Evaluation of Lee & Rogers Continues

[BirdofParadise]

Jay,

Maybe you can answer this, are there any D1 basketball programs who have fired their coaches or had coaches resign this season?

I mean, prorgrams don't usually wait until after tourney season to make changes, right?
I remember when we hired Jessie Evans, he was still on the bench at Arizona while they were making a Final 4 run. _

There have been a few. Not many. Some happened in midseason.

The Evans thing is different. He was an assistant. If you're looking for someone with head coaching experience, or at least considering one, then you wait til after the season ends to see who's availalbe. Most that are available happen shortly after conference tournaments end.

[Clutch0364]

There have been a few. Not many. Some happened in midseason.

The Evans thing is different. He was an assistant. If you're looking for someone with head coaching experience, or at least considering one, then you wait til after the season ends to see who's availalbe. Most that are available happen shortly after conference tournaments end. _

So are you saying we are looking at a coach still coaching lol jk Jay...thanks for the help with books...bought The Punch yesterday but haven't been able to start yet.

[BayouBaller]

You are correct that every good manager has a list.

You are incorrect in believing that UL does not. They do. Now, names could be added to that list as coaches become available.

But ul has a list

In every sport

Including baseball and softball. _

So, is this a good time to dust it off?

[California Cajun]

_ I listened to Jay yesterday too. And while I agree that there are a lot of variables to analyze, and the analysis should be thorough, consider what the analysis consists of. In addition to W's and L's, they must consider (in DW's own words) "academic success, student-athlete eligibility and retention and the potential for successful recruiting."

I find it hard to believe that the main players doing this analysis, whom I believe to be Farmer, Walker, and Savoie, didn't have any conversations about this going back a month or two, or at least over the last couple weeks. I also doubt that the end of the season snuck up on them. And, I doubt that they didn't already know the academic numbers for the program, or for any program for that matter, at any given time of the year. They may not have them memorized, but i'm sure that they're well aware of the general direction any of the programs are going at any given point. In the release yesterday, DW made it sound like they're down in their offices putting together this massive statistical study with tons of data, and you and Jay are agreeing with it. I found it funny that in Jay's show yesterday, he gave them a lot of credit in saying that you can't accuse our administrators of being dumb, but then kind of took that credit back by agreeing that it takes a long time to do this analysis. Where I disagree, like I said before, is that they should be aware of that data at any given time throughout the year, and the analysis should require no more than reviewing a few spreadsheets to become more familiar with the data. And since they knew that the season was ending, they should have been compiling and reviewing this data for weeks, if not to prepare to make a coaching decision, but to simply prepare for program review they do with every coach after every season.

That being said, I don't know what's going on in there. Perhaps they're doing a massive statistical study...Perhaps they reviewed the data and made their decision 3 weeks ago. To me, the only reason that the decision might be taking this long is if they're reviewing the financial side of things, and finding the money to make both changes, or at least to make one. I guess what I'm saying is that if they wanted to keep them, then that would have already been announced. But the reason it is taking so long is that they don't want to keep them, and they're trying to figure out where the money will come from.

The thing is that you do want to make the decision as quick as possible. Who's out there, how many teams are still playing, etc, isn't important and means nothing compared to having respect for your coaches and their families in not stringing them along, and compared to not alienating your fans. Also, I think that the sooner you do it, the sooner you are able to compile a list of candidates and act on it, before other teams begin moving in, but that's minor. _

With all due respect, I do not accept the explanation offered by David Walker for the tardy decision. You can't blame the performance on the fact that the players go to class. The university is an academic-driven business but a university's athletic department is a customer-driven business. The ulterior motive of athletics is to create an awareness of your academic institution. It's no less selfish than the customer's desire to be entertained. Educate the kids but entertain the customers if you want support.

This administration and athletic department have never accepted the responsibility of good customer service and the resulting lukewarm support from fans keeps the major sports wallowing between mediocre-good to very-bad. Softball has escaped the noose but probably wouldn't if subjected to the pressures of the major sports. I think if the customers were treated better, with more attention and respect, UL Athletics would break out of the gridlock. I interpreted this week's handling of events as business as usual and thought of David Walker as Ray Authement all over again.

[jllanclos]

3-1 Cajuns up in top 3rd...UL has 4 hits but only 1 run....Mich has 5 hits and the Cajuns have made 1 error