sign a big man as he can counter the negative recruiting we have been up against with facts that television/post season appearances are not limited. Not having to take the scholarship hit until next year should make most of this moot. Chris Gradigno needs to finish the school year strong and graduate from LaGrange High School. to insure he is eligible. That is also likely a moot point. Nothing ever changes the past. All you can do is try to improve to prepare for the future.

This past season was not the worst in program history. The record was 9 and 21. The 1995 team went 7 and 19 with two of those wins being non Division 1. The schedule that year was also not as challenging as what we faced this season. That was a poorer result than this season's team and I imagine their may have been some in the distant past that were poorer That same 1995 team went 16 and 13 the following season without bringing in many additions. Our current team lost one main contributor in Ross Mouton and as many as seven additions are likely. These include the four guys sitting out, a transfer from Houston, Maurice Barksdale who sat out last year due to injury, the high school guy we signed in Novermber, and a post player I expect us to sign soon. I have mentioned all of these facts to you several times. Why do I have to keep reminding you of them.

[TillmansNumber1]

_ Some people can't even survive a two year struggle so why would any future coach wanna come here. I swear we are our own worst enemy. _

Interesting theory, Jeaux. However, coaches are scared off more by schools firing or dismissing previous coaches despite consistent success. It's why many people rejected Alabama (Rodriguez, Petrino) before Saban settled there. Canning a coach after years of futility doesn't freak out many coaches. Not retaining Evans (seven years, five in the postseason) probably still hurts the Cajuns repuation more than if they were to fire Lee years from now.

The two year probation for the Cajuns could spell disaster for the program. Losing one scholarship is huge and having to give back all the money earned from two postseason appearances hurts an athletic department that doesn't have a lot of money. The removal of the NCAA tournament appearances hurts but not in the same way. It never seemed like the Cajuns promoted those teams involvement in the tournament anyway. There were never signs around town, in the Cajundome, on the website, or on the big screen during games promoting those two teams. If anything, it just lowers Coach Lee and Evans' winning percentages. That's about it.

The two year probation ensures Coach Lee will finish his contract, if he has two years left. Firing Lee before the end, given the sanctions, would be a mistake. There's no money to pay his buyout and what coach would want to come to a school on probation?

It's just weird to think of the Cajuns basketball program as a floundering program. Just two years ago, they could've beaten Louisville if Brian Hamilton had gotten the ball more than eight times. The cards seem stacked against Lee and the Cajuns. They'll rebound, ojala.

Since most of the information about Lee and the basketball program is disturbingly depressing, here's something positive. On the admission website for Louisiana/Lafayette, they have a few students featured. Each student profile features ways they're involved on campus, things they enjoy about Louisiana/Lafayette and why they became a Cajun.

Overall, it's pretty good and could be improved by doing a few things:
1. Make it in video.
2. Feature more LA students from outside Lafayette (it isn't just for people from Lafayette)
3. Feature a few international and out of state students who had no previous connection to Louisiana or Lafayette.
4. Feature it on the main page. It's hard to find if you're not looking specifically for it. It's a good idea; promote it.

http://admissions.louisiana.edu/basi...lioindex.shtml

[DestinCajun]

"The two year probation for the Cajuns could spell disaster for the program."

You never know, State bought a player for what (?) $6000 and survived a much greater penalty for doing so. I feel like we'll survive this penalty without a major disaster.

[Cajunsmike]

Interesting theory, Jeaux. However, coaches are scared off more by schools firing or dismissing previous coaches despite consistent success. It's why many people rejected Alabama (Rodriguez, Petrino) before Saban settled there. Canning a coach after years of futility doesn't freak out many coaches. Not retaining Evans (seven years, five in the postseason) probably still hurts the Cajuns repuation more than if they were to fire Lee years from now.

The two year probation for the Cajuns could spell disaster for the program. Losing one scholarship is huge and having to give back all the money earned from two postseason appearances hurts an athletic department that doesn't have a lot of money. The removal of the NCAA tournament appearances hurts but not in the same way. It never seemed like the Cajuns promoted those teams involvement in the tournament anyway. There were never signs around town, in the Cajundome, on the website, or on the big screen during games promoting those two teams. If anything, it just lowers Coach Lee and Evans' winning percentages. That's about it.

The two year probation ensures Coach Lee will finish his contract, if he has two years left. Firing Lee before the end, given the sanctions, would be a mistake. There's no money to pay his buyout and what coach would want to come to a school on probation?

It's just weird to think of the Cajuns basketball program as a floundering program. Just two years ago, they could've beaten Louisville if Brian Hamilton had gotten the ball more than eight times. The cards seem stacked against Lee and the Cajuns. They'll rebound, ojala.

Since most of the information about Lee and the basketball program is disturbingly depressing, here's something positive. On the admission website for Louisiana/Lafayette, they have a few students featured. Each student profile features ways they're involved on campus, things they enjoy about Louisiana/Lafayette and why they became a Cajun.

Overall, it's pretty good and could be improved by doing a few things:
1. Make it in video.
2. Feature more LA students from outside Lafayette (it isn't just for people from Lafayette)
3. Feature a few international and out of state students who had no previous connection to Louisiana or Lafayette.
4. Feature it on the main page. It's hard to find if you're not looking specifically for it. It's a good idea; promote it.

http://admissions.louisiana.edu/basi...lioindex.shtml

The financial penalty is only 20 grand. The lost scholarship hit does not have to be taken at all this year. The good news about this is that it is over and other schools can't negatively recruit against us with this.

Another point about the view that we should have stayed out of postseason play in the upcoming seasons in order to keep the titles when Greene played. It is not only the current players that it would be unfair to. It would be unfair to the local fans who have season tickets. In college basketball, you have a chance until you are eliminated from your tournament. You keep supporting your team if there is a chance for improvement. Not having that chance would really be difficult on fans who go to games. Recruiting is not as high a priority as in some years right now, but it would make it almost impossible for us to sign the post player we are after. Next time someone proposes that idea, they need to think the thing all the way through.