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There is a giant elephant in the room for JMU basketball right now. Anyone who’s been paying attention, knows that Matt Brady is on the hot seat. Yet, the administration appears to be in no rush to made a decision or even communicate its intentions to the fanbase. Most reasonable people would probably agree, it would behove JMU to act quickly. Letting Brady swing on the vine isn’t good for anyone. If we’re headed for a break-up, let’s get it done and move on. If we’re not, then extend him and get going. Another lame duck year ain’t good for anyone.<\/p>\n
While we wait for the admin to act, we’d like to hear what you think. Should Matt Brady stay or should he go? By now, you’ve heard most of the arguments both for and against Coach. The pro-Brady crowd (of which I am a part) like to point out that he took over a moribund program and returned it to respectability, even getting the Dukes back to the Big Dance. He’s coming off his second straight 20 win season, and has a career record over .500 at JMU. And he’s done it all with what appears to be only limited support from the administration.<\/p>\n
Of course the anti-Brady folks will (rightly) argue that 20 win seasons aren’t as impressive as they once were. They’ll also argue that Brady has matched those twenty win seasons, with a few under .500 records, and that he’s struggled to retain talented players like Charles Cooke, Darren White, Andre Nation, and others. They believe that JMU has a storied history in hoops and that Brady isn’t the guy to return the Dukes to their past glory.<\/p>\n
These are all reasonable arguments. Well, except for the “storied program history” stuff, because that is grossly overstated. JMU’s “storied history” consists of a couple of tourney runs 30+ years ago. The Lefty years were two decades ago, and resulted in a whopping 0 NCAA tourney wins. Ancient history. NYU won a National Championship. Nobody confuses it for Duke or Kentucky. Let’s be a little more realistic. Other than that though, there are plenty of pros and cons. It’s not a slam dunk either way.<\/p>\n
Personally, I really like Brady. I think he’s a good coach and a good guy. He’s definitely not perfect and I can point to several areas for improvement. But I also get the impression that the administration has never fully been behind him. He was reluctantly extended after taking the team to the Dance. If the administration is going to continue to be wishy-washy with its support, then they might as well let him go. I guess I’m squarely in that, “he deserves to stay, but it might be better off to let him go” camp. Clear as mud. So what would you do?<\/p>\n