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| | Wednesday, January 19 | |||||
ESPN.com | ||||||
| Delaware coach Mike Brey is waiting for Duke's Mike Krzyzewski to
give the go-ahead on a first-round matchup in the 2000 Preseason NIT.
If the mentor says it's fine, then the apprentice will agree.
Under most circumstances, it will be up to the veteran coaches to decide if they want to play their former assistants or players when they ascend to similar head coaching positions. Some matchups are unavoidable, as is the case Tuesday when former Hoosier Steve Alford brings his Iowa team into Bloomington, Ind., to face Bob Knight and Indiana in a scheduled Big Ten game. Some have come from circumstance, such as the NCAA Tournament. In 1991, Roy Williams led Kansas into the Final Four against North Carolina and former boss Dean Smith. Krzyzewski had to do the same at the '92 Final Four, where he faced Knight. Krzyzewski was a Knight protégé at Army, but the two have a chilly relationship now. But most coaches don't go out of their way to play friends unless it can help the younger, less experienced coach get started. Krzyzewski did that for Brey in his first year at Delaware. The game was on ESPN2, giving the Blue Hens necessary publicity. "It really helped recruiting," Brey said. "Mike will do that for you if it can help your career. Coaches like Mike are secure enough to play games like that. As a general rule, you don't like to play your mentor or your friend. I wouldn't be surprised if Mike played Tommy (Amaker at Seton Hall) or Quin (Snyder at Missouri) for the same reason."Former Michigan State assistant Tom Crean, who is now the head coach at Marquette, has talked to Spartan coach Tom Izzo about starting a home-and-home series. "Our friendship is solid enough," Crean said. "It does my program a world of good to play Michigan State. At this level, it's hard for us to schedule non-conference games in our building. I don't know why more people don't schedule their friends. It's a great game for us and it's a great name to help attendance, recruiting and with our alumni. Hey, you're lucky to have close friends in this business." But even some of the best of friends don't dare cross the line of being competitors. Gonzaga's Mark Few and Minnesota's Dan Monson, one year apart in age and less than six months removed from when Few was Monson's assistant at Gonzaga, won't dare schedule each other. "I don't think you should play your friends," Few said. "It's no fun. It's hard enough playing coach (Bob) Bender (at Washington). He's a good friend but we have to play that game. There's no need to play Dan and hurt either one of us with a loss." Using Knight's history of playing former players and assistants as a barometer isn't fair. Schools coached by former Hoosiers haven't been able to put the type of teams together to challenge Indiana.Scheduling is also an issue -- former assistant Dave Bliss didn't want to play Knight at New Mexico because the Hoosiers wouldn't go home-and-home with the Lobos. Playing in Bloomington would have been a certain loss and served no purpose. Indiana simply is more particular about its set schedule, choosing selected events and staying with more traditional rivals like Kentucky. The Hoosiers opted out of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge because the school didn't want to expand its non-conference partners. As for Knight and Krzyzewski, Brey doesn't think the two are avoiding each other because of a rift. "There isn't one, because they really don't share the same interests," Brey said. "Mike likes to go to the beach with his family and play tennis. Bob likes to go hunting and fishing. "Their only common bond was basketball."
NCAA does the right thing No sources have indicated that Grant -- a Kansas alumnus -- was steering Williams to Oklahoma State. For that reason alone, Williams shouldn't be punished for taking a free ride to MCI. Suspending him for the five games during the investigation isn't criminal, but it would have been completely unfair had his original penalty stood through the appeal (a season-long suspension and Williams would have been required to repay the $20,000 to cover the tuition). Williams must pay $5,000 to charity during the next four years. The figure probably is still higher than anything Williams can afford, according to UCLA guard and Kansas City friend Earl Watson.If the NCAA wants to send a statement with the $5,000 fine and the five-game suspension that players shouldn't accept free tuition for post-graduate years at a prep school, then the message has been heard. But Williams is still being singled out. A number of AAU and college coaches have told ESPN.com that the majority of post-graduate players are given some sort of deal by their prep schools because they are basketball players. If the NCAA wants to ensure players aren't receiving special treatment and what amounts to extra benefits prior to college, then it has to go further and not leave Williams as the only example.
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com. | ALSO SEE Alford falls short in return to Indiana  Midwest: Hoosier homecomingVitale: The General still cares | |||||