Grip on Sports: Former EWU coach Hayford has been a part of the Spokane basketball scene for a long time

A GRIP ON SPORTS • In the midst of the “Gonzaga-to-the-Final-Four” narrative (or is it hysteria?) another college basketball story broke out around here yesterday. A coach who had become a local institution left town. And was quickly replaced. Read on.

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• Some of us have known Jim Hayford pretty much since he moved here from one of the Dakotas almost 20 years ago. He came to Spokane to replace an icon, Whitworth basketball coach Warren Friedrichs, a doctor for goodness sakes.

And Hayford did it in his own style. He won at Whitworth, at a greater pace than anyone ever had. He took the Pirates to the NCAA Division III playoffs six times, won 20 games eight times and reached the Elite Eight once.

Though Hayford never had a losing season with Whitworth, he had his ups and downs, like all coaches. There were lots of supporters crammed into the Fieldhouse and there were detractors as well. Happens to every coach.

But as someone who watched the Pirates play a lot in those days, one thing was obvious. Hayford could coach.

I remember one non-conference game I covered that came down to the wire. The Pirates had three timeouts left in a tight game. Each possession, Hayford did something unusual. He had his point guard penetrate deep enough so that when he called time out, the ball was placed on the baseline.

Whitworth ran three different out-of-bounds plays from there. The Pirates scored on all three. And won.

Then he moved on. But not very far.

After a 28-2 season at Whitworth in 2010-11, Hayford was named the head coach at Eastern Washington.

And he won there. Though it took him a while. Three years wandering in the West Plains wilderness, actually. Athletic director Bill Chaves, who has made some pretty good hires over the years, stuck with Hayford. And Hayford used the time to recruit the type of players he wanted.

Skilled guys who can score. Big guys who can hit 3s. Younger guys who don’t mind sitting awhile until it’s their turn.

In 2014-15, the Eagles broke through, won 26 games, a Big Sky title and earned an NCAA tournament berth. And Hayford went on national radio and predicted a win over Georgetown.

It didn’t happen, but it sure put Eastern on the college basketball map for a week.

Last week I heard through sources Seattle U. was looking east for its next coach. I was told former Eastern head coach – and an assistant a lot of places – Mike Burns, would interview. So would former WSU head coach Ken Bone, now an unpaid assistant at Gonzaga. There were some rumblings Matt Logie, Hayford’s ultra-successful replacement at Whitworth, was also in the mix.

But the guy whose name kept coming up was Hayford.

I texted him. He denied interest, something I knew wasn’t true. I get it. If it leaked out he was looking, it would hurt his standing at Eastern.

Then I heard Hayford was negotiating with the Redhawks. It seemed they were at an impasse Tuesday and Hayford was staying. But something must have happened Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. The deal was done.

Today, Jim Hayford will be introduced as Seattle University’s head basketball coach. He leaves Cheney with a 106-91 record. He guided the Eagles to three postseason berths. Once again, Hayford had a successful tenure.

Chaves didn’t wait to fill the spot. Shantay Legans (pictured), a holdover from Kirk Earlywine’s staff and Hayford’s top lieutenant the past couple years, will be introduced today as well, though there are few introductions needed. He’s been around Cheney that long.

The Eagles will move forward, even if, after almost two decades in the area, Hayford has decide to fly west. And Jim, those books I lent you? I want them back.

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Gonzaga: The hits just keep on coming from Phoenix, with John Blanchette spinning out this column on the one member of the Bulldog coaching staff with Final Four experience: Donny Daniels. … There is one coach whose team played all the Final Four participants: Tennessee’s Rick Barnes. He’s picking Gonzaga to win it, Maybe it is because, as Jim Meehan’s story points out, he and Mark Few are good friends. But Few has a lot of people rooting for him. … There is a lot do in Phoenix, as Whitney Ogden points out. … Pia Hallenberg examines the similarities and differences in the two cities that hold Gonzaga and South Carolina. … Becky Kramer looks at the free publicity Spokane is getting with Gonzaga’s Final Four run. … Speaking of free publicity, when Jay Bilas introduced America to Gonzaga (and Oregon) in this ESPN article, he ends it with another ode to the Davenport Hotel. I wonder how much that, and other ESPN personalities’, love is worth to the place? … Nina Culver, in words, and Jesse Tinsley, in photos, covered the Zags’ departure from Spokane. … Don’t forget, there is a book coming. … We can find Gonzaga connections just about anywhere, including this story about the Stanford women, also playing in the Final Four.

WSU: The Cougar women’s WNIT winning streak ended at four, as they fell 69-61 at Georgia Tech in last night’s semifinals. … Jacob Thorpe caught up this week with the six players who enrolled early to take part in spring football. … Speaking of football, here’s a preview of spring practice at the Washington schools. … Arizona State is in the middle of its spring now, as is Washington. The Huskies welcome back a key defender and highlight another. … California introduced its newest basketball coach yesterday and that got Jon Wilner thinking. How do the Pac-12 basketball jobs rank? … Oregon’s Casey Benson heads home this weekend.

EWU: Jim Allen has the news on Hayford’s departure and Legans’ ascension to head coach.

Chiefs: Josh Horton is wrapping up Spokane’s less-than-successful season and looking forward to next in an eight-part series. Today he looks at the 20-year-old players.

Preps: Greg Lee’s column today delves into the WIAA’s tweaking of the RPI system it used this past year for the basketball playoffs. He also has a story that may or may not be related: The Greater Spokane League’s decision to split the 4A and 3A basketball schools as it does in football. … Jim Allen previews the upcoming boys soccer season and highlights the recent success of the Central Valley Bears.

Mariners: As we said yesterday, the S-R is delving deeper this season into the Mariners, with Dave Nichols leading the way. Today Dave looks at the bullpen in his season-outlook series. … As for the M’s yesterday, they rallied to tie the Dodgers at 3. Yes, a tie. It is spring training after all. … Where are the M’s headed? … There is a potential problem with the pitching staff, with Drew Smyly suffering from a “soggy” arm.

Seahawks: Pete Carroll talked about a lot of things yesterday, including the rumors the Hawks discussed trading Richard Sherman. Funny thing. He didn’t deny them. Tough love? … The league meetings helped clarify some things around Seattle.

Sounders: Real Salt Lake has a new coach.

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• We are going to see something around here today we haven’t seen for a while. The sun. I’m going to try and enjoy it. Until later …