So very glad he took the job. A lot of my friends and family are Pilots grads. I have always wanted that school to do well. A few years ago I went to see them play BYU and Gonzaga. The away crowd made it unbearable. Let's hope Terry turns it around.
So how many years can you play at where you are now? Will you be looking to transfer after next season?
BonesJones meeting with Terry Porter. "Remember that time you and Clyde, and Jerome, and Buck made it to the finals? That was awesome..."
Sucks. Porter gets no national recognition for the great player he was because he played here. So he has to be a small college coach.
I hate the very notion that local sports fIgures "settle for less" by coming to Portland. Sometimes you don't need to be a big name to establish yourself. Look at what Bruce Barnum did at PSU. He's a local guy from Vancouver who had never been given a shot at a hrad job. PSU offered him the right opportunity to resurrect their program after Nigel Burton had f-cked everything up. People are like "now he'll get an opportunity to coach a real team." Why should he? There's every opportunity for him to turn I- A powerhouse. And Terry Porter has just as good an opportunity with UP. It's a great university for college basketball.
I think it's a great hire, but.......UP is a coaching graveyard and will remain that way unless and until they make a real commitment to a quality basketball program. They haven't done that yet in my lifetime. They bring these guys in and expect them to work miracles (like consistently competing with Gonzaga and St. Mary's) despite a marked lack of financial backing. My understanding (my wife is a Pilot from back in the days when they were somewhat competitive) is that few, if any players are on full scholarships. That makes it hard/impossible to recruit higher quality talent. Maybe that has changed but.....Yeah, hiring Porter may spark some interest and loosen some donor purse strings for awhile, but the cynic in me says they look for another coach in 4-5 years.....it's easier to blame the coach than for the school administration to hold themselves accountable........but I wish Terry all the success in the world. He deserves it.
