Chris Lowery's comment on the DePaul situation

[tornado]

In an interview, Chris Lowery was asked...


Q: "It's something we have to ask as journalists, but your name came up with
the DePaul thing. Is that something that's flattering any time your name
comes up with something like that?"

so you'd think he'd say something like, "no, I am not interested", or maybe even...
"I don't want to talk about it we have a game coming up..."..but clearly he avoided saying anything that sounds like a "NO"...

BUT -- here's what he actually did say...and see if this doesn't leave you thinking he has already decided to leave SIU, and that one of his big concerns is that the kids who came to SIU under him are going to be disappointed, since they came partly to play for Chris Lowery....

A: "It's a distraction right now. I mean, obviously, it's flattering, but you don't know if it's true or not,
and you have to be very careful when you deal with that, because it affects my people here, my players here,
and it affects their parents. We have other stuff creeping into their minds that we don't need at this point.
"I'm the head coach here at Southern Illinois, and that's what it's about with these kids. That's why they came here.
We would like to think (they came to) Southern Illinois for the university, but it's a package deal, and that's the way
college sports are now. They go for the coach, and they go for the school. That's a big part of where athletics
has taken off to. "It was different when I was in school. You came because of the school and the reputation
of the school, and now, it's not that way, and it's unfortunate. You want your kids in a state of mind where
they feel that you're going to coach them and not that you're going to leave them. When that stuff surfaces,
it's a negative image of me, and I haven't even created it. So we have to re-state where I am, who I am, and
what I mean to them on a daily basis."

Q: "Is that something that you have addressed already with them?"
A: "Individually, because you know they would rather ask as individuals as opposed to bringing it up
and creating a team problem."

http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/3256

at the very least, he is being smart and even if he stays at SIU he could parlay this into a big raise & extension

[real fan]

He is not going to get anymore money at SIU as they already had a huge falling out with the faculty about how much money they gave him on his last contract because the University is not in good shape as far as funding cutbacks.

[bu fan 9]

The score said DePaul offered Lowery 2 million a year.

[saluki762]

The score said DePaul offered Lowery 2 million a year.

They need to quit teasing. I wish I could have diminishing performance at my current job and be offered a huge raise. I would start screwing up tomorrow.

[NSBF]

Maybe its because I don't care or I'm not looking to drag the guy through the mud, but his answers seem pretty cut and dry to me. Not going to go through the whole process of cutting and pasting but:

Q.) Is it flattering his name is mentioned?
A.) Yes it's flattering (he finally gets around to), but he also says "you don't know if it's true". (Meaning???) You don't know if his name is being tossed around DePaul as being a candidate? Is it rumor, speculation, innuendo?

Lowrey goes on to say you have to be careful. Meaning? I took it as the people alleging his a candidate have to be careful. He's got one job, SIU. If his kids think he's going to leave, it affects them. It affects his program. It affects his ability to recruit. He's got to spend time reassuring kids who may/may not be happy that he's going to be there for the long haul.

I mean, I guess when a person is interviewing for a job you don't go around your present job saying "I'm interviewing for other jobs". You tend to exercise a bit of discretion, keep things close to your vest. Never know if the other opportunity will "fall through" and then where does that leave you?

Could he be a candidate? Yes. But his last statement about having to "re-state where I am, who I am" seems to indicate DePaul is more of a distraction to his current program and even him.

The way some of the Saluki faithful have bemoaned his contract, I think this may be a perfect time for both sides to re-evaluate their relationship. I'm sure he'd rather leave his alma mater on his own, rather than be fired and cause bad blood. Time and place mean everything.

Guess BU may find itself in a similar predicament at some point in the future. Maybe, maybe not!