[kel varson]

So how much money are we talking about for the new coach's salary? I think Hanky made about 110k. Not sure about Dunton, but I would expect he made a little more.

I'm hoping we can pay 150-200 k for our new coach. That would make us competitive.

[TIMSCAR20]

Pure speculation but I think if they bump it to 200 K I may re-thing this whole broadcasting thing and put a whistle on Really though I think it will get up to that and I think it will attract some big names. IMO Liberty is a very attractive position.

[hurricane fan]

There was an article in the News and Advance awhile back on all the LU coaches and if I remember correctly, I think RD was in the $150 K range. Maybe Chris Lang can confirm or correct me???

[Chris Lang]

cane, I'll look that up tomorrow when I go to the office. We ran that list of salaries when Karcher was let go.

[Ed Dantes]

For the fiscal year that started on 7-01-04 and ended 6-30-05 (the most recent that I had available), RD netted $116,013.

And, if you ask any current college coach to come to LU to coach for $150k, you're asking him to take a huge pay cut.

[paradox]

150K can go a long way in an area like Lynchburg, where the cost of living is very reasonable and six-figure salaries are very rare. The cost of living in terms of housing rises enormously when you travel one hour north to the Charlottesville-Abermarle area.

[FlameNForest]

If I could be below average 4 out of 5 years and got paid $116,000, I'd be doing cartwheels.

[Ed Dantes]

If I could be below average 4 out of 5 years and got paid $116,000, I'd be doing cartwheels.

Don't I know it... Or how about flat out incompetent, and paid half that to NOT do your job (wait, wait, not gonna go there).

[paradox]

I guess you would

You have the right to imagine that a certain coach was "below average" in 4 of 5 years, but that is clearly not the case.

RD took over the worst ranked team in the nation after Hankinson, and immediately brought the program back to respectability, including a trip to the NCAA's in '04. His first three years were very solid. Some key players decided to move on in his fourth and we hit rock bottom. He and his staff brought the program back to respectability this season. Sure, we lost in the first round to VMI on the last play. But as it turned out VMI was the story of the tournament this season as they lost a close one in the championship game to Winthrop on the final play. As it turned out, VMI, LU, and High Point were all a solid second after Winthrop, and all three may have been capable of pulling off the upset.

In fact, if the new coach can keep this group together, LU may indeed be the front-runner for the title next season. The Bannister/Brewington duo certainly has the potential to be the most dangerous senior backcourt in Big South history.

[Ed Dantes]

You have the right to imagine that a certain coach was "below average" in 4 of 5 years, but that is clearly not the case.

I'm not the one who made the original post about what constitutes "average", but basically, you have to ask yourself if there are 160 or so college basketball coaches better than Dunton (as there are 320 or so D-I teams, thus the average coach would have approx. 160 coaches better than him and 160 worse, I know that's the def. of "median", but still.

I'd argue yes, there are.

160 coaches better than Dunton, at LEAST:

Everyone in the ACC (12)
Everyone in the Big East (16)
Everyone in the Big 12 (12)
Everyone in the Big 10 (11)
Everyone in the Pac 10 (10)
Everyone in the SEC (12)
Half of the ones from the A-10 (7)
Half of the ones from the CAA (6)
Half of the ones from Conf-USA (6)
Half of the ones from the MAC (6)

That's 98 coaches right there... and doesn't include people like Gregg Marshall, the guy from Gonzaga, the guy from Nevada, the guy from Creighton...

And if you take the WORST coach of the ones I listed (for arguments sake, we'll say Rutgers), do you think that the AD there at Rutgers is saying "well we suck, but RANDY DUNTON is on the market, baby!"?

[LUconn]

alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright it's over. The one bright spot of all of these events I thought would be the end of these redundant arguments.

[jcmanson]

To get back on topic, I think the administration will make sure that whoever they want would not say no because of money. I think that we will definitely open up our wallet to get in whoever JB deems worthy to be our next coach.

[kel varson]

You have the right to imagine that a certain coach was "below average" in 4 of 5 years, but that is clearly not the case.

I'm not the one who made the original post about what constitutes "average", but basically, you have to ask yourself if there are 160 or so college basketball coaches better than Dunton (as there are 320 or so D-I teams, thus the average coach would have approx. 160 coaches better than him and 160 worse, I know that's the def. of "median", but still.

I'd argue yes, there are.

160 coaches better than Dunton, at LEAST:

Everyone in the ACC (12)
Everyone in the Big East (16)
Everyone in the Big 12 (12)
Everyone in the Big 10 (11)
Everyone in the Pac 10 (10)
Everyone in the SEC (12)
Half of the ones from the A-10 (7)
Half of the ones from the CAA (6)
Half of the ones from Conf-USA (6)
Half of the ones from the MAC (6)

That's 98 coaches right there... and doesn't include people like Gregg Marshall, the guy from Gonzaga, the guy from Nevada, the guy from Creighton...

And if you take the WORST coach of the ones I listed (for arguments sake, we'll say Rutgers), do you think that the AD there at Rutgers is saying "well we suck, but RANDY DUNTON is on the market, baby!"?

I don't think you can say just because someone coaches in a major conference, they are better than Randy Dunton. Those conferences have had there share of poor coaches too.

[paradox]

I guess you would

You have the right to imagine that a certain coach was "below average" in 4 of 5 years, but that is clearly not the case.

RD took over the worst ranked team in the nation after Hankinson, and immediately brought the program back to respectability, including a trip to the NCAA's in '04. His first three years were very solid. Some key players decided to move on in his fourth and we hit rock bottom. He and his staff brought the program back to respectability this season. Sure, we lost in the first round to VMI on the last play. But as it turned out VMI was the story of the tournament this season as they lost a close one in the championship game to Winthrop on the final play. As it turned out, VMI, LU, and High Point were all a solid second after Winthrop, and all three may have been capable of pulling off the upset.

In fact, if the new coach can keep this group together, LU may indeed be the front-runner for the title next season. The Bannister/Brewington duo certainly has the potential to be the most dangerous senior backcourt in Big South history.

Ed:

This post was meant for Forest, but you beat me to the punch with your post.

Also, you threw a great deal of info out there. I'm not convinced of it's application to LU, though.

I will give you this. There is absolutely no reason why Rutgers should be where they've been for so many years. That region is loaded with basketball talent and RU's acedemic environment is first-class. But, you gotta credit them for bringing in Schiano for football and keeping him there.

[mrich]

alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright it's over. The one bright spot of all of these events I thought would be the end of these redundant arguments.

Tell dox head to stop telling us that RD was above average. The guy is done, that's it. So lets move on. If he wants to keep bringing him up, then we have the right to state our opinion.

[paradox]

It's to the contrary.

Go back and read the posts.

I only say something after he gets yet another kick while he's down and on his way out

[LUconn]

well, I was posting that directed at him. But are you telling me nobody has the will power to ignore him? Are you obligated to respond to him? At for that matter, how are you not sick of telling him the same thing over and over? You're obviously not going to convince him of anything.

[paradox]

I hear ya.

[mrich]

well, I was posting that directed at him. But are you telling me nobody has the will power to ignore him? Are you obligated to respond to him? At for that matter, how are you not sick of telling him the same thing over and over? You're obviously not going to convince him of anything.

who was your post directed at?

[Hold My Own]

2 guesses

[LUconn]

I think our problem here is, I'm not using the quote function. And then somebody posts while I'm typing mine.

[TIMSCAR20]

"What we have here is a failure to Communicate"

[paradox]

[FlameNForest]

I guess you would

You have the right to imagine that a certain coach was "below average" in 4 of 5 years, but that is clearly not the case.

2002-2003 (14-15)
2003-04 (18-15)
2004-05 (13-15)
2005-06 (7-23)
2006-07 (14-17)

If these numbers are correct, then I don't think I'm imagining. Below average 4 of 5 years.

[paradox]

I guess you would

You have the right to imagine that a certain coach was "below average" in 4 of 5 years, but that is clearly not the case.

2002-2003 (14-15)
2003-04 (18-15)
2004-05 (13-15)
2005-06 (7-23)
2006-07 (14-17)

If these numbers are correct, then I don't think I'm imagining. Below average 4 of 5 years.

Numbers alone tell us nothing. They need to be viewed in the proper context. There was a conference championship in there somewhere only two years removed from Hankinson and the worst RPI in the nation. We hit a few bumps after the championship season, hit the bottom and then started a upward trend.

If you were to chart these numbers on a graph, starting with the Hankinson era, you would see an immediate and drastic upward trend in RD's first two years. It stabalizes after we lose Martin and heads significantly downward after the Dees, Miller, and Robinson defections. After the low point, the trend moves significantly upward again and should continue in that direction into next season. Clearly, the program is back on track from a recruiting standpoint.

So, life isn't perfect, and neither is RD, and he actually hit the bottom once. As it turned out, he hit the bottom in '06 due to the Dees, Miller, Robinson situation. Maybe RD could have prevented it, maybe not. Who knows for sure? But, the reality is that even if it was completely his fault, you still have to credit him for the '04 championship, and he still deserves credit for getting things moving in the upward direction again this season. If this group, along with the additions of Bannister, Campbell, and Winters, can stay together, they will most likely be the favorite to take the Big South next year, regardless of the coach.

Whoever comes in after RD certainly gets a good thing, unlike RD who inherited the Hankinson disaster.