re: You guys bashing Woody for the men’s bball hire are crazy

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You can criticize the way SW handled the Wade situation

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The timing of the Wade firing was petty and vindictive. Whether or not it was warranted is TBD depending upon the IARP ruling. If he gets a multi-year show cause penalty, then it was warranted.

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but as far as the hire there was no one coming here of any significance.

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LSU wasn't getting a top-tier HC. That would be the case even if the hire were being made under normal circumstances. The LSU basketball program doesn't have that kind of pedigree like the football and baseball programs do. The ONLY way LSU was going to get one of those hires is if there was an unexpected set of circumstances that allowed such [See Auburn hiring Pearl at the conclusion of a show cause that got him fired at Tennessee. Same thing for Houston with Kelvin Sampson, and the HUGE hire this year with Ole Miss grabbing Chris Beard]

That said, you can be critical of the hire. In fairness, the hire was in line with Woodward's usual MO. Hire a "big name". The problem is a "big name" from the major conference tier of programs wasn't available to LSU. McMahon was a "big name" from the mid-major tier of coaches. He arguably had the best season of any mid-major HC last year (Excluding programs like Gonzaga and St. Mary's who, though from a "mid-major" conference, have played themselves out of that moniker).

But it also looks to have been a lazy hire. That is, "I'll just get the 'biggest name' from the pool available". The concern was ALWAYS that McMahon was a product of a decades long successful Murray St. program. One that had success over the span of several HCs, HCs that once they made the jump to a power conf. generally were inconsistent at very best. Mick Cronin is the only former Murray St. HC over the last 20 years who has had great success at bigger jobs. More concerning is the fact Woodward was very familiar with one of those former Murray St coaches in Billy Kennedy...someone he fired at A&M for failing to meet expectations. Mid-major hires are always crap-shoots. You have to dig deeper before hiring a guy. Not just say, well he had a good year this season...so he'll work.

Perhaps McMahon completely turns things around next season and this is a moot discussion. In fact, the same concerns with the hiring of McMahon could have been said about Wade coming from VCU...a program with its own long history of success pre-dating Wade. But at least Wade had some success outside the VCU "bubble" at Chattanooga and vastly improved the LSU program in year 1.

Nothing following this season gives you any sense of confidence in McMahon. Whatever benefit of the doubt he had before has been lost for any reasonable observer (except those who irrationally defend him SOLELY out of their hate for Wade fanatics...not McMahon's actual performance). Will this ultimately be a huge blunder for the AD? Perhaps. It's looking that way right now with the program completely destroying any momentum it may have built in the previous 5 years, while the HC during that period just got a new job. For better or worse, we should have our answer in the next year. The IARP should rule on LSU's case in the next few months. And in an age where drastic program turnarounds can occur in just one season, a second year of McMahon struggling should be enough evidence to close the book.