I've heard dismissive remarks about LU 86 as I heard about Doug Bruno as head coach years ago. Better the SAFE hire than the Dynamic hire. Not hiring Doug was a fatal mistake and I feel passing on LU 86 is also.

Yes, it matters. If I were asked to give a letter grade to our last three ADs, I'd give an F, a D, and a C. We need at least a B+ person to come in and begin to make up for the lost opportunities and squandered chances we've had over the past 25 years.

As for the other issues LU 86 presented, I'm not only totally fine with giving Swoopes an extension, I think it's great. I like what I've seen so far, even though I was skeptical of the hire at first. Yes, she hasn't had a winning season and there were a few early games where she made moves that made me cringe (the Eastern Illinois game, for one). But I think she grew a lot during the season and did some great things with the personnel she had available. She won an MVC tournament game, got a regular season win against a conference co-champion, and did it with sometimes only seven scholarship players available to play. This year's non-con schedule is maybe the best I've seen in any sport at LU, and it was released earlier than any men's or women's basketball schedule I can recall in 20+ years. The incoming talent is excellent.

I completely agree that fundraising is where LU should be looking for money in athletics. It seems like it was de-emphasized during the Calhoun regime, like she was more interested in moving chess pieces around the board than making phone calls. However, no one else in athletics had the balls to make any big strategic decisions over the past 20 years, so some of that was needed. Schwarz and Planek were OK on fundraising, I guess, but would either of them have pursued MVC membership, hosting the NCAA men's volleyball tournament, or hiring Swoopes? I really don't think so-- in fact, it's inconceivable to me. I am so eternally grateful for being out of the Horizon that I'm willing to give something of a pass on Calhoun's biggest mistakes and miscalculations.

As for the other items, there has never been a time in Loyola athletics where everything worked perfectly, and I doubt there ever will. There will always be politics, and every employee will have a particular skill set, strengths and weaknesses. The way I look at it, we have some serious needs right now: fundraising, attendance, marketing, and getting men's basketball right. Maybe that calls for someone with LU 86's skill set-- I wrote a few months ago that he should be invited to participate in the interview process, not even really knowing his interest in the position. The most pressing needs seem to call for someone with local ties, a great fundraiser, perhaps/probably an alum, and a person with intimate knowledge of men's basketball. LU 86 has all those attributes.

I don't agree with every philosophy LU 86 has, but his passion is unmistakable, and that goes a long way in my book.

BTW-- How in the world did I become one of the least critical people of LU athletics?

Things have taken a dramatic turn over the past two days.

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MBB Scholarship Chart

Whoever the new AD is, the first order of business should be to ask Kyle Farnsworth for a BIG donation.