Post by titanczar on Mar 27, 2008 11:54:42 GMT -5
LMU? Oregon St?
CSUN coach Braswell's next move: Stay home or think big
By Ramona Shelburne, Columnist
Article Last Updated: 03/26/2008 11:27:16 PM PDT
Bobby Braswell's phone has been ringing quite a bit in the 12 days since the Cal State Northridge men's basketball team's season ended.
Not surprising, considering the Matadors won 20games and a share of the Big West title for the first time since joining the conference in 2001.
Oregon State has called, Loyola Marymount has called. And Braswell's name has been linked to several other coaching vacancies around the country.
What is a little surprising is that not many of those calls have been coming from an 818number.
Braswell met with CSUN athletic director Rick Mazzuto on Monday, but they did not discuss a contract extension.
Last March, Braswell signed a two-year extension worth $135,000 annually but with incentives and athletic foundation money that put the value between $210,000 and $230,000.
So once the Matadors season ended, that left Braswell with just one year left on his contract.
"I have not had any discussions with Rick or the institution (about an extension)," Braswell said Wednesday night. "I anticipate that we will have some discussions, hopefully fairly quickly here, about me staying here at Northridge because that is my desire at this particular point."
It seems to be Mazzuto's intention, too.
Tuesday night, he said he intended to offer Braswell an extension, and that those discussions are "not too far down the road, because obviously he had a great season."
Mazzuto said that the contract he offered Braswell last March was for two years because he wanted to make his own evaluation since he was only hired as Northridge's AD the previous summer.
At the time, that probably was the right move.
But, he added, "after this year, the results have been striking."
Success at a mid-major program is always a double-edged sword. As soon as a coach proves he can win, bigger schools with bigbudgets tend to come calling.
"I wish someone would hire him. I'd love to get him out of the conference," CalState Fullerton coach Bob Burton said of Braswell. "I think he's one of the best coaches, if not the best coach, in the league. If I were over there, as soon as the final buzzer went off I'd be in a room with him getting the deal done."
Oregon State is expected to pay close to $800,000 a year, LMU more than $300,000.
"People who are successful are going to be wanted by other schools," Mazzuto said. "That's always a possibility and you sort of have to live with that.
"The money above us is crazy money. If any one of us should be so fortunate to get an offer like that, it's a decision they'd have to make."
Braswell has had opportunities to leave CSUN in the past and didn't. After the 2001season, when he led the Matadors to the BigSky Conference championship and their only NCAA Tournament appearance, he was a hot commodity in the coaching world. Instead, he decided to re-up with CSUN on a six-year extension.
For one, he's from here. He graduated from CSUN in 1985, got his first coaching job down the road at Cleveland High in Reseda, and left a high-profile assistant position at the University of Oregon to come back to his alma mater in 1995.
He has raised his children here, he's active in his local church. This is home for him.
And over the past few seasons, after a rough adjustment period to the Big West, he has started to figure out how to win here, despite the obvious shortcomings in the university's resources and facilities.
Next year's team might be even more talented than this year's group.
Seniors Jonathan Heard and Calvin Chitwood are graduating, but point guard Josh Jenkins is back, so is scoring leader Deon Tresvant, and blossoming center Tremaine Townsend.
Add Xavier Crawford, a 7-foot center from Yuba College, and point guard Mark Hill, a transfer from Tulsa who will be eligible by midseason, and CSUN could be on the same trajectory Fullerton has been on the past three seasons.
Braswell said he was "excited" about the team, and what's coming back. You get the sense that his heart still is in the Matadome.
So CSUN can probably keep him, and with a "hometown discount," too. But that extension offer better be a good one, and it better come quickly.
But mostly, if they really do want him to stay for a while, all they have to do is make him feel at home.
CSUN coach Braswell's next move: Stay home or think big
By Ramona Shelburne, Columnist
Article Last Updated: 03/26/2008 11:27:16 PM PDT
Bobby Braswell's phone has been ringing quite a bit in the 12 days since the Cal State Northridge men's basketball team's season ended.
Not surprising, considering the Matadors won 20games and a share of the Big West title for the first time since joining the conference in 2001.
Oregon State has called, Loyola Marymount has called. And Braswell's name has been linked to several other coaching vacancies around the country.
What is a little surprising is that not many of those calls have been coming from an 818number.
Braswell met with CSUN athletic director Rick Mazzuto on Monday, but they did not discuss a contract extension.
Last March, Braswell signed a two-year extension worth $135,000 annually but with incentives and athletic foundation money that put the value between $210,000 and $230,000.
So once the Matadors season ended, that left Braswell with just one year left on his contract.
"I have not had any discussions with Rick or the institution (about an extension)," Braswell said Wednesday night. "I anticipate that we will have some discussions, hopefully fairly quickly here, about me staying here at Northridge because that is my desire at this particular point."
It seems to be Mazzuto's intention, too.
Tuesday night, he said he intended to offer Braswell an extension, and that those discussions are "not too far down the road, because obviously he had a great season."
Mazzuto said that the contract he offered Braswell last March was for two years because he wanted to make his own evaluation since he was only hired as Northridge's AD the previous summer.
At the time, that probably was the right move.
But, he added, "after this year, the results have been striking."
Success at a mid-major program is always a double-edged sword. As soon as a coach proves he can win, bigger schools with bigbudgets tend to come calling.
"I wish someone would hire him. I'd love to get him out of the conference," CalState Fullerton coach Bob Burton said of Braswell. "I think he's one of the best coaches, if not the best coach, in the league. If I were over there, as soon as the final buzzer went off I'd be in a room with him getting the deal done."
Oregon State is expected to pay close to $800,000 a year, LMU more than $300,000.
"People who are successful are going to be wanted by other schools," Mazzuto said. "That's always a possibility and you sort of have to live with that.
"The money above us is crazy money. If any one of us should be so fortunate to get an offer like that, it's a decision they'd have to make."
Braswell has had opportunities to leave CSUN in the past and didn't. After the 2001season, when he led the Matadors to the BigSky Conference championship and their only NCAA Tournament appearance, he was a hot commodity in the coaching world. Instead, he decided to re-up with CSUN on a six-year extension.
For one, he's from here. He graduated from CSUN in 1985, got his first coaching job down the road at Cleveland High in Reseda, and left a high-profile assistant position at the University of Oregon to come back to his alma mater in 1995.
He has raised his children here, he's active in his local church. This is home for him.
And over the past few seasons, after a rough adjustment period to the Big West, he has started to figure out how to win here, despite the obvious shortcomings in the university's resources and facilities.
Next year's team might be even more talented than this year's group.
Seniors Jonathan Heard and Calvin Chitwood are graduating, but point guard Josh Jenkins is back, so is scoring leader Deon Tresvant, and blossoming center Tremaine Townsend.
Add Xavier Crawford, a 7-foot center from Yuba College, and point guard Mark Hill, a transfer from Tulsa who will be eligible by midseason, and CSUN could be on the same trajectory Fullerton has been on the past three seasons.
Braswell said he was "excited" about the team, and what's coming back. You get the sense that his heart still is in the Matadome.
So CSUN can probably keep him, and with a "hometown discount," too. But that extension offer better be a good one, and it better come quickly.
But mostly, if they really do want him to stay for a while, all they have to do is make him feel at home.
