It might have been the only time in their four-decade relationship that Theo Sliman was in full disagreement with Bob Bass.
It might have been the only time in their four-decade relationship that Theo Sliman was in full disagreement with Bob Bass.
Bass, already a decade into his hugely-successful run as UL's golf coach, left a redshirt freshman Sliman off his lineup for the 2000 Sun Belt Conference tournament, an event the Ragin' Cajuns eventually finished as runner-up behind heavily favored Little Rock.
"Yeah, I was disappointed when he left me at home," said Sliman, now in his 16th year as head coach of the UL program he inherited from Bass in 2008. "But it made me a much better player."
It was the kind of decision that college golf coaches make every week. In almost all college events, only five players from each school make up a team's lineup, and virtually every program in the country has more than five roster members. It's a decision Bass made hundreds of times during his 18 years as Cajun head coach.
He obviously made some good decisions, considering he led UL to 10 NCAA Tournament appearances, four conference championships and 18 team tournament titles. Those were the biggest reasons that Bass was named the Sun Belt's all-time men's golf coach when the league selected its all-time teams for its 30th anniversary – the only UL coach ever to be so honored.