Where There's a Wil, There's a Way

[3manweave]

THE KASTEN FILE

Starting Year: 2020
Name: Wil Kasten
Height: 6'5"
Weight: 235
College: NW Missouri State '07, '09
Dream Job: Missouri
Coaching Experience: Helix HS, San Diego (assistant, 2009-14), U. of San Diego (assistant, 2015, 2016), Washington (assistant, 2018, 2019)
Career Record: 0-0
Age: 37

Synopsis: Reading PointGuard and Wayne's work has inspired me to start one of my own. Mine will start in the 2020 season, as I took time to build some coach experience and attributes. An added bonus is that all of the original players are out of the game as well, so I'm working with all CPU-generated recruits out of the gate. It will be story-driven, but I want to get the coaches' background out of the way before delving in on that (likely will be a flashback-type of story to begin with). It will be written predominantly from Wil's POV.

[Wayne23]

Great! I look forward to reading it!

[3manweave]

March 29th, 2020

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AP) - Nearly three weeks after the sudden retirement of long-time coach Jerry Slocum, the Youngstown State program has agreed to terms with relative unknown Wil Kasten, though the parameters of the deal haven't been released. Kasten was an assistant at the University of Washington the past two years, and has been coaching at the collegiate level on the West Coast for four of the past five seasons.

The 69-year-old Slocum leaves Youngstown with a 178-275 record spanning fifteen seasons with only one post-season appearance, a CBI tournament appearance in the 2012-2013 season. He stepped down earlier this month due to health reasons.

Kasten worked as an assistant under Lamont Smith for the 2015-2016 season at San Diego before Smith took the Western Carolina head coaching position the following off-season. He worked one year under current San Diego head coach Russell Springmann before taking a one-year sabbatical from coaching. He's worked the past two seasons under Jeff Neubauer at Washington on a staff that led the Huskies to their first NCAA Tournament since 2011, and their first consecutive appearances since the 2009, 2010, and 2011 seasons.

He played collegiately at Northwest Missouri State in Maryville, Mo., from 2002 through 2006, earning second-team All-MIAA honors as a senior, averaging 8.6 points and 2.9 rebounds per game for his career as a six-foot-five swingman. His best season came in his redshirt senior season, averaging 12.3 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game, and made the All-MIAA Academic Team in three of his four eligible seasons.

He played one year professionally in Spain before coming back and coaching at the high school level in San Diego for seven years before taking an assistant role at USD prior to the 2015 season. The Kansas City, Mo., native helped Helix High in San Diego win two CIF state titles as an assistant, one in 2012 and another in 2015.

In addition to holding a B.S. from NWMSU, he was able to earn his Master's in Sport Administration through NWMSU while most of his time was spent overseas.

"I'm thrilled for this opportunity to take Youngstown State to the next level," he said in an excerpt from a written statement. "I look forward to re-energizing the program, and building a program that players and fans alike will grow to be proud of."

Youngstown AD Nathan Scott, himself hired just a few short months ago, praised his first major hire in glowing terms.

"He's driven, he's committed, and he has a solid personality and knowledge of the game," he said. "He's someone that I can think can galvanize the community and bring a winning tradition and attitude. I'm looking forward to working with him over the next number of years."

He is expected to be introduced tomorrow at the Beeghly Center at 4 PM Central time.

[PointGuard]

3manweave: Great to have you adding a new dynasty here. Good start and I like the title. Looking forward to seeing where it goes.

[3manweave]

[Flashback: March 23rd, 2020 - Onboard Southwest Flight 1160, bound for Cleveland]

"Good afternoon folks, we're about 20 minutes outside of Cleveland, and we've lowered the cruising altitude to ten thousand feet," the pilot boomed over the plane's loudspeaker. "Please stow away all electronic devices, tray tables, and please buckle in for the landing." It had been a somewhat turbulent flight, as moderate rain fell during ascent, and it was raining pretty hard on the gradual descent back below cloud level.

I used the flight to catch up on game film and some sleep. My interview was to take place at the downtown Marriott in Cleveland with the Youngstown AD and several support staff. I'm generally average in the interview room, but I felt oddly at ease as the plane touched down.

I had brought along a nice suit for the interview, but I was decked out in khakis and a nice Husky polo for the trip. As I waited for my luggage at baggage claim, a middle-aged gentleman nearby asked me, "Are you Wil Kasten, the assistant coach at Washington?" Nodding yes, the man reached out his hand and introduced himself as John Creech, a prominent Youngstown booster and businessman.

"We're real excited to have you here in town," he said. "There's a small group of us, maybe eight to ten, upper-level boosters that have input with the Athletic Department. Most of us want to try and get an experienced guy, but there is a bit of a grassroots effort with myself and a few other boosters to get a younger coach at Youngstown. I'm actually friends with Russell Springmann, and through him I found out about you since you used to coach under him since he mentioned you by name. I've followed your career since then, and I think you'd be a great fit here."

I'm just a lowly third assistant. What's so great about me? At times, Russell was a difficult guy to work with at San Diego as he is a bit of a control freak, but he's a heck of a coach and a nice guy away from the court. I'm actually pretty thrilled to get a good word from him, especially since I committed a recruiting no-no (through no fault of my own, mind you) and subsequently left coaching for a year, turning down his offer to return.

"Most of the other boosters actually don't know that you're being interviewed today," Mr. Creech said. "The new AD is a younger guy, and I think you would get along with him a lot better than an older retread coach that's been around the block a few too many times, just looking for a paycheck."

I asked him the story behind the previous coach, Jerry Slocum. He told me that the retirement was legitimate; that he had decided to step away a year earlier than expected due to a health issue. It wasn't clear whether he would return to coaching or not.

"At any rate, I have to go," Mr. Creech said as he grabbed his luggage from another conveyor. "I'm heading back to Youngstown for a meeting, but if you're going to be in Cleveland, please look me up and we'll grab a drink or some lunch, no matter how the job search turns out." I thanked him as he handed me his business card, and walked off with his suitcase. After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, I finally received my luggage, and found the livery driver waiting for me curbside. Now that's service.

Upon reaching the hotel and entering my room for the first time, I immediately changed into the suit I brought with me and gathered my materials to head down to the meeting. I was still going to arrive about thirty minutes early, so I decided to hit the bar in the lobby that I passed on the way in. Not five minutes after I had sat down and received my go to drink of choice (Woodford neat), a tall, leggy blonde in a navy blue blazer suit came over and ordered a martini before taking the seat next to mine.

After a minute or so of dead silence, she asked what I was in town for. I told her I had a job interview in about thirty minutes, and just needed something to take the edge off. When she responded in kind, I became a little suspicious. Seizing the opportunity to introduce myself, I reached my hand across. "I'm Wil," I said, shaking her hand. "Wil Kasten. Put that on my tab." She paused, with a surprised look on her face. "What a coincidence...you're the person we're interviewing in a half-hour! I'm Britani Benson, an associate AD with Youngstown. I've heard a lot about you."

"Hopefully none of it good," I nervously chuckled, illiciting a laugh from her. I've never been a great conversationalist, and gorgeous women can be intimidating sometimes. But I immediately felt at ease around her; she seemed very approachable and affable. After about ten to fifteen minutes of going back and forth, we said our good-byes (for now), and decided it would be best to not walk into the meeting together.

"Well, it was nice to meet you finally, but I think arriving at the meeting together might raise some eyebrows," she said while walking away, presumably towards the meeting rooms, and I nodded in agreement. "You too. See you soon," I said.

When she was out of sight, I whipped out my phone and texted to my current boss, Jeff Neubauer: "Wish me luck. About to head into interview. Gonna kill this." Looking to my right, I saw the signs pointing towards the meeting rooms. Following the signs, I found my way to Room 4A where the meeting was to be held. Several men in suits were beginning to file in. Letting out a deep sigh, I turned my phone off, opened the door, and walked in. Here goes nothing...

[Wayne23]

Lovin' it!

[3manweave]

[March 24th, 2020 - Hotel room, morning after the meeting]

My cell phone rang, breaking the early morning silence with the familiar "Rocky" theme song. 'Who the hell is calling at this hour,' I thought as I rolled over to the nightstand, grabbing the phone and answering it without looking at the caller ID. The alarm clock near the bed read 6:43. Ugh...

"Hey, how did the interview go?" It was Jeff. "What are you doing at the office this early?" I asked him. "It's not even four in the morning out there."

"Truth is, I haven't left the office yet," he said. "I've been pouring over film, and trying to figure out how much of a recruiting budget we're going to need this year. My wife isn't too happy with me...but it's what she signed up for. Again, how did the interview go?"

"Good, I guess....can you call back in a few hours? I didn't get a ton of sleep last night. I'll be able to put together some more cogent thoughts when I'm not quite so groggy." There was a pause on the other end. "Wil, I need to tell you something...the AD didn't approve your contract request. I went to bat for you, but they want you to come down a little bit. If you can do that, you'll have a spot here if the head coaching pursuit doesn't work out," he said.

This bit of information accelerated the process of waking up, and I sat up on the edge of the bed. "What you do you mean, they didn't approve? I thought my request was reasonable," I quipped sharply. "Did they provide a counter?"

"They countered at $25,000...it's nearly a 20% increase over last year. I think you should take it," Jeff responded.

"Let me sleep on it, and I'll call you back this afternoon when I get back into Seattle," I said. "I'm exhausted right now." I tried to lie back down and go to sleep, but sleep eluded me. There may be no turning back now...

[3manweave]

[March 26th, 2020 - Youngstown athletic offices; Nathan Scott POV]

"We're on a time crunch here," the voice said on the other end of the line. "The Board of Curators is ready to move on a guy, and we need a name and a contract to submit for their approval ASAP. If you can get that today, it would make all of our lives a lot easier, Nate."

"Look, Chancellor, I know we have to make a decision...but is there any way I could get more time?" I said into the phone. "Twenty-four hours is all I need. This Wil Kasten guy really came in and made a heck of an impression a few days ago. I did the interview as a favor to John Creech, but I wasn't expecting this coach with so little experience to really nail his interview like he did. It's made me step back and re-evaluate things."

There was a long pause and a sigh on the other end of the line. "I know you're new to this...but you can't let the boosters push you around," the Chancellor pleaded with me. "If the new guy was that impressive, then fine...but my hands are tied. I need a name by the end of the hour." His tone turned very sharply to frustration. "Get your team on the horn if you have to; come up with a name, and get a hold of their representation. You've had three weeks to do this. Let's please get this done," he added.

"Alright, alright," he said. "I just met with my team a few hours ago regarding these candidates, though. I'll see what I can do." I buried my head in my hands after I hung up the phone. Think, Nate, think. With so little time to come up with someone, I decided to call Britani Benson, since she's the one person that works for me that would be spending the most time around the basketball team; being that she's in charge of their academic progress.

"Britani, the chancellor just tore me a new one because we don't have a guy yet...what's your gut instinct on this one?" I asked her. "You'd be spending the most time with him, so it's someone that you should feel good about."

She paused, then took the diplomatic route. "Honestly, they're all good. They all could do well here, I think. Wil would do the best job here, though. Would he be gone at the first sign of success? Probably, but if he leaves the program in better shape than he found it...it's worth it," she said. "He just comes off as a bright, articulate guy that can still relate to today's college athlete, too. Not sure the others can say that as well."

"Kasten, huh?" I said. "If you held a gun to my head, which is figuratively happening right now, then he's my guy too. I don't know about you, but I was very impressed. I was in talks with Tator's agent before he interviewed, so it was almost ready to go down. I'll need to call John and take him out to dinner if we go with Kasten and he signs with us. Thanks, Britani."

I decided to take one final look at my notes from the past week of interviews. The first candidate we interviewed was Bill Board. Mid 60's, been around the block, but has great connections in the Midwest and won't embarrass the university off the court. I already have Woody Hayes reincarnated as my football coach...I don't need another one of those. Bo Pelini should be thankful he wins a lot of games.

Secondly, we brought in Ron Way, who is a bit younger (58), and isn't as strong a recruiter as Board. But he's coached at schools like Michigan State, Duke, and Kansas...and coached under some great head coaches. That counts for something in my book. If he put a good staff around him, he could do some good things here.

The last guy we interviewed before Kasten was Dick Tator. Young (49), a great recruiter as he helped pull in solid recruits to just down the road from here at Akron as an assistant, and learned at the feet of guys like Thad Matta and Chris Mack. He's an Ohio native and a Youngstown grad. The only negative was that he was a bit of a prick in the interview. See Pelini, Bo.

But honestly, he (Kasten) blew me away. He seemed a bit nervous at first, but he obviously knows the game and brings a passion for the game that I didn't see in the other three. If he would happen to be successful here, I don't see him staying long-term, but even if he was only here for four or five seasons, there's no doubt he'd leave us in great shape. When you're at a mid-major, you have to be realistic about expectations. I also like that he stressed academics, and that he's the only candidate we talked to with a graduate degree.

Yet another benefit with him; and this may sound strange...but he may help with the young to middle-age female demographic. He's not Brad Pitt by any stretch, but he's a well-groomed, good-looking dude. Getting him out in the community and selling your program would be a huge, huge deal.

I had made my choice. "Sally, get me Kasten's agent on the phone," I said to my secretary. "Tell him we're prepared to make him the next head coach of Youngstown State."

[3manweave]

[March 28th, 2020 - Fado Irish Pub, Seattle]

Just several hours ago, I had signed my first head-coaching contract with Youngstown State. They were set to put out a release tomorrow, but wanted to give me time to get my affairs in order and celebrate the occasion. After cancelling my lease at my condo and effectively resigning by officially declining the Washington contract offer in writing, we all decided to head to Fado Irish Pub downtown, which is where we as a staff would occasionally meet for beers and to go over strategy when we didn't feel like working in the office after practice.

My parents and both siblings had flown in on the red-eye for the occasion, and Jeff, Jason Crafton, and Marvin Haralson, the latter two being other assistants I had worked with in the past two years, were also in attendance. My good friend Ryan Forster, and my agent Dave Shaw had also made it in. I owed a lot to Ryan, because he initially got me this job in the first place. I also dated his younger sister Alaina off-and-on for several years while I was in San Diego, but that's a story for another day. He's like a brother to me since him and I coached high school ball together down in San Diego before he got his dream job in the NBA, and I moved on coach down the street at USD.

My phone had also been blowing up with former colleagues and players sending congratulatory texts. B.J. Johnson, whom I recruited personally and was a four-time all-league player as a guard at USD, sent me this: "Thank u coach for being a good listener and better coach. You're inspiring to me. GL to u at your new job." He's bounced between the NBDL and the NBA, but he'll do fine no matter where he plays. I told him that if playing doesn't work out four or five years down the road, he'd have a spot for him on a future coaching staff.

Russell Springmann and Lamont Smith both also sent congratulatory texts, also offering their ears for advice whenever needed.

Later on in the evening, most of the others had left; including my parents and siblings, and it was just Ryan and myself at the bar catching up about a six-pack deep by then. "I was able to work in the NBA, but I had always wished that I had a chance to run my own program," he said. "To be honest, I'm kinda wishing I would have said something to Jeff about coaching for him, and not you." I knew he was being facetious.

"At any rate, I can't thank you enough. Maybe there might be a spot for you down the road on my coaching staff," I responded.

"Nah, I couldn't do that," he said. "I'm pretty happy doing what I'm doing. Even though coaching in college would probably be a step up in prestige from running video in the NBA, I don't want to deal with recruiting. I'm a horrible enough salesman as it is...I'd rather work in the NBA even if it means less money at this point."

I paused. "Well, you're single, so at least you don't have to worry about that," I said. "Wil, I guess you're right." Suddenly, Ryan looked to his left, and then further left as someone coming in the door had gotten his attention. "Who are you looking at?" I asked.

Turning around, I did a double-take as I saw who it was. It was Alaina, Ryan's sister and my ex. We talk every now at then, but I haven't seen her in person in several years. "What are you doing here," he said. "I thought you had work back in San Diego?"

"No, they cancelled that, and since I had some free time...I came up here. I overheard you talking about Wil's new job a few days ago, flights are super cheap right now, and I made a decision to come congratulate him on his new job in person," she said. "I've always wanted to visit Seattle, too."

I got up out of the seat and she walked over and hugged me. "You didn't have to come all the way up here," I said. "A call or text would have done fine, and you could have saved your money."

"Well, you're going away for who knows how long, and we're still friends. So I wanted to send you off in person," she said. I paused. "You just came up alone, at the drop of a hat?" Peculiar. She continued on. "Yeah, why not? There's a lot here for a single girl to do, right?"

[3manweave]

[March 30th, 2020 - Men's basketball locker room, Beeghly Center, Youngstown campus]

After shaking hands and speaking privately with members of the local media after being introduced as the new coach, I made my way towards the men's locker room to meet with the team for the first time. I took about ten to fifteen minutes to look around the locker room while I waited for them to arrive. While it was not as nice as Washington's for sure, it was okay for a mid-major. Before long, I heard younger male voices coming down the hall; which I assumed were the players.

As the players filed in, I made sure to introduce myself to each one. Holy crap, I don't think I've ever been around this much size. One of the veteran senior upperclassmen, Leo Grisaukas, is one of the largest human beings I've ever been around. Another senior, Kyle Moten, told me that he is six-foot-eleven. The next player to shake my hand was Jared Jackson, the returning league Freshman of the Year. I immediately thought that I could have something solid to work with here.

In all, there were nine players at the meeting, not including the outgoing athletes. Once they had settled in, I began my spiel. If it's something I remember from my high school head coaching days, it's best to be a hard-ass at the outset.

"I just want to say what a privilege it is to be here, and to have the opportunity to make a positive impact in your lives not only on the basketball court, but off the court as well," I said. "We're going to be disciplined offensively and defensively. My expectation is that you'll go to class, and if you are going home for the summer, I expect that you Will follow the off-season training. If you don't, I Will know the very first day of practice. At this point, I am not mandating study hall on a weekly basis, but if it comes to that, that can be done."

Most of the players stared at the floor, but still nodded intently as I spoke. "As far as an offensive philosophy, I come from a transition offense background that allows for some freedom. I'm not married to that, but as I get to know you guys as players and as men, I'll have a better idea of what we should do," I continued on. "Defensively, we'll play tough in the half-court. Man-to-man, matchup zone. I like up-tempo basketball, and that's what we're going to do. Do any of you have questions for me?"

"Who are the assistants going to be? What are your practices like, things like that," Kyle Moten asked from the back.

"I haven't made a decision on assistants...it's going to be quick though because they have livelihoods and families to think about. As far as practice goes - I'm a big believer in short, but intense practices. I can't speak to what exactly we'll do, but there won't be much standing around."

Another player, Jason Jones, piped up from the back row.

"The practice gym, man...it's a dump," he said. "It's horrible to practice in there...the A/C doesn't work, and there's barely any room outside the baselines and the sidelines. Coach Slocum wouldn't do anything about it."

I nodded as he spoke. "I'll make sure that's taken care of. Look guys, I'm an open book. My office door is open all the time when I'm here, and I want you to come to me if you're having issues. School, life, whatever. I'm your man. If there aren't any other questions, you all are free to leave, but I'll need your phone numbers so I can keep contact if needed."

All the players began to file out, with the exception of one - Jackson. He slowly made his way through the group towards me.

"Look, don't take this the wrong way, but I'm out," he said as he approached me. "I came here to play for Coach Slocum. That's nothing against you, but I'd like to discuss a transfer." Whoo boy, off to a great start.