Candidates the Cajuns should consider for MBB coach

[BirdofParadise]

_ The league as a whole has gone from being a three bid league consistantly among the top 6 conferences in the country down to a one bid league ranked about 15th. That's a big decline, no matter how you read it. Middle and Western appear better than they used to be, but only because UL, USA, UNO and even ULM have gone to c*ap. Tony's teams and USA especially have underperformed horribly compared to their traditions. _

You are talking baseball here, right?

The Sun Belt has not been a one bid league in nearly two decades. The Sun Belt has not been ranked lower than 10th in baseball during that time, and that was just one season (they were 7th last year.) And, WKU was in a regional final last year and MT won a couple of games as well.

Is the Belt as good as it was in the late 90s? No. Has it dropped off appreciably? No.

[ManAboutTown]

_ You are talking baseball here, right?

The Sun Belt has not been a one bid league in nearly two decades. The Sun Belt has not been ranked lower than 10th in baseball during that time, and that was just one season (they were 7th last year.) And, WKU was in a regional final last year and MT won a couple of games as well.

Is the Belt as good as it was in the late 90s? No. Has it dropped off appreciably? No. _

Thank you jay!

[cajun4life]

_ You are talking baseball here, right?

The Sun Belt has not been a one bid league in nearly two decades. The Sun Belt has not been ranked lower than 10th in baseball during that time, and that was just one season (they were 7th last year.) And, WKU was in a regional final last year and MT won a couple of games as well.

Is the Belt as good as it was in the late 90s? No. Has it dropped off appreciably? No. _

Jay we got off track here a bit dragging baseball into it. But the bottom line remains the same, the league has declined, mainly due to the fact that USA and the Cajuns have slumped for the past few years.

As for basketball I stand by my opinion that Louisiana does not have enough talent to feed UL enough athletes for basketball for us to be successful consistantly. I don't mean successful in the Belt either, I'm talking about OOC games where a team from a 1 bid league can work their way into an at large bid.

[BirdofParadise]

_ Jay we got off track here a bit dragging baseball into it. But the bottom line remains the same, the league has declined, mainly due to the fact that USA and the Cajuns have slumped for the past few years.

As for basketball I stand by my opinion that Louisiana does not have enough talent to feed UL enough athletes for basketball for us to be successful consistantly. I don't mean successful in the Belt either, I'm talking about OOC games where a team from a 1 bid league can work their way into an at large bid. _

I agree on your basketball assessment. I don't agree with your baseball assessment. While the Belt is not as good as it was in the late '90s, (and part of that is due to a decline by USA and UL the last two years), I believe that Western and Middle last year were as good as USA and UL were a few years ago.

I believe that FIU is back after a few down years. Western and MIddle will be quite good again. But for the league to improve its RPI, the bottom has to get bettter. UALR has been God-awful but supposedly recruited very well in the off season. ASU hasn't been very good but I think they're getting better.

[SlappyCajun]

_ So you are saying that if a Louisiana school like UL recruits and signs all of these players, it (or we) can win. Forgive me, but it is pretty naive to think that any one school will sign more than 1 or 2 of the players you listed at one time. You listed players from a 30 year stretch and implied that they would all be available at one time. HOW RIDICULOUS! _

No. That is not what I am saying at all. But its much easier just to make this post then to actually read and understand what I am saying.

The point of that post was to say that Louisiana is not a crap state in basketball. My post was a rebuttal to that argument. In fact if you look at state producing NBA players per capita. I know that you would find Louisiana near the top of that list. I also know that due to the laws of Time and Relativity that we cannot put together a team of the best players over a 30 year period. Many on that list that actually attended other schools.

There are thirteen scholarships in basketball...

So that is 3.25 players per year.
I understand and Cajun T will attest that recruiting will never be that easy. So, lets say on average every year, you will have to sign 4 players. I believe that Louisiana produces 3 kids that can help UL win consistently every year. I also believe that we can get these guys, and if you coach them, they will be good enough. Will you have to dip into Houston, or the Dallas Metroplex occasionally? I'm sure that you will. But with out a doubt the state can produce players in great enough quantity that can help this team win...

So, lets do a little experiment....

Class of 2000: Brad Boyd, Laurie Bridges, Antoine Landry (That worked out)

Class of 1987: Eric Mouton, Aaron Mitchell, Kevin Brooks (That worked out)

Class of 2006: La'Ryan Gary, Tyren Johnson, Elijah Millsap (Those guys were good enough) Plus the other guys that we signed who are good players in this league...Randell, Brandon Dison.

Class of 2010: Raymone Andrews and Javon Mitchell (Even in a year when every other program in the state knows that our coach is probably heading into his last year, and when we have not been winning we were able to get players who can help you win in the Sunbelt.)



The point of this argument is that if you have a guy who can really lock down the state of Louisiana. You may be able to contend with LSU for some. You should split recruiting with Tech. And the other schools are not an issue. (except maybe Tulane). Kids want to play basketball here, and the program is well thought of around the state. Does it make sense to have guys who can recruit other areas, of course.

In my opinion you should have one guy really good in Dallas, one guy good in Houston, then your head coach and one assistant should be GREAT in Louisiana.

The notion that winning consistently comes from being able to draw players from all over the country is flawed. I think winning consistently on a national level means being able to lock down talent from your state and other areas especially if it is good talent.

*** Again, My argument is not that we should recruit only Louisiana players, it is that Louisiana is not a crap state and basketball. I also believe that it is a rare year when the state does not produce 3 players that are good enough that we cannot get ***

Louisiana is not a crap basketball state. Again, I will argue this all day long...

PS.
Hollis Price (St. Aug),
Zimmerman who went to Miss State,
Kodi Augustus (Tara) Miss. State,
Elgin Bailey (Belaire) Miss State,
Mike White (Indiana),
Kentrell Gransberry (South Florida),
Edggrin McCain (Reserve Christian) Bradley,
Jermome Meyinesse (Virginia),
Ashton Mitchell (Sam Houston States Starting PG from New Orleans), Squeaky Johsnon (PG for UAB team that drummed LSU in NCAA tourney from New Orleans),
Tim Floyd's Teams that went undefeated in the Sunbelt, primarily New Orleans.
Damion Johnson (Thibodaux HS) Minnesota,
Clarence Moore (S. Lafourche) Georgia Tech,
Brandon Moore (Holy Cross)
Malcolm White (Helena) Ole Miss
Terrence Henry (Carrol) Ole Miss
Terry Martin (Richwood) Texas Tech
Brandon Wilson (Carroll) Ole Miss
Jeremy Jacob (Woodlawn) Oregon

Brad...Would you like to add any more from your time....

Is Louisiana still a crap basketball state????

[SlappyCajun]

_ That is exactly my point Brad, you know as well as I do that Louisiana does not have enough talent to feed all of the schools within Louisiana. Yes we can make a core group of guys from La and win like we did with like Evans did. But we also had guys like Big Mike, Anthony Johnson, Tirus Wade, Orien Green, Brett Smith and Brian Hamilton to name a few who were a huge part of our program. They were major contributors to our basketball program.

We need a coach who can get players of that caliber to come to UL. Does Louisiana produce those types of players year in and year out? Maybe, but they are not coming here out of high school. They may come back like Dewayne Mitchell did but to get them out of high school is a different story. _

Brett Smith was in Louisiana....

So, you want guys who can recruit transfer bouncebacks nationally....

Becaus none of the guys you listed with the exception of Brian Hamilton were going to come to UL out of high school...

[SlappyCajun]

_ I agree on your basketball assessment. I don't agree with your baseball assessment. While the Belt is not as good as it was in the late '90s, (and part of that is due to a decline by USA and UL the last two years), I believe that Western and Middle last year were as good as USA and UL were a few years ago.

I believe that FIU is back after a few down years. Western and MIddle will be quite good again. But for the league to improve its RPI, the bottom has to get bettter. UALR has been God-awful but supposedly recruited very well in the off season. ASU hasn't been very good but I think they're getting better. _

Jay-Bird -

Do you agree that the Sunbelt is a declining league in basketball or that Louisiana is a "crap basketball state" that doesn not have enough talent to allow us to win consistently.

I know you have watched UL for a long time...

In my memories of the teams from the early 90's were really good because B. Pierre and Marty were getting the best players from LA.

I know that M. Allen was from Lexington (and an absolute stud), and Tony Moore was from Atlanta, GA.

But Eric Mouton, Byron Starks, Kevin Brooks, Shawn Griggs, Aaron Mitchell, Carrol Boudreaux, and others were from Louisiana....

I'll hang up and listen....

[cajun4life]

_ No. That is not what I am saying at all. But its much easier just to make this post then to actually read and understand what I am saying.

The point of that post was to say that Louisiana is not a crap state in basketball. My post was a rebuttal to that argument. In fact if you look at state producing NBA players per capita. I know that you would find Louisiana near the top of that list. I also know that due to the laws of Time and Relativity that we cannot put together a team of the best players over a 30 year period. Many on that list that actually attended other schools.

There are thirteen scholarships in basketball...

So that is 3.25 players per year.
I understand and Cajun T will attest that recruiting will never be that easy. So, lets say on average every year, you will have to sign 4 players. I believe that Louisiana produces 3 kids that can help UL win consistently every year. I also believe that we can get these guys, and if you coach them, they will be good enough. Will you have to dip into Houston, or the Dallas Metroplex occasionally? I'm sure that you will. But with out a doubt the state can produce players in great enough quantity that can help this team win...

So, lets do a little experiment....

Class of 2000: Brad Boyd, Laurie Bridges, Antoine Landry (That worked out)

Class of 1987: Eric Mouton, Aaron Mitchell, Kevin Brooks (That worked out)

Class of 2006: La'Ryan Gary, Tyren Johnson, Elijah Millsap (Those guys were good enough) Plus the other guys that we signed who are good players in this league...Randell, Brandon Dison.

Class of 2010: Raymone Andrews and Javon Mitchell (Even in a year when every other program in the state knows that our coach is probably heading into his last year, and when we have not been winning we were able to get players who can help you win in the Sunbelt.)



The point of this argument is that if you have a guy who can really lock down the state of Louisiana. You may be able to contend with LSU for some. You should split recruiting with Tech. And the other schools are not an issue. (except maybe Tulane). Kids want to play basketball here, and the program is well thought of around the state. Does it make sense to have guys who can recruit other areas, of course.

In my opinion you should have one guy really good in Dallas, one guy good in Houston, then your head coach and one assistant should be GREAT in Louisiana.

The notion that winning consistently comes from being able to draw players from all over the country is flawed. I think winning consistently on a national level means being able to lock down talent from your state and other areas especially if it is good talent.

*** Again, My argument is not that we should recruit only Louisiana players, it is that Louisiana is not a crap state and basketball. I also believe that it is a rare year when the state does not produce 3 players that are good enough that we cannot get ***

Louisiana is not a crap basketball state. Again, I will argue this all day long...

PS.
Hollis Price (St. Aug),
Zimmerman who went to Miss State,
Kodi Augustus (Tara) Miss. State,
Elgin Bailey (Belaire) Miss State,
Mike White (Indiana),
Kentrell Gransberry (South Florida),
Edggrin McCain (Reserve Christian) Bradley,
Jermome Meyinesse (Virginia),
Ashton Mitchell (Sam Houston States Starting PG from New Orleans), Squeaky Johsnon (PG for UAB team that drummed LSU in NCAA tourney from New Orleans),
Tim Floyd's Teams that went undefeated in the Sunbelt, primarily New Orleans.
Damion Johnson (Thibodaux HS) Minnesota,
Clarence Moore (S. Lafourche) Georgia Tech,
Brandon Moore (Holy Cross)
Malcolm White (Helena) Ole Miss
Terrence Henry (Carrol) Ole Miss
Terry Martin (Richwood) Texas Tech
Brandon Wilson (Carroll) Ole Miss
Jeremy Jacob (Woodlawn) Oregon

Brad...Would you like to add any more from your time....

Is Louisiana still a crap basketball state???? _

Again you are pulling out the best players from Louisiana over a vast period of time. Yes louisiana produces "some" very talented players. But louisiana does not produce enough talented players to supply UL with consitent winning. Again you are assuming that UL would only have to compete with LSU for recruits.

[BirdofParadise]

_ Jay-Bird -

Do you agree that the Sunbelt is a declining league in basketball or that Louisiana is a "crap basketball state" that doesn not have enough talent to allow us to win consistently.

I know you have watched UL for a long time...

In my memories of the teams from the early 90's were really good because B. Pierre and Marty were getting the best players from LA.

I know that M. Allen was from Lexington (and an absolute stud), and Tony Moore was from Atlanta, GA.

But Eric Mouton, Byron Starks, Kevin Brooks, Shawn Griggs, Aaron Mitchell, Carrol Boudreaux, and others were from Louisiana....

I'll hang up and listen.... _

Thanks for the call.

No, I don't think Louisiana is a "crap" state for basketball. Not by a long shot. But I also don't think you can get it done just in Louisiana.

We're proving that right now.

In order to win with Louisiana talent, we have to win some battles that we've lost in the past. If we recruit against LSU for really good Louisiana players (and I'm only using them as an example) we'll lose most of those battles. But if we can WIN a few (and we've done it in the past) then you're onto something.

You won't win the Sun Belt and win in the NCAA tournament (with Louisiana players) if you can't win recruiting battles for BCS type talent within the state.

If you look at the past, we've won some of those battles. Kevin Brooks, Chris Manuel and Kelvin Price were all coveted by LSU. We had some other players that LSU would have wanted had they qualified academically.

But we haven't won any of those battles in quite a few years. That has to change if you want to win with in state guys.

Jessie had a good run, but look back at the players he had. You can name the major contributors from Louisiana who qualified as freshmen on one hand.

And I don't think you'll need all five fingers to do it.

[SlappyCajun]

_ Again you are pulling out the best players from Louisiana over a vast period of time. Yes louisiana produces "some" very talented players. But louisiana does not produce enough talented players to supply UL with consitent winning. Again you are assuming that UL would only have to compete with LSU for recruits. _

Thats not what I am saying...I also indicated that we would have to compete with Tech.

I don't really feel like we have to compete with the other guys. Maybe ULM.

The bottom line and all I'm trying to get you to admit, is that Louisiana is not a crap state in basketball. Why do you think the talent is so bad....

I cannot understand that.

[cajun4life]

Since 2003 according to Scout.com Louisiana has produced 5 five star prospects, 10 four star prospects and 20 three star prospects. Out of all of those prospects can you guess how many were signed by UL? I'll tell you 3 Courtney Wallace, LaRyan Gary and Chris Gradnigo.

You can throw out 5 star prospects because they are going to go to your elite programs or LSU. So that brings us to the team we have now, all three players are on this years squad, while I know Wallace has been injured and so has LaRyan Gary it just goes to show that your theory of an all Louisiana team is not winning. Also it shows that UL will never be able to pick and choose from the elite, superior to decent Louisiana talent.

5 Star: Brandon Bass(LSU), Glenn Davis(LSU), Tasmin Mitchell(LSU), Lacedarius Dunn(Baylor) and Greg Monroe(Georgetown)

4 Star: Shan Foster(Vandy), Kenneth Cooper(Ok St.), Terry Martin(Texas Tech), Demond Carter(Baylor), Perry Stevenson(Kentucky), Jeremy Jacob(Prop), Malcom White(Prop), Terrence Henry(Ole Miss), Matt Derenbecker(LSU), Markel Brown(Ok St.).

That is yur 15 elite prospects from Louisiana since 2003. Do you think we are able to sign 3 of these guys a year? The answer is no, we haven't hell we have not signed more thn 3 of the 20 3 star prospets from Louisiana.

[SlappyCajun]

_ Thanks for the call.

No, I don't think Louisiana is a "crap" state for basketball. Not by a long shot. But I also don't think you can get it done just in Louisiana.

We're proving that right now.

In order to win with Louisiana talent, we have to win some battles that we've lost in the past. If we recruit against LSU for really good Louisiana players (and I'm only using them as an example) we'll lose most of those battles. But if we can WIN a few (and we've done it in the past) then you're onto something.

You won't win the Sun Belt and win in the NCAA tournament (with Louisiana players) if you can't win recruiting battles for BCS type talent within the state.

If you look at the past, we've won some of those battles. Kevin Brooks, Chris Manuel and Kelvin Price were all coveted by LSU. We had some other players that LSU would have wanted had they qualified academically.

But we haven't won any of those battles in quite a few years. That has to change if you want to win with in state guys.

Jessie had a good run, but look back at the players he had. You can name the major contributors from Louisiana who qualified as freshmen on one hand.

And I don't think you'll need all five fingers to do it. _

Jay -

I think this is probably highlighting what I am trying to say. I've never said I want a roster full of Louisiana kids. Even though, I may feel more strongly than most about the success you could have with them.

I think this argument started because it was orginially implied that a coach with recruiting connections wasn't important because Louisiana was a crap state in basketball.

I remember as you do, times when we would recruit and get out of high school some of the best players in the state of Louisiana. We also had some very good teams at those times.

I think it is a perfect storm for that right now as well. Because, Trent Johnson is not really a guy who is a lock down recruiter in Louisiana. So, if we get someone who can really compete for BCS talent, then we have a shot to really do something special.