Here's my pet peeve about most of the comments you see on other boards: For the last 5 years, I've been hearing how Perry Clark wasn't the real genius behind the success of the early to mid nineties. No, it was Ron Everhart. He was recruiter supreme, he was the x's and o's guy, he developed the players, he found hidden talent, etc. etc.

Now when it comes time to hire a coach, all you read is that he's not a big enough name, hasn't been all that successful, etc.

Well, people, which is it? Was he the genius or was Perry? If he was, then by all means, let's hire him. If he wasn't, then acknowledge that maybe Perry was a better coach than some people give him credit for.

By the way, of the candidates mentioned so far, I think Everhart would be the best choice.

The problem you have is everyone is in panic mode. Also we are in the instant gratification era, where everyone thinks that if you hire a big name, your program will bwe righted almost immediately.

I do believe that with the coach, Tulane could have similar success next year as Houston had this year. Probably more since IMO you guys were better offensivley.

If everything were equal to the Clark days, I would love to have Everhart. The problem is times have changed at Tulane and academic restrictions have gotten tougher. Could Ron be successful under such conditions? I don't know.

Observer Wrote:If everything were equal to the Clark days, I would love to have Everhart.  The problem is times have changed at Tulane and academic restrictions have gotten tougher.  Could Ron be successful under such conditions? I don't know.

But, Observer, there's my other pet peeve. Why would anyone think that Everhart would be any less successful than any of the other candidates just because there are supposedly "new" conditions?

In other words, why do the "new academic conditions" change the ranking of the candidates? I could see if we were talking about, say, an assistant from Stanford, being better because he knows about recruiting to an academic school. But look at the candidates named so far. SLU's coach, Samford's coach, Birmingham Southern's coach, an assistant at Maryland. How could anyone surmise that any of these know how to recruit under the "new academic conditions" better than any of the others?

How do we know academic restrictions have gotten tougher? I've only seen that on internet message boards. It seems to be a notion that grew out of the review and everyone now accepts as the way it is. I've seen it put forth on internet boards that there are now "no exceptions" for basketball. What proof do we have of this?

I was told by someone highly placed in the Athletic Department that none of Clark's "Fab Four" recruits would qualify under today's stricter requirements. I believe that the basketball team still has some opportunities for exceptions, but the entrance requirements are now tougher than before. In other words, Childs and company would not even have made the cut to get an exception.

And to Home of the Wave, I agree.

Observer Wrote:I was told by someone highly placed in the Athletic Department that none of Clark's "Fab Four" recruits would qualify under today's stricter requirements. I believe that the basketball team still has some opportunities for exceptions, but the entrance requirements are now tougher than before. In other words, Childs and company would not even have made the cut to get an exception.

And to Home of the Wave, I agree.

With all due respect to you Observer, I don't believe anything I read on message boards from folks who were told this or that by someone "higher up". There were tons of people saying that they heard from this contact or that that Finney would be given another year. Didn't happen.

The Turchin renovation has been a "done deal" on these message boards from the "insiders" since 2001. Still waiting.

The truth is we don't have a clue what the requirements are for basketball or any other sport for that matter.

Let's hope Rick D, who knows exactly what the requirements are, makes a good pick this time. I think he will.

1ndabag Wrote:The truth is we don't have a clue what the requirements are for basketball or any other sport for that matter.

Let's look at facts that we know for sure. Finney was allowed a JUCO, Byron Parker. Knowing Tulane, I am 99.9% sure that that was an exception.
Were there others? I don't know, but lately I've seen conflicting information on yogwf from supposed insiders who say that Finney was allowed a few exceptions.
And anyway, my contention is that there should be some exceptions. Any coach who takes this job without the assurance that there be some leeway in recruiting is crazy or desperate.

Indabag, imagine my feelings. I was told by not one, but two people in the know that Finney would be retained.

And Home of the Wave, the basketball team still gets exceptiongs. But there are still tougher entrance requirements even for exemptions. As for Byron Parker, he agreed to take additional classes to qualify to transfer to Tulane.

Observer Wrote:Indabag, imagine my feelings. I was told by not one, but two people in the know that Finney would be retained.

Unless one of those people was named Rick Dickson, they can't know for sure. And even if one is RD, people are allowed to reassess things and make the appropriate changes.

Just my $.02.

Sophandros Wrote:Unless one of those people was named Rick Dickson, they can't know for sure.  And even if one is RD, people are allowed to reassess things and make the appropriate changes.

Just my $.02.

And that's also why you can't believe anything you read on the Internet.

This coaching search is so secretive that guys on are picking up rumors off of the nola.com forum and quoting them on yogwf. Talk about grasping for straws.

Home of the Wave Wrote:

Sophandros Wrote:Unless one of those people was named Rick Dickson, they can't know for sure.  And even if one is RD, people are allowed to reassess things and make the appropriate changes.

Just my $.02.

And that's also why you can't believe anything you read on the Internet.

This coaching search is so secretive that guys on are picking up rumors off of the nola.com forum and quoting them on yogwf. Talk about grasping for straws.

PArticularly after the review and how it was leaked (son of a board member leaked it on the internet), you can bet the powers that be are not likely to reveal sensitive information to just anyone, even people who consider themselves "inside". There's no telling what will end up on the internet.

Hey Soph, give me an email @ aryannia@yahoo.com.