To what extent does our recruiting and women's bball success depend upon how well the men's program is doing? Lisa had a run of 9 straight NCAA tournaments that ended last year. The year before that we stunk too but got an invite cruising on our reputation. Now it looks like we can't beat anybody. Our players seem to be less in stature and talent than the years past. Does the tanking of men's basketball and the consequent poor perception of TU as a basketball school have anything to do with the fact that the women's program, which used to be dominant in CUSA, has fallen of the face of the earth?

I'm sure somebody could cite instances where a school's men's program hasn't been the greatest but the women thrive (LaTech?). I'm just puzzled as to how the bottom fell out on our women's program.

Interesting theory, but I've heard people say that the actual reason is that recruiting fell off when assistant Katie Meier left to become the head coach at UNC Charlotte.
Quoting from her biography on the Charlotte website:

"After a short stint just up the road at UNC Asheville, she joined the staff at Tulane for the 1994-95 season. With Meier's assistance, Tulane made a remarkable turnaround, earning seven straight trips to the NCAA Tournament and four Conference USA championships.

Meier was an integral part of Tulane's success. Her low-post players, in particular, earned numerous awards. During her last year there, Janell Burse earned fourth-team All-America honors from Women's Basketball News. The previous year, Burse was named a fourth-team All-American for the second-straight season. Likewise, Barbara Farris was an honorable mention All-American and was the third overall pick in the 1998 ABL draft by the New England Blizzard."

By the way, Charlotte is 8-0 so far this season.

I've heard the Katie theory before and it's getting tougher and tougher to discount it. I hope Lisa can get it going but I don't see it. Other than Hampton we really have no size and athleticism in the front court. We used to have that in spades. The back court talent has dropped off as well. Grace was a WNBA player. Who was the point last year, Kelly Nadeau? Big difference.

I'm a season ticket holder and will continue to be. Roll Wave.