Missouri State to hire Paul Lusk

[CLAWINBALL]

It's official, Coach Paul Lusk- Leader of the GRIZZLY BEARS!!

[UE 71]

Cuonzo v2?

+1

Who woulda thought another assistant coach from Purdue!

[PeKaph]

Great hire. Well played. Now let's see him recruit.

[Snaggletooth]

He looks like the shermanator

[Ricardo del Rio]

Coach Lusk will be an upgrade.

Coach Martin got lucky.

Time will tell, if I have any idea of what I am talking about.

[CaseyGarrisonforPrez]

I'll finally get around to posting my thoughts on this. Lusk, from what my insider friends say, is a good dude. I think he'll be fine, but we went safe. Pearl or even Knight would have caused a bigger splash and could have won big time. Nothing against Paul, I'm sure he's a darn good coach but he lacks the upside of going big. We went with the safe hire and the one that will allow the most continuity. And that's fine but in three years or so when Tech or Mizzou needs a new coach we'll be back at it again. I think Bruce or Pat could have made it their home and Bruce especially would be too toxic for BCS schools to take on for several years. But I get what Moats did with the comfort hire.

We'll probably miss Cuonzo's spark and energy but we get someone who can actually X and O for a change. We also get stoic dude in exchange for a guy a lot of Valley fans loved to hate and I'll miss having a guy willing to get under CU fans skin. I feel lukewarm about the assistants that are rumored so far. My insider friends think they are mostly blah, one said Smithpeters has the personality of a rice cake. And with all the issues at SIUC with off court trouble I worry about being inundated with people that grew up in that culture. But I'm sure those guys will be solid. I guess I'm just venting a bit about settling for solid or nice. I want to be like Xavier or Gonzaga and I don't know if this will get us there.

[getreal4]

Lusk looks like a good hire. I am a bit suprised that the salary package is 7th in the Valley.

[MoValley John]

[quote="getreal4"]Lusk looks like a good hire. I am a bit suprised that the salary package is 7th in the Valley.[/quote]

Lusk does look like a good hire, but I wonder why you are surprised of what Missouri State pays, they historically pay low.

[CaseyGarrisonforPrez]

Lusk looks like a good hire. I am a bit suprised that the salary package is 7th in the Valley.

Lusk does look like a good hire, but I wonder why you are surprised of what Missouri State pays, they historically pay low.

Have to save money in some sports to pay talents like Terry Allen, Keith Guttin, and Nyla Milleson their just due. Seriously though I was surprised to see his pay that low. Kind of supports the argument that at a minimum we need to evaluate who we are as athletic program (and possibly look at the U as a whole too). Do we need football? If we are really committed to staying in the Valley then we should probably cut it immediately. If we aspire to Conference USA then we need to keep football and channel our resources that way as football will become to window to our university. The bottom line is that we need to decide ASAP. We are at the crossroads as we currently sit.

[MoValley John]

[quote="CaseyGarrisonforPrez"][quote="MoValley John"][quote="getreal4"]Lusk looks like a good hire. I am a bit suprised that the salary package is 7th in the Valley.[/quote]

Lusk does look like a good hire, but I wonder why you are surprised of what Missouri State pays, they historically pay low.[/quote]

Have to save money in some sports to pay talents like Terry Allen, Keith Guttin, and Nyla Milleson their just due. Seriously though I was surprised to see his pay that low. Kind of supports the argument that at a minimum we need to evaluate who we are as athletic program (and possibly look at the U as a whole too). Do we need football? If we are really committed to staying in the Valley then we should probably cut it immediately. If we aspire to Conference USA then we need to keep football and channel our resources that way as football will become to window to our university. The bottom line is that we need to decide ASAP. We are at the crossroads as we currently sit.[/quote]

This is what I have always said about Missouri State, they need a plan and they need to evaluate. You can't simply expect to win while having funding levels in the lower half of your conference. You can't expect NCAA appearances when your funding is less than your competition. And C-USA is a dream if funding levels don't increase substantially. Even if Missouri State moved to C-USA on the cheap, they would still have to come up with 22 more scholarships and add additional scolarships for women to keep in line with Title IX. Or, they could move to C-USA on the really cheap by axing some mens sports to cover the increases. I don't see moving to FBS on the cheap as being a very smart move. And I don't see C-USA bringing MSU in if they plan the move on the cheap. Missouri State would have to bring something more to the table than what they currently offer.