Mike Dunlap returns to his roots at Loyola Marymount

[chelan17]

Well said slblions08. Dunlap has rubbed me wrong since the 1st day he stepped on campus and has continued to do so since. Comes across as a guy with a huge ego, me first type coach. Not the type of coach that players want to play for. That Bobby Knight style of coach may have worked in the past but do not think it plays well with the player of today. Most likely the reason that LMU has not got one commit from a recruit of substance or that the past staff was on. Just my 2 cents for what its worth.

[Lion-O]

This guy never been long term head coach of Division I school. Wonder how his recruiting compared to his peers at the Division II level or even Australia. Guess hard to compare.

[LIONS90045]

chelan17 - welcome aboard
While I bit my tongue writing my summary of the "[non] scrimmage" to stay positive, I did get the feeling that Dunlap is a coach that I wouldn't want to play for given his over-bearing attitude on the court. Evan did not smile a lot during the exhibition event and I was feeling sorry for him being there.
My feelings about Dunlap are still open however and I remain a loyal supporter of the team and the players.

[ironlion]

Recruiting will be very interesting to watch under Dunlap and staff. You can be a excellent x's and o's coach, but if you can't recruit the right guys, with the right talent level, to fit your system then success will be hard to come by. The best jockey in the world isn't going to win the Kentucky Derby on a donkey. I think the focus for CMD and staff will be Australians and European players. If you have the right connections then you can certainly build a successful program i.e. St. Mary's. The only issue is Australians/Canadians and Europeans are being recruited by everybody now. Remember the Swedish guard Alexander Aka Gorski who was being recruited by LMU but ended up in Wyoming. The very best foreign players are even starting to come to the US to play in prep and high schools which makes it harder for a mid major school. A kid named Kobe Paras from the Philippines came to LA for high school and just committed to UCLA.  
 
I feel that to be successful at LMU you MUST recruit LA players and I haven't really seen that yet. I count five LA recruits already that have gone else where including Ogden Utah of all places. As a recruiting junkie I have gotten to know a lot of AAU guys over the past few years. I was talking to AAU coach the other day and he said "Dunlap is so arrogant...he will NEVER get one of our players". That's a bit troubling. Let's see what happens down the line.

Dunlap had a interesting quote about recruiting in LMU magazine, "As for recruiting, I’ve been where no coach in the WCC has been and that’s coaching in the NBA, so you have to play to that advantage". A bit arrogantly stated but this experience should be an advantage. 

I'm looking forward to seeing the new players in action in the upcoming weeks to gauge the talent level against other WCC schools.

On another note, academics was being discussed recently- here is a related  story from the main website that just posted. 

www.lmulions.com/genrel/103014aaa.html

"Six LMU teams registered perfect 100 GSR marks, including men's basketball, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's track, and women's water polo. The perfect score was the seventh straight for women's track, the fourth straight for men's track, the third straight for women's water polo, and the second straight for men's basketball".

[Lion-O]

I agree. He has to get that LA pool of recruits. Some coaches make up for their lack of recruits with assistant coaches who have connections. Was hoping he would set up a team like that.

[aussielion]

everybody seems quick to drop kick Mike Dunlap if he gets the team playing well the better players on offer will want to come here,i dont think they will want to play for LMU while they are one of the bottom teams,having just got an interest in the Lions i cant believe all the negativity going on at the moment,as we say in Aussie "give him a go you mug" go you Lions

[guarddad]

Thank You Aussielion!

[thx4leavinjimlynam]

Yes, I too, am very confused at all the negativity. How many games have we lost? Considering he was hired in March, I thought it was pretty much agreed that Dunlap did a solid job with this year's recruiting class.

Saying he needs to recruit locally isn't a slam on Dunlap, it is an opinion that I respect. We'll see what happens and if Dunlap focuses primarily on international recruiting or if he mixes and matches. As the old saying goes, "time will tell."

But, in general, there does seem to be a lot of venom aimed at CMD. As Aaron Rodgers said in September "R-E-L-A-X." We have a scrimmage in five days, and the season begins in less than two weeks. Let's keep it positive!

Go Lions!

[longtimelionfan]

Opinions, everyone is entitled to one. And, let's be honest, it's clear that some posters seem to have made up their mind about Dunlap based upon his reputation, his reported personality, their observation of his personality or his style. Like or dislike hiim that is anyone's right. But, to declare him a success or failure now is pure poppy****. As former Senator Daniel Moynihan was fond of saying, everyone is entitled to their opinion but they are not entitled to their own facts.

I happen to agree with Ironlion when he says it will be interesting to watch how Dunlap continues to recruit. For me this is so in part because this is the first time since Westhead that LMU has a name coach. So, given that and egos do I find it odd that there may be clashes with. AAU coaches and their egos? No. Not at all. But. again, let's be honest about the facts. This year's recruits particularly Herman (high major beat out Auburn and Pearl), Humphries (2 time JC All-American), Hayes (HS State Champion, JC State Champion), Spiers (6'8" shooter w/junior national team experience), Kracoviic (national team experience) , Haney (6'7" shooter fringe ESPN top 100 ranked player) all come in with equal or better reported credentials than did Payne or Levin last year. Will they be as good or better than those two? Who knows? We'll see. We knew nothing of how good Payne or Levin would be at this same time last year. Or, that the highly reputed Nino Jackson would fizzle, get injured and flame out. We just don't know. But, to suggest that Dunlap won't be able to recruit or has to do it a certain way is without foundation at this point. He hasn't won or lost a game yet. You can dislike, like or be ambivalent about him and his methods but, at this point, it's all pure speculation, conjecture and unsupported opinion.

[oldestlion]

Thanks long time. Let's get rid of the negative and give the guy a chance.

[guarddad]

Thank You...Thank You and Thank You!!!

GO LIONS!!

[ADG'99]

www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-mike-dunlap-lmu-20141104-story.html
When the job opened this time, Dunlap listed the reasons he thought the program had been unsuccessful. Are you prepared, he asked Husak, to make changes?

Husak said yes. Dunlap then asked for a long-term contract, and Husak said yes to that too, though neither the coach nor the school would reveal the terms

Dunlap said he wants to put down roots at LMU. Early on, he has relied on his resume and far-flung personal connections to land international recruits.

"Sometimes we go to the gym and he says, 'This is Michael Jordan's drill,'" said Petr Herman, a freshman