Arizona a tale of two coaches
Posted: Wednesday, March 25, 2009 2:41 PM
Ten days ago, a Pac-10 commentator approached Lute Olson to offer congratulations on the former Arizona coach’s induction into the Pac-10 Hall of Honor. Selection Sunday was 24 hours away, and the well-wisher offered the sentiment that good news could be coming for Arizona. Understandably, neither Olson nor Arizona athletic director Jim Livengood seemed overly optimistic.
Yet, the Wildcats were placed in the NCAA tournament much to the dismay of schools like St. Mary’s, Creighton, and San Diego State. Arizona was rewarded for its four wins over Top 20 teams (Gonzaga, Kansas, Washington, and UCLA).
Now, ten days later, Arizona stands alone from the six Pac-10 NCAA entrants. The only team from its conference to make the Sweet 16.
Let me offer a key development:
In October, Olson retired, conceding the damage inflicted by a stroke left him unable to coach. With just weeks until season’s start, Livengood offered the job to assistant Mike Dunlap, a successful Division II head coach with NBA experience. The offer to Dunlap was clearly for this season only, no hope of permanence.
Dunlap declined, second assistant Russ Pennell accepted, and the Wildcats took off on their season. In hindsight, I think that was a significant sequence for Arizona, and may be crucial to their Sweet 16 trip.
Declining the interim head position, Dunlap has been able to focus on coaching the players. And that is his area of expertise. At Arizona practices, Dunlap is the man in charge of drills, fundamentals, and schemes. He handles most of the opposition scouting report. He adopts a hands-on approach to individual work with Wildcat players.
All the while, Pennell, a personable media-savvy coach, has been able to handle the external demands of coaching. To his credit, Pennell has always presented a strong united face for a program that was in disarray five months ago. When sophomore forward Jamelle Horne committed a senseless foul in the closing seconds of a tie game, allowing UAB to upset the Wildcats, Pennell publicly supported Horne.
Think about this -- the Wildcat players were playing for their third coach in three years. No college player expects that degree of upheaval. Add to the mix that none of the Arizona coaches recruited to the school by Olson upon his return in the spring, knew the players. They were truly looking at each other for help. Dunlap told me that the biggest challenge this Arizona staff faced was spending time with the players away from the court to learn about them as people. So that the coaches could better understand their motivations, goals and dreams, the staff spent a lot of time at ice cream shops and burger houses.
Arizona has three excellent college players, two of whom, Chase Budinger and Jordan Hill, will be drafted in June. Many opponents regard point guard Nic Wise as the key man to stop. I think it’s Budinger. When he plays with passion, scrapping for rebounds and loose balls, jostling for defensive position, and driving to the rim with passion, Arizona’s play rises by multiple levels, a must for the Wildcats on Friday night when they must contend with Louisville’s awesome combination of talent and depth.
To me, Dunlap made the biggest decision. He said he was ready to make a full commitment, and the University was offering half of one in return. But he stayed in his assistant role, a job after all, and coddled, prodded, and developed a wounded team.
Pennell has been masterful as the face of Arizona basketball, and wise enough to accept Dunlap’s coaching success. The marriage of these two, in their unlikely positions, has helped craft one of college basketball’s best March stories.
