When he arrived at Tulane University, Mike Dunleavy touted his ability to get players to the NBA.
But, Dunleavy was never able to fill the biggest pre-requisite for a college job. That is the ability to recruit quality players.
Local coaches will tell you that there are plenty of good players in the state of Louisiana.
But, Tulane wasn’t successful recruiting them. Saturday, Tulane made it official, moving on from Dunleavy after a disastrous third season. Tulane lost its last 21 games, and was 0-19 in American Athletic Conference play.
Dunleavy did land a good player in St. Aug’s Caleb Daniels. But, Daniels was the exception, not the rule.
And, Daniels was not a highly recruited player out of high school.
Post player Blake Paul was recruited by former head coach Ed Conroy. Jordan Cornish, from Brother Martin was a solid transfer.
But, since the departure of Perry Clark, Tulane has been able to find the missing link in the state of Louisiana.
Here’s five of Perry Clark’s best players.
Rayshard Allen (John Ehret HS), Anthony Reed (Wossman HS), Kim Lewis (Varnado HS), Jerald Honeycutt (Grambling HS), and Pointer Williams (St Aug), all made huge contributions to the Tulane basketball program.
Clark was able to get some of the best players in the state, and supplement from the outside.
The Tulane men’s basketball job isn’t an easy one. The home arena is dated (being extremely kind here), but that is only one issue.
Coaching changes are not something new at Tulane University.
Any sports reporter who has worked in New Orleans for any length of time has attended several press conference at Tulane announcing coaching changes, especially in football and men’s basketball.
Coaches come and go, but no one seems to have the answer to, or desires to answer this question.
Why aren’t we winning?
Is everything being done inside the University to make sure that athletics is successful?
Because, when that is happening, and the resources and the opportunities are there, Tulane University should have no trouble attracting quality coaches.