Lehigh Has Turned Into a Bad Basketball Program

Young team returns in 2018-2019 with tons of promise. Can they get back to the NCAA Tournament?
TMH
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Re: Lehigh Has Turned Into a Bad Basketball Program

Post by TMH » Tue Dec 07, 2021 4:11 pm

StablerBum wrote: Tue Dec 07, 2021 3:29 pm A few have suggested Reed take a role in the athletic department, why do people think he would be good at that? I'm not saying he wouldn't, but what in his background suggests he would be good at fundraising, or hiring coaches, or operations?

I've never hear any of the other coaches in the department mention him as a mentor or resource. His scheduling is fine but nothing to get excited about. He doesn't (to me) seem like a engaging guy that would do well with donor or students. Am I missing some obvious sign he would thrive in a departmental role?
I'm not coming down on either side in terms of the AD job. In terms of scheduling however, I thought he was doing a fine job of putting a schedule together. To me, a schedule needs to be designed around the team you are putting on the floor. Every year we play about 3 Power 5 schools (Rutgers, Virginia and Syracuse this year), 1 Div 3 school perhaps performing the same role as these Power 5 schools provide for us and a host of mid-majors of varying levels to measure where we are and of course the Patriot League. If the complaint is to schedule more Philly schools, the other side needs to agree.

As for not being personable or engaging, nothing could be farther from the truth in my contacts with him. He is upfront, open and is willing to answer my many questions while being very friendly.

I think it may be a matter of what Lehigh is looking for if and when Joe retires. Some will argue that fresh blood is needed to reinvigorate the athletic department. Others will argue that a familiar face lends to continuity and less upheaval. Believe it or not, I don't have an opinion either way.


lehigh90
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Re: Lehigh Has Turned Into a Bad Basketball Program

Post by lehigh90 » Tue Dec 07, 2021 6:47 pm

I know Logie in CA, and he’s a West Coast guy, but he’s only coached at the D3, and now D2 level. The money can’t be very big. Lehigh and D1 would be a massive step up and huge pay bump. And, if it goes really well, the money gets insane, see Fran McCaffrey.
StablerBum
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Re: Lehigh Has Turned Into a Bad Basketball Program

Post by StablerBum » Tue Dec 07, 2021 7:12 pm

Logie would be a mandatory phone call during any search. So would Kyle Griffin and Dave Paulsen.

Kevin Hovde would be interesting - former Columbia, San Francisco, and Richmond assistant who has worked for some very stats and analytics forward program.

Somebody from Amaker's Harvard program or Jones Yale program that have been consistently solid for years.

We could probably come up with two dozen interesting names in a half hour. Just depends on if they would be interested in an under resourced program with zero fan support in a rudderless department.
TMH
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Re: Lehigh Has Turned Into a Bad Basketball Program

Post by TMH » Tue Dec 07, 2021 9:10 pm

Well, that progressed quickly. Sterret is gone, Red moves in and we plan his replacement :-)

But I'll play along by asking if Lehigh ever replaced Bill Griffin when he retired as Senior Associate Athletic Director. It seems that his responsibilities were simply split up among other Administrators. ..Just a thought.

As for a possible replacement, Matt Logie is almost definitely the 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice for a number of reasons. Matt still has a strong association with Lehigh. He was our Associate Head Coach for years. He did discover CJ McCollum but mostly, he comes from a very strong, analytical basketball family making him highly successful everywhere he's been. I'm not woried about Div 3 and Div 2 in the least . Isn't that the type of background the above-mentioned originated from before finding his way to Bucknell? Luring him away from the West Coast may be a factor but not only will it be a step up (as StablerBum alluded) but it's a return to his alma mater and the cost of living for him will drop like a rock.

I never understood the allure of Kyle Griffin. He had no real coaching experience prior to Lehigh, if I remember. I think he has been at LaSalle for about 4-5 years but they haven't had a winning season in at least 8. Their best year when they went pretty far in the NCAA Tournament (maybe around 2012 or 13), the team was built around a core of disgruntled Philly basketball players who transferred in from bigger programs, none of which would probably get in Lehigh.

Dave Paulsen, althougha great pickup, left Bucknell for big money, I believe. He's not coming back.

Lehigh is very big on hiring coaches who understands what the Patriot League is about and can embrace it. Just my opinion but in the mean time we watch how this team progresses.
Bison_137
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Re: Lehigh Has Turned Into a Bad Basketball Program

Post by Bison_137 » Sat Dec 11, 2021 11:43 am

TMH wrote: Tue Dec 07, 2021 9:10 pm

Dave Paulsen, althougha great pickup, left Bucknell for big money, I believe. He's not coming back.

Lehigh is very big on hiring coaches who understands what the Patriot League is about and can embrace it. Just my opinion but in the mean time we watch how this team progresses.

Paulson will likely be coming back to some mid major program. He was fired by George Mason and opted to take a year off while living on the buy-out that he got. He was getting a bit over $500,000 at GMU, but realistically he may get half of that next year.

One issue with Paulson, however, is that all of the good recruits he landed at Bucknell were mostly recruited by the two great assistant coaches he had - Dane Fischer and Aaron Kelly. However both of them are now head coaches and not available to recruit for Paulson. In any event, I see him next year coaching in a Northeastern midmajor D1 conference or possibly going back to his roots in a strong academic D3 program.
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