Ok. There seems to be a lot of smoke around Jamie Dixon. Here's a guy who is coming off a down year for Pitt (although they won the CBI championship) but the guy has a coaching awards sheet that is impressive. If the feeling is mutual, I could be turned on this guy. Yes, his style is less than appealing, and for a school that struggles with attendance and frankly may not have the most sophisticated hoops fans, do we want more years of Brady/Trent ball? But, as a Howland disciple, he's developed consistency in the Big East with not always the best recruits. He frankly reminds me of Trent in many ways, but perhaps one could argue his record in the Big East shows that penchant for winning consistently (he was at Pitt granted for more time than Trent ever has been). But, when I dig further with Dixon, it comes down to this. Can he recruit to LSU? His 2012 class looks to be pretty stout, and he has a past history of recruiting for Howland's Pitt teams. But, now, does his recruiting success depend on that of his assistants? I do think he would be a nation-wide news making hire for Alleva, and right now, given the timing and critical nature of the hire, he's a very safe pick. Coincidentally though, one player considering Pitt right now is noneother than Orlando Sanchez (JUCO PF/C that LSU was also talking to). Could it be kismit?
LSU basketball desperately needs a change of pace and a boost of energy, someone who can make an immediate impact. If Dixon is a Trent clone, then he probably isn't it. He would have a much deeper recruiting hole to dig out of at LSU than Trent had when he arrived, in addition to the problem of selling yet another 4-5 year plodding rebuilding effort to an apathetic fan base. Honestly, I'd rather see Alleva be aggressive and take a chance here rather than get another "safe" pick.
Jones at N. Texas signed a 7 year deal.......the AD up there was at LSU for a time...... http://www.meangreensports.com/View...PID=581&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=1800&ATCLID=68013 http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/co...north-texas-agree-to-seven-year-extension.ece
Nick Saban signed a seven-year deal at LSU in 2005 making him the highest paid college coach in the country . . . and he walked a couple of months later. I can't blame Jones for covering his $400,000 ass at North Texas. But if he gets a chance at $1.2 million at LSU, he will damn sure consider the offer.
So, it appears folks are resorting to mimic-ing Tger'nlhornland? Seriously, take a look at this piece... http://www.mrsec.com/2012/04/big-na...t-johnsons-tenure-to-impact-lsus-next-choice/ It's a good comprehensive "where have we been" and "what has been said" recap. He has a very similar take to me, which is fortunately or unfortunately, usually a job search takes a windy, but predictable, path. Who has Alleva talked to in the "top", "medium" and fallback tiers. You usually try to start high and work your way down. There's a lot of speculation about who's at the top. Is it Drew or Dixon? Was Buzz Williams even called? Then, there's the medium tier--how seriously would Alleva consider one of kids off the Coach K tree? Capel or Collins? Then of course, all of the overwhelming support for the hometown (or insider, depending on your perspective) boy--is it Jones or perhaps Prohm, who at least gives Alleva some sense of local-but yet not "inside" flavor. I am guessing that, based upon Alleva's past history, he'd always prefer to shoot high and given runs at Caldwell, Murphy, I see Alleva doing his best to convince Dixon to make the move. I would love to see Williams/Marshall in that mix, just because of the ties to the south. The question is ... this is LSU mens basketball, and perhaps it's not even LSU women's basketball or softball, where arguably the tradition and cupboard is more recently full. Someone's not only got to be interested in the history of LSU mens basketball, but the challenge of current LSU basketball. Something just tells me that that isn't the mindset of a 50 something head coach at a premier conference. No offense to Dixon, but is he that guy (frankly that's why I lean slightly to Williams or Marshall, who arguably still have something to prove)? I haven't always been enamoured with Dukie assistants. BUT, with Alleva's ties, I'm sure he's calling Coach K for some thoughts. I imagine the discussion, .... "Mike, this is Joe. What do you think about the LSU job? Do you think Chris, Jeff would fit here?" so on and so on. The biggest claim for Chris has been his "tireless recruiting". I just don't know if that's compelling, when you have to recruit for Duke. His biggest "recruiting" coup was Jon Scheyer picking Duke over Illinois. Since then, there have been some kids like Austin Rivers, Irving, but have they signed with Coach K or Collins? They were also one and doners--and LSU will frankly be built on kids who may not be considering Duke and Kentucky. Hence, I think Capel should get a hard look. I disagree with the writer that Oklahoma didn't go well. He went to the Elite 8, and yes, he did that based on the Griffin brothers, but he had to recruit kids to get there. He also had to coach his kids to get through the tournament. His real downturn was getting pulled into the Tommy Mason Griffin-Keith Gallon mess (which frankly, John Brady, would have been in bed with too, had he not been canned). Nevertheless, there's some "mystique" that follows the Coach K coaching tree--and coincidentally Dawkins seems to have turned the corner at Stanford after Trent left. As the world turns for sure. I think, again for those caustic LSU fans--who will immediately blame Alleva if he can't land a big fish or Trent if a coach doesn't accept this challenge--this is a cruel wake up call on the desirability of LSU basketball right now. I know it's not kosher to blame the fans, but frankly, if we had the support that even an Alabama had, this might not be a wait and see game. That said, some things are telling. Miss St went right down the list and fell at the bottom with their replacement. So did Tennessee last year. South Carolina frankly struck quick and seemingly got the guy they wanted. Which camp will Alleva fall in? My biggest deal is, if we're going to go through this dance, let's end the dance soon. With the recruiting period in balance, Coleman and potentially Hammink, waiting in the wings for the announcement, what guy is respectable but will commit to LSU soon and sincerely want to be there? Would Coleman sign if it was Johnny Jones who got the job (D-Know)? Would Hammink (probably-given Geert's familiarity)? Would there really be a bigger splash if say Dixon were to come? What about a Jeff Capel or Steve Prohm? Ah, that's the question. Who can sway his current recruits to consider LSU? That's another BIG factor in frankly who I'd even be considering. Alleva cannot afford another multi-year rebuilding project, and you'd like to see whoever gets the job be able to close the deal with Coleman/Hammink and then perhaps jump on another kid late... a juco or perhaps just someone out there who wants to follow him. What we learned from Trent's 2009 recruiting class is you have to be able to pull in at least program impacting guys soon. Frankly, though, LSU has a good base, we just need depth. To me if that top tier is not serious about LSU, the question is how do you decide on a middle tier national guy or do you go to the local? Taking aside the big fish, what are the preferences of the group--thoughts?
The cycle has to end, and who better to break it than the guy at the top? LSU has the money and the resources to build a top quality program. The only real question is whether we have the leadership and the will to make it happen. That is why Alleva gets paid handsomely to run one of the richest athletics programs in the country.
Shavon Coleman all but said he'd sign with LSU 100% if CTJ were still here. It's up to the next coach to secure him.
Oh geez, with the name calling again! Look, can we all admit that perhaps both of us are right? You are right that Trent's performance certainly contributed to his need to move on. What dig did I take at Dale? That it took him a while to get to the tournament? I didn't add the fact that for much of his 9 years late in his career, he didn't make the tournament. Are those digs or facts? Look, go back and look at attendance in the PMAC in 2006 (when LSU went to the Final Four). Then, go and look at the attendance in the PMAC in 2009 when Trent won the SEC. I'll be non-Trent biased, and bring Brady into this too. Then, go look at the same years at attendance at Arkansas, Tennessee, etc., for less than SEC leading comparably situated schools. My point is just that fan support for hoops at LSU could be better. And, yes, that support DOES make a difference--it makes a difference to current players and prospective players. Just like constant board chatter blasting coaches, when in reality, they're not doing so badly (i.e., NIT play with a good chance to make the NCAA--Jamie Dixon by the way, didn't even make the NIT this year) does make a difference. Now, I'm not saying that what Trent had to deal with was that different from every other high profile school in the country. But, I can tell you that there is a difference in the fan bases at Kansas, Wichita State, Gonzaga, and even football schools like Ohio State, Texas, Notre Dame, than what I see at LSU. A generally negative fan base doesn't help things. I'm moving on from defending Trent. My point is whomever gets the job doesn't want to spend an inordinate amount of time convincing folks to follow basketball. Go ask Rick Barnes what's that like--and he has a huge basketball budget and a nice arena. Why do you think in that same time (when LSU beats UT in 2006), DJ Augustin wants to go to Texas? The support for the program does matter. I'm also not convinced that a head coach, by himself, changes that.
So, just for record. Since you clearly love the Dale Brown era (as do I but I have reservations about JJ as a coach), do you go on record as supporting the Johnny Jones hire? That would make you buy season tickets?
