Veteran storyteller will weave this tale - Wichita Eagle (4-11-2007)

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Veteran storyteller will weave this tale

By Bob Lutz

Wichita Eagle Link

As Jim Schaus began to talk Tuesday about the coaching search that will ultimately lead to a replacement for Mark Turgeon at Wichita State, I thought for a minute he was reading from a bad novel.

Whoever wrote the first several sentences of Schaus' opening statement, full of book and author analogies, must be the same guy who writes the schmaltz for CBS' Jim Nantz during the NCAA Tournament and Masters.

"You know, Shocker basketball is a great story," Wichita State's athletic director said to begin his news conference. "We have many wonderful chapters over the years... . And we've just experienced one of those wonderful chapters....

"Now it's time to write a new chapter in the story of Shocker athletics. It's an exciting chapter. And it's going to be written by -- (pause for suspense) --I don't know yet. But I intend on being able to tell you in the next few days who will be the next author for what's been a wonderful story, a 100-year story of Shocker men's basketball."

All Schaus' oration needed was blue sky and a few whispering willows.

But once Schaus got into the meat and potatoes of talking about his search to replace Turgeon, who was introduced as the new basketball coach at Texas A&M on Tuesday, his words surely soothed the frazzled nerves of WSU fans who are worried their beloved basketball program is falling apart in front of them.

Schaus promised it wasn't. He said the new coach -- whom he expects to name within a week and probably sooner -- will carry on in the tradition Turgeon started.

The recruits who are threatening to bolt before they even arrive?

Schaus said not to worry, that he and Turgeon had been in contact with them and it was too early to write them off.

The late timeline for a coaching search?

Schaus insisted the phones at WSU were ringing off the walls with potential applicants and other coaches who had suggestions for the next Shocker coach.

The uneasiness felt by the returning WSU players?

Schaus gave that down-and-almost-out group a pep talk after Monday's late-night meeting with Turgeon, during which there was a fair amount of angst.

"You have to understand that when you're talking to 17 and 18 year old students about a change like that -- change can be a challenge and change can be hard," Schaus said. "I talked to our student-athletes on our team last night, right after the coaches had shared with them what was going to happen, and it was very hard for them. They were very disappointed. I spent some time talking about change, and how we have to work through those changes and overcome it."

Make no mistake, Schaus is on top of this situation.

He is playing it close to the vest, like all athletic directors who are looking for coaches do.

But if you listened carefully to Schaus' comments, a few things stood out.

He understands the urgency of hiring a new coach as quickly as possible, but won't trade quality for expedience.

He leans toward finding someone who understands the Midwest and how to recruit here. He's not looking for some flashy East Coast coach -- he actually said that -- who doesn't fit well.

He wants a "national-level coach," which he defines as someone who has won consistently and competed for championships in his conference and taken teams to the NCAA Tournament.

If you're an assistant coach -- even one with deep Shocker ties -- this probably isn't the job for you. Schaus wants someone who has been in charge of his own program. Now isn't the time for one to get his feet wet.

Schaus said it was important for him to keep his focus on the select candidates he had identified even before Turgeon accepted the A&M job and not to get caught up in all the interest the job has generated, which he said was 10 times more than seven years ago when he hired Turgeon.

"You don't have time to chase all the rabbits," Schaus said. "You have to have your attention on the elephant."

That indicates Schaus won't be poring through a long list of candidates. His search is already narrowed; now it's just a matter of making a few more cuts.

In fact, as he was describing the upcoming brief search, he might as well have been describing Oral Roberts coach Scott Sutton, whose name continues to get a lot of play.

Sutton is young, energetic, successful. He has three young children. In fact, he might be Mark Turgeon II because his coaching style is similar to that of the former, yes former, WSU coach.

Might that work against him?

It shouldn't.

Schaus lives for these kind of challenges. He said all the right things about being respectful of Turgeon and wishing him the best in his new digs in College Station.

Now it's Schaus' time. We won't see much of him for a while. But in a few days he'll roll out a new coach and tell everyone that all is well.

And everyone will believe him.

Eagle sports columnist Bob Lutz co-hosts "Sports Daily" from 9-11 a.m. weekdays on KFH, 1240-AM and 98.7-FM. Reach him at 316-268-6597 or blutz@wichitaeagle.com.