Lappas on the way out?

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Feato
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Post by Feato » Sat Apr 12, 2003 5:13 pm

hmmm...interesting...but it could be McCaw is looking to get his own people in here that he knew from before...

if that's the case, then it's literally starting over and things could be in for an even longer haul than anticipated... :?
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Minutemanfan
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Post by Minutemanfan » Sat Apr 12, 2003 5:26 pm

If this is true and we go with Everhart, I predict that attendance will continue to decline, and I didn't think that was possible, before it improves! :shock:

It may be time to give up my season tickets, at least until it feels like the program is no longer sliding into oblivion! I can think of better things to do with that $$! :?

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DEM
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Post by DEM » Sat Apr 12, 2003 5:55 pm

Minutemanfan, what do you know about Everhart that leads you to believe his hiring will worsen the program? I'm just wondering because I know pretty much nothing about him.

If this talk of the coaching change is for real, it sounds pretty fishy. It seems like McCaw is doing this to get one of his guys in rather than for the good of the program. I hope I'm wrong, and I hope that it turns out to be a brilliant move (if real) by the AD, but right now I just don't understand how Ian could be doing this for the good of the program. :(

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kmac
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Post by kmac » Sat Apr 12, 2003 7:28 pm

Here's Ron Everhart's bio from Northeastern's team site: -Ron Everhart's bio-

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whiterhino42
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BLAH!!!

Post by whiterhino42 » Sat Apr 12, 2003 7:40 pm

:cry: This is ridiculous! If they ax Lap right now they are STUPID! Especially for a half rate coach from Northeastern! If Lap goes then we will almost definately lose Bowers & Maxwell and I wouldn't be suprised if others jumped ship and we won't sign anyone else! How dumb could they be to do this now. Yeah, our season stunk and we lost some players but other than Lasme they were not a real loss. Lasme left because he was living in a dream world thinking he's going to play in the NBA, that's not Lap's fault. I'm not saying I think he's the best coach in the world but he's equal to some Joe Shmoe from Northeastern at the very least and I'm SURE he can recruit better than him so let him have a season with the best players he has recruited thus far before getting rid of him. If they get rid of him now, there will be no program left. Give him one more year, if we show good improvement, he stays, if not, he goes and we hire someone the right way, not like this at the last minute in a halfa$# way! :evil:

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MullinsManiac
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Post by MullinsManiac » Sat Apr 12, 2003 8:03 pm

Add me to the list of people who thinks Lappas deserves one more year. If the plug does gets pulled, I hope we go after a top-flight assistant who can recruit and has a great upside (see 1988, Calipari, John), and not another retread, and certainly not this Northeastern guy.

That said, this sounds like a trial balloon being floated by either Ian or Lap ... if the faithful says not to let the door hit Steve you-know-where, the buyout negotiations begin; if folks say he gets one more year to show that progress is being made (my opinion, FWIW), everybody sticks it out to see what happens. Either way, not the most comfortable working environment for Lappas.

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Minutemanfan
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Post by Minutemanfan » Sat Apr 12, 2003 9:08 pm

DEM wrote:Minutemanfan, what do you know about Everhart that leads you to believe his hiring will worsen the program? I'm just wondering because I know pretty much nothing about him.

If this talk of the coaching change is for real, it sounds pretty fishy. It seems like McCaw is doing this to get one of his guys in rather than for the good of the program. I hope I'm wrong, and I hope that it turns out to be a brilliant move (if real) by the AD, but right now I just don't understand how Ian could be doing this for the good of the program. :(
My concern is as much about the timing of a move like this as it is about Everhart. I found this in an article at collegehoopsnet.com:
Another relative newcomer to the AE is Ron Everheart. Starting his second season as head man at Northeastern, Everheart is trying to
prove a coach born, bred, and always employed in the South can succeed in Yankee country. Rather than eschewing his roots and the
connections developed during 7 years as head coach at McNeese State in Louisiana and a six-year stint as assistant to Perry Clark at Tulane, he has been trying to exploit these connections to lure players up north. In particular, he has targeted Miami, where his top assistant, Frank Martin, was a highly successful but controversial high school coach. Martin led Miami Senior High to three consecutive state titles, only to have the school stripped of the titles after he was found guilty of numerous rules violations, including recruiting players from out of the district and out of the country.

Like his assistant coach, Everheart's recruiting strategy is controversial. It has brought the Huskies three newcomers from Miami high schools, two via Odessa (Texas) Junior College, and the third, highly regarded point guard Jose Juan Barea, who polished his skills playing summers in the Puerto Rico Superior Basketball League.It also has brought the Huskies Marcus Barnes, a 6-2 shooting guard who starred for Martin at Miami Senior. Barnes was a budding all-league player at the University of Miami, where he averaged 12.3 points, 2.2 assists, and 2.8 rebounds as a sophomore last season before being kicked off the team following a yet-to-be adjudicated charge of domestic abuse of his girlfriend.


By hiring Martin and taking a chance on Barnes, Everheart indicates he's willing to take risks to bring in talent. However, he is answerable to a new athletic director and a president that is looking to upgrade Northeastern's image, and they may not be too forgiving if problems arise from that recruiting strategy.
Even though Everhart's last name is spelled wrong in it, the article raises some serious questions. Curious, is McCaw the "new" AD referred to in the article or did Ian hire him there?

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Post by vanmeter » Sat Apr 12, 2003 9:15 pm

In addition to the fact that this is simply just a rumor, the choice of Everhart is, at best very questionable. I went to a Northeastern game and he looks more like a used car salesman.

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jj
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Post by jj » Sat Apr 12, 2003 10:36 pm

If they want to run Lap out, then whatever- but they better have a hell of a lot better alternative out there than this cat from Northeastern. That'll be the end of my interest in UMASS basketball should they make a decision so stupid as to hire that dude.

ItsWhatsBest
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Post by ItsWhatsBest » Sat Apr 12, 2003 11:08 pm

Steve Lappas left 'Nova to take the UMass job rather than try to earn an extension there. When a coach takes whats easy instead of earning whats hard, of course his team is going to end up reflecting the personality of a quitter. And Lappas is a quitter. And all his teams have been quitters.

Lappas won ONE tournament game in nine years at Villanova. His UMass teams have lost to terrible teams and haven't shown up in many losses to others.

Lappas needs to win in the high teens in order to keep his job after this season. He has a history of not getting the most out of ANY of his teams, so there's no reason to believe he can win 18 games with this edition so why not just send him packing?

There's no reason to keep him around. Let's just cut our losses and start moving forward. Lappas is dead weight.

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Post by UMass87 » Sat Apr 12, 2003 11:08 pm

It's a friggin rumor. The ProJo article essentially identifies it as a rumor. Unless the AD just hooked up with some rich benefactor, how is it that UMass is in any position to buy any coach out - let alone Lappas?

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Post by Quinn » Sun Apr 13, 2003 8:12 am

These negatives were a big reason VA Tech didn't bring him in as a coach (he graduated there in 85). The opted for Seth Greenberg, the USF coach who most South Florida fans wanted out as coach. If you get passed over by your alma mater for a guy USF fans no longer wanted, the guy clearly isn't worth it.

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Post by zombiewoof » Sun Apr 13, 2003 10:39 am

Having a rumor about this guy sucks. This sounds like something circulated more as a bad joke than an attempt by the AD to see what's out there.

Lappas needs one year more. The number of wins next season won't matter as much as how the games are played. Having many more blowouts next year (never mind blowouts to bad teams) can not be an acceptable outcome, regardless of *all* other factors.
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jj
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Post by jj » Sun Apr 13, 2003 10:41 am

ItsWhatsBest wrote:There's no reason to keep him around. Let's just cut our losses and start moving forward. Lappas is dead weight.
Yeah, and hire some schlemeel from Northeastern? No thanks. If you can convince Matt Doherty to come up here, then you have a deal. If not, then what you have is a stupid idea.

ItsWhatsBest
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Post by ItsWhatsBest » Sun Apr 13, 2003 11:24 am

A stupid idea is wasting another season with a quitter like Lappas as a head coach and then lamenting all the quitting his team will do all season long.

We've seen the best Lappas can do when he has his players and that wasn't all that inspiring. It would be nice to see what our players can do when they are performing at their capabilties. I'd rather take a chance that Everheart might be able to get the most out of the roster than bring Lappas back knowing he never will.

While I'd take Everheart over Lappas without blinking, I would still hope an even better candidate than Everheart emerges.

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