Eastman Not Buying Into Theory That Nice Guys Finish Last

“And now, let’s meet your 1997-98 Washington State University Cougars …

“Starting at guard, a 5-10 sophomore out of Troop 242, with twelve merit badges and a four-point GPA, halo-ing from Mayberry, U.S.A., Johnny B. Haived …”

An exaggeration, certainly, but Kevin Eastman has become defined by the character issue in his three seasons as WSU basketball coach.

Eastman remains as resolute as ever, even if his no-nonsense approach played a role in the departure last year of three key players - creating a talent void that led to the Cougars’ first losing season since 1990.

“Just because of that, I’m not going to all of a sudden change my philosophy on the types of kids to bring in,” Eastman said in an interview Thursday. “Because I don’t want that to happen in two more years, where we get a good player and it’s just a bomb waiting to go off in terms of the citizenship issue.”

And so last week, when Eastman announced the signings of junior-college players Kab Kazadi and Kojo Mensah-Bonsu, the tendency was to believe him when he said the recruits are “good students who will represent us well in all areas of student life.”

Either they are, or they’ll join a list of Eastman castoffs that includes Donminic Ellison, Chris Scott and Tavares Mack.

The same standards await WSU’s three fall signees, headed by JC transfers Ron Selleaze and Leif Nelson.

At issue: whether Eastman can win while running such a tight ship.

WSU athletic director Rick Dickson, who hired Eastman when Kelvin Sampson left for Oklahoma three years ago, is betting on it.

“It does take some time,” Dickson said, “but I’m convinced (it can work) from when I was at Tulsa - we were able to do it over a period of time and it becomes a self-perpetuating thing.

“You have to give security to your coaches and make certain they understand that’s a priority. Yeah, there might be some peaks and valleys in getting there, but once you turn the corner, you don’t have to come back.”

Last season’s 13-17 showing, coupled with the tumult of so many disciplinary incidents, has given Eastman’s doubters an expanded target. What happened, many wonder, to the program that four years ago was threatening to become an NCAA Tournament regular?

“If you look at the number of suspensions and those types of things, basically you’re going to battle without the weapons,” Dickson said. “But that is a cleansing process and part of the makeover to that type of program.

“Last year was a good start as far as bringing in a good nucleus, and good steps have been taken again this year on both sides, not just as far as getting good students.

“We’re all counting on the fact that they can play.”

Eastman’s recruiting was less critical to winning when the Cougars had the likes of Mark Hendrickson, Isaac Fontaine and Ellison - players Sampson left behind.

But now, with only Carlos Daniel and Steve Slotemaker remaining from the Sampson era, the costs and benefits of Eastman’s approach will be easier to quantify.

It should be noted that Eastman, in stressing the citizenship of his latest recruits, wasn’t implying they lacked talent. Far from it.

Coaches don’t sign four JC players without expecting immediate production, and Eastman believes this year’s team can be expected to outperform the group that went just 5-13 in the Pacific-10 Conference last season.

“We felt we had certain needs that we had to address in recruiting,” Eastman said. “One was improving our quickness, which we obviously did with Kab, Kojo and Ron.

“Another, we needed size, which obviously Leif gives us (at 6-11 and 280 pounds).

“We needed in our minds to continue to recruit gym rats - guys who will continue to get better while they’re here. And I think we’ve got that now throughout the whole program.

“We wanted to try to get one skilled developmental-type big guy - Brian Stewart (the 6-10 prep center from Arizona).

“And as always, we try to get good kids we didn’t have to worry about.”

, DataTimes