Four In The Southland

[Tim Moungey]

Recent budget crises have crippled universities across the country. It is an economic state of affairs that has affected millions of students and faculty across the country. At the same time, college athletic budgets have skyrocketed due to an ever-increasing arms race.

For those schools at the bottom, creativity and ingenuity are needed. The schools in the Southland conference are one such group that banded together for a solution. Pooling their resources, the conference members hired a small group of elite coaches to run a six month seminar of prospective Division I coaches. Successful graduates would be interviewed by interested Southland schools, and , if impressive enough in their interviews, offered head coaching jobs on two to three year contracts. The caveat for those students in the program - their contracts, should they accept them, would be limited to room, board, and a $15,000 a year stipend. Moreover, their contracts were not guaranteed.

This essential poverty, and the grueling nature of the program, meant that out of an original cohort of 25, just 15 completed the training. Of those 15, 10 took better paying assistant jobs elsewhere. One had a family medical emergency that forced him to leave coaching, leaving four of the class who accepted positions.

Bobby Ray Jackson - Nicholls State (33)
Look up prototypical good old Southern boy in the dictionary, and see Jackson's picture. Lover of an up-tempo game, he prefers to eschew rebounding and run, run, run. Views books as a waste of trees, classes as a waste of time. Shows absolute no ability to teach, but has that Southern charm so winsome, he could sell hurricane insurance to an Iowan. He also doesn't believe in setting an offensive system, but just let the boys go out and play. This same laissez-faire attitude carries over to his view of discipline, which is the old chestnut of "Boys will be boys." Hails from Mississippi.

Izulde Jestor - Lamar (35)
Socially awkward former university instructor, most recently at UNLV, with the expected natural ability to teach others. English background also gives him the ability to read players and assess their current abilities and their future potential with otherworldly accuracy. Like Jackson, a more offense-oriented coach. Unlike Jackson, his ineptitude around people means he'll have a very difficult time sealing the deal with recruits. Famous for once asking 47 girls to a fraternity formal and being rejected by all 47. Places a premium on academics, but is also well-known for erupting into rants at the slightest provocation.

Marius Yeaton - Texas-San Antonio (35)
Cousin to the famous Mateen Yeaton. As a result of watching his illustrious relative dominate high school and college basketball in Indiana, Marius has developed a defense-first philosophy that involves full-court press, high intensity, and owning the boards. Expects his players to toe the line in off-court behavior, as he himself is one of the most principled men possible in a sport notorious for scandal.

Vincent Reyes - Texas State (34)
A Texas native, Reyes is the son of Mexican immigrants and, along with Yeaton, is the most balanced of the four coaches. That said, Reyes has a natural gift for scouting and developing players, at a notch below Jestor, but also has recruiting charm a bit below that of the effusive Jackson. Reyes' system is still being worked out, as he is not a natural game-day coach on either end of the court relative to his three peers.

[Tim Moungey]

"We've got four seniors, three of whom are scholarship players, Bobby."

"It's Bobby Ray, son. Now, how much money we got?"

"$81,000."

"Buy the best we can get for the Southeast and get me whatever cheap report we can get for the top boys."

"...That's almost half our budget, Bobby Ray. And we have three players we need to sign."

"All right, all right. Quit your bellyachin'. Get me the basic report for the Great Plains. I want to see them Texas boys."

***

Similar scenes played out across the offices of the new Southland coaches, and the following results.

Lamar - $62,000 - 1 scholarship senior
-Great Plains Gold Report

UT-San Antonio - $69,000 - 2 scholarship seniors
-Great Plains Gold Report

Texas State - $76,000 - 4 scholarship seniors
-Great Plains Gold Report

Bobby Ray Jackson continued to spend lavishly, booking trips to the Georgia Superstar Camp and the Memphis Hoops Summit. Izulde Jestor and Marius Yeaton made plans to attend the Houston Classic, while Vincent Reyes resolved to stay in San Marcos.

[CoachC]

ooh! Tim doing a dynasty! I'm hooked already!

[Tim Moungey]

Thanks.

[CoachC]

I have to ask though, how you plan to handle it when those 4 teams play against each other in the conference? Are you playing out all their non-conference games?

[Tim Moungey]

Phone Call #1
"You guys are Division III, right? Sorry, not interested."

Phone Call #2
"I ascertain an alarming absence of actual academic accomplishment in your assembly of asinine anal apertures. Acceptable this is not. Adios."

Phone Call #3
"Do y'all got a Film department? I wanna be a big actor like Shaq."

"I don't rightly know."

"On what? You the head coach and you don't know what majors y'all got? You stupid. I'm out."

Phone Call #4
"What state are y'all in?"

"Louisiana."

"For real? Y'all in N'awlins, right? That's sweet as hell."

"Thibodaux, actually."

"Thibowhat? Man, forget that noise."

"Hello?... Hello?"

And so it continued. Every single phone call Bobby Ray Jackson was met with some variant of instantaneous rejection. For a man who wasn't used to being dismissed so readily and so cavalierly, it was a crushing blow.

"Too bad about them NCAA boys making it a felony to pay players to come here," he though ruefully as he put his cellphone down. "I'd sell my ma to get someone who can play."

***

"...There's people interested in us?"

"Yep. Handful of jucos, two are who really interested, and a few in-state high school kids. Matter of fact, one of the jucos has us #5 on his list already."

"No offers yet. We need to make sure our lone scholarship counts. Let's get the ball rolling on these kids who want to come here, though. Jucos, too, even though I normally don't like two and dones. Invite the two are most interested to campus."

"You got it, boss."

***

"32 players in our region all have at least a little interest in coming here, and there's one juco who would love to play for us even if we're not in his first Top 10."

"Of course they do. They hear the Yeaton name and they're intrigued. How many have us in their first rankings?"

"2 4th, 2 7th, 1 10th."

"Start looking into the players who have us top 10, the really interested juco, and whichever ones have really strong block or steal numbers, preferably both."

***

"Senor, 20 recruits in the gold report have a little bit of interest. Four of them some interest."

"Forget the junior college kids. I want people who will be here all four years. I just wish the NCAA wouldn't have allowed the one and done to continue and that they'd have rolled it back to four years like in the old days."

"Es el tiempo del mundo, no?"

"...Don't butcher the language, Abel."

"You caine stand it?"

"...Get out."

[Tim Moungey]

I have to ask though, how you plan to handle it when those 4 teams play against each other in the conference? Are you playing out all their non-conference games?

I haven't decided yet. Is it possible to control both coaches at once in a coached out game?

[CoachC]

I haven't decided yet. Is it possible to control both coaches at once in a coached out game?

I don't think so .. at least not fully. Because of the previously mentioned bug though you can at least run the substitutions for the other team. I'd suggest controlling the home team, and running the subs for the visitors.

[CoachC]

One of the most interesting things will be what will happen when 2 of your coaches compete for the same recruit! lol almost inevitable. I'll be watching this dynasty with a lot of interest.

[Tim Moungey]

It may happen as soon as this first season, given three of our four coaches are based in Texas at their first job.

And perhaps I'll just sim or watch the H-2-H games, then. ...If that doesn't get me started just simming, that is.