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Show WEdftDdAy, January 20, 19M OtBONtdE PAQE FifTEEN SPORTS Assisling Archibald Following successful tenure at Idaho, Eustachy finding new job to his liking By Dirk Facer Chronicle staff writer Throughout history, strong leaders have depended upon capable assistants to help them fulfill their stewardships. Afterall, Batman had Robin, Gladys Knight had the Pips and even Sherlock Holmes had a loyal assistant in Watson. This pattern of teamwork is also very evident within the coaching staff on the U. basketball Although the Bulldogs once finished second, MSU fought a losing battle in the very tough Southeastern Conference where teams such as Kentucky, LSU, Auburn and Tennessee having taken over in the season for his former boss, Jerry Pimm. Other members of this year's Utah braintrust in- Si; ' t compete. ''' "It was frustrating because we had the best coach in the conference," Eustachy remarked. "But that league is ruled by a dominance of assistants-Aa- ron McCarthy, a 4 experience. Archibald leads this group, clude three loyal 5 zy team. Head Coach Lynn 1983-8- 4 ! bachelor's degree in physical education from Long Beach State under his belt, Eustachy left the Golden State for the booming metropolis of Starkville, Miss. Starkville is the home of Mississippi State University, where veteran coach Bob Boyd was finishing out his coaching career. Boyd took Eustachy under his wing and gave the hoop-craCalifornian a taste of Division-- I part-tim- e assistant; Trent Johnformer Boise State a. son, who mans a full-tim- e player position and newcomer Larry Eustachy, another W playing talent." Something Mississippi 1 State didn't have a lot of. full-tiassistant. Larry Eustachy Eustachy's comments are Eustachy joined the Utah staff this season Although the Bulldogs once finished after spending a year in Moscow, Idaho as second, MSU fought a losing battle in the coach with the an assistant University of very tough Southeastern Conference where Idaho basketball team. teams such as Kentucky, LSU, Auburn and Tim Floyd, a former aide of UTEP Coach Tennessee compete. Don Haskins, was in his first year as head "It was frustrating because we had the man of the Vandals last season. Consebest coach in the conference," Eustachy remarked. "But that league is ruled by a quently, he asked Eustachy to help him dominance of playing talent." rebuild the Idaho program. Floyd, along with fellow assistant Kermit Something Mississippi State didn't have lot a a Vandals of. and led the to Davis, Eustachy, 1986-87. in winning season Eustachy's comments are backed lip by "It was really tough to leave there," the eventual pro careers of such SEC alums as Dominique Wilkins, Charles Barkley, Eustachy said about his decision to quit was Idaho. an Chuck Person, Kenny Walker, Mel Turpin at here "But coaching coming Dale Ellis. I felt I and couldn't pass up." opportunity At MSU, Eustachy had the chance to The saga of Eustachy's trek to Utah work with current NBA All-StJeff begins in California where the coach grew After home Bullets. he of Malone to "I the up. high school, stayed Washington how in him basketball to Citrus at shoot," Eustachy joked. Junior College play taught Asuza. In 1986, after five years at MSU, "I really wasn't that good of a basketball Eustachy left for Big Sky Country. said. I that's "But player," Eustachy Ironically it was the same year that Boyd, guess what led me into coaching. Most coaches are Eustachy's mentor, retired. bad players." The next season led him to a reunion with his After graduating from Citrus, Eustachy buddies in Idaho. That situation gave remained with the team as a Eustachy more responsibility than the tight-fiste- d assistant coach. Five years later, with a Boyd would allow. me . ar old Chronicle photo by Krin Calmrs It's either play No. 3 or Utah assistant coach Larry Eustachy thinks things are OK at practice Tuesday, prior to the U.'s road trip to New Mexico and Texas. With his increased experience behind him, Eustachy then lefj for his current post with Utah. His hopes of becoming a Divison-- I head coach someday could be realized. Eustachy attributes his preparation for such a task to the tutoring of those he has worked with. "Bob Boyd was a great coach, and Tim Floyd is a very good coach," Eustachy said. "And Coach Archibald is of the same mold." Coincidentally, it was Boyd who recommended Eustachy to Archibald at last year's Final Four. With the departure of Bob Burton, an assistant at Utah last season, Archibald had a position to fill. . Eustachy has gained a reputation as an excellent recruiter. At MSU, he was instrumental in the recruitment of SEC Freshman of the Year Raymond Brown. At Utah, Eustachy is really excited about Mark Lenoir and Michael Bullock, two players who recently signed national letters of intent last fall to play for Utah next season. They are currently leading Salt Lake Community College to a national junior college ranking. Eustachy shuns his reputation as a good recruiter and credits the entire coaching staff, especially Archibald for Utah's recent recruiting successes. With the addition of Eustachy to the Utah staff, the result should be continued success on the basketball court. Like those before him, Archibald has assembled a great supporting cast. The results are expected to be excellent, and so far they have been. Laury Livsey Top 20 polls rank up therewith Call Miss Julie at Romper Room. Let's pretend. Suppose for a minute that BYU, instead of Wyoming, was the team to held make it to the NCAA at the University of Utah last year. Then pretend Wyoming was the team to head to Birmingham, Ala., to play the University of New Orleans in the there. That would have allowed BYU to play Virginia in the Huntsman Center for the CBS national game. Keep pretending. BYU could have beaten the Cavaliers decisively to earn the right to play Reggie Miller and UCLA. A win against the Bruins would thrust BYU into the national spotlight. The Cougars could have been Sweet 16j the Cowboys could have experienced a disappointing loss to New Orleans. Then Coach Ladell Andersen's team could have gone to Seattle and had a Vegas, a respectable loss to Nevada-La- s team ranked No. 1 for most of the season. The season would have been-over- , but the Cougars could have sub-regio- nal sub-regio- nal gained the respect of the national media. Instead, it was the Cowboys. And it was the Cowboys who got ranked in everybody's Top 20 to begin this season, while BYU was stuck in Never -- Never Land. Except for one problem. BYU is far and away a better team than the Cowboys. The Cougars proved it last week with a thrashing of the Pokes. And they proved it twice last year, when they were the only team to beat Wyoming twice. However, remember we were pretending and BYU didn't do any of the above. And now, despite the Cougars' quick and impressive start, they have barely cracked the Top 10 in one poll and are only in a tie for No. 12 in the other. Had BYU done what Wyoming did last year and then started its season off the way it has this year, the Cougars could be our nation's No. 1 team. Instead of Fennis Dembo as" everybody's hero because of his arrogance and abilities on the court, it could have been Michael Smith 16-po- int because of his arrogance and abilities on the court. But now that BYU is getting some national recognition, Cougar hoop afficionados spend all day Monday in anticipation of the AP and UPI polls only to be disappointed when their team isn't ranked above a team like Iowa State with, gasp, two losses. Hey, it ain't fair. But then, who says the polls are fair, or realistic, or worth getting worked up ? about, or isn't the fifth best team in Wyoming now and it probably nation the right wasn't even when the polls were saying the Cowboys were. The polls had a lot of folks, especially those in Wyoming, thinking that way, though. The same for New Mexico. After breaking into the Top 20 with two big ' wins over Wyoming and Arizona, the No. 1 team, the Lobos made their debut in the polls. Then we found out a little more about this team when it went on the road and lost to Hawaii and San Diego ... State. X-R-ay specs Now really, would the 18th best team games to in the nation lose Hawaii and San Diego State? Remember when mom and dad told us not to believe everything we read. You know, the time they informed you vision glasses advertised in the back of a Spiderman comic book really didn't let you see through somebody's clothes. Kind of like some of the things June and Ward Cleaver went through with Beaver. Illusions or scams, whichever you prefer. Only now the illusion is the basketball polls. And this week those polls are saying BYU is either Top 10 material or close to it. Heck, the Cougars were Top before the season even began. But now that the wire services are saying the Cougars are a Top 10 team, isn't it funny how suddenly everybody is believing it, even though they should have known it weeks ago. Gee, a place like Provo would probably be a pretty good market for glasses. back-to-ba- X-R- ay 10-cali- X-R- ay ck |
