Sizing up the candidates to replace Bennett
by Jeff Nusser on Mar 31, 2009 10:59 AM PDT
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PrintIt's said that nothing galvanizes a community like a disaster. Well, if yesterday proved anything, it's that. I said that now I truly know what it means to be a Coug, and while I primarily meant that in the jilted-coach sense, I also meant it in the community sense. We more or less tripled our one-day high for page views, and I'm so thankful that you chose to come here -- it gave me a place to vent and share my feelings.
In fact, it was such an efficient place to process my emotions that I'm fully ready to move forward today.
If you want even more insight into what Bennett's potential thought process was, you can visit Grippi's morning post at SportsLink. I won't poach all his stuff out of respect for the tremendous amount of work he did yesterday, and because I'm just ready to move ahead. Bennett's still not talking, but the short version is that a lot of things were wearing on Bennett, from travel to the enormity of the rebuilding task. Trust me, reading it won't make you feel any better. He also rounds up a ton of links from both perspectives.
So, let's look forward. AD Jim Sterk has already started to move quickly, and has said he wants to have a new coach hired between seven and 14 days from now. He's also set some parameters, noting that the assistants will not be candidates and that he's looking for someone with Division I head coaching experience. That won't make the players happy, but don't let that get you down -- it's natural that 18- and 19-year-old would desire a level of comfort right now, and if you hire the right guy, the players will want to play for him.
So who are we looking at to replace Bennett? Here are the candidates as I see them, in my order of preference.
Ken Bone, Portland State head coach
Without a doubt, Bone is my top candidate, and he pretty clearly is near or at the top of Sterk's list as well. When Oregon State was looking for a coach last year, I couldn't believe they didn't give Bone more of a look. This guy is a coach's coach. Some will probably naively call him a flash-in-the-pan as he's only been at PSU for three years, but that would be ignoring the 12 years he spent turning Seattle Pacific University into a Division II powerhouse.
The guy can flat coach, and he's proven that at PSU. He also was Lorenzo Romar's top tactician while an assistant at UW from 2002-2005, and some have gone so far as to say that UW's down swing from 2006-2008 had at least something to do with Romar losing Bone from his bench.
Some might wonder if he's a fit at WSU, especially after watching his team jack up a lot of 3's and run run run in their tournament opener against Xavier. But closer inspection reveals the fit might be better than you initially think. His defensive numbers won't blow you away at first glance -- his adusted defensive efficiencies have been ranked (in order) 205, 169 and 221 nationally. But if you look at the Big Sky, they've ranked third, second and fourth in the conference.
He also has shown a tremendous ability to adapt to his personnel offensively. We mentioned the 3's this year; the Vikings were 39th nationally in 3-point attempts per field goal attempt. But two years ago, they were 171st nationally. Additionally, their tempo wasn't as fast this year as you might think. They played at an average of 65.7 possessions, which, while not WSU slow, is still slightly below avearage. Compare that to two years ago, when they played at 72 possessions -- 24th nationally. Like I said, a coach's coach, and if anyone can adapt quickly to the talent that's already in place here, it's Bone.
Last, and perhaps most importantly, is that the guy has shown an ability to find talent wherever it might be hiding. It's a craft he honed at SPU, where finding diamonds in the rough is imperative. He continued that resourcefulness at PSU, taking on a number of transfers to build the program.
If we can land Bone, I'll be extremely happy.
Ray Giacoletti, Gonzaga asssistant coach
If Sterk is looking for a guy with a Division I track record, Giacoletti's the guy. He's got seven years of D-I experience -- four at Eastern Washington and three at Utah.
He built a solid Big Sky program at EWU, culminating with an NCAA appearance. After convincing Andrew Bogut to stay on campus for one more year, he led the Utes to 29 wins, a Mountain West championship and Sweet 16 appearance in his first season. But two consecutive sub-.500 rebuilding seasons followed that, and Giacoletti was being shown the door. (Technically he resigned, but when you receive an $800,000 buyout for "resigning," you know what really happened.)
It's unfortunate that the Utah administration didn't allow Giacoletti to see the rebuilding job through, because guess whose players were the core of a team that earned a No. 5 seed in this year's tournament?
What makes Giacoletti a good fit? He's got experience building a program, as he did at Eastern, and this is a rebuilding job that's mid-stream. Also, he's got deep, deep Northwest recruiting ties. The downside, of course, is that this is a guy who was essentially fired from his last job.
I'll be happy if we end up with Giacoletti, who is highly -- highly -- respected in the coaching community.
Bill Grier, San Diego head coach
Grier was widely considered to be the heir apparent at Gonzaga whenever Mark Few decided to move on to bigger and better things. Only Few never did. So after 16 years at Gonzaga -- the last eight as Few's top assistant -- Grier finally decided to move on, taking the job at San Diego.
Grier's star was at it's peak after last season, his first at USD, when the Toreros won the WCC tournament then went on to upset No. 4 seed UConn in the NCAA Tournament. Returning all five starters, San Diego was expected to be a force to be reckoned with this year, but it didn't pan out as the Toreros stumbled mightily thanks to injuries and discipline problems.
The things Grier has going for him is that he's was Few's top recruiter at Gonzaga and also Few's "defensive coordinator." That last statement shouldn't be laughed at too hard; the Toreros were ranked 90th and 68th in adjusted defensive efficiency in Grier's two years, up from 223rd in the previous coach's final year.
Some of the luster has worn off after last season's surprise, but a solid argument can be made that Grier just went through the growing pains that every coach goes through. I'd be tentatively optimistic, but hardly sold, if Grier is the hire.
Dan Monson, Long Beach State head coach
Coug fans know Monson well, so I won't rehash a ton of stuff here. Monson was an assistant at Gonzaga before finally getting the head gig after longtime coach Dan Fitzgerald's retirement in 1994. After leading the Zags on that magical Elite Eight run in 1996, Monson bolted for Minnesota.
Cleaning up Clem Haskins' mess proved to be a lot harder than Monson realized, and he largely floundered for his seven-plus seasons there, reaching just one NCAA Tournament. He was fired just seven games into his eighth season, but was hired the following season to coach at Long Beach State, where he took the 49ers from eighth in the Big West his first year to second this year.
The upside to Monson is that he presumably still knows the Northwest well, knows what he'd be getting into with this job, and is unlikely to bolt for greener pastures at the first possible opportunity if he's successful. The downside is that he was given a lot of time to sort through the scandals and Minnesota and was less than successful. It would be a solid hire, but hardly one that would inspire a lot of excitement.
Randy Bennett, St. Mary's head coach
The reason I have Bennett at the bottom of this list isn't because I don't think he's a good coach; it's just that I don't see it happening. I think he's got his sights set much higher than WSU after blowing off a lot of inquiries last year, most of them jobs he didn't see as enough of a jump from St. Mary's. And even if he did want the WSU job now, we'd be repeating this process again in three years. Not that it can't happen with these other guys, but I think it stands a much higher chance of happening with Bennett.
The others
Other guys' whose names have been floated in various places (some credible, some not so much) include Steve Lavin, Billy Gillispie, Larry Krystkowiak and Bob Knight. I really don't see any of those guys being serious candidates.
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I didn't vote
I don’t know enough about any of these guys, and just the fact that everyone (from us to UW) is saying we will probably get Ken Bone makes me a little cautious.
I would bring in whoever can keep the incoming recruits. I know it’s silly in general to sell your long term success for your short term, but as we’ve seen any coach who does well here is leaving anyways so we might as well enjoy the players.
I voted other...
becasue I don’t like the fact that Sterk immediately ruled out one of our current assistants. If we promoted an assistant we would likely see that same defensive minded team that we’ve come to know, and it might give us a better chance at retaining players.
You gotta think beyond just retaining players, though
There are a some examples of promoting assistants working, but there are equal (and probably more) numbers of examples where it didn’t work. The key is to get the right guy, and for whatever reason, Sterk doesn’t believe any of these guys are head coach material yet. My guess? He wants someone to come in completely ready to take advantage of the talent that’s already in place, not someone who’s going to be learning on the job, potentially wasting what we’ve got.
by Jeff Nusser on Mar 31, 2009 11:28 AM PDT up reply actions
And it might be a combo of bitterness and wanting to avoid this situation in 3 years
Bottom line, as has been said before, very few people understand what it means to be a Cougar. I think ruling out the assistants is a good move for the program. A quick hire of an assistant, after a coach suprisingly bolts, failed us last time. These assistants might be better qualified then Coach Doba, who I respect tremendously as a person but admit he was a failure as a headman, but the assistants are still assistants. If we went with them, I see one of two things happening. Continued success with the current crop of players due to little to no attrition, and the coach leaves with Klay, DC, etc. for greener pastures. Struggle repeating or finding success due to a desire to play Bennett ball but not actually being a Bennett.
As a program, it’s best to find a coach with a game plan and a great ability to coach and recruit.
I read a story somewhere that Bone was "Sky High" on Sterk's list
I’d be surprised if he isn’t the next coach at this point.
I voted for Coach Bone
He’s a relatively proven commoditty with really strong NW ties. I like that. There are good players in WA/OR, and being able to find some of the diamonds in the rough would be great for our program.
I also think he might be slightly less likely to bolt then some other coaches. Bone has been around awhile, and there is a chance that he could view WSU as a capstone to a career. Having coached in the NW his whole life, there could be a part of him that doesn’t want to leave this area and start over in a new geographical region. Oregon might open up soon, but if Kent is fired I’m not sure UO looks at coach from a lower program like UO, he’s not a national name at this point. And at the end of the day, counting on Kent to be fired would be foolish. He’s as likely to coach another 10 years at UO as be fired next week. And Romar isn’t going anywhere, so Bone won’t be taking over UW anytime soon.
That leaves WSU as his only Pac 10 NW option. I don’t know if that is something he wants, but looking at his resume I see consistent winning and coaching in the NW. And I like both of those things.
No offense, but this comment....
I also think he might be slightly less likely to bolt then some other coaches. Bone has been around awhile, and there is a chance that he could view WSU as a capstone to a career.
I know you said “slightly”, but let’s not fool ourselves, Bone would use us as a stepping stone too. I have no doubt about that. That’s okay just as long as we realize this upfront…and it makes the job of selecting new coaches absolutely critical. No more Eastman/Graham picks. What a disaster that was.
by westsidecougar1 on Mar 31, 2009 4:14 PM PDT up reply actions
I'm with you
In the idea that we have to choose someone that is best for right now, and know that they may leave. But reading more about Bone, I’m not entirely convinced we’d be a stepping stone. I’m not saying we wouldn’t be, but I’m saying that with him there would be a possibilty of more then 5 years. With Randy Bennett or Bill Grier, I think 5 would be a max due either to them bolting at first chance or being fired for failing to win.
Here is the quote from one of the Oregonian articles: “I really want to coach basketball in the Northwest where we can be successful,” Bone said. “When you start looking around, there are a lot of schools like that in the Northwest, but I don’t foresee those coaches going anywhere real soon.”
He said this in reference to staying at PSU for awhile, obviously not expecting UO, UW, or WSU to be open and having been turned down by OSU. Bone is a NW guy, and I like that about him. Not sure how attractive leaving the NW would be to him. Not saying he wouldn’t, just saying he has a lot of ties here.
Don't fall in to the trap!!!
Its been only one day since we were all blindsided people! Sure he may seem more loyal and commited than the next guy, and indeed he might be, but you never know. You said he never would have expected a pac-10 school would be knocking, thats possible. But when he gets to WSU and gets us to 3 strait tourneys and the elite 8, all the sudden big time schools are knocking, and if he left PSU, why not WSU? But hey, if we can bring a guy in to ge great for 3-5 years and he leaves for a bigger school, thats the 2nd best case scenario. I’m good with that. Lets find the best coach for Washington State, and if it is a tie-breaker, go with the guy who we think will stay longer.
Sorry, but everything you said about Giacoletti is completely wrong.
Which I understand, because from an outsiders perspective, it would appear the Utes gave him the shaft. However, you’ll find universal support of the idea that Giacoletti is basically a terrible coach.
So I’m going to correct a few of your misconceptions and hopefully your administration is smart enough to stay as far from Giacoletti as possible, or he’ll run your program into the ground like he did Utah’s.
He built a solid Big Sky program at EWU, culminating with an NCAA appearance. After convincing Andrew Bogut to stay on campus for one more year, he led the Utes to 29 wins, a Mountain West championship and Sweet 16 appearance in his first season. But two consecutive sub-.500 rebuilding seasons followed that, and Giacoletti was being shown the door. (Technically he resigned, but when you receive an $800,000 buyout for “resigning,” you know what really happened.)
There is little doubt Giacoletti saw some success at Eastern Washington. Yet when he was hired, Ute fans had some concerns and those concerns were the fact he had only won conference championship under his belt and zero 20-win seasons while with the Eagles. The fact they had no post season success was understandable, since it’s very difficult for a program at their level to really pile up the wins. With that said, Giacoletti inherited a strong program that had seen success under Steve Aggers — who left Cheney for Loyola Marymount.
Your second point is the only good thing Giacoletti did at Utah. He convinced Bogut to stay, which probably any coach could have done not named Rick Majerus and brought back Marc Jackson. The talent there was good enough to compensate for his coaching pitfalls and he rode Bogut to a conference championship and Sweet Sixteen appearance. After becoming only the second coach in modern Utah basketball history to have back-to-back losing seasons, including the most losses in a season since 1973, he was shown the door.
It’s unfortunate that the Utah administration didn’t allow Giacoletti to see the rebuilding job through, because guess whose players were the core of a team that earned a No. 5 seed in this year’s tournament?
This is where the outside world has no idea what exactly happened here at Utah. Firstly, the whole notion Ray Giacoletti had to rebuild Utah basketball is absurd. You don’t rebuild a program that had won twenty or more games in ten of eleven seasons — especially when the program was only eight years removed from finishing runner-up to Kentucky.
Look, every Ute fan expected a step back in Giacoletti’s second season, since replacing Bogut was no easy task. Yet while they took a step back, they actually regressed from Giacoletti’s 2nd and 3rd seasons here. There was no sign of progress between his rebuilding seasons and he had lost total control of the team. I’ve never seen players actually act indifferent when a coach is fired and that’s exactly how Utah players reacted when Giacoletti got the boot.
You see, that’s the problem. Giacoletti took over a great program and by his third year, Utah was having probably its worst season in school history. The players had emotionally checked out, the staff had no answers for their struggles and the clock was ticking. The fact is, to anyone who had paid attention, the writing was on the wall. Giacoletti was going down in flames and coaching change needed to be done to save the program.
Where the program fractured under Giacoletti was his horrible recruiting patterns, where he relied on Euros because, in his own words, no one recruited them and it was easier than recruiting here in the states. Yeah, that’s the guy you want for your job, picking players not because they’re good or a good fit, but because it’s easier than actually going head-to-head with opponents.
Now Jim Boylen comes in and quickly takes a team that won only 11 games the year before arrived and gets them to 18. Sure, he won with Giacoletti recruits, but that’s like saying the United States won World War II with Burundi’s army. What Boylen inherited here was a true rebuilding job, but instead of allowing the bottom fall out like Giacoletti did, he managed to keep Utah above those struggles.
You see, the problem with your premise is that you believe rebuilding means losing and that just isn’t the case. You can rebuild a program and keep them semi-successful, as Boylen and Majerus and Pimm and Foster and Gardner all proved while at Utah. There are only two coaches since 1944 who have had back-to-back losing seasons at Utah: Lynn Archibald and Ray Giacoletti. Archibald was replaced by Rick Majerus and you know about Giacoletti.
There also was the fact he basically allowed the players to get away with everything, whether laziness on the court, or in the classroom. Players often missed class and were rarely held accountable until it became such a big mess he had to do something about it. Under Boylen, every player has to go to class or they’re off the team. Every player has to hold themselves accountable for their actions or they’re off the team. This type of mindset was just not there with Giacoletti.
So be warned, Giacoletti is not a good coach and can’t handle the pressure of running a big-time program. Utah fans were happy to give him a chance after Bogut left and even after his second season, which was pretty disastrous. Yet when it became clear in his third year that Utah was actually worse than they were in his second, you knew they needed to make a change. And it proved to be right, as Boylen took the same players and won 18 games with them the next year. Not much changed from 2007 and 2008, except the coaching and that proved to be enough.
I've found that when a coach is fired, generally it isn't 100% accepted by the fans unless the coach sucks.
And in this case, I’ve not found one Ute fan who was angry over Giacoletti’s firing.
I mentioned Lynn Archibald in my original post, since prior to Giacoletti, most believed him to be the worst coach in Utah basketball history. Yet even when he was fired, many fans were torn about the decision because he wasn’t terrible (finished with a winning record, along with three consecutive post-season appearances). We were counting down the days until Giacoletti got the boot and it was a great day when it happened.
Let me just say that I don’t want to sound like I hate Giacoletti. I was one of his biggest supporters in year one and two among the Ute fans, but when I saw the team regress in year three, it became obvious to me he just wasn’t getting it done. Then to make things worse, when he’s fired, the twit Mark Few goes out of his way to attack Utah basketball and the fans, essentially saying we were the reason Giacoletti got fired. It felt petty and kinda childish for Giac to hide behind his best friend.
And just when Utah had finally moved on from the Giacoletti era, the Utes hosted Gonzaga in Salt Lake this season and Few once again opened his big mouth. Luckily Utah beat the Zags and shut him up, but it’s obvious how much Few hates Utah basketball over what he believes was a poor decision in firing his best friend. And I get that he was angry his friend was fired, especially since Utah had contacted Few and asked if he wanted the job and it was Few who recommended Giacoletti, but it’s as if all the responsibility of Giacoletti’s failures here rest within the fan base and not with Giac and I disagree with that.
In fact, I look at the rebuilding project Tony Bennett saw this season and to me that is a sufficient way of rebuilding after losing talent from the year prior. You don’t need to sink into 14 and 11-win seasons as Giacoletti did during rebuilding projects and when that happened not once, but two years in a row, it became clear the program just was not going to do much under his leadership.
But who knows. Maybe Utah wasn’t the right school for Giacoletti and he can do better at a place like Washington. He did replace a legend in Rick Majerus, but his recruiting patterns, lack of discipline and ultimately weak teams both mentally and physically did him in.
Good save
I also enjoy it when people refer to Mark Few as a “twit”
This is where per game statistics go to die.
CougCenter
by Craig Powers on Mar 31, 2009 8:52 PM PDT up reply actions
Ken Bone,
It makes a ton of sense, and would probably be a good fit for both parties.
http://www.spartyandfriends.com/
Someone to call
Don Newmann…Been an NBA Assistant for 10 years. Was an assistant under Sampson at Wazzu, played at Idaho. Went on to be head coach at Sac State and then when to ASU. Took over at ASU on an interim basis when Bill Frieder left right before the 98 season and led the to 18 wins and an NIT berth.
Great motivator and recruiter. He was the main man who brought Bennie Seltzer, Neil Derrick, Terrence Lewis, Ken Critton, Tyrone Maxey to Pullman from places like Texas and Alabama.
Oh, please...not Monson!
That guy is a real horse’s arse in my humble opinion. Never missed a chance to take a shot at WSU when he was at Gonzaga, or even after he was summarily and unceremoniously dismissed from the Minnesota job (I recall reading a Cougfan.com article chronicling as much). His style may match the talent on hand at Wazzu, but I truly don’t think he’d be enough of a WSU advocate to ever accomplish much.
Just my $0.02
Visiting over from BruinsNation...
… and speaking personally, I have to say that you Cougs have probably been some of our toughest opponents in hoops in recent years. Your team played and fought well, without resorting to cheap shots or thuggery, to the best of my memory. Even the kind of 50-48 games that would drive the ESPNers crazy produced some outstanding basketball for hardcore fans of the game.
You have truly been worthy and honorable adversaries out on the court. Here’s hoping you land on your feet.
Meriones
"In this program your passion bucket must be full to play SC." -- CRN, to Dan Patrick, 1/2008
Ken Bone has my vote!
I did a little research about Ken Bone. I am actually a little excited about this guy. He was the reason UW got to where they were in 2005. After he left they saw quite the drop off. Also, he was dominant at SPU. To be good a D-2 you have to have a eye for talent. Lets get him in now so we can keep our recruits. He wants to be in the NorthWest, he knows how to recruit here and I think players will like him because he coaches to the ability of his team. He doesn’t force everyone into one single system. One year it could be defense the next a high powered offense. Sounds exciting. Although, this could just be a rebound relationship for me after the Bennett break up. I have never been cheated on before, but if this is what is feels like my heart goes out to the people that have experienced it. This link below got me excited about Bone.
I had to put it that way, because my formatter is not working. I can’t wait to say KenBone!!!
http://www.oregonlive.com/vikings/index.ssf/2009/03/cougars_to_interview_psus_bone.html
I don't know much about Ken Bone....
but I’m already excited about the possibilities after reading all the great stuff about him. I still say this whole situation works out really super good for us. Sure, we may lose a recruit or two. We may also obtain a recruit or two. It works both ways. What little I know of Bone is that he’s not stuck on one system, he’s been successful in every situation he’s been put in, he’s knows how to recruit the NW, and maybe (being the selfish sort I am) he’s one of those 13 year kinda guys (ie. Harshman and Price).
Go Cougs!!!
Bill Grier not interested
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/mar/31/bn31grier14345-wsu/
"I’m not going to get into the coaching (job carousel) thing,"
Now I want him.
Remember, Tony said that last year
It makes teams want you more, and is easy to say when you know there aren’t any jobs open that you really want or are likely to get. I no longer trust any coach that says this.
Not interested in Grier
He has proven zero, feels slimy to me for some reason, and seems pretty arrogant. He took what was left and made a nice run. Now prove you can do it on your own. He had a ton of trouble this year. I don’t think this guy is ready for a Pac 10 job and would definitely bolt for GU if the job ever came open.
No thanks anyway. I think it was more WSU wasn’t interested in Grier.
My guess is Ken Bone will become our new head coach....
The timing is perfect. The only thing that would surprise me is if Sterk hired someone none of us have mentioned or thought of yet, similar to when he hired Dick Bennett.
Ken Bone is an excellent coach. I think he’d be a great fit for Pullman. He’s paid his dues. I would be all for it. I’d also be willing to bet he might be able to keep the lion’s share of the recruiting class. Another point in his favor is he might have a bit more success recruiting the NW kids than the Bennetts did, although I’m not trying to rag on them in that area at all. It’d be nice to put a little pressure on Romar for some of the city kids.
Go Cougs!!!
In terms of the situation
He’s like a more qualified Paul Wulff. Local guy, Washington state (not the university) ties, almost the immidiate frontrunner and the fanbase is generally for it. It feels the same, but I feel better about this hire.
He is infinitely more qualified than Wulff for this job
Which makes sense, because this is a better job than the football job right now.
I am a supporter of Coach Wulff....
Bone wouldn’t have the same issues to deal with. I like the possibilities with hiring Bone. That fact that so many Cougs are impressed by him says tons to me. Our fan base is as wise as any in the country and our passion for all things Crimson is well-documented.
Go Cougs!!!
Who is this Terry Porter guy?
Cougfan said he threw his name in and that he coached under Dick Bennett and coached in the NBA?!?
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