LaSalle Passes On Nate James, Chooses ‘Nova Assistant

Nate James won’t be getting the LaSalle job: that’ll go to Villanova assistant Ashley Howard, who can move jobs and keep his house if he wants.

Howard is a Philadelphia native and for LaSalle, that’s ideal.

Having a Philly coach who can move over is a real advantage for LaSalle. He already knows the ins and outs of the town and high school recruiting and all the politics.

It’s not that big of a loss for James honestly. LaSalle is occasionally good but its glory days are in the past. It’s part of the Big Five in Philly (LaSalle, Villanova, Penn, Temple and St. Joe’s).

LaSalle is in the A-10, which is a great league. We love the A-10. When the old Big East was in its last years, the A-10 had basically caught up in basketball.

LaSalle has only made the post-season three times since 1992.

Almost any program can succeed with the right coach but some are tougher than others.

Take ECU for instance. You’d have be either very confident for close enough to retirement to not care because that job spits people out on a regular basis.