Semi jokingly, I'd take Lavin back in a heartbeat right now. Yes, tons of warts but we at least won with him, made Top 25 and 2 tourneys.
And Mullin was a crappy coach, if we can even call him one, but at least there was a buzz with the program and had some fun wins that were like the NCAA for me given how little expectation there was. GIANT SLAYERS....lol
I said when they fired Lavin, not to take the results he got here for granted. I wasn't sure we could do much better, especially if we continued to play by the rules. I also didn't like when we did it. After we decided to keep him following year 4 (you could have justified firing him after the Robert Morris debacle), then he should have a 2 year extension, to set him up for recruiting. Instead, without anything guarenteed (I think he had a year left, which is nothing in college sports,), the inevitable new coach was left in limbo.