Editor, the Auburn Plainsman



I have been a ticket holder for men’s basketball at AU for the past 26 years.

I am dismayed, even shocked, that a recent editorial in The Plainsman asks for the resignation of Jeff Lebo, the men’s basketball coach.

The problem with the men and women’s basketball teams are neither the coaches nor the players, but the lack of community support for the team.

Look how well, for example, the men’s basketball team did when Kentucky came to town and we had a full house.

I would note that a writer on ESPN recently called Auburn the worst town in the entire SEC when it comes to fan support. And that writer is correct.

Fan support is the problem, not our coaches.

Moreover, whatever happened to the idea of “the Auburn family?”

Do we badmouth our own families in public when things are not perfect?

There’s something missing when folks criticize a coach before the end of the season.

This is not the time to be critical. Rather, it’s the time to rally around our coaches and our players.

I see our men and women’s teams practicing and playing hard day in and day out. The men’s basketball team has lost something like nine games by five points or less. The effort is certainly there.

Also, how can we expect our coaches to bring in top-notch players when there’s little fan support for men and women’s basketball and when the locker rooms and facilities for basketball are ‘shamblesville’ compared to other SEC teams like Tennessee?

Instead of belly-aching, we need to rally behind our team and let Jay Jacobs and Dr. Gogue decide on the future of our coaches.

I, for one, trust their judgment, rather than that of fair-weather fans.