Joe Alleva?

LSU announced its new athletic director today -- Duke's Joe Alleva.

I've got to say my initial reaction was not good. Nothing against Joe Alleva. Nothing against the finalists, I was just expecting something more.

Apparently Alleva got the job for a couple of reasons:

1) He was a sitting AD. Just like LSU apparently won't be hiring any assistants coaches for head football or basketball coaches anymore, apparently the school isn't looking for assistant AD-types.

2) Alleva apparently is a big-time fundraiser. That's all well and good at Duke, where money grows on trees. Now he is coming to the flagship school of a state that was poor before Katrina.

Reservations aside, we'll have to see how Alleva does. He gets a chance to hire a coach right out of the chute with the basketball hire. Maybe Mike Krzyzewski can give him a hand in that one.