re: LSU basketball:Season hanging in the balance?

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Not only did he leave a gutted infrastructure, but he also left an impending probation that took effect in Brady's second year and he took absolutely no responsibility for it and furthermore, left his loyal assistant and a loyal booster twisting in the wind all the while touring the country with serial cheater Jerry Tarkanian pointing fingers at the "Gestapo Bastards" of the NCAA as the fall guy for his downfall.

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Dale and Johnny Jones were exonerated by the NCAA and teh violation was by a booster. If either coach was behind the payment it was never proven so we have to take it on face value.

There were some monor allegations against Brown such as he arranged for medical care for Louis Earl before he was signed by LSU and he allegedly arranged a job for the sister of Lester and Louis. I don't believe eithe rcharge stuck and the NCAA did not find lack of institutional control.

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But I agree that Dale did serious long term damage to the program. What he did to the hoops program upon his exit was the equivalent of a scorched earth campaign

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The day Randy Livingston blew out his knee was the day the music died for LSU basketball. Dale was never able to right the ship again. He did leave a moribund program for Brady, but what an incredible 20 years prior when the Tigers rose to national prominence.

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Dale and Johnny Jones were exonerated by the NCAA and teh violation was by a booster. If either coach was behind the payment it was never proven so we have to take it on face value.

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So you believe in their innocence. Fair enough. I do not.

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The day Randy Livingston blew out his knee was the day the music died for LSU basketball. Dale was never able to right the ship again. He did leave a moribund program for Brady, but what an incredible 20 years prior when the Tigers rose to national prominence.

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Even had Livingston come here healthy he's gone two year tops IMHO. Dale had no contingency. He'd moved on. Dale's teams gave me lots of good memories too. And I've forgiven, but not forgotten.

I watched the replay of the USL game and Dale came on for one segment. He took every opportunity to take shots at Brady, save the obligatory praising of the Temple family.

Don't let the savvy speaking skills and what I believe are his genuine charitable instincts cloud the fact that Dale is one of the most vindictive folks around.

I don't know that he can help our program all that much anymore but he sure can hurt it and he will if he thinks you've crossed him.

I think Trent knows how to play this and he'll be O.K. Brady did not.

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No, I never said that. I just said they take for granted that the New Orleans kids are just as easy of a sell.

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Given the fact that only two players of any significance, Jordy Hultberg and Randy Livingston have been signed out of New Orleans in the past 40 years it is doubtful any LSU coach during that span "took it for granted" that N.O. kids are an easy sell.

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why do they have to be "highly" regarded to recruit?

thats basically my whole point. If they recruited NOLA hard enough, they could get guys that can play at LSU who other teams nationally may not know about or have the chance to see a lot.

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Ok, please name those diamonds in the rough who ended up starring at other schools whose coaches so astutely found them under Brady and Butch's noses.

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then maybe they could stumble on a diamond in the rough, like they did with after thoughts like Tyrus Thomas, or Bo Spencer

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So you want them to unearth that gem of a player in N.O. who no one knows about, yet when they do the same thing in BR they were after thoughts whom they "stumbled" upon.

Every college coach makes value judgements of players tehy believe will help their program. They sign theo ones tehy can and some pan out. Others don't fare as well for various reasons, not always because of the coach.

While Brady and company were not perfect there were many correct decisions made and there were significant achievements. Had they been able to keep Swift, Bass and Thomas for one more seaason and Lloreda had not been injured in 2004 the program may have reached unprecedented heights with no contribution from New Orleans area players.

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Sure sounds like it, doesn't it? 2 players in 40 years?

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No it's refelective of a deeper seated issue that exists, whether it is N.O. vs teh state mentality, a racial divide, or simply a desire to leave the state by inner city kids.

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Bo McCaleb
Danny Granger
Dwayne Mitchell
Ricky Woods
Antoine Landry
Eddie Ard
Quannas White
Brandon Vincent

just to name a few...

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McCaleb had grade issues coming out of high school. They had signed top 25 guard Tack Minor and Garret Temple on the way.

Danny Granger went to a JUCO abd was not highly sought. None of the other powers found him either. No one could have predicted his development, just like no one saw Tyrus Thomas blowing up like he did.

Dwayne Mitchell was a good player but no better than the players signed. He went to Auburn, then left for USL.

Brandon Vincent was a role player at Miss. St. and no better than Lazare or Neltner.

I am not familiar with Ricky Woods, Antoine Landry, and Eddie ARd and neither were the majority of major program coaches.

Quannas White went to JUCO during end of Brown's tenure and followed highly regarded Hollis Price to Oklahoma. Considering LSU under NCAA investigation at time no surprise they lost thes players.

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However, maybe with better recruiting tactics, we could have had a roster to sustain those losses. Or at least be more competitive.

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True to a point, but not realistic expectations when placed against the backdrop of teh program at the end of Dale Brown's tenure and Brady's first two years under NCAA investigation and probation. There was really no brand to be recruiting off of and they were scrambling to fill the roster with any decent player they could sign. They were in no posiiiton to be too selectived until at least 2003.

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McCaleb had grade issues coming out of high school. They had signed top 25 guard Tack Minor and Garret Temple on the way.

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McCaleb was arguably a better HS player than Temple. He led the NOLA metro area in scoring his SR year.

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Danny Granger went to a JUCO abd was not highly sought. None of the other powers found him either. No one could have predicted his development, just like no one saw Tyrus Thomas blowing up like he did.

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No, he actually went to Bradley. That's not a JUCO. Then New Mexico. And, like McCaleb, was a HS standout in the New Orleans area. He was 6-8 and was a monster in HS. Fact of the matter is, he went to Grace King, which is more known for putting out felons than basketball players.

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Dwayne Mitchell was a good player but no better than the players signed.

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He wasnt better than the last few guys we had on scholarship? Come the hell on. This kid could play.

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I am not familiar with Ricky Woods, Antoine Landry, and Eddie ARd and neither were the majority of major program coaches.

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Ricky Woods(Carver HS) was 2006 Southland Conf POY at Southeastern LA. Led them the year they almost upset OK ST in the NCAA tournament.

Landry played PG at ULL a little before Mitchell

Ard(Rummel) was a smooth 6-5 swing man, a 3 year starter at Lipscomb and led them in scoring for 3 years and now plays in the NBDL.


Considering what guys like Stehpon Curry is doing, and how teams like Geroge Mason going to the Final Four, you cant sit here and tell me that guys like this cant play in the SEC, or for LSU.

Dwight Lewis was a pretty solid kid from Rummel. He is doing well @ USC. But then again, he commited to LSU, then Kansas, then LSU and all of a sudden ended up @ USC.

Something fishy with that one.

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The guy can flat coach

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Then why did our team suck so badly in his 9th and 10th seasons?

Lester, did you have Eugene Edgerson from St. Aug's (played at Arizona) on your list? I've been racking my brain trying to figure out his name all day and it literally just popped in my head.

Because he allowed Glen Davis to be an outside shooter in Season 9, and Tasmin Mitchell got hurt in Season 10, and our floor leader was a soft-spoken me guy in Randolph.

20, please name one strategy Brady has successfully employed against zone defenses?

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Damn, that's quite a pipeline they have built up over the years.

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Yeah, makes the Greg Monroe signing more understandable.