I am thinking Arizona state is going to have to make a change after this season.
That observation could have (and was made by far more astute observers than me) made at the end of Adair's first 20 loss season.
In the ultimate insult and irony ASU hosts it's little tournament to game tournament this weekend which was renamed at the Briann January classic in honor of one of 'CTTs famous players. Rather than an honorarium what will happen today and tomorrow at Tempe is the opposite of an honor for the classy January.
The inaction by ASU administration and AD in regard to lack of leadership incompetence in the women's program is reflective as I've said before of a complete antipathy toward the woman's basketball program. Ad the situation continues to deteriorate and it's obvious there's no support at the highest levels of the University it will only make the next hiring decision much more difficult. For the following reasons
1. Demonstrated lack of commitment and support for the women's basketball program.
2. An absolute refusal to pay competitive salary or to resource the program properly. The implications of this are clear in terms of finding the type of leader who could operate in this situation. The demonstrated and continual lack of support and commitment at ASU for women's basketball as well known throughout the profession. An experienced talented young leader would be out of their mind to consider this job. Just look at the process that resulted in Natasha Adair:
In a rush the ASU search could find no power five coach who would even think about coming to Tempe. So they settled on a successful mid major coach with deep roots in the Mid-Atlantic area. All of her recruiting contacts and experience were far removed from both the then Pac 12 and more importantly the sources of athletes who would have an opportunity to excel in the Conference of Champions. I need to emphasize I regard Natasha Adair as a exemplar of character and virtue and a successful major coach. She says all the right things but simply is out of her depth and it wouldn't be a surprise to anyone to have anticipated this.
3. The conference realignment is eliminated any possible prestige or incentive for a competent coach to make the move.
4. Aging facility and a non-existent fan base.
5. At season end after this third consecutive 20 loss season it will be evident as it was this time last year that Adair cannot and should not continue. Given the lack of commitment by the administration the agony of watching an ice cube melt on a July afternoon in Tempe would capture the decision-making process of Michael Crow and his flunkies. As Arizonans know Crow is a real estate developer first, political beast second and a growth aficionado 3rd. He would like to grow ASU in a manner reminiscent of the Pac-Man game or one of the more virulent forms of cancer. In another reflection of the cost of a diminished and shrinking journalist community much of crows well known financial and political machinations have remained well rumored but not brought to the public eye and given the importance of the Maggie University to grow his activities both covered and over will remain unexamined.
The Grand Canyon women's victory over ASU was particularly sweet in this regard although Crow obviously cares very little about the women's game. A dozen years ago and one of the few statements Crow has made about women's basketball he indicated that as she would never play Grand Canyon given their status at the time. No one is comfortable bringing this back to the mega developers attention so he could eat crow.