Athletic Director Pat Kilkenny’s decision to hire Paul Westhead as Oregon women’s basketball coach has led to the manifestation of two distinct schools of thought.
In the more optimistic paradigm, Westhead – the only head coach in history with both an NBA and WNBA championship – is a maverick, a genius and a pioneer, plying his trade of an up-tempo, transition-based, run-and-gun offense to success at basketball’s highest levels. His Loyola Marymount men’s college basketball teams are legendary, immortalized by superstar Hank Gathers, whose collapse on the basketball court and subsequent death from heart failure shocked a nation and created a legacy.
The other side sees something amiss with the very nature of the hire. Westhead, a friend of Kilkenny’s, received a five-year contract for $3 million with a base salary of $550,000, nearly three times that of former coach Bev Smith. He’s also 70 years old and has no experience coaching women’s basketball at the college level; his last foray into the amateur ranks took place 15 years ago. All that hype about his offense hides the fact that his teams were atrocious defensively; his 1990-91 Denver Nuggets allowed an NBA-record 130.8 points per game, a mark that may never be broken. Westhead was run out of the pros, detractors say, and he’ll be run out of Eugene if the Ducks don’t show an iota of defensive intensity.
My biggest question concerning Westhead is … do you care?
Yes, you. The student reading this newspaper. Can Westhead and his assurance of run-and-gun basketball get you to watch a women’s basketball game?
For that matter, have you ever seen one? Student presence at women’s basketball games is traditionally limited to the Green Garter Band, the cheerleaders, the occasional student-athlete who wanders over from the tutoring center and the occasional friend or significant other of the players themselves. Any incentives offered by the athletic department are clearly not enough.
There wasn’t much to watch this past season. The Ducks went 9-21 overall and lost 13 of their last 14 games. Injuries to Rita Kollo and Nia Jackson ate at their depth early in the season, and injuries to Taylor Lilley and Nicole Canepa, among others, cut deeper as the season progressed. At times Oregon would be outmanned, outhustled or both. The season was not a worst-case scenario, but it appeared to be awfully close.
Smith, her contract up for renewal, was clearly out, and the message of the Westhead hire is easy to decipher. Once Matthew Knight Arena is up and running, the athletic department will be looking for all the revenue sources it can get to pay for its construction. This is why rumors surrounding men’s head coach Ernie Kent and his potential ousting run rampant: The men’s team did not win last season, and if the trend continues there will be a replacement at the top. With Westhead, Kilkenny appears to be playing the odds that Westhead will be able to transform Oregon into a contender in the traditionally underwhelming Pacific-10 Conference. Women’s basketball stands a chance at turning a profit with continued success and an enjoyable game-day experience for the fans.
But that cannot be true, you say. Women’s basketball stands little chance of filling Mac Court, let alone Matt Court. And if women’s basketball was so popular, you’d think more people would be watching it, and not just at the pro level.
Women’s basketball has come a long way since the WNBA tipped off in 1997. Players possess more skills and athleticism; the notion of a woman dunking the ball, once considered as rare as a meteor strike, is no longer far-fetched. This has led to greater acceptance (some might say tolerance) of the game among the casual masses. Women’s college basketball is seeing greater exposure, in part due to a seemingly insatiable market for televised college sports and in part due to the recent discovery of parity. Consider the shocking upset of this year’s Women’s NCAA tournament: Twelfth-seeded Ball State, competing in the tournament for the first time in program history, defeated fifth-seeded Tennessee, headed up by legendary coach Pat Summitt, 71-55 on March 23. The Lady Volunteers had combined with UCONN to win 10 of the past 14 NCAA championships. Summit, in the tournament’s 28-year history, had never failed to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. Ever. Parity made a heavily discussed women’s tournament – with UCONN’s dominance and Oklahoma senior Courtney Paris’ promise to win a national title or repay her $64,000 athletic scholarship – that much more interesting.
So, it’s not too big of a stretch to think that Oregon women’s basketball can gain publicity in a hurry in this day and age. The athletic department sees profit potential and, as any good business would, it is keen to maximize its profit potential. Westhead and his (dare I say it?) stylish offense have been chosen to carry the Ducks over .500 and into the black.
You may be wondering what all this has to do with you. You’re not an alum yet; games are still free. All this gate receipt and television money will change hands without you.
Allow for a quick anecdote: One of Oregon’s practices this winter began with a game of tag. The 12 healthy team members were divided into two teams of six. One team was given a basketball and instructed to tag members of the opposing team within half the court with the ball, which could only be moved by passing. (No dribbling or walking.) The fewest passes needed to knock out all six players dictated the winner.
One team completed the task with 40 passes; the next found itself down to one player with 34 passes completed. That player was Micaela Cocks, the Ducks’ Olympian and the best-conditioned athlete on the floor. She ran circles around the perimeter of the half-court and was never caught.
These Ducks can play this style. Oregon has four guards (Cocks, Lilley, Jackson and Darriel Gaynor), a forward (Jasmin Holliday) and two posts (Canepa and Lindsey Saffold) who all fit ideally into the preconceived notion of a run-and-gun offense. Players like Ellie Manou, better suited in a half-court offense, will be forced to adapt, but therein lies the genius of coaching: maximizing the potential of the players you have. Should Westhead showcase this aptitude – he’ll have the players’ immediate attention and a cadre of talented assistants to help out – this team could come together quickly under him. Oregon will have virtually the same team as last year, assuming no one transfers. They may be three to four wins better just after buying into his system.
Given his age, Westhead may not see a second contract with the Ducks, and rumors persist that one of his assistants will be groomed to take over the program. For now, he stands at the forefront of a new era of women’s basketball, one the athletic department sees as exciting, lasting and profitable. No one will know what to expect next season, least of all the fans of the program.
Would you be willing to watch these events unfold?
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