Lavin knows how to keep things entertaining...honestly it's hard to judge anything until after the season. There are still so many ways that this season can go. Obviously the better he does the stronger the argument it is to give him an extension.
I think the new President will play hardball regardless of what happens (maybe accepts for an elite 8 run). Lavin will have to decide if he wants this kind of scrutiny and of course what kind of money is being offered. SJU is a rebuilding project for next year so a new coach can be brought in and start from scratch.
Is the new president going to pay a legit NCAA tournament coach? I'm cool with moving on, because I don't care for Lavin's coaching style and for his lack of recruiting the last 3 seasons, but to fire him only to bring in someone who hasn't been successful as a D1 head coach is really risky.
Danny Hurley might be the next great coach in college basketball, but if he comes here, and we see that he isn't, we're back to a mid major program like we were under under the hated Norm Roberts.
Lavin has been criticized, fairly, for not developing talent, for not settling on the right players and rotations, and for not establishing a clear defensive or offensive identity. That said, if he's going to be criticized for the lack of development in Phil Greene and Dom Pointer over the last 2/3 years, then he deserves credit for their success which has been impressive to say the least.
Last year, our rotations were awful. This year, Lavin has done a good job of getting the most out his limited bench. I feel like we are prepared to face a zone much better this year than in recent years. Our help defense has gone from awfuk to tremendous this season, and Georgetown is a great example of help defense at its very best. Just ask Josh Smith.
At the end of the day, the devil you know may be the best road to take.