Aggers Brings A Brighter Outlook To Eastern

The morning sun shines through two modest windows, past where tattered curtains used to hang, and splashes off new white paint that covers four office walls and a decade of bad karma.

Inside, Steve Aggers is building a basketball program.

As the new men’s coach at Eastern Washington University, Aggers has quickly assembled several of the necessary ingredients - from paint to carpet to furniture to practice uniforms. He even has a dozen or so basketballs for his team to practice with, although he says that initially wasn’t the case.

“Things were just in a shambles,” said the 45-year-old Aggers, unexposed to such relative squalor during his years as an assistant at Kansas State and Pepperdine. “There were only three basketballs in the program - they’d all disappeared and been stolen and lost.”

During recent seasons, basketballs were routinely stolen from EWU, albeit usually during games. In five tumultous years under John Wade, the Eagles suffered through four six-win seasons.

Before Wade, there were the three seasons of Bob Hofman, who left in shame, the EWU program immersed in scandal.

Wade was fired last spring, and Aggers was brought in from K-State to engineer the reconstruction.

“I’ve been around this game long enough to know that this was not an easy situation,” said Aggers. “In our business, there are only 300 Division I head coaches, and these jobs are hard to get. And I think it’s a great league that we play in, we have good facilities, we’ve got a nice area to recruit to. There’s potential here to build a solid program. And believe me, we have worked extremely hard since I got the job.”

The evidence is everywhere.

“I did this office myself,” Aggers said, scanning his handiwork. “I repainted this office, did all the fixtures, the furniture, everything from scratch. Our coaching staff remodeled our team (meeting) room. We painted it. We’re building pride, but we’re building it from within. We’re willing to roll up our sleeves.”

The locker room has also been transformed, brightened by several coats of white paint. Once naked, the lockers are now topped with red name plates.

“Melvin Lewis #4”“Brett Thompson #22”“Kevin Groves #33”“Curtis Porter #32”And so on.Next door - where the team

traditionally gathers before and after games, as well as during halftime - assistants Jeff Smith, David Carter and Jack Baldwin helped construct a wall to hide unsightly plumbing.

Across from the new wall, wooden block letters unashamedly spell out “EASTERN WASHINGTON” in red, and a bulletin board exudes basketball.

A television set and VCR are stationed in one corner, resting on a platform Aggers carpeted.

The entryway features a white leather basketball, encased in glass and resting on a 4-foot-high black stand. “That’s an old plant holder,” Aggers points out.

Looking through the glass, one can see the ball is emblazoned with fancy lettering:

“Big Sky Conference Champions

“199?”

Round ball, straight face.

Aggers’ enthusiasm and positive outlook appear to have caught on with the players, who seem to have been starved for optimism.

“Everyone’s got a positive attitude,” said junior forward Luke Egan.

Aggers knows it will take more than a few coats of paint and a bulletin board for EWU to replace that question mark with a digit.

It will take players, and almost certainly three or more years.

Senior D’mitri Rideout doesn’t have that long and will be counted on to lead the current team. Teammates and coaches applaud Rideout’s vigorous off-season preparation, and players elected him team captain. The 6-foot-4 off-guard scored 23 points in EWU’s first exhibition.

The Eagles return five players with starting experience, assuming Melvin Lewis, the Big Sky newcomer of the year in 1994-95, is cleared by the NCAA. The 6-8, 300-pound senior center has been under investigation since August, when the NCAA began looking into reports Lewis may have taken a bogus correspondence course well before transferring to EWU in 1994.

The Eagles will be thin at point guard, meaning Aggers will be unable to fully deploy the up-tempo style he prefers. Senior Brett Thompson returns at the point and appears to be the only Eagle able to get the ball past halfcourt under pressure. Aggers brought in juniorcollege transfer Eddie Neal from Michigan to help Thompson, but Neal will miss the season after suffering a back injury.

“We’re rebuilding,” Aggers concluded. “We want to really build a solid foundation this year - establishing a work ethic, establishing a team, the program. Work ethic, discipline, chemistry. Those things are more important to me than emphasizing winning and losing. Because as you build a program, you have to start with a solid foundation from within.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

MEMO: These sidebars appeared with the story: 1. THE AGGERS FILE Head coaching record of Steve Aggers: 287-196 (.594) in 15 seasons 72-74: Grad aide, Neb.-Omaha 74-78: Head coach, Mid-Plains CC 78-79: Assistant, Wyoming 79-85: Head coach, Great Falls 85-90: Head coach, Wayne St. 90-94: Assistant, Pepperdine 94-95: Assistant, Kansas St. April 26, 1995: Hired at EWU

2. EASTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY The roster and schedule of the Eastern men’s basketball team, 6-20 overall last season, 2-12 in the Big Sky Conference.

Roster

Name Ht Position Year Hometown Bryant Carter 6-2 Guard Junior Milwaukee, Wis. Adam Dean 6-8 Forward Senior Kent, Wash. Luke Egan 6-7 Forward Junior Melbourne, Australia Kevin Groves 6-6 Forward Junior Suisun, Calif. Travis King 5-11 Guard Junior Ephrata, Wash. Melvin Lewis 6-8 Center Senior Chicago Curtis Porter 6-3 Guard Senior Richmond, Calif. D’mitri Rideout 6-5 Guard Senior Los Angeles Mike Sims 6-8 Forward Freshman Federal Way, Wash. Brett Thompson 6-1 Guard Senior Davenport, Iowa

Schedule Nov. 26 at Washington State 5 p.m. Nov. 28 Washington 7:05 Dec. 1-2 at Met Life Classic (San Francisco) 8 Dec. 7 Portland 7:05 Dec. 9 at UC-Irvine Noon Dec. 11 at Cal Poly-SLO 7 Dec. 16 Carroll 7:05 Dec. 22 at Gonzaga 7 Dec. 30 Whitman 7:05 Jan. 5 Gonzaga 7:05 Jan. 12 at Boise State 6:35 Jan. 13 at Idaho State 6:35 Jan. 19 Idaho 7:05 Jan. 25 Northern Arizona 7:05 Jan. 27 Weber State 7:05 Feb. 2 at Montana State 6:35 Feb. 3 at Montana 6:35 Feb. 9 Idaho State 7:05 Feb. 10 Boise State 7:05 Feb. 13 at Sacramento State 7:30 Feb. 17 at Idaho 7:05 Feb. 22 at Weber State 6:35 Feb. 24 at Northern Arizona 6:35 Feb. 29 Montana 7:05 March 2 Montana State 4:05 March 7-9 Big Sky Tournament TBA