Teresa Weatherspoon out at LaTech

[Vowelguy]

Memo to Ruston: the glory days are long gone.

 

[ThisJustIn]

Not unexpected...

She had a season or two where, by shear personality, she pushed the program to success... but there was no sustaining it.

 

[ochoopsfan]

The Mailman, aka, Karl Malone is not happy with the decision.

http://www.hoopfeed.com/content/201...-of-louisiana-tech-coach-teresa-weatherspoon/

 

[alexrgct]

Happy or hear that The Mailman, aka Karl Malone, cares enough about WBB to have an opinion.

 

[Vowelguy]

Happy or hear that The Mailman, aka Karl Malone, cares enough about WBB to have an opinion.

Well he was at LT during Barmores glory days, AND his daughter is Cheryl Ford.

 

[stwainfan]

I think a lot of it now is they don't have all the support they need. The just don't have what the big schools have. Weatherspoon is one of their greatest legends. She tried too sell the history. I'm not sure how much support she got. I miss the days of LA Tech when they were a power.

 

[Coler]

If I remember correctly she did do a good job in her first few years with the talent that was there when she got hired, so she could coach talent, I just don't think she could recruit.

Best of luck to her.

 

[stwainfan]

One of all time great coaches.

 

[BrooklynKid]

LaTech could have had Kim Mulkey as head coach but they found a way to torpedo their own boat. They offered three years, she wanted five. I remember some fans and boosters screaming for Tech to give her the five year deal. Mulkey did not want to leave the state of LA and pleaded with Tech to work with her.

I guess they should have listened.

 

[NickyNewark]

If I remember correctly she did do a good job in her first few years with the talent that was there when she got hired, so she could coach talent, I just don't think she could recruit.

Best of luck to her.

And as we know Coler recruiting is what its all about. Shame for old powers like Cheney St, ODU and La Tech !! Too much money by the P5 today for smaller schools to stay competitive.

 

[pinotbear]

And as we know Coler recruiting is what its all about. Shame for old powers like Cheney St, ODU and La Tech !! Too much money by the P5 today for smaller schools to stay competitive.

While, objectively, I sympathize with your post here, Nicky, I'm not sure that a Rutgers fan (given what y'all pay CVS, your former football coach, your hop to the Big10, the financial state of your athletic dept, and the character issues you've had with key hires) is exactly the right person to be indignant about "Too much money by the P5 today.."

It's kinda like a Red Sox, Yankee, Met or Dodger fan complaining that the payroll imbalance in MLB makes it tough for smaller market teams to stay competative.

 

[NickyNewark]

While, objectively, I sympathize with your post here, Nicky, I'm not sure that a Rutgers fan (given what y'all pay CVS, your former football coach, your hop to the Big10, the financial state of your athletic dept, and the character issues you've had with key hires) is exactly the right person to be indignant about "Too much money by the P5 today.."

It's kinda like a Red Sox, Yankee, Met or Dodger fan complaining that the payroll imbalance in MLB makes it tough for smaller market teams to stay competative.

If you knew me you'd know I'm old school and yearn for the OBE heyday and promote regional rivalries friend and won't be happy untill UConn is in a proper home(B1G/ACC) which is what brought me here to the Yard!! I have to roll with the times though and RU's AD is paying now for being cheap for way too long and some poor coaching decisions. RU FB/BB was going bigtime since 78/79 but didn't want to pay/support their decision. Business/Marketing school? Put it to practice !!

 

[VAUConnFan]

LaTech could have had Kim Mulkey as head coach but they found a way to torpedo their own boat. They offered three years, she wanted five. I remember some fans and boosters screaming for Tech to give her the five year deal. Mulkey did not want to leave the state of LA and pleaded with Tech to work with her.

I guess they should have listened.

I think every coach taking a new job should angle for a five year deal. It takes time to establish/create/build a program.

It is a cold blooded business. Ms Weatherspoon is family; Part of its great tradition. And she gets fired by an athletic director who has not been on the job a year; Someone outside of the family. Was there alumni pressure affecting the AD's decision? Doubt it. All indications are that attendance was down. Attendance is down everywhere. It will be interesting to see who La Tech hires to replace Ms Weatherspoon and what kind of contract the new coach will be tendered.

 

[Waquoit]

Memo to Ruston: the glory days are long gone.

I wouldn't gloat. That's us if we are still in the American when Geno retires. Anyone thinking otherwise is kidding themself.

 

[pinotbear]

I think every coach taking a new job should angle for a five year deal. It takes time to establish/create/build a program.

It is a cold blooded business. Ms Weatherspoon is family; Part of its great tradition. And she gets fired by an athletic director who has not been on the job a year; Someone outside of the family. Was there alumni pressure affecting the AD's decision? Doubt it. All indications are that attendance was down. Attendance is down everywhere. It will be interesting to see who La Tech hires to replace Ms Weatherspoon and what kind of contract the new coach will be tendered.

If I recall correctly, it was particularly cold-blooded in Mulky's case: she had been an assistant for several years, and one of her concerns was becoming vested for a state pension. Again, IIRC, it takes many years to qualify for a pension in LA, and a 4-year contract would have done it for Mulky. The AD refused to budge from 3, which put KM in the position of staying (and risking falling one year short of vestment, after putting in a long time) or accepting an attractive offer from Baylor.

 

[Vowelguy]

I wouldn't gloat. That's us if we are still in the American when Geno retires. Anyone thinking otherwise is kidding themself.

I'm not gloating. I'm commenting on an AD who may be expecting too much from a coach who's only been in the job for a few years.

 

[Sakibomb25]

I wouldn't gloat. That's us if we are still in the American when Geno retires. Anyone thinking otherwise is kidding themself.

I don't think the poster was gloating. It's just a fact that LA Tech isn't what it used to be and the AD probably wanted women's basketball to return to prominence, which isn't going to happen. What coach is going to get you to the golden days of years past? Not many... So why get rid of Weatherspoon?

 

[Vowelguy]

If I recall correctly, it was particularly cold-blooded in Mulky's case: she had been an assistant for several years, and one of her concerns was becoming vested for a state pension. Again, IIRC, it takes many years to qualify for a pension in LA, and a 4-year contract would have done it for Mulky. The AD refused to budge from 3, which put KM in the position of staying (and risking falling one year short of vestment, after putting in a long time) or accepting an attractive offer from Baylor.

I was never convinced we got the full story on the Mulkey episode.
I think LaTech viewed her as coach-in-waiting behind Barmore. Then either she went out and looked or Baylor came to her. LT then scrambled and it looked like they got their hall of fame coach to hastily retire so that they could give the job to Mulkey. Yes there were reports of the contract kerfluffle, but I always felt (with absolutely no personal knowledge) that that was symptom of something else going on. Maybe LT felt pushed around about having to ask Barmore to retire and decided to draw a line; maybe Mulkey didn't want to be the reason that her former coach retired and used that as her out.

Either way the circumstances never fully added up to me.

Mulkey had been Barmore's player and then an assistant for 15+ years. Did he know she was looking or thinking about leaving? With his blessing I presume? I just can't imagine a similar situation playing out between say Geno & Shea.