Larkin has dropped us

[Bullpride08]

If a historically good recruiter like Heath has trouble recruiting here... a coach whom we can barely afford in the first place, who would we bring in that would do a better job, that we could afford.

The answer is:  No One! 

Heath is the right man.  It is a tough job to recruit to this school and everyone knows it.  No one is coming in here and going to instantly do better b/c we have no history, no reputation (positive that is) in hoops, and very little support.

The fact that we spent money on Heath in the first place really surprised me and made me happy.  Now we need to let him do his thing, regardless of what anybody thinks of his recruiting successes and failures. 

Historically good recruiter?  Based on what assessment, what he recruited while at a hoops powerhouse like ARK?  Pelphrey is set to sign a top 10 class at ARK it isn't like he had to work a ton of angles to recruit at ARK.  I hate how people use past successses at other stops to explain why a coach is good.  It's what he does here, what he does now...I don't care how he recruited at ARK, it's how he recruits here, and so far it's not been good.  Also we didn't spend that much on Heath, he took a major salary cut from his ARK digs to come here, but considering he had a pillow soft landing getting fired from ARK, and landing at a BE gig in less than 60 days I doubt if the salary downgrade bothered him to much.

With that being said i believe before Woolard goes searching for another coach he needs to up the anty invested in the program.  Heath needs far more money for assistants.  Anyone that's followed the program knows that from the out-set Heath has struggled to bring in, retain, and hire good assistants.  Most of his Arkansas staff refused to even join him here-- and these were guys that were presently out of work.  All found better higher paying gigs elsewhere.

I think we need to spend two years and find another $500k/annum to pump into the program.  Give half of that to Heath to upgrade staff ASAP, and the remainder for a bit more promotion (like why are we tying hoops deal this Friday to the football game and a week after everyone else's Mid Madness- lame).  Spring for all the food and drink, hire a band, and get the kids in so Heath has at least ONE momentous occasion by which he can recruit.  Promo it up, given season tix holders free entry and maybe some free give aways if they come.  If you get 4-5k in there, and mostly students....then it's worth Heath bringing a few recruits by.

Heath is hardly infallible, and to suggest he's a God Send of a hire is ridiculous.  The guy has done a square job thus far, but remember the only decent season is on the back of one of the few gifts Coach McCullum left this program- Dominique Jones....a major 1st round pick that's making waves in the NBA already.  Replacing him will be impossible at this juncture...not with what we've got.  But before crap canning Heath they've got to put more money into the program.

[Markeymark]

I really believe that if USF wants to have a top flight winning basketball program then they will have to shell out 2-3 million dollars to get a head coach who's name would instantly attract recruits despite the school he coaches for. I honestly don't see any other way at this point.

Seriously doubt this will ever happen. Football is the only "money" program USF has. Maybe the new facilities will help a little, but to be completely honest USF doesn't belong in the Big East with the kind of fan support and financial backing they get. Maybe after the football-only split USF will be a little better positioned with schools they can compete against...right now they are just out of their league.

[Greg Auman]

One word: Furtherest.

[Triple B]

**** cryptic posts ...

[Paisa el Toro]

One word: Furtherest.

I chuckled at that too.

It's not the end of the world. It just means Heath will be scouring the JuCo landscape and depending on transfers from other D-1 schools to keep bolstering the squad. What other recourse does he have at this point? I'm looking forward to seeing what this team can do without DoJo, and I'll be ready to go once the basketball season kicks up. On the assistant coach front, I have to agree. I think this may be Hanson's last year, and, if so, I hope Heath can bring in an assistant with experience recruiting Florida high schools. 

[Vega]

One word: Furtherest.

One sentence: Cover basketball recruiting like every other beat writer does for their teams, or just go and be an English teacher.

P.S. I guess USF basketball and football isn't the only thing near the bottom of the Big East these days.

[CPR]

One word: Furtherest.

One sentence: Cover basketball recruiting like every other beat writer does for their teams, or just go and be an English teacher.

P.S. I guess USF basketball and football isn't the only thing near the bottom of the Big East these days.

The words of an angry, bitter little man. Larkin not coming to USF isn't the end of USF basketball.

[Vega]

One word: Furtherest.

One sentence: Cover basketball recruiting like every other beat writer does for their teams, or just go and be an English teacher.

P.S. I guess USF basketball and football isn't the only thing near the bottom of the Big East these days.

The words of an angry, bitter little man. Larkin not coming to USF isn't the end of USF basketball.

Angry - No

Bitter - No

Little Man - No...although I probably should drop about 10 pounds before Thanksgiving. Currently 249lbs on a 6-4 1/2 frame.

[Velcro]

USF will win the Big East, in football, at least once, maybe multiple times, before we EVER spend 2-3 million on a hoops head coach.  The fact that we spent what we did on Heath was very surprising.

I'm not calling Heath a Godsend, just saying that we can't really do better under the current circumstances.  We can't.  If we had more money for hoops, sure!  but we don't... and won't, for a long time.  And football isn't going to be helping speed that along this year.

[Triple B]

One word: Furtherest.

One sentence: Cover basketball recruiting like every other beat writer does for their teams,

Still waiting for you to back this up ... Not holding my breath.