thoughts on the future of the program

[bred42]

As an alum, I'm terribly disheartened at the perpetual futility of the basketball program. Explain to me how a private university, with top notch academics in a variety of fields, located on a pristine campus just minutes from the Pacific Ocean and the rest of LA can't attract 5 or 6 top notch basketball players every year or two.

Two of the premiere local high-school programs (Westchester and St. Bernard) are literally within walking distance of the campus! Furthermore, there are several other prominent high school programs within a few mile radius (e.g., Inglewood, Morningside, Bishop Montgomery).

LMU may never become a final four caliber program on a consistent basis. But there's no reason that schools like Gonzaga, located in dinky Spokane where the sun never shines, should be consistently beating us in the recruiting war. Los Angeles has arguably the deepest talent pool of highschoolers in the country. And this is basketball. It's not like football where 10 or 15 top recruits are necessary to keep up. Basketball really only requires 2 or 3 solid freshman rotating in every year.

So if I'm the AD at LMU, my first priority with the basketball team would be to find a coach with extensive local high school connections. Someone from the area who knows where to look for highschool talent; who has an interest in building back up a once great program. We can get this done. The university is tremendous, and should sell itself to any number of local highschool players who want to stay close to home.

Moreover, it's not like doing well at LMU will keep you anonymous. L.A. loves winners, and people will support the program if it shows a turnaround. It's as much a part of the fabric of the history of the cit as UCLA or SC.

[stonewall]

This is a nice idea, but it seems the program's course of action is pretty locked in right now, for better or worse. Unless someone high up decides that a wholesale change is in order, which would basically mean back to the drawing board...again.

[zagsfanforlife]

Thats an interesting idea and thought.

However, I believe just as easy as that high school coach could recruit the top players in la, Max Good can do the same. How you may ask? Simple. Win games. If LMU starts to win games, goes to the NCAA tournament, gets some national exposure, there is no doubt that the Westchester kids, the Bishop Montgomery, Inglewood high kids will start looking LMU's way. Winning cures all, especially the talent level a team is able to bring in. Did Gonzaga out recruit LMU before their magical '99 run? I don't believe so. The reason they are able to consistently recruit is because they consistently win. It does not matter the location of the school, how many beautiful women are on campus, or how stunning the atmosphere at LMU is. If the team finishes at the bottom of the WCC every year, and has little media coverage, none of the top recruits will come LMU's way.

Winning cures all. Winning attracts all. The winning starts next year. After that, little by little the local kids will become Lion's

[crazycagegirl]

But don't you know, Zags....we have a WATER POLO TEAM that wins games!

And here we are....back at wondering who to hold accountable for the fact that we haven't been able to pull a decent program together in the past 10 years.

[LIONS90045]

I too am hopeful and would think it wise if Good can use his Bayno connections to help identify the best player available to join the LMU squad to replace Vinson.

[golions]

Feb 8, 2009 21:38:51 GMT -5 LIONS90045 said:

I too am hopeful and would think it wise if Good can use his Bayno connections to help identify the best player available to join the LMU squad to replace Vinson.

Bayno and LMU don't mix.

Let Good recruit on his own w/o B-Squared.

[ADG'99]

Feb 8, 2009 14:22:09 GMT -5 @crazycagegirl said:

But don't you know, Zags....we have a WATER POLO TEAM that wins games!

And here we are....back at wondering who to hold accountable for the fact that we haven't been able to pull a decent program together in the past 10 years.

10 years??? Try more like 20. As fun as it was to watch tiny Haywood Eady play with the giant Sylvester Kainga, I wouldn't call that a "decent" team.

[guest]

bred42-

st. bernard's is NOT a premiere high-school program and hasn't been for 15+ years. westchester is but those kids cannot succeed with LMU's academic standards (in admissions or once they are here).

you're right, so-cal is a hot-bed for recruiting. but every div-I in America tries to recruit LA. and you cannot compete with that trickle down effect.

by the way - your recommendation to find a "coach with extensive local high school connection" was rodney tention. he was an LA guy and a recruiter.

back to my main point........

how come people can't realize recruiting is more than just about the weather... everyone always says "how can we not be successful?? we have weather, hot girls, good academics??

does it dawn on you that those reasons might be the reasons YOU chose LMU but aren't always the same reasons a top-notch recruit chooses a college??

spokane- where the sun never shines... well the weather is just fine in the superior athletic facility called the McCarthy center... it never snows in the gym for all those times they are on national TV.

if i'm a top notch coach am i going to LMU where the weather is nice?? or am i going to work for Gonzaga... a place where i make waaay more $$$ with a less-expensive cost of living?

am i going to a place where (up until this year) consistently rejects prospective student-athletes because of their slight academic deficiencies (same kids end up going to places like st. mary's, boise state, new mexico etc) or am i going to work at a place like Gonzaga where i can get in any kid as long as they are NCAA eligible?

zagsfan - yeah you're right but once the zags won they upped all their funding after their run that allowed them to maintain and exceed their previous standards.

cagegirl - you're killing me with the water polo comparison. not as many d-1 competitors, and water polo guys might care about the weather and the girls so LMU is the spot for them. also, all they have to do is win their conference and they have an automatic birth to the Final Four... also easier considering they are in one of the weakest conferences.

[ironlions]

I'm really sick of all this b*tching. Yes we are horrible but we are relying on 3 freshman and one sophomore in Teel (who is playing his first year of D1 ball) to win games for us. We have five walk ons on the roster. Its great Counts and Kanne have scholarships but ultimately they are still walk ons. Deric is probably one of the worst players we have ever had, and Brad despite his hustle under the basket provides ZERO offense. Sherman doing his dance turning time outs is more likely to score for us.
Because of our lack of depth we can only play zone and don't have any inside game. Kevin is great on the boards but he is still way under weight to be a force down low. He is relying on his outside shot way too much- it still needs a lot of work. In addition we have freshman playing 35-40 minutes a game which means exhaustion will set in second half. Perhaps we could rest them a bit and give some of the walk ons a few minutes. Well we could try that but we will start losing by 40 and 50 points because they would get eaten alive by D1 athletes they are trying to guard. Any one who has any understanding of basketball knows we aren't going to win that many games. If you love coming on the board and whining about how bad we are you will have a great time till the end of the season because we will not win any more games this year. This season was lost long ago- get over it.

"We will be better next year".

Yes this is something I say a lot. But no one really knows what will happen until they start playing. There has been chatter about getting recruits- well the team has some of the best incoming recruits and transfers on the roster that we have ever had. If everything holds we will have next year:

Jarred Dubois: A ton of experience from this year. Can run the team and provide scoring if needed.

Larry Davis: Recruited by the Big East, and ACC. Is very quick and savvy with the ball. Can score in bunches. A four star recruit.

Vernon Teel: Already our leading scorer this year. He could put up 20-25 point any given game. He had interest from Kentucky and Oklahoma.

Drew Viney: Recruited by most of the PAC 10 schools. Has a great shot and will provide an out side threat. Didn’t really get see what type of player he is at Oregon due to injury. He is a top 100 player in his class and a four star recruit

Laron Armstead: Has some great moves in the post and will be more effective with more bulk. Had some great games this year-including 16 vs. UCLA.

Tim Diedirichs: Will probably come off the bench. Timmy will give us at least some scoring in the post- average 8ppg as a freshman. I see his defense and rebounding improve under Good.

Ashley Hamilton: It’s to bad Ashley got injured this year. We really needed him. Athletically he is a huge asset. 40 inch vertical and a 7 foot wing span. He is quick and will be a match up head ache for the opposition.

Kevin Young: Is already a monster on the boards. With more bulk and working on his outside shot he will be one of our best players

Edgar Garibay: Had interest from Indiana, Gtown, UNLV, and Memphis. I watched him a few times in summer. He will start as a freshman and will be better post player than we have had in a long time. Has an outside range and will extend the defense.

Given Kalipinde: Given had forty schools interested in him. ESPN ranking of him is a 90 which is close 3 points lest than Vinson.

Terron Sutton: I don’t see him on the team next year.

Brad Sweezy: I don’t see him on the team next year.

We could add one to two more recruits. I saw Coach Levy and Coach Scholl talking to two recruits at the Pepperdine game.

So in sum, yes we are bad this year. Next year things will be better- we can’t be any worse.

Go Lions

[LMUpepbander]

Thank you ironlions. I've been thinking the same thing. As far as I'm concerned, this year is irrelevant, and only serves to give the freshmen experience... heck, I'd go as far as to call the remaining schedule nothing but official scrimmages.

The fact that we may only have 1 win doesn't phase me. This year was a transition anyway.

[crazycagegirl]

Feb 9, 2009 13:30:46 GMT -5 guest said:

cagegirl - you're killing me with the water polo comparison. not as many d-1 competitors, and water polo guys might care about the weather and the girls so LMU is the spot for them. also, all they have to do is win their conference and they have an automatic birth to the Final Four... also easier considering they are in one of the weakest conferences.

DUDE. You're missing my sarcasm......I can't believe you actually thought I was serious.

[dedicatedlionfan]

maybe the fact that next year is the 20th anniversary of Hank will pump spirits up?!!!

[stonewall]

Speaking of Drew Viney, I dug this up:



I never thought I'd be so excited by a player that can actually hit a free throw!

[LIONS90045]

Thanks - the future of Oregon basketball indeed! The future of LMU!
On the whole, Bayno was great even with his departure. Brought excitement to the fans, brought us DuBois, Amstead, Young, Hamilton, Davis and Viney and next year Kalpinde (sp??) and Garibay. Who would want to go back at this point with these kids (with an injury laden roster) playing so well in recent games? Thanks Coach Bayno! And thanks and best wishes to Coach Good (Who Bayno also brought) for keeping this team playing with spirit in light of the odds!

[smc4]

The jury is still out but I am hopeful we can put together a very good club even if things have gone very badly for us in the past few months.