Men’s Cougar BasketballCougarsPac-12Sports
Analysis: Why Pat Chun and WSU already look smart with hire
of basketball coach Kyle Smith
March 29, 2019
By Jon Wilner of San Jose Merc News //Pac-12 Hotline /
It took Washington State three more days to fire Ernie Kent
and search for/hire his successor than it took Cal to decide to fire Wyking
Jones.
Each school, each athletic director, goes at his own pace.
Reaction to the news reports of the Cougars hiring Kyle
Smith:
WSU athletic director Pat Chun moved decisively and
expediently in firing Ernie Kent and hiring Smith, which is different than
moving recklessly or rashly.
It’s reasonable to assume Chun knew for weeks that he would
dismiss Kent, which gave him time to quietly research candidates.
The Hotline wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Chun donned
a disguise and scouted Smith in person when his USF Dons visited Gonzaga in
early February …
Or if Chun caught the Dons in the WCC tournament at the
Orleans Arena a few days before WSU played across town at T-Mobile.
It’s clear the Chun has gained solid grasp of what works at
WSU in his year-plus on the job.
No doubt, seeing Mike Leach operate up close has helped in
that regard, and there are some general similarities between Smith and Leach —
not in their experience or success, of course, but in how they think.
Leach has a law degree (from Pepperdine) and takes up
permanent residence outside the box on everything from the spread offense to
aliens to weddings to military insurgency.
His style of play allows WSU to circumvent many of the
traditional recruiting duels — Leach can stock his roster with the proper
personnel without having to continually duel with Washington, Oregon and USC
for prospects.
Smith has a master’s in educational leadership (from San
Diego) and deploys a highly-analytical approach with player development and
tactics — a strategy he dubbed Nerdball.
That approach should serve as his version of the Air Raid,
allowing Smith to tap into a recruiting pipeline that doesn’t conflict directly
with the top-tier programs in the conference.
(Another example of
the value of being different in Pullman: The system deployed by Dick and Tony
Bennett.)
Smith seems to fit WSU in another, vital respect.
He has performed admirable clean-up work at both Columbia
and USF, which should provide a solid foundation for the task currently staring
down at him in Pullman.
The roster and playing style must be overhauled — and done
so with limited resources.
Smith lifted the USF program to its ceiling in the WCC:
Three consecutive fourth-place finishes, which is the best
anyone not named Gonzaga, BYU and Saint Mary’s can reasonably expect.
Oh, and it’s worth noting that Smith’s Dons beat Cal,
Stanford, Saint Mary’s and BYU (twice) this season.
And that his roster includes players from Estonia, Belarus
and Finland.
Like his good friend Randy Bennett at Saint Mary’s, Smith
will have roster-building options from overseas.
On the finances:
Add the cost of buying out Ernie Kent ($4 million,
approximately) and Kent’s staff, and the cost of hiring Smith ($1.4 million annually
for six years, per the Spokesman-Review) and Smith’s staff … and we’re in the
$14 million range for the coaching change.
This, for an athletic department staring at tens (and tens)
of millions in long-haul debt.
Given WSU’s fiscal challenges, the Kent/Smith swap is an
impressive show of commitment to the basketball program by Chun and president
Kirk Schulz.
Then again … and this was true of Cal and UCLA, which also
made coaching changes … there is a cost associated with doing nothing:
If the administration doesn’t provide evidence it cares
about winning, why should fans buy tickets? Why should donors contribute? Why
should recruits commit?
I’ll be curious to hear what, if anything, Chun and Smith
say about infrastructure investments, whether it’s training, strength or
nutrition staffs; recruiting budgets; or the cash available to buy the type of
non-conference home games that will enable Smith to build the program properly.
There’s a good chance the school made financial commitments
over and above salaries for the new staff.
None of this should be taken as a declaration of immediate
success for the Cougars.
They’ve lost immense ground in recent seasons relative to
their peers — yes, even in a depleted Pac-12 — and the more remote your
location, the more limited your resources, the longer the climb back to
relevance.
The Hotline would be surprised, however, if WSU isn’t
winning six or seven conference games by Year Three of the Smith era.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Washington State University Alumni Association Cougars of
the Desert gather for lunch, golf
By Rosanna Currier and Charlene Clark, Special to The Desert
Sun (Palm Spring, Calif.)
Published 10 a.m. PT March 30, 2019
This year’s 32nd annual gathering of the Washington State
University Alumni Association's Cougars of the Desert was held at Desert Falls
Country Club, setting records in both attendance and dollars raised.
As one entered the lobby, there was little doubt that
Washington State University's alumni and friends were in the house. Over 150 of
them in fact! Both the décor and wardrobe of choice were crimson and gray.
Participants were greeted by a 10-foot-tall mascot, Butch T. Cougar, and saw
the Cougar flag waving proudly.
Emcee Shari Freidenrich reminded everyone during her annual
review of her “top 5 reasons to be proud you’re a Coug,” that the 15-year
effort of dedicated fans and alumni traveling to the various ESPN College
GameDay locations and waving “Old Crimson” finally came to fruition. On an
early Saturday morning in October, ESPN College GameDay aired its live
broadcast on the WSU Pullman Campus, and “Old Crimson” at long last found its
way back home. And at this luncheon, everywhere you looked there was crimson
and gray and alumni and friends dressed to proudly support and represent their
alma mater.
This two-day event included a luncheon on Saturday and a
golf tournament on Sunday. Saturday was a “social” event with fundraising key
to its purpose. Participants had multiple means by which to support the cause,
“Dollars for Coug Scholars,” via raffle tickets, silent and live auctions, and
Raise the Paddle.
The highlight of the second day, Sunday, was the annual Golf
Classic. This year more than 80 golfers
participated in the golf classic, and after a rather cool winter, Mother Nature
smiled down providing perfect golfing weather. Sunday evening was capped off
with a dinner and a live auction. The Cougars of the Desert set a new record,
raising $32,000, which will allow the group to offer 10 scholarships to
financially needy students at WSU.
A host of Washington State University dignitaries were among
the participants in attendance. Kirk Schulz, president of Washington State
University, addressed the luncheon group and recognized R. James Cook, the past
president of Cougars of the Desert who served from 2008 to 2018.
This year’s keynote speaker was Theodore “Ted” Baseler. He
is both a Coug and a visionary who guided the transformation of Ste. Michelle
Wine Estates from a successful Washington-based business into an international
giant during his 34 years at the company, including 18 as CEO.
Baseler has been instrumental in WSU’s growing stature as
well. He entertained the luncheon participants with interesting and informative
vignettes of his work with both Ste. Michelle and his support and investment of
$5 million of Ste. Michelle’s money into the construction of the university’s
state-of-the-art Wine Science Center at WSU Tri-Cities, a facility completed in
2015. In addition, he has served as a WSU regent since 2014, including a turn
as chair. He has been recognized with the Alumni Achievement Award and the WSU
Foundation Outstanding Service Award.
Other notable Cougars in attendance included Lisa Calvert,
Tim Pavish, Bruce Pinkelton, Dean of Mike Trevisan, Andre’-Denis Wright,
Patrick Chun and Hugh Campbell.
Each year the fundraising efforts are made possible by
generous donations from local businesses from throughout the Coachella Valley,
Washington Wineries, and countless generous alumni and supporters. This year,
15 country clubs each donated a foursome of golf for the live auction. In
addition, 15 Washington wineries collectively donated seven cases and four
magnums of premium wine sold at either the auctions.
Dates for the 2020 events are February 22 for the luncheon
and February 23 for the golf tournament and banquet. All Cougars and friends of Cougars are
welcome to attend.
For more information, visit the WSU Alumni Association at alumni.wsu.edu/DesertCougars
#
