This entry provided by an LSU graduate, football season ticket-holder, and life-time TigerFan.
At a school where basketball finishes at best second behind football and possibly baseball, John Brady hasn’t done enough to make LSU fans happy, and if he’s not making Louisiana State basketball fans happy, there is no way he’s going to make North Carolina State basketball fans happy.
LSU fans eat, sleep, drink, and breathe football. We generally follow basketball when its good, but we were spoiled by Shaq and the player formerly known as Chris Jackson. If the team, or at least an individual player, isn’t dominating, most LSU fans feel that basketball is just not worth watching. That’s why it’s so surprising how many Tiger fans want Brady fired coming off our first final four in 20 years.
Brady had a great 2006 despite the UCLA game, and he has had competitive teams throughout his tenure even when he was playing with seven scholarships coming off the Dale Brown era probation. Unfortunately, most of Brady’s teams have been underachievers. He’s had teams laden with seniors and teams with dominant front courts, which haven’t met expectations. He never seems to have strong guard play. Further, Brady’s three NCAA’s in four years have come at a time when the SEC West has been very weak.
Despite all this, I still think Brady is a good fit for LSU. He and his family are from the area, and from LSU’s standpoint, if he left, we don’t have the basketball support to pony up for a bigger name coach. In Louisiana, Brady doesn’t have much in state competition for players; so if he can keep the local kids home and pull in an occasional out of state player, the recruiting will be good enough. Of course, he’s not likely to hit the jackpot again with four Baton Rouge kids who grew up together – Davis, Thomas, Mitchell, and Temple.
The bottom line is that he’s not the guy you want. His tournament victory over Duke notwithstanding, he’s not likely to compete year in and year out against Duke and UNC on the court or off the court. If he does leave LSU, the fit would be better at OU than NC State. He just wouldn’t make you guys happy.
