UCLA faces new challenge after Beaver coach turns team around

There may be only one man in the country with a tougher job than President Barack Obama. It’s his brother-in-law, Oregon State basketball coach Craig Robinson.

Sure, leading the free world, managing international crises, and resurrecting a broken economy are tough and all, but Obama has never taken over a 0-18 conference team. But Robinson likes a challenge.

Why else would he take on a program that had gone winless in the Pac-10 the year before he was hired? Why else would he take over a team that last saw significant success when Gary Payton ran the show? What other reason is there to explain a man who left a lucrative business career for a head-coaching job at Brown, a perennial Ivy League cellar-dweller?

When the UCLA Bruins take the floor against the Oregon State Beavers tonight at Pauley Pavilion, they will be facing a team much different than the Beavers they faced in recent years. In fact, they will be facing a much different team than the one it faced earlier this year in Corvallis, Ore. This season’s Beavers are a more resilient squad than the one that rolled over and played dead for the rest of the Pac-10 just a season ago. Even after losing one of their most talented players, guard C.J. Miles, Oregon State has been better.

The reason? Look no further than Robinson, the new man in charge. With the firing of former coach Jay John, Oregon State basketball is at the dawn of a new era, led by one of the most intriguing coaches in college basketball. Just one season ago, the Beavers were bumbling their way to loss after loss in front of smaller and smaller crowds. This season, the orange and black are pulling off shocking victories over USC, Cal and Stanford. Where John’s squad was most adept at getting blown out of every gym they played in, Robinson’s excels at back cuts and zone defense.

Robinson’s success as a coach does not come as much of a surprise. He had an outstanding playing career at Princeton, where he led the Tigers to two NCAA Tournament appearances under legendary coach Pete Carril. (Bruin fans will no doubt shudder at that name. It was Carril’s Tigers that took out defending champion UCLA in the 1996 tournament on a smooth backdoor pass.) In the 1990s, Robinson was far removed from basketball, having forged a successful career as a businessman. Yet the coaching bug proved too much. Robinson returned to coaching as an assistant at Northwestern, where he helped turn the Wildcats into one of the nation’s best defensive teams. In Robinson’s two years at Brown, he turned a losing program into a winner, finishing second in the Ivy League in 2008.

So let’s see. Defensive-minded coach takes over an historic basketball program fallen on hard times, turning things around and achieving success with a patient offensive scheme.

Does that sound familiar to anyone? That sure sounds a lot like our very own Ben Howland, who for years has made a living by turning around struggling programs, the likes of Northern Arizona, Pittsburgh and UCLA.

Robinson is taking over an Oregon State program with plenty of history on its side. Did you know that the men’s basketball team is 15th all-time among Division I teams in terms of victories? Or that the program is in it’s 108th year of playing basketball? Gary Payton, A.C. Green, Brent Barry and Mel Counts all claim Oregon State as their alma mater. So the tradition is there.

Robinson is also certainly a defense-first coach. The Beavers are allowing just over 62 points per game and holding opponents to 44.6 percent shooting. In seven of it’s last nine games, Oregon State has held it’s opponent under 60 points. On offense, Robinson takes a leaf out of his old coach’s book, employing a methodical, Princeton-style offense that has proven successful in an increasingly slowdown Pac-10.

All of the pieces are in place for Robinson to create a winning atmosphere in Corvallis. It remains to be seen if Robinson will add his name to the list of outstanding Pac-10 coaches. It’s a work in progress, but there are signs of improvement, including five conference victories to show for the team’s efforts.

Not bad work for the brother-in-law of the commander in chief.

It’s time for the rest of the conference to take note of Oregon State. Mark my words: This team will be a force to be reckoned with in a short time.

E-mail Salter at ksalter@media.ucla.edu if you cringed at the sight of Pete Carril’s name.

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