Right Move, Wrong Time?

Saint Louis University fired men’s basketball coach Brad Soderberg today. Isn’t there an old adage that says timing is everything? Assuming the firing of Coach Soderberg is step one in a well thought out plan to immediately upgrade SLU basketball and finally move it towards the long echoed but unfilled sentiment of a “top 50 program”, then over the long term, I think the timing is ok. Not great. Not horrible. Just ok. Chaifetz Arena will open its doors to the 08-09 team and the $80 million investment can ill-afford to produce a substandard product or be promoted by a sincere, but listless marketer. On the surface, Coach Soderberg had little momentum even on the heels of a 20/19 win season. Recruitment over the last three to four recruitment periods was stale. His failure to recruit was unceremoniously coronated during the 2006-2007 when a walk-on received more time in a key conference game than a scholarship player. Team depth was an issue and the coach did little to improve it. He had the effort, but did not obtain the results. The team has a number of special players, but over the last two years, he could not lead them to a marquee win. In key games over the last two seasons, SLU was defeated by an average 17 points. These key games include games against Gonzaga, North Carolina (twice), St. Joseph’s (in the 2006 A-10 Conference Tournament), Texas A&M, and George Washington (in the 2007 A-10 Conference Tournament). There were rumblings that Coach Soderberg had alienated the support of his players. Finally, SLU had little to no support in the local media and was surpassed by area schools that had success with recruits that should have been wearing a SLU jersey.

Alternatively, in the short term, the timing seems to be horrible. Basically, half of the projected class is signed (will SLU release them from these commitments?) and Coach Soderberg was rumored to be in on a number of other quality recruits. Any inroads that Coach Soderberg made on the 2008 class have likely been extinguished. The next coach has the monumental task of closing out the 2007 class with quality people/players and must now play catch-up on the much ballyhooed 2008 St. Louis area class (but who is to say that the new coach would be much further behind Soderberg, since he was still working on the 2007 class?). This is not to mention the current players. What are the twin pillars of SLU’s current team, Tommy Liddell and Kevin Lisch, thinking? Could a transfer be in their future? Finally, why not effectuate this plan earlier, perhaps right after the season. The universe of quality coaches has narrowed precipitously as many possible replacements have signed or been extended elsewhere. There is no doubt that this decision should have been made sooner with a keener eye on the short term implications to SLU basketball.

At the end of the day, I have to hope that the long-term benefit of a successful hire can overcome the short-term negative repercussions. At this point, I will put my trust in the SLU administration and Cheryl Levick. I have been advocating on billikens.com most of the season that if a coaching change was made, then I would only support such a change if Cheryl Levick (and the administration) performed exhaustive due diligence. If after such due diligence, there was a better option than Brad Soderberg to lead SLU, then I support the change regardless of timing. I will never know if this is the case.

If this move was executed in typical haphazard fashion as is too often the case when it comes to SLU basketball, then Father Biondi, Cheryl Levick, and the boosters have done SLU basketball and its supporters a horrible disservice. Someone at billikens.com mentioned, rightfully so, that this was a turning point for SLU basketball. Which way the program turns is yet to be seen.