Monday night at Hanner Fieldhouse, Georgia Southern suffered its worst loss at home since 1998.
The defeat sent the Eagles tumbling down into a tie for last place in the Southern Conference's South Division.
The only hope left for GSU is to win the SoCon tourney at the end of this month and steal a trip to the NCAA tournament. The problem is no team has ever done it without a first-round bye and Southern has virtually eliminated any hope of snagging that day off.
So it would seem on the outside that Southern is just having a bad year. It happens. But it shouldn't happen to a team that is the defending SoCon regular-season champions.
Expectations were again high coming into the 2006-07 season for head coach Jeff Price's squad. Sure, they had lost an NBA-caliber guard in Elton Nesbitt, but GSU returned four players in Louis Graham, Donte Gennie, Jimmy Tobias and Dwayne Foreman who were on the same floor for the majority of the 2005-06 season. A repeat of '06? Probably not, but surely they would be fighting for the league's top spot.
As this season has slowly progressed, however, Price's bunch has fallen on rough times. An injury to forwards Matt Fields and Krzysztof Janiszewski have created depth problems inside, and a hamstring problem for point guard Foreman has forced two true freshman into the lineup. Add that to close conference loss after close conference loss and it looks as though all the wheels fell off Monday in a tough loss to App St., 77-55.
Even Tobias, a senior, was benched for much of the game for an undisclosed argument with Price in the first half.
Price's record since his initial season in 1999-2000 currently stands at 132-96. He's in danger of having his first losing season while at the helm in Statesboro and of yet another early exit from the SoCon tourney.
Critics of the coach argue that Price has never won the "big one". The Eagles have yet to get to the Dance with Price, yet to win a postseason game or yet to take down any team with any name recognition whatsoever.
Defenders of the coach would argue that Price has brought the program back from the dead. Few recall the Eagles had six straight non-winning seasons before Price arrived, that just ten years ago GSU was 3-23 or that in 1997 the Eagles set a dubious record for the fewest points scored in a game with 21.
Price has undoubtedly changed all that.
But the question begs to be asked if Price's Eagles have plateaued. Will Price's Eagles ever win the "big one?" How long will fans wait? Will GSU continue to make runs, play great basketball, then give way to Davidson, College of Charleston, or whoever else wants a championship that year?
Georgia Southern has just six games left on the schedule, culminating with a nationally televised contest against Charleston on Saturday, Feb. 24. There's still time for Price to turn things around, or for the Eagles to sink even further into a dismal season.
Should Price be on the hot seat at this point? You be the judge.
The defeat sent the Eagles tumbling down into a tie for last place in the Southern Conference's South Division.
The only hope left for GSU is to win the SoCon tourney at the end of this month and steal a trip to the NCAA tournament. The problem is no team has ever done it without a first-round bye and Southern has virtually eliminated any hope of snagging that day off.
So it would seem on the outside that Southern is just having a bad year. It happens. But it shouldn't happen to a team that is the defending SoCon regular-season champions.
Expectations were again high coming into the 2006-07 season for head coach Jeff Price's squad. Sure, they had lost an NBA-caliber guard in Elton Nesbitt, but GSU returned four players in Louis Graham, Donte Gennie, Jimmy Tobias and Dwayne Foreman who were on the same floor for the majority of the 2005-06 season. A repeat of '06? Probably not, but surely they would be fighting for the league's top spot.
As this season has slowly progressed, however, Price's bunch has fallen on rough times. An injury to forwards Matt Fields and Krzysztof Janiszewski have created depth problems inside, and a hamstring problem for point guard Foreman has forced two true freshman into the lineup. Add that to close conference loss after close conference loss and it looks as though all the wheels fell off Monday in a tough loss to App St., 77-55.
Even Tobias, a senior, was benched for much of the game for an undisclosed argument with Price in the first half.
Price's record since his initial season in 1999-2000 currently stands at 132-96. He's in danger of having his first losing season while at the helm in Statesboro and of yet another early exit from the SoCon tourney.
Critics of the coach argue that Price has never won the "big one". The Eagles have yet to get to the Dance with Price, yet to win a postseason game or yet to take down any team with any name recognition whatsoever.
Defenders of the coach would argue that Price has brought the program back from the dead. Few recall the Eagles had six straight non-winning seasons before Price arrived, that just ten years ago GSU was 3-23 or that in 1997 the Eagles set a dubious record for the fewest points scored in a game with 21.
Price has undoubtedly changed all that.
But the question begs to be asked if Price's Eagles have plateaued. Will Price's Eagles ever win the "big one?" How long will fans wait? Will GSU continue to make runs, play great basketball, then give way to Davidson, College of Charleston, or whoever else wants a championship that year?
Georgia Southern has just six games left on the schedule, culminating with a nationally televised contest against Charleston on Saturday, Feb. 24. There's still time for Price to turn things around, or for the Eagles to sink even further into a dismal season.
Should Price be on the hot seat at this point? You be the judge.
