re: Will Wade's Hearing Date

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At the end of the day, Woodward got what he wanted, a boring coach who is fine with the status quo and won't rock the boat. He got his guy. Unfortunately for him, his guy fricking sucks and has exposed us to more of how much Woodward and the administration do not give a frick about basketball. How an AD neglects a program that is a huge potential money maker should piss all of us off. LSU basketball has crazy potential and we were just starting to even think about some of our big dreams coming true (Conference Titles, Conference Tournament Titles, Consistent Tournament Appearances, Multiple Wins in the Tournament, Revitalized fan support and a packed PMAC)

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I can't believe I'm going to do it, but I'll defend Woodward here. I don't think he simply wanted a "boring guy" without any regard for winning whatsoever. Hell, he spent a shite load of money on a WBB coach that will be a negative financial ROI no matter how good they are. I think he wants to win. But Woodward is not a guy that really digs deep in a search. He looks to hire the biggest name. LSU wasn't getting a major-conf. big name HC last season. That's foolish. But one could make the argument McMahon was the biggest "name" among mid-major coaches last season. He had one of the best mid-major teams last year.

Unfortunately, hiring a "big name" form the mid-major ranks requires more than just surface level vetting. For every Nate Oats (or Will Wade if you prefer) there are many Tony Barbees, Richard Pitinos, Stan Heaths, Steve Prhoms, Kermit Davis's that flame out at major conf. jobs.

My concern when McMahon was hired was that he was simply a product of a great Murray St program, not that the MSU program was a product of him. After year 1 those concerns seem much more valid. It is not a sin to hire a mid-major HC. Most guys get to the major conferences from the mid-major ranks. The sin is holding on to a guy too long when it become clear he isn't going to get you to where you want to go.