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I looked at Michigan State and they were giving the big name teams fits even though they lost to all of them. Iowa beat them by three, Ohio St beat them by five and Indiana by two points. They would 22 games, but against the best in the conference lost all three. They did beat Maryland.
 
I looked at Michigan State and they were giving the big name teams fits even though they lost to all of them. Iowa beat them by three, Ohio St beat them by five and Indiana by two points. They would 22 games, but against the best in the conference lost all three. They did beat Maryland.
The Iowa game was a CC buzzer beater from the logo
 
Probably not directly at me individually.

One question has Karen got better results in softball without Ralph?

Just a statement not a get Jon outta here comment, so no need to explode.
I am Switzerland in this debate. But there is tremendous wisdom in Knoxvol52 's post. When Ralph Weekly retired, he became an advisor ( paid postion) to Karen and is available to help her if required. Karen used the opportunity to hire Chris Malveaux ( recognized as one of the best hitting coaches in softball) and Kate Malveaux. This is considered as one of the best hires in softball as we got back to the WCWS again and won SEC season and tournament titles last year. I don't think it's a stretch to say that was not going to happen with Ralph ( a hall of fame coach himself) as the primary hitting coach. Sometimes you need other voices to get better.

When Kim Mulkey became the highest paid coach in WCBB (estimated $36 million over 10 years) she hired Bob Starkey as her basketball guru. Starkey no stranger to circus atmospheres (he was Pokey Chapman's assistant when she resigned). While Starkey was at LSU the first time they went to four FF's. He was the interim head coach for one of those deep runs. So, he is recognized as the technician of LSU basketball. Before returning to LSU, Starkey was on Gary Blair's staff at Texas A& M and helped that staff when a National Championship. When Blair retired he went to Auburn as an assistant and helped Johnnie turn Auburn around before returning to LSU.

Increasing NIL funding will help but at some point Coach Harper is going to need a Bob Starkey.
 
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I made a decision to mostly stay out of this discussion. I am neutral. I can speak from a perspective of working in the field of education and coaching for several years as a now licensed administrator. There is a high possibility of a thorough end of the year evaluation of the WBB program being conducted. A formal meeting either has taken place or will at any moment. The AD will address the season performance in house and present a list of recommendations if no change is coming. I will admit the silence is uncommon territory since I have watched Tennessee. It could be the TN athletic administration not being completely pleased with the perception of NIL or the lack thereof for women’s basketball. I do not buy that NIL is the main factor to signing portal or high school players. Rickea, Jewel, Talaysia Cooper, Kaniya Boyd, Tamari and future commits Finley and Nyla had offers from other universities that would have just outbid Tennessee if that is the case. They did not sign or will remain commited for free. I also think recruiting is not the main issue to people with knowledge of the program from the inside. Being in the field of education I know that a program like Tennessee recruits itself and we have to be honest with ourselves to get past this assumption that NIL now or in the future is why a program like Tennessee fell short of winning another championship.
 
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