Well, Houston Cougar basketball fans. It’s official. The new head coach of the men’s basketball is James Dickey, former head coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders, and for most of this past decade, either an assistant coach to Eddie Sutton at Oklahoma State or doing TV analysis work.
The announcement was made today, about 20 minutes late, inside the O’Quinn Great Hall at the Athletic/Alumni Facility. Dickey was greeted by the Cougar band, the school’s other coaches — football coach Kevin Sumlin even stepped away from meetings and spring practice to check in — alumni, players, regents, and the assembled media. School chancellor Renu Khatur said the right things while making the announcement. She wants to win. She wants to win now. She wants the team to win the right way. Athletic Director Mack Rhoades echoes the “win the right now the right way” language. He mentioned that it was important to get a partner who would work with him in moving the school the right way, in the right direction. And he wanted someone who really wanted the job. Someone who knew the flaws, but didn’t care about the flaws.
Enter James Dickey.
Dickey said the right things. He saluted former coach Guy V. Lewis. The words “Hall of Famer” were used. He saluted the former great players, and the current players. He spoke of how he overcame the shoddy conditions at Texas Tech when he took over that program in the early `90s. He spoke the talent readily available in the Houston area, and he stressed that he was going to get that talent.
“Our goal, first and foremost, is to recruit and Houston, and the greater Houston area,” he said. “There are so many great players in this area, and it’s time for some of those guys to stay at home.”
He told the assembled hall that this was going to have to be a team
effort involving himself, the faculty, the staff, the administration,
the student body, the alumni, the fans, and the former players. He
stressed time and time again the greatness that was the Houston Cougar
basketball team, and he’s hoping to use that former success to sell the
team to recruits.
In the individual media scrums that followed
the introductions, athletic director Rhoades refused to discuss the
specifics behind the coaching search. He wouldn’t name any of the
other candidates, nor give the search criteria. Well, except for two:
“Certainly the ability to recruit,” he said. “Our greatest asset,
absolutely, is the city of Houston. We’ve had over 200 young men leave
within the past four years to go play Division One basketball. His
recognition in the city of Houston, and his recognition in terms of
Texas, his ability to recruit high-level players…his unbelievable
ability to recruit….”
Perhaps the biggest complaint, of the
many, leveled about Tom Penders by the fans and boosters was his
inability/refusal to recruit in Houston. And one of Dickey’s duties as
an assistant at Oklahoma State was recruiting Houston and Texas. And he
made it clear that he would concentrate his efforts on Houston, going
so far as to say that someone on his staff would have ties to Houston
and/or the Houston area.
Rhoades’ other primary criteria:
somebody who believed in building the program and would stick around and
really wanted the job for the job, not for moving along to greater
fame. “No matter what our facility situation was,” Rhoades said. “No
matter what our budget situation was, ‘I’m just going to get there and
I’m going to get it done. And I’m going to find a way to get it done.’
That’s what we were looking for.”
Rhoades understands the
feelings of the fans who are upset about the hire, and who wanted a
bigger name. But he’s unapologetic in his belief that he made the
correct decision. “I understand them. I really do,” he said. “I
understand about winning the press conference and the big splash. And
all of that. But proof in the pudding. I’m not worried about these
initial three months, I’m worried about a year from now, two years from
now, three years from now. I’m worried about building a program. Not
just winning teams, but building the program. There’s no doubt that
Coach Dickey has that ability. He’s done it before.”
So
extrapolating from these comments, and reading between the lines,
there’s seem to be some truth to the stories that Billy Gillispie talked
himself out of the job by complaining about the facilities. Dickey,
however, stated that he had yet to even walk over to Hofheinz, so he had
no idea of what the facilities were like. But he also stated that he
didn’t care because no matter how bad they were, he had dealt with much,
much worse.
“I wouldn’t be here,” Dickey said, “if I didn’t
think we could recruit to this university and these facilities.
“I
know what we can accomplish here,” he continued. “I know what has been
accomplished, and I can’t wait to get to work recruiting. I just feel
like there are all of these recruits here — a lot of them have left,
and we’re going to have some challenges, and we’re going to have to build
relationships, and we’re going to have to work hard. We’re going to
have to get some guys back here, prove that we can coach and develop
those guys, and win basketball games.”
I’m still a bit wary about
this hire. Speaking to Rhoades, it’s clear that he wants someone
committed to Houston who won’t be splitting anytime soon. And most
of the names who were mentioned for the job were thought of as quick
fixes looking to make/repair reputations before moving on to better
jobs. But if Dickey is really committed to this, and if he really can
do what Penders never did and recruit Houston, then it’s possible he
might be able to pull this job off.
This article appears in Apr 1-7, 2010.
