Unclear future

Idaho men’s basketball coach Leonard Perry was near the end of a glowing postgame tribute to guard Tanoris Shepard on Senior Night when he took a moment to address his Vandals future, which appears to be on uncertain footing.

“We’ve had a tough year,” Perry said over the P.A. system to the crowd Wednesday at Memorial Gym. “Last year we won six games in (the Big West) conference and this year we moved into a new conference. It’s been tough to say the least, but I’ll tell you this right now: You’re never going to find a guy that cares about this program and these kids as much as I do.”

The determination on Perry’s future figures to be made by athletic director Rob Spear, who isn’t tipping his hand.

“We’ll evaluate it at the end of the season,” Spear said.

Spear said he’s asked about Perry’s status nearly every day. “I get a lot of input,” Spear said.

The last two years have brought increased scrutiny to a program that seemed to be in good shape after Perry’s third season (2003-04). Perry took over a six-win team from Dave Farrar and made steady progress. Perry’s first team in 2001-02 won nine games, followed by 13 and 14 the next two seasons, respectively. The 2003-04 Vandals won the first Big West Conference tournament game in school history.

Spear rewarded Perry, a former Vandals point guard, in August 2004, with a new four-year contract worth about $170,000 annually.

“I’m in a very select group of head coaches who live to see a second contract,” Perry said at the time.

Two difficult seasons later, many wonder if Perry will be on the sidelines for the last two years of his contract. His tenure has parallels to Farrar’s. Idaho won 15 games in Farrar’s first season, and he was rewarded with a new five-year contract by former A.D. Mike Bohn. Another successful season followed. Then came two down years, and Farrar was fired with two years remaining on his contract. He was paid roughly $200,000 over the next two years.

Idaho, which struggles to make financial ends meet, doesn’t have a stash of cash to eat contracts too often.

“It (money) is an issue,” Spear said, “but it’s not the driving force.”

What is?

“We’re going to judge the competitiveness and obviously look at graduation, behavior of student-athletes, look at the behavior and participation of coaches in athletic department sponsored events,” said Spear, also mentioning attendance and Idaho’s residence in a new conference. “We need to look at a lot of different factors.”

The Vandals have been overmatched at times in the WAC. Nine of their 13 WAC losses have been by double digits. According to collegerpi.com, the WAC is the ninth-toughest conference, two spots lower than the Pac-10 and 15 in front of the Big West. WAC teams have a healthy supply of post players and more depth than their Big West counterparts.

“You’ve got guys that are flat-out pros,” Shepard said.

Idaho (4-22) has three Division I wins. The Vandals have lost 16 of their last 17, and barring an upset in their final two games and the WAC tournament, they’ll finish with the lowest win total since the 1977-78 team went 4-22.

Last season, the Vandals opened with seven straight losses and finished by losing 11 of their last 12. Perry made several staff changes, adding veteran coaches George Pfeifer and Leroy Washington, and promoting Nate Tessmer from graduate assistant to full time.

According to Idaho’s media guide, all 15 players who have completed their eligibility under Perry have earned degrees.

Two players said earlier this week they don’t want to see a change.

“I just think he needs a little more time,” Shepard said. “I really believe that he can get this program going in the right direction.”

Echoed sophomore forward Mike Kale: “We don’t want anyone else. He’s probably the most consistent thing we have. … We feed off his desire and his fuel. That’s really what’s kept us together.”

After Wednesday’s loss to Hawaii, Perry stressed his commitment to the job.

“This was our last home game and it has been a tough two seasons,” he told the crowd, “but I’m going to keep plugging away because I’m a Vandal and that’s what we do.”