(02-02-2023 02:24 PM)olddawg Wrote:  Hey BSKB24,
It said in a Sports Illustrated article that Lou got the MC/JMU job after 2 others turned it down. Any idea who those 2 coaches were?

I do not recall. I'll share a quick story with you, though. Dean Ehlers was our coach for the 71-72 season, coming to us from Memphis. He was tasked by Uncle Ron with finding and hiring his replacement. I bumped into Coach Ehlers and Lou as I was going out of Keezle Hall and Coach Ehlers introduced me to my new coach. I went to shake hands with Lou and he shorted me on the hand shake. Didn't get his hand all the way up into mine. He put a bear clamp down on my fingers and I was wearing my huge Class ring. I almost went down on my knees the pain was so great. I know he was wondering what kind of a wuss he had inherited on his new team!

(01-31-2023 11:40 PM)BleedingPurple Wrote:  An inspiration for sure. Those who think Lefty's teams were good, really don't have any idea of how great the Dukes were when lead by Campanelli. Godwin rocked.

I think Lefty’s teams were good, but I’m under no illusions. Campanelli coached us to some big time wins and tournament appearances. The team was better then, but Lefty was higher profile, having come from Maryland. More hype but less success.

(02-02-2023 05:09 PM)Dukes94 Wrote:  

(01-31-2023 11:40 PM)BleedingPurple Wrote:  An inspiration for sure. Those who think Lefty's teams were good, really don't have any idea of how great the Dukes were when lead by Campanelli. Godwin rocked.

I think Lefty’s teams were good, but I’m under no illusions. Campanelli coached us to some big time wins and tournament appearances. The team was better then, but Lefty was higher profile, having come from Maryland. More hype but less success.

Lou always punched above his weight. Lefty had awesome recruits that never seemed to reach their potential .

Coaching at it's finest

Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

Nice article by JMU's own David Teel
https://richmond.com/sports/college/teel...4d5a0.html

(02-01-2023 04:35 PM)Halz87 Wrote:  If you read his book (which if you are on this board and haven't....what the heck you waiting for), JMU would not resemble the University it is today in all aspects.

Ron Carrier's vision was to use the basketball program to completely transform the institution from a women's teaching college to a prosperous, sought after University. Lou and Ron together helped transform the image and trajectory of JMU through the success of the basketball program .

Seriously, do yourself a favor and get "Dare to Dream" if you haven't already. Absolute joy of a read.

Circled back to strongly second this recommendation. I'm a little more than two-thirds of the way through it. Incredible stuff.

(02-08-2023 11:49 AM)Ike N. Berry Wrote:  

(02-01-2023 04:35 PM)Halz87 Wrote:  If you read his book (which if you are on this board and haven't....what the heck you waiting for), JMU would not resemble the University it is today in all aspects.

Ron Carrier's vision was to use the basketball program to completely transform the institution from a women's teaching college to a prosperous, sought after University. Lou and Ron together helped transform the image and trajectory of JMU through the success of the basketball program .

Seriously, do yourself a favor and get "Dare to Dream" if you haven't already. Absolute joy of a read.

Circled back to strongly second this recommendation. I'm a little more than two-thirds of the way through it. Incredible stuff.

Yep, once I read it a year or two ago then I didn't have to get far in to it to go "wow why didn't I read this a long time ago?!"

A fitting tribute. The Dukes will wear a LC patch on their jersey the rest of the year. Hopefully this year is Lou’s fourth trip to the big dance and the team can honor his legacy appropriately.

https://jmusports.com/news/2023/2/18/adm...eason.aspx