Time to step up by signing Hall

[NewsCopy]

If there is one word that best describes University of Louisiana's President Dr. Ray Authement and Athletic Director Nelson Schexnayder, it's fortunate.

After failing to step up to the plate with an offer that former Cajuns softball coach Yvette Girouard couldn't refuse, Authement and Schexnayder allowed her to bolt down I-10 to Baton Rouge where she took over the LSU Lady Tigers program.

But Authement and Schexnayder came out smelling like a rose in that deal, because current coach Stefni Lotief and her staff bailed them out.

Lotief has made sure the program didn't miss a beat despite being under new direction, keeping Louisiana as one of the top softball programs in the nation.

Another example of their good luck came once Jessie Evans opted to leave the Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team for San Francisco. Authement and Schexnayder elected to hire Oklahoma State assistant coach Glynn Cyprien and we all know how that turned out.

In case you don't, Cyprien was fired before coaching a single game because of inaccuracies in his resume.

But once again the dynamic duo were bailed out, this time by the ever-so-loyal Robert Lee. The longtime assistant proved he was the right man for the job all along by leading the Cajuns not only to a 20-win season, but the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament.

For another example of Authement and Schexnayder's good fortunes look no further than when they hired current women's basketball coach J. Kelley Hall three years ago.

In three seasons as the Cajuns' leader, Hall has led the program to a 43-43 record, a Sun Belt West Division title and the championship game of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. Hall also led the program to its first-ever unbeaten home season with a record of 13-0.

As a result of that success, it should come as no surprise that Hall's name has been linked to several job rumors such as Oklahoma State, Indiana, Louisville, Clemson and Alabama.

Two of those universities - Indiana and Clemson - are both currently trying to schedule interviews with Hall through his agent John Meadow.

Here's some words of advice for Dr. Authement and Schexnayder... don't let it happen.

The rest of the story

Eric Narcisse
enarcisse@theadvertiser.com

[Clutch0364]

Give him the raise...the success he has brought to the program alone should be enough for him to deserve much more than he is making now, plus the success that he is sure to bring to our program in the coming years.

[TheRaginTruth]

I agree!!!! Let's have both our basketball programs winning championships for years to come!!!

Geaux Cajuns

[lxa656]

ECONOMICS...

"If you build it, they will come..."

Choose one, but as one can see with the growing interest in basketball around this town, ticket sales will increase.
Simply: More attendance = more money!

People are concerned that we cant afford to pay him, well look at it like this, how much money do you think the University will lose by not having him back next year? Not saying, another coach can come in and win with our program, but does one really want to take that chance?

[shof]

I'm not going to say its "peanuts" because I'm not writing the check; but certainly we could offer the league average, if not a little better. I can see the North Texas job paying a little more ($105K) simply due to cost of living in the Dallas metroplex area. I mean, the UNO coach is getting about $15K more now and they stink! Make a fair offer and lets get this done!

[CajunRebel]

By pumping more money into womens basketball, the university would lose money.

About a year ago, I did a research paper on Title IX. In researching this paper, I found that the more money that was spent on women's athletics, the more money the university would stand to lose on it. This is because of the low interest in women's athletics. Think about it, the women could be just as good as the men, but they still won't get much more than a thousand people at their games. Even most of the top women's programs, teams that you will watch in the final four, will lose money.

The opposite is true with men's athletics. The more you pump into men's budgets, the more money you will make.

The best thing for a univeristy to do (fiscally speaking) is invest as little as possible in womens athletics and as much as possible in mens athletics, especially football. Any other investment WILL NOT pay off.

So Dr. A and Nelson are faced with a dillema here. I know that they would love to keep Hall here just as much as you and I do, but how much money do you think they are willing to sacrafice to do so? And when your budget is as tiny as ours is, it's very difficult to find the extra cash.

[lxa656]

Can anyone tell me what max capacity at EK Long is?

[Turbine]

Originally posted by CajunRebel
I found that the more money that was spent on women's athletics, the more money the university would stand to lose on it.

Well it obviously can't be a dollar for dollar loss, because the few extra dollars already invested in Lady Cajun basketball has translated into a relative goodwill groundswell in the form of increased fan attendance.

I suspect overall your report showed there was a point of diminishing returns, with no evidence of 100% return on investment. Am I off base?

I have another question; did your report evaluate and place a dollar value that positive publicity brings the university? I have an inclination that a half million dollar ad campaign could not have directed as much good vibes and pro UL feelings -especially with the feminine gender- as the Lady Cajun basketball program did in 2004-05.

Even though we know this is not how things should be, for some reason sports inspires people while academic accomplishments get approving head nods. Sports create heartfelt affiliations far faster than diplomas, and at the same time attract those yearning to learn. How do we place a dollar value on this related income phenomenon? I do not know, but it is there.

I also don't know the value of the Lady Cajun basketball budget today vs. when J.K. Hall was hired, but I wonder if any men’s sport in the country could have generated as much dollar value publicity with the same small investment.

Can we afford not to invest in Lady Cajun Athletics? It's good advertising.

[Turbine]

Originally posted by lxa656
Can anyone tell me what max capacity at EK Long is?

Since they took out the far side bleachers I think it is 1100.

When 1000 becomes the average attendance, Blackham awaits.

[lxa656]

"Since they took out the far side bleachers I think it is 1100"

Thanks Turb, that is what I had figured. With that being said, I dont see how the Cajun women could possibly lose money off of giving Hall a contract. If the advertiser is correct in saying that it will only take a $15000 increase annually to keep Hall, attendance increases alone are enough to cover the 15k. Not to mention the increase in concessions, and all the stuff that the Turbmeister mentioned

[lcitsh]

It's nice that so many of you want to keep the Halls in town, but it's going to come down to the fact that we, the alumni, need to give up the money to genuinely support this program. If alumni can come up with guaranteed money to sign football coaches for several years, we can do the same for basketball coaches. I'm not talking about buying season tickets, although that would be a proper start, but donate money to the athletic program specifically earmarked for the basketball coaches' salaries. It's not just about keeping J. Kelley and Meredith, but about keeping Rosalyn and Bill, also.

[CajunRebel]

Turbine,

If you look below, you will see three graphs that will help me illustarte my point.

As you can see, as the budgets of womens basketball teams increased greatly, yet their revenues increased only slightly. Contrast this with men's basketball, and you can see why a university (that can't afford it) will not be willing to invest a whole lot in women's athletics.

I did not put a dollar value on the positive publicity, however you have to realize that the impact of a successful women's basketball team is simply not that great. The truth is, not too many people in Lafayette are going to care about a Sun Belt Women's Basketball team.

Just look at our softball team. Softball is by far our most successful sport, and because of this there is a good impact. But it is a small impact at best. Softball doesn't make the front page (unless it's playoff time). Softball doesn't get games on TV (unless it's a game or two in the WCWS). It's very unfortunate, but it's true.

Now don't get me wrong, Coach Hall definately deserves a raise. The turnaround of this team by Coach Hall has been extrordinary! But you have to look at it from Nelson's perspective. UL has one of the smallest budgets in DI, and I can guarantee you that we don't have an extra $15-20,000 lying around. This money is going to have to come out of someone's budget. Looking at those graphs, do you really want to take money away from football or men's basketball?

I agree with Icitsh though, this sounds like something the alumni should really get involved with. We have a gem with Coach Hall, and we really can't afford to lose him.

P.S. I ran some numbers to see if attendance alone will be able to cover the raise. The answer is no. My math is below.

Our average attendance increased by 140 from last year. 314 to 454 fans.

Let's say that there are 10 games next year, and the attendance rises by 140 again, but 40 of these people are students who get in free. With 100 people paying $6 a ticket, there will be $6000 in extra revenue; not enough to cover the raise.