“Lot of people doubted what we were able to accomplish. A lot of people thought we overachieved,” said Tulane head basketball coach Ed Conroy.

Conroy is accurate in this regard. His team was picked last in the 11 team American Athletic Conference. Tulane finished 7th with 6 wins. 5 of those league wins were on the road. But, 6 wins, 12 defeats is nothing to hang your hat on. Even in the first year of a league that is better than the one you left, Conference USA. Conroy comments may have rankled some of his detractors. So, be it.

So, is it time to change coaches, again? Tulane director of athletics Rick Dickson has assured Conroy that he will return next season.

My take? Tulane has an institutional basketball problem. What new President Michael Fitts should be asking his director of athletics (and himself) is this: Why haven’t we made an NCAA tournament since 1995? Why haven’t we played in the NIT since 2000? Even for Tulane, that is a long hoops drought.

The new Hertz Center was supposed to provide a boom to recruiting. While it is a nice building, it is nothing that sets Tulane basketball apart from its competitors.

Renovating Devlin Fieldhouse was, in my opinion, a waste of money. It is simply not a good basketball venue, period. Paint, new lights, and new seats do little to disguise the truth. It is a subpar building that hurts recruiting.

Here’s what I would be asking President Fitts. Are you doing everything possible to help your basketball coach gets student athletes in school? Are you giving the program the necessary resources in travel money and recruiting to be successful?

And, are we as a University doing everything we can to make men’s basketball successful?

Until the answers to these above questions change to yes, changing coaches won’t change the result.