Former UNLV assistant turning corner with Western Illinois

Friday, Feb. 25, 2005 | 9:46 a.m.

The Great

Virginia Tech

The Hokies followed that thrilling victory against Duke last week by beating fellow ACC newcomer Miami. With an RPI of 106, though, Tech had better turn in a stunning ACC tourney performance to reach the NCAAs.

The Good

Ryan Gomes, Providence

His team is 11-15 and 2-11 in the Big East, and it just might finish at the bottom of the league for the first time in its 23-year history. But the star forward has a superb attitude.

"It's been a little battle," he told the Providence Journal. "But I always wanted to do what's best for the team. It just hasn't worked out with the close losses we've had."

The Bad

Pittsburgh

The Panthers were riding high at 15-3, then they lost twice to West Virginia in splitting their next six. Pitt has plummeted to 51 in the all-important RPI and finishes its Big East slate at BC and at Notre Dame.

The Ugly

Bobby Knight

Was it really 20 years ago Wednesday when Knight tossed that chair during Indiana's game against Purdue at Assembly Hall? In the mayhem that ensued, coins were tossed and Boilers coach Gene Keady's wife was hit by one in the eye.

Still, "20 years?" Kids, it flies. So have fun.

Trailing by 14 points with 12 minutes remaining Wednesday night in Rochester, Mich., Western Illinois coach Derek Thomas lowered the boom on his Leathernecks.

Two seasons into his first stint as the boss of his own program, the former UNLV assistant and longtime Charlie Spoonhour lieutenant had tried everything he knew to turn the team around.

It won only three of 28 games last season, and it was about to flop again after beating Southern Utah by 20 points.

Thomas had seen enough. During that timeout Wednesday night against Oakland, the Leathernecks heard an entirely different string of words from their coach who perhaps had been too nice with them for too long.

We'll leave all of that to your imagination, this being a family paper.

"Every name in the book," Thomas said after Thursday's practice in Macomb, Ill.

It worked. Oakland didn't score over the next seven minutes, the Leathernecks treasured each possession and hit their free throws, then escaped the Athletics Center 'O'rena with a 75-74 victory.

On Saturday, at home against Centenary, Western Illinois (7-16, 5-9 in the Mid-Continent Conference) can give Thomas his first three-game winning streak as a head coach.

Thomas, 38, is upbeat about the rest of the season and the future of the program.

"And, right now, they're excited. They're ready to come to practice every day," he said. "They feel they can beat everyone in the league right now, so that's good."

And enjoyable for their coach?

"Yeah," Thomas said. "No question."

Most of what the 'Necks do revolves around Eulis Baez, a 6-foot-8 senior forward from the Dominican Republic whom Thomas recruited to play only one season in Macomb.

When Thomas landed at Western Illinois, he received word that Baez wanted to leave Florida International.

Baez sat out last season, as per transfer rules, and now ranks among the Mid-Con's top eight in scoring (15.3 points, eighth), rebounds (7.9, fifth), blocked shots (1.25, fourth), shooting (56.2 percent, third) and steals (1.92, third).

"A lot of coaches walk into a situation that's ready-made," Thomas said. "They don't have to do much, except make adjustments. Here, we've had to start from scratch. Do everything. Sometimes, you question yourself.

"Sometimes, it would be easy to go back (as an assistant) to a program that's winning -- it's comfortable -- instead of putting yourself on the line and coming to a program like this. You put your reputation and career on the line."

That took a bit of a hit last spring when Western Illinois finished last in the nine-team league, keeping it from even playing in its own eight-team conference tournament.

This season, as part of Thomas' efforts to upgrade the schedule, the Leathernecks started with losses at Iowa, UCLA and Indiana. Seven of their defeats have been by five points or fewer, one in overtime and another in double overtime.

In two weeks, the league tournament starts in Tulsa, and Western Illinois can tune up for it in season-ending home games against Centenary (which the 'Necks have beaten) and Chicago State (to which they lost in overtime).

The Mid-Con tourney victor gets a berth in the NCAA tournament, in which the Leathernecks have never participated.

"It's a big deal," Thomas said about finishing the regular season. "We'd like to close out these last two home games. Building a program, you want to establish yourself as a good team at home.

"We're playing great right now. We're on a roll. The difference between us and other teams is, others might be ready to quit and end their season. We aren't ready for that, so we must be doing something right."

Thomas is happy with the career path he's chosen.

"It makes you better," he said. "People respect you and appreciate what you do more by doing it on your own."

Or Bob Huggins of Cincinnati? Oops, just joking.

Or Lute Olson of Arizona?

Up the highway from Tucson, Arizona State coach Rob Evans and wife Carolyn can make that claim.

The heat around Evans, who might be the architect of a fifth losing campaign in seven seasons on the Tempe campus, seems to turn up a notch daily. A former New Mexico State assistant, Evans could be destined for a sagging Aggies program next season.

Let's just not get ahead of ourselves too quickly, OK, mouth-frothing columnists of Phoenix?

The list of those whom Evans pleases could be dwindling by the day, but he has performed admirably in some areas at ASU.

Point guard Jason Braxton told the The Oregonian that Evans is the only reason he will receive degrees in business and psychology in May. Rob and Carolyn Evans will be at that ceremony.

Justin Allen was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease, a form of cancer, while he was playing for Evans. When it went into remission, the disease had zapped his energy when he returned to practice.

Allen said Evans stuck by him, showing him how he could contribute in any minute way, when so many other coaches would have sent him packing to a smaller Division-I or D-II school.

Instead of pursuing a career in law, Allen now teaches government and coaches hoops at a high school in Florence, Ariz., 60 miles south of Phoenix.

"When I saw the impact coach Evans had on me and other players, I thought it was cool one person could do all of that with a round ball and a hoop," Allen told The Oregonian. "It's a pretty neat thing.

"You can't put numbers on it. People worry about how many wins and losses a coach has, but you can't put a number on the impact a coach can have on lives."

The former Holy Cross captain returned to his alma mater in 1999 and has turned the Crusaders into a feared program come March. Highly seeded teams will not want to hear that name on Selection Sunday.

In '01, second-seeded Kentucky eked by 15th-seeded Holy Cross, 72-68, in the first round.

In '02, No. 1-seeded Kansas beat the No. 16-seeded Crusaders, 70-59, in round one. In '03, third-seeded Marquette defeated the 14th-seeded Cross, 72-68. In both of those games, against teams that would advance to the Final Four, Holy Cross held late second-half leads.

These days, the Crusaders (21-5, 12-1) are running away with the Patriot League crown and are a lofty 30 in the latest Ratings Percentage Index.

Somewhere, a major power is sweating.