Bennett will coach Cougs next season
PULLMAN – Washington State men’s basketball coach Dick Bennett has told school President V. Lane Rawlins and athletic director Jim Sterk that he intends to stay on board for the 2005-06 season.
Rawlins had requested a meeting with the coach, as Bennett had publicly suggested he would retire either at the end of this season or the next. In that meeting Friday, Bennett expressed his desire to his bosses to remain at WSU for at least one more year beyond the current one.
“The reason is very simple,” Bennett said after Monday’s practice session. “It takes a full three years to rebuild a program and I have said that time and again. And it’s clear to me that we need one more year. As impatient as I am at times, I understand, and more so now than ever before, that we need that third year and then I will feel I’ve done the job.
“There was no intent to deceive. I certainly wasn’t looking for headlines. I just said, ‘If you’ll have me, I really think I have another full year of work here.’ “
Bennett’s earlier-than-expected decision – originally he had stated he’d make up his mind after the current season is over – probably had something to do with the team’s recent slide. The Cougars have lost three in a row and four of their last five since upsetting Arizona in Tucson. Thursday, the Pac-10 leading Wildcats will be looking for revenge in the rematch at Friel Court.
With the youthful Cougars struggling, Bennett’s recent comments made it obvious he feels the development of his team is not yet at a stage where he’s ready to give up the reins.
Bennett hopes he’ll be able to hand the team over to his son, associate head coach Tony Bennett, after retiring, but as of yet has received no official guarantee of that. However, it would be considered a surprising move by Sterk and the WSU administration if it looked elsewhere for a successor.
“I know they like Tony and it’s even possible that the kids like Tony,” the current head coach said, taking a self-deprecating dig at his own rough-edged nature around his players. “I believe I know what it takes. And sometimes what seems harsh … I’m trying to push the envelope. Sometimes I push a little hard, but with so many young guys I want them to understand that there is a standard they have to meet if they want to compete at this level.”
The rebuilding project will still be going strong next year with a team that will almost certainly consist entirely of freshmen and sophomores. Bennett said he sees a possibility for next year’s team to be vastly improved from this year’s Cougars, currently 10-13.
But the reasons for that potential improvement may be out of his control. And they are also part of his reason for stating a desire to return to the Palouse.
“The freshman I think will come together pretty well when they’ll be sophomores, but there’s a question about their physical maturity,” Bennett said. “If the physical maturity were there next year, I would have some real high hopes. But boy, you can’t rush Mother Nature. And that’s why I think they will need next year.
“I had planned to give it three years and I was disappointed (with myself) when I was thinking of only two. But now I realize I need that third year to get going again.”