After LA: Jessie Evans (Not Don Yet)
When Jessie Evans took the job as men's basketball coach at the University of San Francisco last spring, one of his goals was to get the Dons into post-season play. His hopes for the NCAA tournament fell short when USF lost to Santa Clara in the West Coast Conference playoffs.
The Dons made their first National Invitational Tournament appearance since 1976 last Wednesday when they defeated the University of Denver 69-67 in a wire-to-wire, home-game thriller that USF's John Cox -- a 6-foot-5-inch-tall guard who is the son of former Don great Chubby Cox and the cousin to Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant -- dominated late. But the Dons lost to Cal State Fullerton 85-69 in the second round, finishing a 17-13 season with a game in which they were truly outplayed.
And there is little about the season or abbreviated post-season that does not point toward renewal of a once-storied basketball power.
A small Catholic college just north of the Golden Gate Park's Panhandle, USF hasn't been renowned of late for its sports teams. Once upon a time not so long ago, though, it was a basketball power on par with Duke, Kansas, and Kentucky. In 1949, the Dons won the National Invitational Tournament championship, when it was a much more prestigious event than it is now. In 1955 and '56, USF won back-to-back championships, led by would-be NBA greats Bill Russell and K.C. Jones. From the 1960s through the early 1980s, the Dons were regular participants in the NCAA tournament.
But the basketball program was canceled for three years in the early 1980s because of academic scandal and recruiting violations. Even after reinstatement, it was something of an afterthought for several years.
The Dons regained a semblance of hoops respectability under Coach Phil Matthews, who took USF to the NCAA tournament in 1998, where the team lost in the first round to the University of Utah. A fiery coach whose courtside antics could have made Bobby Knight blush, Matthews was defensive-minded and, it was generally acknowledged, got the most out of his players. But his sideline antics hurt him in recruiting local high school talent.
Last year, the Dons were 17-14 overall and 7-7 in league play. But they didn't make it to the post-season. After nine years with Matthews as coach, USF Athletic Director Bill Hogan felt it was time to upgrade.
After an unsuccessful attempt to hire Purdue coaching legend Gene Keady, Hogan interviewed seven other head coaches and high-level assistant coaches from major college programs. But he went with Jessie Evans from the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, a dignified, slightly balding black man who stands 6 feet 4 inches and has broad shoulders, a commanding presence, and a welcoming personality that seems to work with players and alumni alike.
He also has a real basketball pedigree.
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BY LEE HUBBARD
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