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WSU still reeling over Bennett decision

Posted by Vince

March 31, 2009 6:33 a.m. • 48 comments

COUGARS• UPDATED: 11:45 A.M.; 3:55 P.M.

The nature of the news, the suddenness of it all, is what hit Cougar nation in between the eyes. After dodging the bullet last year, when Indiana, LSU and Marquette all came a courting, WSU fans were pretty sure men’s basketball coach Tony Bennett was staying in Pullman for another year, and probably two more, as he rebuilt a program once again suffering from a lack of upper-class bodies and talent. But the news came quickly just after noon Monday. Heck, athletic director Jim Sterk, who, along with school president Elson J. Floyd, met with Bennett over the weekend to discuss Virginia’s offer, thought the bullet had whizzed by once again and he was out of town with his family. Then came the early afternoon phone call, the team meeting and, before the sun set on the Palouse, Bennett was on a jet toward his future in the Atlantic Coast Conference, six years and one day after he arrived with his father Dick. Read on for thoughts and links.

• UPDATE: Virginia makes it official. You can read the release here.

UPDATE NO. 2: USD coach Bill Grier, mentioned by Sterk as someone he wants to talk with, told the San Diego Union Tribune today he wasn’t interested in the WSU position.

••••••••••

• How quickly did this come together? According to Sterk, Virginia called early Thursday. Less than 100 hours later it was a done deal. But the seeds of this decision had been sprouting all season, from the play on the court, to the recruiting process and through the financial woes the state – and the nation – is suffering. They may even have been planted last year, when the big name schools threw out offers and Bennett ignored them, expressing his thankfulness at being given his chance at WSU, his love of Pullman and the importance of coaching in a place where he could hone his craft and his family could be comfortable. But as this most recent season wore on and Bennett saw the magnitude of the rebuilding task ahead, he started to second-guess his decision, according to some close to him and the program. No one is going to argue that Pullman is a challenging place to win consistently. Heck, just getting out to recruit has always been a chore – it takes a day out and a day to get back, limiting time in recruits’ homes - and, with the financial screws tightening, it was getting tougher. The WSU staff even adjusted roles as the year wore on, in part, according to Bennett, to allow coaches to stay on the road for longer periods of time, saving trips back to Pullman and saving money in the process.

Such aspects of the job, and this is just one example, undercut the firmness of Bennett’s resolve to stay. But, after a 17-16 year, it didn’t seem like Bennett was, as he called it, the flavor of the month anymore. It seemingly was going to take a tough, learning season next year and a winning one the year after that to get Bennett back atop the wish list of the nation’s athletic directors. Then the Virginia position suddenly appeared. And the Bennett family is gone, leaving behind a Cougar fan base reeling with the suddenness of it all.

And forcing Sterk to scramble to fill some pretty big sneakers in a hurry. The young players were stunned, to say the least. They responded like most 19- and 20-year-olds, wondering how Bennett’s decision was going to affect them. As the vapors dissipate and decisions are made, they’ll have to speak with their families and decide their future, just as Bennett decided his. Could some of the freshmen leave, especially the ones with redshirt years left? Certainly. Will they? No one, not even the players themselves, know right now. It will depend on the hire. But, maybe more importantly for the long-term health of the program, will the four members of the recruiting class honor their commitment to a place that no longer is home to the coach they committed to? In most cases, probably not. There is no connection to WSU for the Brock Motums, for the Xavier Thames yet, no sweat left on the hill in Pullman, no bond of brothers built in Pac-10 battles. All they’ve done is sign a piece of paper. Whoever the new coach is, he’ll have to recruit the four all over again, because even the assistants who made the first contacts and nurtured the quartet through the process will more than likely be gone. A new coach will be developing new contacts. Whether those contact will result in a spark, or even if the new man wants a spark to occur, is still to be determined.

• A couple of thoughts about yesterday’s events. Reporting a story like this, in which the main source is not talking, has been compared to peeling an onion. It’s a time-consuming process to get to the true core of the matter. And in that process, the dependability of information ebbs and flows. Yesterday, as the news broke, we started pealing, trying to get to the whys behind Bennett’s decision while at the same time trying to discover the process behind the decision. More than one source told us information about Bennett’s whereabouts early last week. We passed it on in early version of the story that appeared on our website. But as we dug deeper, we discovered the information was incorrect, and it disappeared from our finished story. It’s said time allows perspective, but it also allows us to double, triple and sometimes even quadruple-check our information.

• Now on to the links. We had two stories, the one we posted and updated all day yesterday on the sudden departure and a piece on what’s ahead (it was interesting who Sterk actually commented on, Ken Bone and Bill Grier, and who he didn’t, avoiding a question about Randy Bennett). John Blanchette also weighed in with a column, offering his unique and nuanced take on the events. … The Seattle Times has Bud Withers’ news story and a column. … Freelancer Howie Stalwick has this story in the News Tribune and other papers. … It wasn’t only WSU fans who were surprised, so were the Virginia faithful, as this Richmond Times-Dispatch story shows. … The Daily Press in Newport News has this story, a column focusing on who Bennett isn’t – there’s a name mentioned here, Jon Oliver, a Virginia assistant AD with WSU ties, that might explain some of Virginia’s interest – and another column on the hiring process. The decision doesn’t seem to be igniting a lot of support on the paper’s website. … The Charlottesville Daily Press has a news story, a reaction piece from the Virginia recruits and some thoughts from its columnist and the people he talked with. … As for the next WSU coach? There’s more than one columnist on the wet side of the Cascades who thinks Portland State’s Ken Bone would be a perfect fit, including John Canzano of the Oregonian here and Greg Johns on the P-I’s website.

•••

• That’s it for this morning. We’ll be back as events warrant and will have a football post today, covering yesterday’s first day of pads, which I didn’t get much chance to watch. Until then …

48 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

rufus on March 31 at 7:06 a.m.
the team that went to the ncaa was dad’s team - i feel bad for all
the freshman on the team … that came to pullman — who if they
leave - will have to give up a year play. wsu will have to
begin again…
so much for the world wide “recession. some scholls will spend $$ np matter what the situation. given what is going on
economically … et al… not the end of the world. wsu will
move on
bson25 on March 31 at 8:28 a.m.
I agree… Time to move on. Tony did some great things for WSU and he should be thanked. It is no easy task to coach at WSU, with economic issues, average facilities and difficult travel schedules. Tony has a drive in him to coach at the highest level and I was hoping that he would somehow accomplish that at WSU, but apparently he did not have the drive to overcome the long list of challenges.

I hope we make a move quick and get Ken Bone. I think his style of play would give us the best opportunity to keep our freshman and incoming recruits. He has proven that he can both coach and recruit. I could see our young players flourishing in his system.
ScottL on March 31 at 8:44 a.m.
What about the Utah coach? Is he viable?
gocougs01 on March 31 at 9:47 a.m.
OK, I gave it a night to sleep on the news and try to use some common sense before I flipped out with a knee jerk post. The outcome of the delay did very little other then soften the shock. Bottom line is Tony Bennett made a decision that appears contrary to his word, or what we perceived his word was. I guess he never promised to stay but he did lead us down the path. Did he do a good job? Yes he did. Did he lie to some of his recruits and their families? It appears so. Does he practice what he preaches? Doesn’t look like it. Is he a man of his word? Doesn’t look like it.

What we don’t know is the real truth. Not sure we can ever trust what we hear from TB. It may need to come from Dr. Floyd himself, or at least the part that he knows and controls. Is it a demand for a wage decrease from WSU due to budget restraints? It can’t just be over issues like charter flights and stadium paint. Was he made promises which have been reneged on? Hard to say and we may never know. It would be great if Dr. Floyd and Jim Sterk open up and give us all of the truth as they know it. We may not like what we hear but at least we will know and that should help our gut ache.

Unfortunately when you sleep on it random thoughts keep churning. Who will replace TB and how many of the assistants will stay or follow him? How many if any of this years recruits will show up? How many of our last years freshmen will stay at WSU. My guess is there were a couple not so happy last year so I am sure they will be gone. Don’t be surprised to see Thompson, Capers and Casto move and use their Redshirts somewhere else next year. I wonder if TB will try to take them. Thompson did not act like he was happy here, Capers is from Florida and Casto may be willing to relocate especially since he loves the defensive game so much.

I even came up with a classified ad:
Needed one head basketball coach. Preferably a past WSU player who has some coaching experience in a D-II or below school. Needs good name recognition (at WSU) and willingness to place blame on past coaching errors. We don’t want to pay much but it could be a good stepping stone to better jobs. Only need to win a couple of games and say it takes a while to rebuild a program.

Yes, I sound a bit bitter but I am getting tired of this merry-go-round.

Whether you agree or disagree, these are my thoughts.
GaryRCox on March 31 at 10:22 a.m.
Yikes……like a jilted lover on the morning after an all nighter, I sit here and reflect on what a long, strange trip its been over the last few years. I mean, Cougar Basketball was dead after the dirge that Paul Graham put on us and then Bennett Ball arrived and took us to unimaginable heights.

To Coach Tony I say, “Thanks for the memories”. To AD Jim Sterk I say, “You know what you must do” (can you say hire Ken Bone?). To all the Cougar Nation whose blood pumps Crimson I say, “This to shall pass”.

As a mentor once said to me, “The truth changes”, meaning everything is relative to where you find yourself tomorrow. Did we really think it would turn out differently in this age of self entitlement, even though we thought it might coming from that angelic face?

Greed is greed and lies are lies, get over it. I feel the pain of the players, but this is one of life’s toughest lessons. Learn from it, get stronger, play smarter, for it will serve you well in the rest of your lives.

To the incoming Coach (let it be Ken Bone) I say, “The cupboard is not bear and the pipeline is primed”. Now go forward, re-recruit the inherent talent and mold it into the team it is destined to be.

I say it again, our future is so bright we gotta wear shades. Now get back to work and stop wallowing in self pity, eh?

Go Cougs!!
Edog on March 31 at 10:54 a.m.
Thames asking for his release. Bad news. Lets hire em quick.
Jobu on March 31 at 11:00 a.m.
I don’t know if Tony know’s what he’s getting himself into. If he felt “overwhelmed” by rebuilding this program, how is UVA any different? They are coming off a losing season, they play in the ACC, they have only been to the NCAA two times this decade and if you don’t win you are done.

It’s his own fault we don’t have upperclassmen, he let a lot of players go after one year. Wasted a lot of scholarships on players that just left on him. It didn’t matter when you had Low or Weaver, but now it does.

Wish I can think Tony will succeed at UVA, just can’t see it happening.
jjansma on March 31 at 11:05 a.m.
From what I read this was all about WSU taking away the charter plane for $$ reasons.

TB pushed hard for this the past couple years.

He even asked if he gave back $100K could they do it.
Rambler on March 31 at 11:39 a.m.
From the UVA Web site:
“The parties have agreed to a memorandum of understanding that will pay Bennett total annual compensation of $1.7 million for five years. He also will receive a $500,000 signing bonus and the memorandum includes an additional incentive bonus of $500,000 that he would receive after five years.

Bennett’s financial agreement is the responsibility of the Department of Athletics. The department is a stand-alone auxiliary that relies on a number of different revenue streams, including ticket and merchandise sales, student fees, ACC television revenues, and philanthropic gifts to support its day-to-day operations. The department does not receive any state funding.”

Plus they paid WSU $400,000 for Bennett leaving. That is Big Leauge Coin. If you are a Wazzu Fan, all you can say is Next!
elvis on March 31 at 11:54 a.m.
Every great coach leaves Pullman, so we shouldn’t be too surprised. WSU is the colossal stepping stone to “something better.” Sadly, we all thought Tony was different, but in today’s economy I guess everyone has his price.

Unfortunately, the fallout will be devastating to this program. Face it, Tony was the program. This is why it hurts so bad … and its only going to get worse. The team would have been better off had he gone last year.

Strangely, I’m mad at myself for believing Tony was different, better than this, honorable. What a fool I’ve been.
Beiron on March 31 at 12:46 p.m.
^ same
Edog on March 31 at 12:52 p.m.
Jim moore has a great article on cougfan. Sums up my feelings.
coug72 on March 31 at 1:11 p.m.
Sorry to see TB go and I hope he does better than many other WSU coaches have after they left: Mike Price, Jim Walden, George Raveling, Kelvin Sampson etc, etc.

There is a coach that wants back into coaching that might be a great hire although he does bring bagage. How about bobby Knight?
kaddy on March 31 at 1:28 p.m.
I think WSU should tell Xavier to wait until they hire a new coach, have a conversation with him, and then, if he still wants out, he can be released.

Or, we could pull a husky and make him come, at least for one year, but that isn’t the right thing to do.
ekdog on March 31 at 1:47 p.m.
all of us are a state of shock but reality sucks. i am not sure about this bone guy. he was a coach at seattle pacific for 12 years, an assistant at uw for 4 years and head coach at portland state the last few years. he went twice to the ncaas but i wonder how old he is. i think we need at least a younger coach for the young cougs. i have no problem with 2 possible candidates, bill grier of sdu or don monson of long beach state. monson won 5 games his first year and 15 this year. his leading player was injured near the end of the season and they lost 8 of their 15 . he had 3 freshman on the all league freshman team and has recruited 3 top freshmen out of cali.go to yahoo sports ncaa basketball . hit standings hit long beach state and read the latest news . he can still recruit. go cougs
AG on March 31 at 2:01 p.m.
ekdog, the age of the coach is the least of their problems. Ken Bone is 50, Dan Monson is 47; Bill Grier is 45. What’s the difference? What you want is someone with a proven winning record, and someone who wants to stay to build a program of his own. Not someone who is using WSU as a stepping stone for something better. Someone like Few who will never leave GU, because GU keeps sweetening the deal for him; he reigns supreme in Spokane; he wants to raise his kids in a small town atmosphere, etc. What is this about Bob Knight? Are you kidding? I guess you want a one and done coach again? He would never go to Pullman anyway.
BrandonHansen on March 31 at 2:06 p.m.
Word of advice WSU… don’t hire Mike Burns. Seriously.

Brandon Hansen
Just South of North
www.justsouthofnorth.com
MikeSequim on March 31 at 5:39 p.m.
Aron Baynes will be in the College Allstar Game on Friday at 1:30PM on CBS. I hope he does well!

Mike, Sequim
OlyCoug on March 31 at 6:17 p.m.
Let’s see…$1.7 mil for five years. $8,500,000.

Cha-ching!

Another half mil for just signing the contract. $9,000,000.

Cha-ching!

Another half mil for sticking around for five years. $9,500,000.

Cha—well, let’s hold off on that last “ching.” His track record doesn’t exactly make the sticking around part a given.

Nine million reasons Bennett left, right there. There’s no other reason, people. Nothing about “challenges” or “family” (though he’s already preaching the family theme in the UV press release—wonder how long they’ll buy it) will change the obvious: Tony wants more money.

Avarice…one Jesus’s great teachings. The more you can get, the better a person you are. Multimillionaires have superior families and, gosh darn it, people like you better.

Oh, wait. You mean the bible *doesn’t* say that? It’s one of the seven deadly sins, in fact, you say? Oops. My bad.

I guess I need to get me some of that Bennett family religion.
gocougs01 on March 31 at 6:44 p.m.
OlyCoug I had the same thoughts about TB and his religous dedication. Maybe he has his own version
RobH on March 31 at 8:23 p.m.
Oly, and GC.

WSU had a deal with TB. They were the ones who backed out first, on the plane issue, then the final four travel issue. TB was going to throw $100K of that precious money you were talking about at the problem. Decided not to do it.

Here are some figures for YOU to think about. WSU, in the bottom 5% in attendence for BCS schools for football and hoops. Bottom 5% in AD budget.

When we as fans figure out a way to support the program better, maybe we can keep our promises and our coaches. Til then, no. And this is not pointing finger at Elston or Sterk. It is at me and you.
OlyCoug on March 31 at 10:10 p.m.
RobH,
Tony was so concerned about team unity and national visibility that he…jumped ship, leaving the program a reeling mess with no future?

He must’ve REALLY cared deeply about his players and our community. It takes a great man to sabotage an entire program because you don’t get everything you think you want…is that what you’re trying to say?

No, the nine million greenbacks are what sealed the deal. The reason the program doesn’t get support is that the coaches all turn out to be greedy bastards who jump ship when they see the green ($$$) grass on the other side of the fence.

Yes, that’s how it works at WSU. We all know it. It doesn’t make it any easier to take. Blaming fans for coaches who lie through their teeth is unfair. It’s not our fault Tony painted Pullman as the perfect place to be, then bolted the first chance he got.

Bennett won some two-thirds of his games with “bottom 5%” figures. Instead of comparing our attendance and budgets to programs residing in metropolises, why not compare the percentage increase in fan support over the last few years? I’ll bet my Coach Dreamy t-shirt that WSU is near the top in that category.

Maybe Tony really did talk to God and He whispered in Tony’s ear, “Take the money and run, my son…even *I* can’t save this program!”

But I think that’s just a convenient excuse.
OlyCoug on March 31 at 10:23 p.m.
One more thing…and, sorry, RobH. I really don’t mean to be a jerk. I am just a little p.o.’d. More than I thought I’d be, actually. But it’s the hypocrisy that burns me up more than anything else.

I’d like for everyone to remember what Taylor Rochestie did in offering to give up his scholarship for the good of the program. That was something that proved what kind of character Bennett had instilled at WSU. Or so we thought.

It now appears that Taylor is just that good of a guy. And Bennett, well, it’s not clear how good of a guy he actually was. Perhaps he should have been following the examples of his players, rather than the other way around.

In the end, it’s done, however. So, I agree, let’s move on. Begrudgingly. Bitterly, if need be.

I, for one, will still be making eight hour long trips over the pass, through blinding snow storms, just to see the Cougs, no matter who the coach is.
RobH on April 01 at 7:08 a.m.
Oly,

You are bitter, and I believe not seeing things clearly.

WSU and Bennett made a deal last year. Part of that deal had to do with upgrades to the program that would allow them to compete.

Well, WSU backed out of the deal. By all accounts, TB either offered or considered to put $100K of his salary back into the program. In the end, he chose not too.

That doesn’t eliminate the fact that WSU pulled back first.

If TB was after the money, he would have left last year, your greed comments don’t hold water.

Not sure how long you have been around this blog or the cougfan board. But WSU, as a fan base has a serious problem. We don’t support the program to the levels of our competition. That is the fact. And we have issues like this because of it. That support is money, and a lot more, like attendence.

I find it interesting that you comment on the increase in attendence. Why do you think that is? WSU is is better basketball shape because of the Bennett’s. Yet, as you state, you are still bitter.

I thank them for their hard work, wish them well, and know that our investment in them payed dividends.
OlyCoug on April 01 at 10:09 a.m.
RobH,
Our fan base has a problem because there is virtually NO fan base! Where are they going to come from, St. John? Dusty?

It’s a little too late for Bennett to be blaming the fact that Pullman is isolated and WSU is at a major fiscal disadvantage. Obviously, he knew that coming in, and was still able to have 26-win seasons.

What he did, simply, is bail when things got tough. I still think the whole 100k contract thing is irrelevant. Or, if that was the straw that broke the camel’s back, it merely proves that Tony was very close to bailing in the first place.

It’s not the fact that he bailed, it’s the fact that he gave every indication that he would not leave at the first sign of hardship. So all this talk about leaving for his family, gracefully exiting the program so another coach can swoop in at the perfect time, etc., is just blather. It’s particularly sickening to see Dick Bennett running interference for Tony.

The whole situation reeks of politics, rather than genuine interest in kids and programs, who work their asses off for nothing but a little appreciation, while their mentors make the “tough” decisions about whether to make $1 million or $2 million per year.

Personally, I would respect Bennett a lot more if he just said, “Look, nine million bucks is a lot more than I could expect out of WSU, so I’m leaving—this place is harder to succeed in than I thought.” Fine. Honest.

Or, if he said that WSU didn’t live up to its end of the bargain…okay, fine. Honesty. We could agree or disagree with his decision but all this crap about family and community is just …crap.

Read the UVa press release. He’s already singing the same tune…community, tight-knit family, commitment. Yada yada.

Yep, I’m bitter. Not because a coach left but because he turned out to be a hypocrite after promising that he was different. The fact that he suggests God told him to leave is really just the nail in the Bennett coffin for me. At least have the guts to own up to your decision. All that talk about character, well, it seems a bit hollow after this episode.

One last point: after the fallout, we’ll see if WSU is left in better shape. If Klay bails (and why shouldn’t he?—his mentor just did), Thames escapes, and Motum (or any assortment of other guys who committed solely because of TB) flies the coop, WSU is back to the dark ages. Just like after their runs in the early 1980s and mid-1990s, when the Cougs’ other big name coaches similarly jumped ship.

What makes this different (and what makes me bitter) is that neither Raveling’s nor Sampson’s exits were surprises, whereas Tony’s is a big shock to even those closest to him and the program.