WSU - A stepping stone on the road to better things
by John Berkowitz on Apr 7, 2009 11:00 PM PDT
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PrintCougar fans should be excited about the hiring of Portland State head coach Ken Bone. All Bone has done is win every place he has been and that includes SPU, UW, and Portland State.
The fifty year old coach has paid his dues and now he moves on to the type of paycheck that can set him up for life over the next few years. Bone was only making around $125,000 at Portland State. WSU is expected to pay him over $650,000 per year to move to Pullman. Tony Bennett who he is replacing was making over a million a year when he left.
Bone has a great shot at being successful at WSU. Tony Bennett left the program in good shape so maintaining rather than rebuilding will be the first order of the day. Bone was quick to point out that becoming the head coach at WSU exceeded his wildest dreams but dreams and goals can change once you spend a few years living in Pullman.
Washington State traditionally is a place you stop at on the way to something bigger. Just ask Marv Harshman, George Raveling, Tony Bennett, Dennis Erickson, Jackie Sherrill, and Mike Price.
When Bennett left for Virginia last week the Cougar Nation viscously turned on the man who with his father helped rebuild a program that was left for dead when they arrived six years ago.
Cougar fans fail to realize that Washington State is never going to be the final destination for any successful coach. It will always be a three to four year stop on the road to financial freedom for any coach that is ever successful there and a career graveyard if they fail. If Bone keeps winning the offers will come and the coaching search will invariably begin again.
I believe Bone when he says this job exceeds his wildest dreams but those dreams may just get a little wilder once schools that can pay over $2 million per year and offer a less isolated and more cosmopolitan area to live in come sniffing around.
For Tony Bennett it took six years of hard work and some broken promises regarding charter airplane service to move on to a bigger paycheck. With the foundation he and his father expertly laid for Bone to build on don't expect the same longevity out of the new coach.
Maybe I am wrong. Maybe Ken Bone is the exception rather than the rule. Maybe he and his family will thrive in Pullman. Maybe he will end up retiring there.
On the plus side he is a Washington native and leaving your home region is always difficult when you have family and roots in place. On the negative side it is Pullman and you can put all the lip stick you want on a pig but it is still a pig.
WSU is a great school that was put in the wrong place back in 1890 because Yakima wanted to host the state fair, Walla Walla wanted the prison, and Spokane simply wasn't interested.
Geographic and cultural isolation are the two things that will never change in Pullman. Because of that isolation and the lack of cosmopolitan culture WSU will always be a stepping stone to better things for those who are talented.
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I think what sticks in the craw of most Cougar fans about Bennett is the way he talked last year about wanting to stay there long-term and build something lasting there. I don’t think any of them thought he’d be there forever, but it had to be an emotional punch in the family jewels to Cougar fans to see him bolt just a year after his proclamations of love for the Palouse.
The reality
Whenever someone offers you an $800,000 raise to start and the opportunity to be more successful you have to take it. Virginia offers so much in comparison to WSU it is just ridiculous.
I was actually a little surprised he left after passing on some big time jobs last year. I think the coming budget cuts and the lack of air travel out of Pullman where the key to him leaving.
Bennett never made any recruiting progress in the Puget Sound area and Bone is going to have just as hard of a time getting traction there.
Kirkd is right
Bennett had those same offers (and better) last year, but declined thus raising the hopes of Cougar nation. He then made the mistake of talking about “long term commitment” which further raised expectations. Coug fans have a beef, but still should not have let their expectations get out of control.
"Greed is Good."
So is Rudy.
I agree with Kirk...but
All that stuff is what they call Coach Speak.
by John Berkowitz on Apr 8, 2009 7:18 AM PDT up reply actions
True, and shame on the Cougar fans for buying it. But then again, shame on any coach who talks a big game about loving where they are and wanting to stay long term and build something lasting, only to bolt the very next season.
I think Bone is less inclined to use WSU as a stepping-stone, but who knows? If he’s wildly successful there and a big-time basketball school came calling, would he really say no?
Puget Sound recruiting
I wonder if the culture of the sport makes it nearly impossible to recruit top players to WSU?
Whereas college football often has a sort of rural/suburban culture associated with it, big-time college basketball tends to have more of an urban culture.
I think UW always has a major recruiting advantage because Seattle is a much nicer place than Pullman (there’s an understatement), but perhaps it’s more true for basketball than football that a random four- or five-star recruit would rather live in a city than in the country.
WSU has to work harder
WSU has to work harder and smarter than the rest of the conference because of location. Sometimes it works out like the past six years under the Bennett’s and the nice run they had in football under Mike Price.
by John Berkowitz on Apr 8, 2009 3:02 PM PDT up reply actions
Happiness is
seeing the Pullman city limit sign in your rearview mirror. My daughter bought a T shirt that said that and had the picture of that on it when she graduated from WSU in 1989.
She wanted an Ag degree so UW was out of the question. She spent more time in Husky Stadium growing up than she did in Martin stadium in the three years she was in Pullman.
Just curious
I understand why some people feel that way, but usually Ag people like, well, rural areas. That’s why they’re Ag people. What did she hate so much about Pullman that she wouldn’t experience every day with her Ag job?
She didn't "hate" Pullman
she liked the west side better. We lived and ran a cow/calf operation on 38 acres near Tenino at that time. We still have 5 acres left and no cows anymore. She usually back for Land Grant days each fall until she passed away
I would love to say that you're wrong
But yeah, history has shown that Pullman just isn’t where most people end up. I think now that the Anger step of the 5 stages of grief (or whatever) is over for most Cougar fans, we’ve moved on to acceptance and are glad our program is in a better place than before the Bennetts. Hopefully Bone will continue that trend, but if he also bolts for a better job in four years I won’t be too upset as long as WSU can keep on improving.
Johnny
I think Bone just might be a better coach than Bennett.
Of all the guys they could have hired he has the best chance of sticking around the longest.
by John Berkowitz on Apr 8, 2009 3:00 PM PDT up reply actions
Good point
I had forgotten that he’s already 50 and is a northwest native. I imagine the "sticking around’ factor had a part to play in hiring him as well. Let’s just say I’m not getting my hopes up, playing it cautious.
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