re: LSU basketball recruiting woes in New Orleans

quote:

---

But Frank also coached at the high school level, was a high school level athletic director and then coached at three colleges prior to coming to LSU.

---

I was speaking, more generally, about when Wilson was initially hired at Ole Miss, not when he was hired by LSU. At that point, he had never recruited a single human being, either. But anyone that's read Meat Market could clearly see how good a recruiter he was in his first year.

Not trying to spark an argument, but I personally never buy the whole "he's never recruited" argument because recruiting is about building relationships and trust and being able to relate to young guys. It's not as if recruiting is some secret formula that you need numerous years in coaching to figure out. Having been around Livingston as both a high schooler and older guy, there is little doubt in my mind that he would have a problem recruiting or relating to young guys.

Also, here's a little known face about Randy. He runs a youth basketball organization in New Orleans called Big Easy Elite Club. He very much has a presence within and connections to the New Orleans basketball community.

quote:

---

I would love to have Randy on staff, but it wouild definitely be a gamble.

---

I would simply argue that based on the above, it might not be as much of a gamble as some suggest. Besides, what is there really to lose at this point? Given the state of basketball recruiting at LSU, I think they could do (and have done) much worse. I would consider it a very low risk/high reward situation.

ETA: Another fun little nugget about Livingston: he was being groomed to be the option QB at John Curtis before he transferred to Newman.