Larry Eustachy’s Version of the Stimulus Package
Posted by rtmsf on March 2nd, 2009Hey, did you guys hear that a ‘reporter’ asked UConn coach Jim Calhoun last weekend if he, as Connecticut’s highest-paid public employee, planned on doing anything to assist with the nearly-$1B budget deficit that the state is facing? “Not a dime,” Calhoun joked. This story took on a life of its own throughout the entire last week, as various Connecticut legislators and public dignitaries weighed in on the weighty subject of Calhoun’s salary, not to mention the many in the chattering class who quickly and assiduously came to his defense.
Well, it’s high time for a positive story about a coach’s salary. The NY Times’ college sports blog, The Quad, reported today that Southern Miss head coach (and former party dude) Larry Eustachy has decided to give back a $25,000 bonus that he earned based on various incentives. From the article, Eustachy said:
“The university, fans and administration have been so supportive. I am part of the Golden Eagle family and I want the team and program to succeed more than anyone else does. To that end, until I can turn around the program I have told the administration that I do not want a contract extension and I will donate part of my compensation package back to Southern Miss to help during these difficult economic times. I want to win a championship at Southern Miss and I know that we can do it.” Southern Mississippi Athletic Director Richard Giannini accepted Eustachy’s offer. “I think it displays the sincerity he has for trying to turn the program into a successful program,” Giannini said. “I respect him for what he did. He knew the economic times we were having and we need to use every dime we can find.”
Larry Eustachy is Providing His Own Stimulus Package
We really have to try hard here to not take the cynical standpoint and view this as a last-ditch effort to save the job of a coach who has yet to near matching the success he had at his previous stop, Iowa St. In Eustachy’s five seasons in Hattiesburg, Southern Miss has yet to make an NCAA Tournament or an NIT, and at 14-14 this season there is virtually no chance of a postseason again this year. It would be easy to put yourself in Eustachy’s shoes, thinking, after all, $380k (Eustachy’s base salary) isn’t as good as $405k, but it’s light years better than $0.
But there’s too much cynicism in this world already, so we’ll give Eustachy, a recovering alcoholic, the benefit of the doubt here. It’s not like coaches who are clearly on their way out the door (ahem, Jerry Wainwright) make it a common practice to give back their bonuses in trying economic times, or like, ever. So Eustachy should be genuinely commended for this selfless act – heck, something like this is so uncommon that Southern Miss should give the guy a lifetime contract for his largesse.
Now, if we could just get some of the other basketball CEOs around the nation who are regularly stealing taxpayer dollars to start giving something back. Not to point fingers, but we’d start in Eugene, keep going east through Boulder and probably settle in Raleigh. Just sayin…
Bad Santas. Portland St. 77, Gonzaga 70. Santa Claus made an early visit to the environs of Cincinnati, OH, and Spokane, WA, tonight, but instead of leaving toys and treats for the tots of Xavier and Gonzaga Universities, respectively, he left a couple of lumps of coal and another undisclosed brownish substance in their stockings. AP #7 Gonzaga and AP # 14 Xavier, both coming off of devastating Saturday losses (in different ways), were unable to shake off their hangovers from losses to UConn and Duke and instead dropped home games tonight that sent shocks throughout mid-major America. The more surprising upset of the two took place out west, where Gonzaga was thoroughly outplayed by the scrappier, guttier Portland St. Vikings. PSU was led by 5’6 Jeremiah Dominguez, who hit seven threes for a sick line of 25/6/5 assts. Yes, a guy shorter than you outrebounded all but Gonzaga’s 6’11 Austin Daye (9 boards) and 6’10 Josh Heytvelt (8) in this game. Portland St., who has losses to Hampton and Cal Poly on its resume, never wavered in the face of the superior athleticism and size of Gonzaga. GU, should have come out ready to eat glass in this one, but instead they allowed their heartbreaking loss to UConn over the weekend to mentally affect their play tonight. Would that have happened to UNC? Pitt? Duke? UCLA? Gonzaga needs to get tougher mentally. Butler 74, Xavier 65. Wasn’t Butler supposed to be rebuilding this year? Amazingly, eight of Brad Stevens’ top nine Bulldogs are freshmen and sophomores, whereas XU starts two juniors and one senior. So how is it that Butler was able to come into the Cintas Center and earn a victory in a location where Xavier had won its last fifteen games? Standard Butler-issue hardnosed defense and poise. Butler was able to keep Xavier under control from three (7-24) while also winning the battle of ball control (-7 turnovers) in a tough game that Xavier will regret losing come March. Matt Howard (19/14) and Gordon Hayward (19/10) both provided double-doubles, but the key stat of the game may have been Xavier’s 12-22 from the line. The 198th best FT-shooting team in America didn’t help their cause tonight, several times failing to convert both FT opportunities down the stretch. If Gonzaga and Xavier want to be taken seriously as “high mids” vying for the Final Four, they cannot afford to lose home games like these.
