Say what you will about Steve Lavin, but he sure can make an
exit.
After months of dominating the local sports landscape, Lavin
finally left our collective consciousness for good over the weekend
when his latest Houdini act simply ran out of magic.
Mere hours after pulling off an unimaginable victory over No. 1
Arizona, the Bruins gave away an 11-point lead with less than four
minutes to play against Oregon on Saturday, marking the end of
their season, as well as the conclusion of Lavin’s seven-year
tenure as UCLA head coach.
But as Dan Guerrero labored through the formality of firing the
beleaguered head coach during Monday’s press conference, for
once it wasn’t all about Lavin.
Instead it was about the future.
After a brief statement chronicling Lavin’s downfall,
Guerrero focused mostly on the ensuing coaching search that will
play out over the next few weeks.
“There’s obviously a lot of interest out there in
the job,” he said. “Now it’s my responsibility to
ascertain the level of interest amongst those candidates that we
think our qualified.”
In the last few weeks, Guerrero has received numerous phone
calls and e-mails from prospective candidates ““ a fact that
must come as a surprise to members of the national media who have
dubbed the UCLA job the most difficult in the nation.
Please.
Try telling former Washington State coach Paul Graham that
it’s harder to meet expectations in Westwood than it is in
the Palouse.
The bottom line is that the UCLA job is still one of
industry’s crown jewels, and a hoard of capable coaching
candidates are lining up to assume the throne.
“Certainly this is a high profile search,” Guerrero
said. “We’re going to look at a number of candidates,
and we’re going to negotiate with that individual who we feel
can get us to the next level.”
To translate, that’s political-speak for we’re not
afraid to break the bank.
The Daily News reported yesterday that Pittsburgh’s Ben
Howland, Utah’s Rick Majerus, and Philadelphia 76ers coach
Larry Brown have each expressed interest in the position.
Gonzaga’s Mark Few and Louisville’s Rick Pitino have
also been linked to the Bruin coaching search.
An elite basketball program like UCLA’s merits a top-notch
head coach, and Bruin fans should expect to ink one of these guys
to a contract by mid-April.
But if Guerrero is satisfied with hiring a lesser-known
candidate like San Diego’s Brad Holland, he’s going to
have to convince the UCLA student body that Holland is the most
qualified candidate to be roaming the sidelines next season.
Steve Lavin was making roughly $600,000 dollars per year before
his firing, but it will take more than that to lure either Pitino
or Howland to Westwood.
When asked about the qualities he is looking for in a new coach,
Guerrero declared that his primary focus is integrity.
While that certainly eliminates Jim Harrick from contention, it
would be nice to hear him say that he won’t accept anyone but
the best.
“We’d like to see UCLA basketball rise to the level
of the nation’s elite,” Guerrero said. “We need
to hire a coach that can get us to that point.”
Only a proven winner like Pitino, Majerus, or Howland can do
that ““ UCLA can’t afford to settle for less.