WhoÂ’s Bret Vandergard and whatÂ’s he done for us lately?

[PointGuard]

This dynasty report will be written from the perspective of several individuals (other than the head coach). Each of these individuals will be identified at the beginning of his/her posting for this dynasty.

Initial season: 2013-2014

Initial program: Eastern Washington Eagles. Team prestige--16, Big Sky Conference prestige--28, Facilities--C, Academics--C- (Min SAT of 860), Reese Court (6,000 capacity).

Initial Recruiting level: Normal

[PointGuard]

After years and years of basketball mediocrity at Eastern Washington University, it's time for our school to stop residing at or near the bottom of the Big Sky Conference standings. I arrived here in Cheney, Washington 3 years ago. While there isn’t much pressure on me from the university’s administration, I’d like to move up to a more prestigious college and if I don’t turn things around here, that desire is unlikely to come to fruition. Therefore, immediately after the end of the 2013 season, I fired head coach Dawes Johnson who stumbled along to a 54-89 record during his 5 years of collecting a check without doing a lot of work.

The finances for Washington state colleges (other than for the University of Washington and Washington State University) are miniscule, which certainly partially accounts for our long pattern of losing records. But that just means I have more of a challenge in finding a coach who I can hire at a bare minimum salary for Division I but who will be hungry and innovative enough to turn things around for us.

I spend March researching coaches as various levels and get in touch with many of them for initial phone interviews, but eventually narrow down my search to 4 viable candidates who I interview in April:

(1) Turner Covington has been an assistant coach at Oregon State, so he has some good experience helping to make one of the Pac-12’s schools with lower budgets at least competitive. But when he visits Cheney, Washington and our college, he’s not impressed by our facilities or what we can offer for a salary. Erase one candidate.

(2) Robinson Williams has been a head coach at Johnson C. Smith College in Charlotte, NC. While his record at that Division II school has been hot and cold, his experience at a historically black college could help us get access to a wider cross-section of players. We have a couple of very good meetings and I think we have a chance, but ultimately he feels won’t fit in well in Cheney, a small town in a very rural area of eastern Washington State. Two down, two to go.

(3) Tony Carpelli has regularly had one of the best high school teams in Washington state. His teams have always been at or near the top of their league and he’s had excellent results in state basketball tournaments, winning two state championships. I’ve got no doubt he could recruit well within the state of Washington, but he wants complete independence with no interference from me, the athletic department, or the administration. Reluctantly I pass on him since that seems like a recipe for ultimate disaster. Things are getting tense.

(4) Bret Vandergard was a great player at Lyndon High School in northwest Washington State and at Pacific Lutheran University, an NAIA school in a suburb of Tacoma, Washington. After graduation, Vandergard immediately went into coaching, serving as an assistant coach at Portland State University for 2 years, at the University of Idaho for 3 years, and then the University of California San Diego for the past 2 years. He’s gained extensive experience from several very good head coaches, but has yet to prove himself on his own. Ultimately, he’s probably the least well-prepared of any of my final candidates. But Brett is ready to take on a challenge and should fit in well at the school and the community…and…he’s willing to accept a 3-year contract for an $80,000 annual salary. I hire him in late April 2013 and set 2 goals for the 2013-2014 season (finish in the Top 3 in the conference, win at least 10 games). Since we’ve already filled all of our scholarships, he just needs to become familiar with his players. Brett tells me he wants to clean house, so he fires all assistant coaches and hires 3 new ones. All three are relatively young, but he’s familiar with all three. Since their salaries are very low, the remaining budget for recruiting is $82,000.

[Aside—Background on Bret Vandergard: 28 yr old; Annual Salary $80,000 (3 year contract); Ambition: Avg; Academics: High; Discipline: High; Temper: Low; Integrity: High; Offense-26; Defense-27; Recruiting-35; Scouting-28; Player Development-34; Reputation-10.]

[Valdarix]

Love this idea and it makes me want an Athletic Director Mode in the game :-)

[PointGuard]

I just met the new basketball coach at EWU and he’s agreed to have me help him find a house. With just over 10,000 residents in the town of Cheney (the population is matched by the 10,000 students who are in the area during the school year), he won’t have a lot of competition for houses that are on the market. Not only aren’t there that many people, but most are pretty much staying put in whatever living arrangement they have set up. And…the median income for a household is $22,500 in Cheney and 31% of the population is below the poverty line. While it doesn’t seem the coach has much of a bank account, his income of $80,000 certainly places him in the upper crust of this town. Since the cost of living isn't too high around here, he should qualify for a good-sized loan. I’m hoping he wants one of the nicer homes that tend to stay on the market a long time here (well, don’t all realtors want that?).

I’ve had to educate Bret about the town. Cheney has long been a railroad center and is named after Northern Pacific railroad baron, Benjamin P. Cheney. Our economy is primarily based upon agriculture, education, and the railroad. Historically, just north of Cheney the Battle of Four Lakes occurred in 1858 between U.S. Army and a confederation of the Coeur d’Alene, Spokane, Palouse, and Northern Paiute tribes. The army was better armed with the latest weaponry (not an unusual happening during the period of the Indian Wars, right?) and after a 4-day battle, the Native Americans were forced to sue for peace, after which they were sent to reservations. The town is located in rolling hills about 15 miles from Spokane, Washington. The population is young and white (82%). Just 4% of the population is African American which may make recruiting a bit more difficult for our new coach. The weather is hot and dry in the summer and cold, windy and snowy in the winter. Fairchild Air Force Base is located 7 miles outside the town.

Oh, Bret just texted me that he’s ready to look at some homes. It’s always good to get new people coming to Cheney, especially when they are young, tall, good-looking, and making a good salary. OK, OK, now now…I’m not THAT much older than him and my divorce WAS finalized 18 months ago.

[Wayne23]

At least the town wasn't named after Dick!

[Chris]

Good luck to Mr Vandergard

[PointGuard]

What a surprise ta get a call from Bret Vandergard and be asked to be one a his assistants. I first met Bret when he came down to a basketball camp in New Orleans where I was workin'. He came inta camp under the radar. West coast high schoolers don’t get much publicity in the southeast U.S. But he quickly showed he was not only a very good player, but a guy who listened carefully and watched intently, learnin' from the coaches and other players, and then workin' hard ta put what he found out inta action. It was easy ta form a strong bond with such a talented and focused kid. Although mah career never went far, we continued ta communicate by phone and over the internet. But I hadn’t seen him hide nor hair of him in near on 12 years.

When he called, he said he needed a recruitin' assistant and wanted me. I had ta ask where Eastern Washington University was, but after a short conversation (and me nearly dropping the phone when he said he wanted me ta be his FIRST assistant coach), I hopped on board the “Eagle Express”, packed my bags and family, and drove us all over 2000 miles in our old car ta come ta the smallest town I’ve ever lived.

Bret had already had a realtor find a couple homes that could accommodate mah wife Jacinda, our 3 kids and myself. We opted ta rent one of those homes, knowin' that assistant coaching jobs can quickly evaporate. Fortunately mah wife was able ta get a transfer from one government job ta another and is now workin' at Fairchild Air Base, so her commute is no problem at all.

The kids were bummed ta have ta move at the end of a school year, but by the time school starts here late this August, they should feel fine 'bout things since we’ve got them inta activities here already.

But you’d probably like ta know more 'bout the basketball program than mah family.

The basketball program is definitely a work in progress. More ta the point, I think it’s been a work in decay the past several years so almost anything is up fer EWU basketball from here.

Fer one thing, we don’t have a single senior on this coming year’s squad. The team will be composed of 5 juniors, 5 sophomores, and 5 freshman. I’m not yet sure who will assume a leadership role on this team, but be damned sure that I’m going ta be pushing a few guys in that direction.

Are any of the 15 guys any good? It’s hard ta tell yet, but I think there are a few that will step ta the forefront and give us a chance to win a few games.
Coach V has assembled a pretty good group of assistants, if I do say so myself.

His 2nd assistant is Lawrence Montgomery. I had never heard of him, but again that’s because he’s from the Pacific Northwest and has primarily been in high school coachin'. He’s 43 years old and blind as a bat (he wears very thick horned rimmed glasses). I don’t think he really has any plans ta jump up in the college coachin' ranks, but from our discussions it seems he places extremely high importance on academics fer our players. He expects players ta comply with directions, but that is tempered with a very laid back approach, so I think players will like him. He knows basketball well within the state and region and how ta evaluate players, so his position as our scout is a natural.

While Coach V was an assistant at Portland State several years ago, he met the man he just hired as 3rd assistant, Kevin Gebbers. I like callin' him Kevin Goobers, but he don't like it none, so I have ta watch mahself. Kevin was assistin' at Montana at the same time. Kevin left coachin' shortly thereafter and only recently returned as head coach at a small community college in Utah. Kevin has a good feel fer all aspects of basketball and should be a key asset fer us.

So that brings us ta the only remainin' assistant…me. I’m 37 years old and love meetin' and talkin' with folks. Mah forte has been (and will be) recruitin'. Most of mah coaching time in college basketball has been for Division II teams so this is a big step up for me. Additionally I have the added challenge of becomin' familiar with life (and customs and interests) in Washington State (where we are mostly likely ta get most of our recruits), and ta a lesser degree within the Western United States. But I'm hopin' they will find my drawl somethin' they will remember. I’d like to say I could pull in a few quality recruits from Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas and Alabama, but doubt many will seriously consider coming ta a small program at a remote college so far away from home. I’d really like this position ta lead to a head coach job sometime in the future, but I know I have a lot ta learn and need to develop mah skill level in many areas of the game. As far as academics is concerned, as long as we can sign players who will meet our SAT requirements, ah’m satisfied (particularly if they’re studs).

With no recruitin' to do this first year since no scholarships will be available, I'll be workin' on developin' a good strong network up in this region and also will be workin' hard with the rest of the staff ta whip this team into shape. The staff has coalesced well so I think this is gonna be a fun ride.

Talk with ya'll later.

[Aside: Jamal Smith—(O)20; (D)20; (R)39; (S)20; (PD)20; Rep)8; Lawrence Montgomery—(O)20; (D)20; (R)20; (S)52; (PD)20; (Rep)9; Kevin Gebbers—(O)25; (D)25; (R)25; (S)25; (S)25; (Rep)9.]

[PointGuard]

I must say I’m not happy. Our son Shawn was recruited by Coach Dawes Johnson. Dawes made 3 trips to our home and promised that Shawn would be the starting SG for the Eagles this coming year if he signed. Shawn was a big star at Lewis & Clark H.S. in Spokane and had been recruited by highly regarded Gonzaga as well. We based our decision on Johnson’s promise that Shawn would start immediately and get a lot of playing time. If we’d been willing to watch Shawn ride the bench for a year or two, we would have had him accept the Zag’s scholarship offer.

Then at the end of last season, the Eagles fired Johnson. OK, Dawes Johnson certainly hadn't set the world on fire. But who did EWU hire as head coach? Some guy named Bret Vandergard, who’s never been a head coach before, so no experience, no record. Shortly after arriving on campus, Vandergard called and talked with Shawn as well as his mother and me. We pressed him to honor Johnson’s promise. While he said he looked forward to working with Shawn, he would only say that Shawn would get a fair shot at earning the starting spot, but that right now, every position in the starting lineup was up for grabs.

I was pissed and after the call, told Shawn that he should turn down EWU’s scholarship and try to latch on somewhere else. Even though Gonzaga has filled all their scholarships, there were plenty of other schools in the hunt for Shawn and some of them still have available scholarships to fill.

Shawn’s always listened to his mother and me, but this time said he didn’t want to change and that he planned on sticking with the Eagles. That led to a pretty big argument, but he wouldn’t budge.

I plan to call Vandergard and let him know we EXPECT Eastern Washington to honor Johnson’s promise, and if he doesn’t, I will be talking with both Swede Olaffson, the AD, and the university’s president, Clement Morgan. I’m vice president of Valley Bank and we contribute plenty to the university…and that can continue or can be turned off.

[PointGuard]

It’s been a long time since Eastern Washington University has had a successful basketball program and even longer since the school has been able to successfully compete with nearby Gonzaga for recruits from the Northwest.

Five years ago Dawes Johnson took over the reigns for the Eagles. He promised a bright future. It seemed as though he was working hard to improve the Eagles’ plight the first couple years, but then it became apparent he was in over his head and didn’t really have a vision that he could implement. His troubles magnified when his players from the class of 2014 rebelled and left the program. Swede Olaffson, EWU’s Athletic Director, finally realized that the Eagles were not going to fly (let alone soar) under Johnson’s tutelage and fired him at the end of the 2013 season.

Surprisingly, Olaffson brought in Bret Vandergard as Johnson’s replacement. Vandergard was a very good high school and collegiate player, but only has a few limited assistant coaching stints on his short resume.

Vandergard didn’t make any promises at the press conference announcing his hiring. He also didn’t lay out a timeline for when he thought this team can regain respectability. Instead he talked about making incremental change. He began that by hiring of a whole new assistant coaching staff. Only one of those new coaches has any collegiate head coaching experience (and that at a community college). So Eastern Washington will be led by a group of relatively young coaches with little experience.

To make matters worse, they will be leading a team with no seniors on the squad. Since no scholarships will be available to be filled at the end of the 2013-2014 campaign, no new blood can be brought in by the new regime until the end of their second season at the helm.

So the question arises: Can Coach Bret Vandergard spin some magic and make the changes at Eastern Washington to make them a power in the Big Sky Conference or will they continue to be conference doormats?

[PointGuard]

We have a coaches’ plannin' weekend soon after all ah us are settled in Cheney. Coach V believes in developin' a battle plan as a group, so we all feel as though we have a lot ah input. This year will be focused on tryin' tah develop all ah the players on the squad, since we won’t have any new players comin' in next year. We agree tah try tah put preconceptions 'bout any ah the players aside so we can fairly evaluate the skills, weaknesses, an' potential ah each player before we make decisions about a startin' lineup or playin' time. We also will be tryin' tah create a cohesive team attitude. While we definitely want tah win games, the win-loss record won’t be a major focus this year. This will be a buildin' year (sort ah like a re-buildin' year, I guess).

We have a boatload ah recruiting money an' nothin' tah purchase with it. All 13 scholarships are locked up by freshman, sophomore an' junior players. Coach V tells me he wants tah treat 2013-2014 as a learnin' process an; has secured the concurrence ah AD Olaffson tah do just just that. That means we'll spend money on reports, goin' tah summer camps, an' takin' actions with recruits as if we were gonna make some offers. He feels that will help both him an' me tah get our feet on the ground an' learn some things 'bout recruitin' at this level plus begin tah know the area, the high school coaches, an' keep our eyes on some high school players who aren’t yet seniors. After bein' worried I would just be sittin' around this year, I’m all over it an' begin tah put together a plan.

We'll buy the Western an' National basic reports. We also will be travelin' tah all the camps we can: the Indy Elite, the Las Vegas Revue, The Houston Classic (a big easy smile from me), the Chicago Prep Revue, The Memphis Hoop Revue (another big smile from me), an' the Big Apple Showcase.

We’re gonna focus on players from the Northwest though, since that way we can more quickly build a network in what will be our primary huntin' grounds in years tah come.

My main task will be tah get tah know people who can provide us with “ins” tah high school (an' community college) programs in future years. In addition, I'm tah try out some recruitin' techniques tah see how my southern style works up here an' how I have tah tune it up some tah fit the Pacific Northwest lifestyle an' attitudes.

Coach V also wants me involved in player development an' scoutin' as the season progresses, which is good news tah me.

Meanwhile Coach V puts 2nd assistant, Lawrence “Larry” Montgomery, in charge ah academics for the team. Larry immediately gets tutors for the 5 most likely players tah have academic problems: freshmen Tim Dove an' Don Watson plus juniors Robbie Taflinger, Delawn West, an' Michael Taylor. Unlike me, Larry really believes in the “student athlete” so he’s a good choice for this task.

Coach V an' 3rd assistant Kevin “Goober” Gebbers then begin devisin' practice an' game strategies.