Into the Fire: Just What College Hoops in Louisiana Needed

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Over the last few years in the state of Louisiana, College Basketball has given residents in “da boot” very little to get get excited about. In all honesty, if we we want to “keep it 100” on the subject; let’s face it, College Hoops in the state has absolutely sucked over the last few years. Besides one very talented freshman, who didn’t even want to be here, there hasn’t been something that was “must see.” Until this week you probably were content watching old tapes of Pete Maravich play Horse or shooting hoops at the park yourself before you’d consider going to the PMAC or the Cajundome to watch some college ball. However, with the events of this week in the N.I.T., I can happily say that the monotony is finally over! Thanks to a committee making one team feel slighted and an overly sensitive head coach, College Basketball in Louisiana is fun again!

When LSU was given a home game against the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns in the often overlooked N.I.T. no one outside of Louisiana saw this being something of any consequence. But for those of us who have been down that I-10 corridor, we knew that this was going to be a big deal. The Cajuns won 27 games this season, were first in the Sun Belt Conference at the end of the regular season, and had the most wins by a team in that conference ever. Needless to say everyone involved with UL hoops was immensely proud of these accomplishments, as they should have been. So Bob Marlin answered the question honestly when he was asked about having to go play in another team’s ARENA when they had 10 more wins than LSU. Marlin though the Cajuns deserved a home game and we all thought it would have been nice to see some tournament action inside the newly renovated Cajundome.

Let us be clear once and for all and state for the record that none of this amounted to trash talk or “chatter” as Will Wade called it. Bob Marlin was simply saying that he felt his team’s great season was not being recognized properly and with 27 wins, even in mid-major basketball his case is valid. Luckily for us, Will Wade was not about to concede any kind of recognition to a school within the state he plans on recruiting in full. Will Wade’s tirade after LSU’s N.I.T. win over the Cajuns was absurd, petty, and the best thing to happen to College Basketball in Louisiana in a long long time.

Why did Will Wade call a timeout when the game was already in hand? Why did he start riling up the UL bench intentionally? How could he take offense to Bob Marlin wanting more recognition for his program in Lafayette? Does Will Wade see Cajuns hoops as a threat to his laying claim to the next big thing in college hoops? Or did Will Wade read too much into Bob Marlin’s quotes and the media’s reaction to those quotes? My guess is the latter, but either way it does not matter because what we have now is a coach who has put his program in a position to consider taking up a series of games against an in-state opponent that “wasn’t even on his radar.” While Will Wade may claim that his team is not scared of Bob Marlin and the Ragin’ Cajuns, there is only way to prove it. Nobody cares about a “nitty gritty index” or any other algorithm that goes into scheduling games, if LSU wants to walk the walk now that Will Wade has talked the talk, LSU has to book the rematch. If you escalate the basketball war, you must fight in the basketball war. Book the rematch LSU. Come to the Cajundome and give Louisiana College Basketball fans what they deserve. Book the rematch!

– Alan Michael