Reading the anonymous criticism of a potential Tim Pernetti hire, that somewhat echoes the sentiment from two other pieces from over the weekend. Paul Franklin said that the RAC needs repairs, and LFBall wonders about Rutgers following the "Penn State model" of becoming strictly a football school (their athletic department is run by a former assistant coach). I'm unclear as to how deep and prevalent this sentiment is, but it's out there to some extent.
Hopefully, the meaningful parties involved will be able to compromise when it comes to the hard choices of resource allocation. Rutgers has clearly at this point cast its lot as a football school, and that's not going to change. Poor facilities don't do Fred Hill any favors. There's plenty of blame to go around, but the the onus for this season rests mostly on his shoulders. He's only really brought in two full classes to this point, but didn't bring in a Big East-caliber point guard among them. Inman and Chandler have regressed on his watch.
There doesn't seem to be a Dick Hale-type figure for basketball who can give them the helping hand that they need right now. I also have the suspicion that no one would be complaining about what a dump the RAC is if the team played well enough to garner even Waters-era crowds. DEVCO has been looking into a NB arena for some time. It's not going to happen though until the team starts winning games on the court.
I'm not really comfortable making any further assessments of each candidate's qualifications. It's easy to make the obvious assumptions about Pernetti, but as Luicci points out, that doesn't necessarily mean that he'll neglect everything else. Mehrtens comes from a school with no football team, but she's also an Alabama alumnus. There's just so much uncertainity - with each candidate, and trying to piece together how they'll fit in here. If anti-Pernetti partisans from the athletic department search committee are already leaking to the press, then at least Rutgers athletics will be in for more of the same in that respect.
Speaking of leaks, when looking at the committee, you'd have to assume that the leaker is someone who already has a relationship with the press. Looking at that list, and checking back on a few old columns for any direct quotes or hints narrows down the field a fair bit.
Regardless of candidate or agenda, assignment number one in a long series ought to be mending any infighting and lingering resentment, and getting every notable faction on the same page. If not ceased (it is Rutgers, after all), then any remaining squabbles must be dealt with in a professional and appropriate manner. Want to shake things up? That university-wide culture is one place to start.