After originally saying LSU would hire a search firm to help find the next men’s basketball coach, LSU Athletic Director Skip Bertman said Monday the search process will continue without a firm. Bertman previously announced a search firm would be chosen by Feb. 15. Search firms reportedly cost between $50,000 and $100,000. “We have a lot of research that’s been done by our staff,” Bertman said. “We have the names, and we have all of the information we think we need.” Bertman said he spoke with four firms before deciding he was ready to move ahead without one. “There are over 300 schools that play basketball, and there’s about 30 or 40 basketball [coaching] changes every year, so basketball is pretty easy to do a lot of research,” Bertman said. Bertman said the split between schools using and not using search firms is “probably about 50-50.” The change in how the process will take place is not expected to effect when any decisions are made. “There’s nothing that a search firm or that we can do until the end of the basketball season,” Bertman said. Similarly, “the who” in the equation seems to have remained constant. Although specific names are still absent, Bertman restated LSU’s next coach is expected to do more than win games. “We’re looking for a coach that’s not just a successful basketball coach – that would be a given,” Bertman said. “The fans here of all sports demand several things beyond that.” Brady’s long-term replacement is expected to be concerned with what Bertman calls “the overall athlete.””He has to be interested in graduating the athlete and making sure the athlete has a good four or five years here and becomes a good alumnus,” Bertman said. Bertman said the coach will have to be a “good person” who is active in the community. “There’s a lot of intimacy here between the LSU athletic program and the coaches,” Bertman said. “All of our coaches are very good community members.” Interim coach Butch Pierre, who was handed the reins after more than a decade assisting Brady, remains a potential candidate. “Butch is doing a really good job with a team that’s very, very young,” Bertman said. “The only drawback is that he’s never been a head coach. But we’re still going to look at Butch. But we can’t do anything until the end of the season.”
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