BTO Exclusive: The Many Branches of Herb Sendek's Coaching Tree
By BREDAN F. QUINN
Basketball Times Online
When Hiram College visited Miami (Ohio) in December 1995, nothing was on the line.
Inside the Redhawks’ locker room, an old-school blackboard hung on the wall. The three portions looked like black slate on the wall. Despite the game’s minimal meaning, every inch of that chalkboard was covered in multi-colored chalk — graphs, charts, player assignments … everything.
Brian Blaney, Jim Christian and Charlie Coles, Miami’s three assistant coaches, sat bemused. Coles leaned over to Christian. “You know,” he noted, “small countries have gone to war less prepared than we are to play Hiram College.”
That’s when Herb Sendek began his pregame speech.
Now, all these years later, Coles is Miami’s head coach. Christian is in his second year leading TCU, following a successful six-year jaunt as the head coach at Kent State. Blaney is an assistant at Fairfield. When the three were employed at Miami, they replaced such guys as Thad Matta, Sean Miller and Ron Hunter as Sendek’s sidekicks.
You might have heard of those guys.
Matta, having bounced from Butler to Xavier to Ohio State, has won 20 games in each of his nine seasons as a head coach, including an appearance in the 2007 NCAA title game. Miller is now guiding Arizona after a five-year stint at Xavier that produced four NCAA Tournament appearances, highlighted by a trip to the 2008 Elite Eight. Hunter has guided IUPUI from a Division II program with a funny name to an NCAA Tournament participant that won 26 games last season.
They’re only some of the leafy branches on Sendek’s coaching tree.
“He already has quite a legacy,” says Christian.
Despite being only 46 years old, it is Sendek – not Mike Krzyzewski, not Jim Calhoun, not Rick Pitino, not Tom Izzo – who among current coaches boasts the largest number of former assistants now manning head-coaching positions. In addition to Christian, Matta, Miller, Hunter and Coles, Sendek’s former assistants also include John Groce (Ohio), Larry Hunter (Western Carolina) and Mark Phelps (Drake).
“With Herb, we learned how to run a program,” says Christian, who led Kent State to five postseason appearances, including NCAA Tournament trips in 2006 and 2008. “When you’re around a bunch of different coaches, you take in a lot of different things, but how to run a program and the day-to-day things that go with it, well, that is what I took away from him, and it all stays with me to this day.”
Recalling the story of when tiny Hiram College visited Miami, Christian simply says, “That’s Herb.” The preparation. The meticulous attention to detail. The dedication.
“That’s Herb.”
In a head coaching career that has toured from Miami (OH) to N.C. State to its current home at Arizona State, Sendek has always done things his way. But, despite a brilliant mind molded for basketball, he has always relied heavily on his assistants. It’s been said: The most intelligent person is one who humbly accepts the ideas of others.
“That’s why you go to work for a guy like him,” says Christian, who lost to his mentor earlier this year when Arizona State topped TCU, 52-49. “Herb gives you opportunities and asks for your input in all areas. He makes you be prepared. He wants you to be a well-rounded coach.”
Thus, it’s common for programs facing head-coaching vacancies to pick from the fruit of Sendek’s coaching tree.
“We want (assistants) to take ownership of all aspects of the program,” Sendek says. “We try not to pigeonhole guys. We want them to coach and have value in every area of our program. We don’t want to put them in a box. Every coach should be able to help as much as he can.”
Before racking up 314 wins as a head coach, Sendek matriculated to the Pitino school of hoops in 1985 as a graduate assistant at Providence. By 1987, he was a full-time assistant. In 1989, he followed Pitino to Kentucky and served on his staff for four more seasons.
During Sendek’s time as Pitino’s aide, he worked alongside the likes of Jeff Van Gundy, Stu Jackson, Billy Donovan and Tubby Smith, among others.
Once the 1994-95 season rolled around, Miami came calling.
Just like that, the roots of Pitino’s legendary coaching tree spawned Sendek’s. And as for Sendek, himself, the young graduate assistant at Providence has grown into one of the most respected coaches in the country.
Opposing coaches, those who battle Sendek from the opposite side of the scorer’s table, rave of his teams’ ability to control tempo and commit to a grinding style of defense.
Krzyzewski, who recently won his 800th career game, made a point of calling Sendek “one of the best coachers in the country” prior to a meeting between ASU and Duke in the Preseason NIT last week.
Even though his former pupils are now scattered across the college-basketball landscape like freckles, Sendek thinks little of it. If it’s true that with humbleness comes wisdom, then he’s a sage.
“I’m very happy for all of them, but at no one moment am I under the impression that these guys are doing well because of me. I think, to a man, those guys would have been successful whether or not they came through our program or not. It’s coincidental.”
Funny, if you ask “those guys,” they’ll tell you much differently.
“I just have so much respect for the man,” Christian says. “A lot of the stuff we do, I learned from him. The way we guard and our defensive philosophies are directly from Herb. He’s changed his since we worked together, but a lot of what he did when he was at Miami is what we do here at TCU.”
That’s a legacy.
And that’s Herb Sendek.
Write it on the blackboard.
***
Remembering Their Roots
A look at the largest coaching trees among current coaches ...
HERB SENDEK, ARIZONA STATE (8)
Jim Christian, TCU
Charlie Coles, Miami of Ohio
John Groce, Ohio
Larry Hunter, Western Carolina
Ron Hunter, IUPUI
Thad Matta, Ohio State
Sean Miller, Arizona
Mark Phelps, Drake
RICK PITINO, LOUISVILLE (7)
Mick Cronin, Cincinnati
Billy Donovan, Florida
Sean Kearney, Holy Cross
Marvin Menzies, New Mexico State
Herb Sendek, Arizona State
Tubby Smith, Minnesota
Kevin Willard, Iona
MIKE MONTGOMERY, CALIFORNIA (7)
Jeff Jackson, Furman
Trent Johnson, LSU
Ernie Kent, Oregon
Stew Morill, Utah State
Eric Reveno, Portland
Blaine Taylor, Old Dominion
Wayne Tinkle, Montana
JIM CALHOUN, UCONN (6)
Howie Dickenman, Central Connecticut State
Karl Hobbs, George Washington
Glen Miller, Pennsylvania
Tom Moore, Quinnipiac
Steve Pikiell, Stony Brook
Ted Woodward, Maine
BEN BRAUN, RICE (6)
Keith Dambrot, Akron
Bill Kennedy, Murray State
George Nessman, San Jose State
Joe Pasternack, New Orleans
Charles E. Ramsey, Eastern Michigan
Gary Waters, Cleveland State
TOM IZZO, MICHIGAN STATE (5)
Jim Boylen, Utah
Tom Crean, Indiana
Brian Gregory, Dayton
Stan Heath, South Florida
Doug Wojcik, Tulsa
STEW MORRILL, UTAH STATE (5)
Don Verlin, Idaho
Randy Rahe, Weber State
Blaine Taylor, Old Dominion
Terry Dunn, Dartmouth
Jeff Jackson, Furman
JAY WRIGHT, VILLANOVA (5)
Patrick Chambers, Boston University
Fred Hill, Rutgers
Joe Jones, Columbia
Billy Lange, Navy
Tom Pecora, Hofstra
Brendan F. Quinn is the content manager of Basketball Times Online. A freelance writer in Philadelphia, Quinn has contributed to Basketball Times since 2006 and is currently providing coverage for The Philadelphia Inquirer. He can be reached at admin@basketballtimesonline.com.
Basketball Times Online
When Hiram College visited Miami (Ohio) in December 1995, nothing was on the line.
Inside the Redhawks’ locker room, an old-school blackboard hung on the wall. The three portions looked like black slate on the wall. Despite the game’s minimal meaning, every inch of that chalkboard was covered in multi-colored chalk — graphs, charts, player assignments … everything.
Brian Blaney, Jim Christian and Charlie Coles, Miami’s three assistant coaches, sat bemused. Coles leaned over to Christian. “You know,” he noted, “small countries have gone to war less prepared than we are to play Hiram College.”
That’s when Herb Sendek began his pregame speech.
Now, all these years later, Coles is Miami’s head coach. Christian is in his second year leading TCU, following a successful six-year jaunt as the head coach at Kent State. Blaney is an assistant at Fairfield. When the three were employed at Miami, they replaced such guys as Thad Matta, Sean Miller and Ron Hunter as Sendek’s sidekicks.
You might have heard of those guys.
Matta, having bounced from Butler to Xavier to Ohio State, has won 20 games in each of his nine seasons as a head coach, including an appearance in the 2007 NCAA title game. Miller is now guiding Arizona after a five-year stint at Xavier that produced four NCAA Tournament appearances, highlighted by a trip to the 2008 Elite Eight. Hunter has guided IUPUI from a Division II program with a funny name to an NCAA Tournament participant that won 26 games last season.
They’re only some of the leafy branches on Sendek’s coaching tree.
“He already has quite a legacy,” says Christian.
Despite being only 46 years old, it is Sendek – not Mike Krzyzewski, not Jim Calhoun, not Rick Pitino, not Tom Izzo – who among current coaches boasts the largest number of former assistants now manning head-coaching positions. In addition to Christian, Matta, Miller, Hunter and Coles, Sendek’s former assistants also include John Groce (Ohio), Larry Hunter (Western Carolina) and Mark Phelps (Drake).
“With Herb, we learned how to run a program,” says Christian, who led Kent State to five postseason appearances, including NCAA Tournament trips in 2006 and 2008. “When you’re around a bunch of different coaches, you take in a lot of different things, but how to run a program and the day-to-day things that go with it, well, that is what I took away from him, and it all stays with me to this day.”
Recalling the story of when tiny Hiram College visited Miami, Christian simply says, “That’s Herb.” The preparation. The meticulous attention to detail. The dedication.
“That’s Herb.”In a head coaching career that has toured from Miami (OH) to N.C. State to its current home at Arizona State, Sendek has always done things his way. But, despite a brilliant mind molded for basketball, he has always relied heavily on his assistants. It’s been said: The most intelligent person is one who humbly accepts the ideas of others.
“That’s why you go to work for a guy like him,” says Christian, who lost to his mentor earlier this year when Arizona State topped TCU, 52-49. “Herb gives you opportunities and asks for your input in all areas. He makes you be prepared. He wants you to be a well-rounded coach.”
Thus, it’s common for programs facing head-coaching vacancies to pick from the fruit of Sendek’s coaching tree.
“We want (assistants) to take ownership of all aspects of the program,” Sendek says. “We try not to pigeonhole guys. We want them to coach and have value in every area of our program. We don’t want to put them in a box. Every coach should be able to help as much as he can.”
Before racking up 314 wins as a head coach, Sendek matriculated to the Pitino school of hoops in 1985 as a graduate assistant at Providence. By 1987, he was a full-time assistant. In 1989, he followed Pitino to Kentucky and served on his staff for four more seasons.
During Sendek’s time as Pitino’s aide, he worked alongside the likes of Jeff Van Gundy, Stu Jackson, Billy Donovan and Tubby Smith, among others.
Once the 1994-95 season rolled around, Miami came calling.
Just like that, the roots of Pitino’s legendary coaching tree spawned Sendek’s. And as for Sendek, himself, the young graduate assistant at Providence has grown into one of the most respected coaches in the country.
Opposing coaches, those who battle Sendek from the opposite side of the scorer’s table, rave of his teams’ ability to control tempo and commit to a grinding style of defense.
Krzyzewski, who recently won his 800th career game, made a point of calling Sendek “one of the best coachers in the country” prior to a meeting between ASU and Duke in the Preseason NIT last week.
Even though his former pupils are now scattered across the college-basketball landscape like freckles, Sendek thinks little of it. If it’s true that with humbleness comes wisdom, then he’s a sage. “I’m very happy for all of them, but at no one moment am I under the impression that these guys are doing well because of me. I think, to a man, those guys would have been successful whether or not they came through our program or not. It’s coincidental.”
Funny, if you ask “those guys,” they’ll tell you much differently.
“I just have so much respect for the man,” Christian says. “A lot of the stuff we do, I learned from him. The way we guard and our defensive philosophies are directly from Herb. He’s changed his since we worked together, but a lot of what he did when he was at Miami is what we do here at TCU.”
That’s a legacy.
And that’s Herb Sendek.
Write it on the blackboard.
***
Remembering Their Roots
A look at the largest coaching trees among current coaches ...
HERB SENDEK, ARIZONA STATE (8)
Jim Christian, TCU
Charlie Coles, Miami of Ohio
John Groce, Ohio
Larry Hunter, Western Carolina
Ron Hunter, IUPUI
Thad Matta, Ohio State
Sean Miller, Arizona
Mark Phelps, Drake
RICK PITINO, LOUISVILLE (7)
Mick Cronin, Cincinnati
Billy Donovan, Florida
Sean Kearney, Holy Cross
Marvin Menzies, New Mexico State
Herb Sendek, Arizona State
Tubby Smith, Minnesota
Kevin Willard, Iona
MIKE MONTGOMERY, CALIFORNIA (7)
Jeff Jackson, Furman
Trent Johnson, LSU
Ernie Kent, Oregon
Stew Morill, Utah State
Eric Reveno, Portland
Blaine Taylor, Old Dominion
Wayne Tinkle, Montana
JIM CALHOUN, UCONN (6)
Howie Dickenman, Central Connecticut State
Karl Hobbs, George Washington
Glen Miller, Pennsylvania
Tom Moore, Quinnipiac
Steve Pikiell, Stony Brook
Ted Woodward, Maine
BEN BRAUN, RICE (6)
Keith Dambrot, Akron
Bill Kennedy, Murray State
George Nessman, San Jose State
Joe Pasternack, New Orleans
Charles E. Ramsey, Eastern Michigan
Gary Waters, Cleveland State
TOM IZZO, MICHIGAN STATE (5)
Jim Boylen, Utah
Tom Crean, Indiana
Brian Gregory, Dayton
Stan Heath, South Florida
Doug Wojcik, Tulsa
STEW MORRILL, UTAH STATE (5)
Don Verlin, Idaho
Randy Rahe, Weber State
Blaine Taylor, Old Dominion
Terry Dunn, Dartmouth
Jeff Jackson, Furman
JAY WRIGHT, VILLANOVA (5)
Patrick Chambers, Boston University
Fred Hill, Rutgers
Joe Jones, Columbia
Billy Lange, Navy
Tom Pecora, Hofstra
Brendan F. Quinn is the content manager of Basketball Times Online. A freelance writer in Philadelphia, Quinn has contributed to Basketball Times since 2006 and is currently providing coverage for The Philadelphia Inquirer. He can be reached at admin@basketballtimesonline.com.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment