2008 Woodie Awards
A new leader means renewed hope for men's basketball
Todd Froemling
Issue date: 11/7/07 Section: Sports
I knew what the call was about the moment I saw my boss' name pop up on my cell phone. It was the morning of Monday, March 5, and the ISU men's basketball team had just wrapped up its third losing season in the past four years. The only reason I'd be getting called so early was if something major, like a coaching change, was happening.
"Great," I thought to myself as I left class to answer the call. After four years in the bottom half of the MVC, I'd get to spend my last year at ISU watching another rebuilding effort by the men's basketball team.
But then something unexpected happened. In the weeks that followed Porter Moser's dismissal, I started to get more excited about Redbird basketball than I had been at any point during the past two seasons.
I'm not trying to knock Coach Moser. He was a good guy and I'm happy he found himself in a great situation as an assistant to Rick Majerus in St. Louis. He came into an incredibly difficult situation here and in all fairness, probably left the team in a little better shape than he received it in.
With that being said, the celebrated ISU basketball program I'd grown up hearing stories about was gone in 2003, and nothing that transpired over the course of the last four seasons really did much to change that. Sure, the Redbirds finished the 2004-05 season with a winning record, but that season also ended with seven losses in the final eight games and a sub-.500 mark in MVC play.
Sometimes, a program just needs a change. And hopefully, when the change is made, everyone buys into it.
That looks to be the case with the Redbirds and their new Head Coach Tim Jankovich. The former Kansas assistant is coming in with the goal of changing the state of mediocrity that has become the status quo at Redbird Arena.
"Really, the only thing I'm concerned with is building a culture and mindset here that has nothing to do with whether you can remember an offense or know how to recognize a defense," Jankovich said. "We need to learn how hard we have to play to succeed. Really, that's all I care about right now."
"Great," I thought to myself as I left class to answer the call. After four years in the bottom half of the MVC, I'd get to spend my last year at ISU watching another rebuilding effort by the men's basketball team.
But then something unexpected happened. In the weeks that followed Porter Moser's dismissal, I started to get more excited about Redbird basketball than I had been at any point during the past two seasons.
I'm not trying to knock Coach Moser. He was a good guy and I'm happy he found himself in a great situation as an assistant to Rick Majerus in St. Louis. He came into an incredibly difficult situation here and in all fairness, probably left the team in a little better shape than he received it in.
With that being said, the celebrated ISU basketball program I'd grown up hearing stories about was gone in 2003, and nothing that transpired over the course of the last four seasons really did much to change that. Sure, the Redbirds finished the 2004-05 season with a winning record, but that season also ended with seven losses in the final eight games and a sub-.500 mark in MVC play.
Sometimes, a program just needs a change. And hopefully, when the change is made, everyone buys into it.
That looks to be the case with the Redbirds and their new Head Coach Tim Jankovich. The former Kansas assistant is coming in with the goal of changing the state of mediocrity that has become the status quo at Redbird Arena.
"Really, the only thing I'm concerned with is building a culture and mindset here that has nothing to do with whether you can remember an offense or know how to recognize a defense," Jankovich said. "We need to learn how hard we have to play to succeed. Really, that's all I care about right now."
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