Pokey Chatman put every player in an LSU uniform for the last ten years...If you think that Sue "Johnny Carson" Gunter's "single with female friends" self recruited players like Katrina Hibbert, DeTrina White, the Hodges twins, Marie Ferdinand, Temeka Johnson, Seimone & Sylvia to Baton Rouge, you're dreaming... The question for Pokey is this...Can she coach the talent she brings in? With two trips to the Final Four in two years of coaching her own talent, the answer is a resounding yes...So I guess that's not really the question at all. The real question is...Can Pokey continue to recruit well enough to break through to the nebulous, intangible "next level" that everyone talks of? The jury is still out...The Final Four two straight years is something Gunter never did, and she basically could have called it quits whenever she wanted...
I agree entirely with TE's post! She was the recruiter for Sue and will continue to be a great recruiter. I also think Sides will be a very good recruiter. Lord knows it took Roy Williams long enough to win a title and I considered him a great coach before last night. Smith as well. I never look at one game or even a few in forming an opinion about a coach. I look at what they do with a program, who they bring in, how do their players compete, how do their players respond to the coaching, do the players appear to get better, etc. One game or one tourney is never a way to evaluate how good a coach is, whether they win or lose.
