Seattle U. thinking big time again

SEATTLE – As one of 16 kids in a Catholic family, 10-year-old Joe Callero established an attachment to Seattle University watching them play hoops at the old Seattle Center Coliseum.

Seattle U. was Division I power then, with a heritage that included a slew of NBA players, including Hall of Famer Elgin Baylor. In those days, there were no professional sports in the Emerald City, and Seattle U. basketball competed with University of Washington football for the attention of the city’s sports fans.

Today, Callero is the head coach of what’s become a bit Division II program, shuffled to the back of the sports page. He took the job five years ago with the dream of someday being part of the school’s return to Division I, a status left behind in 1980 amid financial strain and athletic struggles.

“Our identity is so clearly manifested in our history,” Callero said. “The recruiting ground is fertile, the academics are unbelievable, the location and the history… What if we nurtured that for five years? What could happen?”

Callero seems to be getting his wish.

The university has created a task force that will recommend by May where its athletics belong. It might not be Division I, says Rob Kelly, vice president for student development. It could be moving to Division III and becoming a non-scholarship athletic program, or staying at Division II.

But most likely is a return to Division I, perhaps in the West Coast Conference.

“My thought has always been if you are physically and financially able to put it together, put it at the highest level,” said Ed O’Brien, a former Seattle U. basketball star, baseball coach and athletic director. “Why not try and have the best athletic program you can?”

Being a Division I program remains just a dream for many smaller and private universities. But few, if any, of those schools have Seattle U.’s sweeping history. When former Vice President Al Gore spoke on campus earlier this fall, Seattle mayor Greg Nickels introduced the school as one of the most environmentally friendly in the country.

Gore’s response: “This is where Elgin Baylor played.”

Seattle U. beat the Harlem Globetrotters in an exhibition game in 1952, led by Ed O’Brien and his brother Johnny – twins recruited from Kansas. Johnny O’Brien became the first player in NCAA history to score more than 1,000 points in a season when he tallied 1,051 in the 1951-52 season, and the twins led SU to its first NCAA tournament berth a year later.

Led by Baylor, SU played Kentucky in the 1958 NCAA championship game, falling 84-72 to the Wildcats. SU went 45-9 in Baylor’s two seasons at the school, briefly eclipsing the popularity of the Washington football team.

“It seemed to be they were top dogs there in Seattle when I first got there,” Baylor said of the Huskies. “But that changed while I was there.”

Beginning with Baylor in 1959, the tiny school sent 10 players on to the NBA. Clint Richardson won a championship in 1983 with the Philadelphia 76ers. Baylor’s Lakers reached the NBA finals eight times, and Eddie Miles and John Tresvant made NBA finals appearances.

But by the late ‘70s, the administration had tired of paying for a Division I program that was losing money to the tune of $500,000 a year.

“The question as some of us saw it, was could we support not just a Division I program, but a Division I program we would be proud of,” current SU provost, and then professor, John Eshelman said. “The decision at that time was we just weren’t fiscally strong enough to do that.”

Ed O’Brien was athletic director from 1958-1980, and stepped aside the same year the school decided to leave Division I for the NAIA.

“My personal feeling was that it was a mistake. Maybe I’m vindicated by us trying to come back again,” O’Brien said. “You can’t do much about it. If the administration doesn’t want a program, it’s not going to happen.”

Now with the university financially sound, enrollment and applications up and a student body diverse with undergrads from outside the Seattle area, the school is ready to re-examine its athletic program.

SU has always fielded strong men’s and women’s soccer programs, but Callero’s hiring signaled a change. During the interview process, the scrappy former point guard and Southern California assistant asked about the possibility of returning to Division I. When “no” wasn’t the answer, Callero immediately signed on.

“This move for us to go Division I has been a clear, cold, calculated dream of mine,” Callero said.

The next step came last summer, when Bill Hogan left his athletic director position at the University of San Francisco to take the same post at SU. Hogan brought extensive knowledge of the logistics behind running a Division I program and a relationship with the WCC.

The WCC, which is made up of similar schools, would appear to provide the best fit.

“If there weren’t a West Coast Conference, we wouldn’t be having these discussion,” Eshelman said.