What has to be done at Idaho to get them on the right track? Is Leonard Perry the answer? I'm very concerned about their basketball program. I see it being an uphill battle for them no matter who coaches that program.

Idaho just lost to La Tech and they are now, 0-2 and 3-9 overall. If they can't pull off an upset on their home floor, I really can't see them winning on the road, after what I saw from SJSU Thursday night. In fact, the only game I see them winning this year is SJSU in Moscow. IMHO, they're looking at a 1-15 conference record. :shhh:

It looks like Nevada will probably win their game with SJSU and the only game left is Utah St at Fresno St. I could see Paul Millsap getting POW. Nate Harris also has a shot at getting POW, depending on his performance tonight.

Didn't USU lose at Idaho last season..Who's to say the Vandals can't pull off an upset or two..It's a long season and lots of unexpected things can and will happen.

If you swing over to VandalVenue, you'll find that the Vandals aren't especially pleased with the current status of the program. While this was unfortunately expected to be a rebuilding year, with two new assistant coaches (viewed by many to be upgrades over who we had previously), and a ton of new players (including several true freshman starting on occassion), I don't think anyone expected us to be at all good. But we can't accept being this bad.

That said - I'd be surprised to see Perry gone after this season. He has one more year on his contract, his team is young, and he's on to some promising recruits. There's going to be a lot of Vandal unrest and calls for his departure during, and after, this season. Attendance is already suffering, and we'll probably average the lowest in Perry's tenure in Moscow. Even so, we probably can't afford a buyout, and the AD seems committed to Perry and his current staff. There's going to be a lot of agonizing over that decision at VandalVenue, and we'll see if the gamble pays off after next season. Do the new, young guys improve? Does the new staff get their program implemented? Does the new recruiting coordinator get it done? If yes, we're competitive in 06/07. If no, Perry will be gone, and we'll be starting from scratch with an absolutely bottomed out program.

Quote:I'm very concerned about their basketball program. I see it being an uphill battle for them no matter who coaches that program.

Agreed - until our facilities are in order, it's not a desirable position to be in. Personally, I think we need to move on a basketball arena before a football stadium - http://mb4.scout.com/fidahofrm9 - and that's going to be necessary before any basketball coach is really successful at Idaho. I don't think Perry can blame his current situation on facilities (we've certainly been better under him in the recent past, with the same facility), but the facilities aren't helping us. They would certainly be an issue in hiring a replacement. Perry wants the job, wants to be in Moscow, has a strong staff, and is genuinely trying. Unbelievably, we could, and have, done worse with Vandal basketball coaching hires...

Quote:Didn't USU lose at Idaho last season..Who's to say the Vandals can't pull off an upset or two..It's a long season and lots of unexpected things can and will happen.

Agreed here. We're bad, but we'll get a few conference wins. Strange things happen. Anyone else notice the UC-Riverside (with only one win on the season) upset of Pacific, on the Tigers' home court? I think our performance against Louisiana Tech, after a terrible showing against NMSU, demonstrates progress. Our play at post is the issue. If our two JC transfers, and inexperienced sophomore, settled into their roles, we'll be more of a threat before the season is out. If those guys don't adjust, we'll remain terrible.

I wouldn't be ready to pull the trigger yet. If he was to be fired, it should have been done last season. I think you honestly need to give the new coach time to recruit for the WAC.

I agree - I don't see a coaching change after this season, we knew we were rebuilding, and we completely over-hauled our assistant coaching staff in the offseason. We need to give those guys a chance to succeed before ditching them. The assistant head coach is George Pfeiffer, long-time head coach at Lewis and Clark State (Lewiston, ID), where he was very successful at the NAIA level, and should be able to help us out a lot on game day. The new recruiting coordinator is Leroy Washington, an assistant previously at Montana, Oregon State, and most recently Wyoming's recruiting coordinator, who seems to be on the trail of some genuinely high-impact players for us. These guys need some time to work with Perry and put the program together (again - thought Perry had us there after his third, and very promising, season, and we dropped off). As a whole, they're probably the best staff we've had in a long time. If we're patient enough to let them work, I think we'll be fine in a few seasons. Patience is pretty thin right now in the Vandal fan base, though.

However, there are some things I find encouraging. We're young - for the first time in his program's history, Perry seems to be building (at least more than in the past) with high school players, and I think that's going to pay big dividends for us in the years ahead. Our two strongest forwards are a true freshman (David Dubois, averaging ~10 points and 4 rebounds a game) and a true sophomore (Mike Kale, struggled some last season, but played very well last night against Louisiana Tech). We also have a 6'7 true freshman (Aaron Smith) from neighboring Troy, ID, who lead his team to the state championship last season, and a sophomore guard out of Lewiston who's had a few nice nights for the Vandals. Sophomore guard Jason Bowden-Key has also showed some promise. And we're redshirting a sophomore transfer at forward (Mitchell Johnson) with three years of eligibility for us, who people close to the program have described as the second coming of Tyrone Hayes (an ultra-athletic small forward who lead our team through its best recent seasons in the Big West).

These guys are young, are going to be with us for a while, and have plenty of potential. They're hit or miss right now, and from night to night go from giving Gonzaga all they can handle on their home court to getting blown out by Big Sky teams. But we'll see. Even with the potentially ugly record on this year, Perry does seem to be building towards something. Firing him restarts the clock at zero. His recruits leave, and we're guaranteed miserable seasons for another few years until someone new can go through the rebuilding process that Perry is already deeper into. It's frustrating that we're in this situation and that it's taking us this long to move towards any kind of basketball respectability, but they're probably aren't any real short cuts to getting their, and firing Perry certainly isn't one.