Extend Lavin - Yes or No?
- Thread starter redfazed
- Start date
The fact that the question is being asked proves that he hasn't earned an extension. That's his fault- not SJU. He's a lousy coach and hasn't landed anyone since Jordan. Time to cut the cord and give our competitors something to worry about. Even Norm did better scrounging leftovers with his crumby reputation. His lack of an extension hasn't hurt recruiting and throwing more money at him won't help at all.
Frankly, if they are not going to give an extension they should have gone in another direction after last year. Lame duck status does hurt recruiting, there is no arguing that. I realize the emotion but firing coaches every few years is no way to build a program. Lavin may not be the answer but we have not had a competent coach since Louie so playing musical chairs certainly hasn't worked. Again, for all you guys calling for his head; who do we get......realistically? I am sorry but talk NYC all you want, proven college coaches are not beating down the door to come to SJU.
stjohnschris
Active member
They might have been testing the waters in the past 2 months or so. I thought this would be figured out by now. Finding a better basketball coach would not be difficult; finding a coach who can recruit on a high level, can do PR and press conferences, as well as coach the actual game IS difficult.
beast of the east
Active member
Question #1: How many years since SJU landed a talent like Jordan? Answer: 2 years. Harkless
Question #2: Who was SJU's last NBA talent before Harkless? Answer: Artest
Question #3: How in your right mind can you compare Lavin's recruiting grabs to anyone who coached in 2000s at SJU?
Question #4: How much you think SJU will spend on the next coach if they decided to cut Lavin loose now and pay him what they owe him?
NYCRedmen
Well-known member
http://www.rumbleinthegarden.com/st...familiar-big-east-names-purnell-lavin-willard
On Steve Lavin:
However, there have been two consecutive NIT appearances with a roster that many felt should have been a lock to go to the NCAAs. Lavin has only two years left on his six-year deal and could be out if this season's team underachieves.
On Steve Lavin:
However, there have been two consecutive NIT appearances with a roster that many felt should have been a lock to go to the NCAAs. Lavin has only two years left on his six-year deal and could be out if this season's team underachieves.
Lavins position now is very similar to that of Johnny Dawkins of Stanford last season. And he should get basically the same deal.
Advance in the tourney AND bring in a highly ranked class and you keep your job. If either one of those two goals isnt met...goodbye.
Dawkins saved his hide for another couple of years at least by meeting both standards. Lavins future here should depend on similar success.
Advance in the tourney AND bring in a highly ranked class and you keep your job. If either one of those two goals isnt met...goodbye.
Dawkins saved his hide for another couple of years at least by meeting both standards. Lavins future here should depend on similar success.
Question #5 How many times has Lavin made the NCAAs for us with players he recruited? Answer 0
Question #6 How many players will he be losing after next season? Answer 5 - Jordan, Harrison, Greene, Pointer & Obekpa. What's left? Hardly anything Go ahead. Extend him with no justification and make SJU look more stupid than ever. Admit it. The guy hosed us and everyone but Monasch and a few posters knows it..
stjohnschris
Active member
Buffalo_Soldier
New member
No tink dat dis boy aint be peeping a new job. Coach be a smart brah
beast of the east
Active member
I was not commenting on the success or lack thereof in making the tournament - I was commenting on your assertion that Lavin hasn't recruited here. If you couldn't answer my questions, then you proved my point.
That failure to make the NCAA since year 1 is obvious. To comment on what will be left after next season is full of suppositions that Jordan and Obekpa will be gone, and nothing else will materialize in the interim. You've been complaining about Lavin since he rightfully made Sean Evans a role player in his first season.
You want to complain about the lack of success in seasons 2, 3, and 4 here - you'd have a right to. I am not his apologist, but he had one scholarship to fill in year 1, and on very short notice came up with Polee - not horrible. Year two he had to fill an entire roster, then was diagnosed with cancer. Still he came up with Harkless, an NBA first rounder, Harrison, Pointer, and Greene. Then Obekpa and Jakarr, then Jordan. It's clear in this era of college basketball if you recruit NBA talent, you have to reload faster than Lavin has done. Lavin has recruited in 4 years the BE player of the year, an NBA player, a guy who's declared for the draft (stupidly), and two guys who are expected to have a shot at the NBA (Obekpa and Jordan). This compares favorably with what any SJU coach recruited over the past 25 years, and you could argue that if Harkless didn't leave, he'd have had us back in the dance.
Like you, I've sat through 20 mostly futile seasons of SJU basketball, but do think that because NR ignored balancing the roster in order to save his own skin, the cupboard was bare for Lavin in year 2, and that is a big hole to climb out of. To Lavin's discredit, he hasn't landed a plum for 2014-2015, and that simple fact is what could derail the rebuilding. Even with that though, people are saying the 2014-2015 team may be the second best team in the Big East.
I'll say it again and again and again. An extension does not have to guarantee anything beyond what is guaranteed now, but publicly would give recruits an assurance that he is contracted through their tenure. It has nothing to do with whether he deserves it or not, but if he is recruiting as a lame duck, it puts pressure on a program that hasn't recruited well from Fraschilla through 2010
beast of the east
Active member
beast of the east
Active member
Because we ALL don't know it. If we did, there wouldn't be a thread of this subject. Only the LACK of an extension means something, since the lack thereof definitely implies that a coach's future is uncertain. In this era, a contract that's guaranteed only binds a school to a coach, not the other way around. I don't think Lavin deserves a guaranteed extension, but one that isn't guaranteed is almost requisite, perhaps with performance clauses that would lock him in. Even the fans on here most in favor of firing Lavin should agree with this logic, because it is 100% the best course for the school.
So lets say for argument sake this summer the school gives him a non-guaranteed 2 year extension with a bunch of performance clauses. And next season the team fails to make the tourney. At which point the hot seat becomes that much hotter. You really think that the extension will mean a damn thing? I don't personally care whether they give him the extension or not, since I don't think it makes a bit of difference one way or the other. But IMO the only thing that will give Lavin job security, or even the perception of having job security, is how well this team performs next year.
Calling for a head coaching change is part of following sports and the more fans care about a team the quicker they call for a change. But I get the impression that many posters feel that a bad next season would be a good thing because it would result in Lavin's leaving.
To those fans I want to make the following points:
When Lavin was hired the other publicized candidates were Hewitt,Baron, Greenberg and McKillop.
SJU was a member of probably the best league in college BB history then and now maybe the fifth best in the country.
The fan base is probably in the low twenty per cent of college BB.
I hope we don't have to find out the job is not as appealing as many fans think.
To those fans I want to make the following points:
When Lavin was hired the other publicized candidates were Hewitt,Baron, Greenberg and McKillop.
SJU was a member of probably the best league in college BB history then and now maybe the fifth best in the country.
The fan base is probably in the low twenty per cent of college BB.
I hope we don't have to find out the job is not as appealing as many fans think.
westchesterjoe
Active member
Anything that remotely looks like a positive endorsement of Lavin's Performance in his time here is unwarranted. Keep remembering losing virtually every critical game last year and the icing on the cake. BLOW OUT by R. Morris.