A Typical SLU Move

Even when they do something right they do it wrong.

Soderberg fired at St. Louis U.

St. Louis University basketball coach Brad Soderberg was fired Tuesday after five seasons with the school.

The school announced the move in a statement that said the success of its new campus arena, scheduled to open for the 2008-09 season, was contingent on a men's basketball program that could contend for conference championships.

SLU was 20-13 last season, the school's first 20-win season since 1997-98, and finished in the middle of the pack in the Atlantic-10 Conference. But the Billikens haven't made it to the NCAA tournament since 2000.

Soderberg produced NIT bids in his first two seasons at SLU, but the school did not make it to the postseason his final three seasons. He's 80-74 overall with a career record of 211-147.

The school said it will begin the search for a replacement immediately. It said Soderberg was fired after an "extensive review of the state of the men's basketball program" since the end of the season. In the statement, the school said it did not "anticipate" making further comments regarding the change.

I don't mind getting rid of Soderberg, he had a legitimate shot and the Bills simply couldn't produce the kind of ball Soderberg promised. His recruiting was never good enough.

However, why wasn't this done a month ago?

Jeff Gordon wonders the same thing:

The timing of the move was curious, though, since athletic director Cheryl Levick had publicly supported Soderberg during the Billikens’ up-and-down 20-13 season.

If SLU was going to fire Soderberg, why wasn’t this decision made shortly after the Billikens failed to garner an NCAA or NIT berth?

Why did Levick, Father Lawrence Biondi and Co. wait until so many other schools did their hiring and firing?

If administrators were concerned about Soderberg’s recruiting skills -– a legitimate issue after his ’06 fiasco -– why did they make this move after the signing date?

And didn’t the school commit to Soderberg for one more year, giving him an opportunity to coach a veteran team and sell the new Chaifetz Arena to recruits?

I'm hoping this means that they have an established name in mind for the new coach that will represent an obvious "step up." If so, they'd better introduce him no latter than tomorrow.

I'm tending to think Levick and Biondi do NOT have anyone lined up and that this will be an ill considered fiasco, even though Brad deserved the sack.

Comments

Early Thoughts on City 2025

There are few things harder to keep track of than an MLS side in their off-season, at least for me. Despite the fact it takes place roughly during the time the MLB Hot Stove season is in full swing, it is nowhere near as easy to follow along with as baseball. Part of it is how disconnected MLS is with the international soccer calendar. St. Louis City SC is still digesting the moves it made last summer even though those players have already played important games for the club. It is all weird and disjointed, and I always feel like I am playing catch-up. Happily, the moves made in the off-season this year were not numerous. German Timo Baumgartl comes over from Europe as an option at center back, which is good because that was a position that was a little rocky for City last season. Given his own troubles over the last few seasons (cancer and uneven play in the aftermath of that), a spell with City can give Baumgartl a chance to have a re-set. Given his pedigree and the fact City si...

A Note of Optimism About the Note

If you have been trying to watch the St. Louis Blues attempt to play hockey of late it would be hard to believe the word optimism could ever be in play. The losses continue relentlessly, often in the "never in the game" style, but increasingly in a "lose from winning position" flair which is enough to make someone turn on the news for an upbeat change of pace. (Wow, plane crashes and LUNACY!) This team still can't score with the regularity needed to win consistently in this league. The coaching staff knows they have precious few natural goal scorers (one is precious few), so they attempt to make up for it by getting what I call "process" goals, i.e. goals scored by virtue of constant pressure, crazy bounces, accidental deflections, etc. Basically, any goal you can get from a player who doesn't have the knack for scoring them on their own. The Blues are something like zero for their last 12-15 breakaway chances, and zero for their last 25-30 2 on 1...

Blues Beat Bugbear

The St. Louis Blues have not had many out-of-character results so far this season. For the most part they have been handling the teams they usually handle and doing nothing against the teams that seem to always have their number. There is some solace to be had just knowing that you are going to probably beat Calgary, and will probably lose to Columbus, just as the sun will most likely rise in the East tomorrow. Granted that isn't an ideal set of affairs for a sports team, but Blues fans have learned to take what they can get. Which is why it is fair to say last night's victory over Utah was unusual. The Blues do not play well against that collection of players. Ever. So, any victory would be noteworthy in this matchup, but the resilience they showed last night was an added bonus. The Blues still have crappy puck luck, but last night they didn't let it get them down and, miracle of miracles, the puck luck evened out for the game. For a change the PK wasn't always runnin...

(Get) A Sporting Life

Search This Blog