UH Head Coach: The Final Four
The search for the new University of Hawaii head basketball coach has been narrowed down to four candidates and a preliminary selection is expected within the next few days.
The “Final Four” candidates are: Bob Nash, UH, Associate Head Coach; Dean Demopoulos, Portland Trailblazers, Lead Assistant Coach; Willis Wilson, Rice, Head Coach; Randy Bennett, St. Mary’s, Head Coach
Apparantly, UCLA assistant Donny Daniels was not among those contacted last week by UH to come in for an interview (according to the Honolulu Advertiser).
About the other candidates (not already covered):
Willis Wilson, Rice, Head Coach
Why he should get it: Coach Wilson just completed his 15th season at Rice University compiling an overall record of 216-219 with the Owls, including a record of 16-16 last season. In 2004 and 2005, Rice received bids to the NIT with wins totalling 22 and 18 respectively. In the early 90’s, Wilson spent time on the Stanford coaching staff under Mike Montgomery, making the NCAA tournament in 1992.
Why he shouldn’t: In all his time at Rice, Coach Wilson has a sub-500 record and was never able to lead his team to an NCAA Tournament appearance. Nuff said. Wouldn’t his selection be a step down?
Randy Bennett, St. Mary’s, Head Coach
Why he should get it: In his six seasons at Saint Mary’s, Coach Bennett has compiled a record of 102-83 as a member of the West Coast Conference which is home to national powerhouse Gonzaga. The Gaels have recorded 4 consecutive winning seasons, including 25 wins in 2005 when they received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament and given a #10 seed. When Coach Bennett took over in 2000-01, Saint Mary’s was among the worst teams in the country with an RPI of 315 (out of 319). Since that time, they have reached as high as 27 (in 2005) and finished at 156 last season (Hawaii was 102). Coach Bennett has many years of coaching experience as an assistant in the WCC at San Diego and Pepperdine and also served as the top assistant to Lorenzo Romar (current UW head coach) at St. Louis University. He was responsible for the recruiting on a few of those teams and was able to bring in several future NBA draft picks.
Why he shouldn’t: A winning record simply isn’t enough to make someone a quality candidate. Its time for Hawaii to make the next step and strive for more than an appearance in the NCAA tournament. Its time for WINS… His past record doesn’t speak to that kind of success, so it’ll be a guess as to whether or not he can move this program forward.
Bottom Line: As for these two candidates, it seems as though they don’t bring much more to the table than Coach Nash… in fact, probably less (though they are head coaches). So, with that being the case, Nash and Demopoulos have got to be the top candidates for the new job.
These questions are still lingering… What happened to Rigot?… Why didn’t they interview Daniels?… Was this whole process just a charade to mask what they were planning to do all along?… (which is) hire Coach Nash. Hmm…
Posted in: UH Manoa