Coach points USF in a whole new direction
By: Will Reisman
Examiner Staff Writer
October 26, 2008
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| Carrying a mandate: New University of San Francisco men’s basketball coach Rex Walters was the unanimous choice of the university’s search committee, in part due to his experience with several coaching legends. (Mike Koozmin/Special to The Examiner) |
SAN FRANCISCO — Flanked by two framed jerseys from his playing days — one from the NBA’s Miami Heat and another from Kansas University — newly hired University of San Francisco men’s basketball coach Rex Walters lets out a brief, reactionary laugh before exhaling a bemused sigh while fielding questions in his sparsely decorated office at the War Memorial Gymnasium.
When asked how he will turn around a once-proud program — which boasts three national championships but is coming off its worst season in 21 years — Walters confesses that he alone cannot be the savior.
“This is not about me,” said Walters, who led Kansas to the Final Four in 1993 before spending seven seasons in the NBA. “This is not even just about the players. It’s about the alumni, the administration and everyone involved, working together to make this program great again.”
For a school that hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 1998, low points have been numerous in recent years. But the Dons’ 2007-08 season could be categorized as nothing less than shambolic.
A disagreement with USF administration led to the dismissal of incumbent coach Jessie Evans, prompting legendary Eddie Sutton to take the reins 12 games into the season — although many pundits speculated that it was simply so the long-in-the-tooth coach could reach the historic 800-win plateau, which he did. The chaos resulted in a 10-21 record, the Dons’ most losses since the 1985-86 season.
Unlike Sutton, who has 37 years of experience under his belt, Walters is relatively new to coaching. In two seasons at Florida Atlantic University, a midmajor program in the Sun Belt Conference, Walters accumulated an underwhelming 31-33 record.
But Walters is a homegrown kid who went to high school in San Jose and attended basketball camp at USF as a seventh-grader. He also had the luxury of playing under legendary coaches such as Chuck Daly, Pat Riley, Larry Brown and Roy Williams during his pro and college career.
Those factors were enough to convince a USF search committee to make him the unanimous choice for the job last April.
“I remember growing up watching Quintin Dailey and all these great USF players when I was a kid,” said Walters, who moved with his wife and five children from the sunny shores of Boca Raton, Fla., to the foggy trappings of San Francisco. “People questioned why I left [Florida Atlantic], but I had to tell them, ‘This is exactly where I want to be.’”
Injuries, academics and a general disconnect between the coaching staff and the administration marred Evans’ four-year tenure at USF, where he accumulated a dismal 45-57 record.
Though Walters can’t control injuries, he said his staff has been vigilant in checking up on the team’s studying habits, and, so far, all players are in good academic standing. Walters also said he has a healthy relationship with Athletic Director Debra Gore-Mann — a description that could not be applied to Evans, who is suing USF for unlawful termination.
“Like any employer-employee relationship, there are going to be disagreements,” Walters said. “But I respect Debra’s toughness and her intelligence, and I think we see eye-to-eye on the big issues.”
Those cheerful factors may be working in Walters’ favor, but his first season at USF could still be a painful one. The Dons return just six players who saw minutes last season, and in the ever-improving West Coast Conference — three teams made the NCAA Tournament last year — wins could be hard to come by.
Senior guard Manny Quezada, a third-year starter who will be playing for his third coach in two seasons, said Walters is breathing new life into the program.
“Guys look up to him and respect him because we know he’s played at the highest level,” said Quezada, the Dons’ second-leading scorer last season at 13.9 points per game. “Obviously there were some things here that weren’t going right, and we’ve put our trust [in Walters] that he’ll turn it around.”
Walters will lean heavily on Quezada and returning star Dior Lowhorn, a junior forward who played at Riordan and Berkeley high schools — while continuing to espouse his three-pronged philosophy of making his players better students, better athletes and better people.
“When I was at Kansas, our standards were more about the journey, not the destination,” Walters said. “We believe the journey here will be longer and more enjoyable if we play hard, play smart and play together.”
Seeking inspiration, Walters looks to figures from the Dons’ past
In an attempt to recapture some of the past glory of a program that boasts three national championships and 18 All-American players in its history, new USF men’s basketball coach Rex Walters said he has reached out to a number of former players and asked that they take on more active and visible roles with the team.
Walters said he is trying to stage an alumni remembrance night for ex-Dons this season, and in recent months he’s been in contact with former players Wallace Bryant, Johnny Dukes, Jerome Gumbs and Ali Thomas.
“I think that recently we’ve had a disconnect with our alumni,” said Walters, who made a point of bringing ex-Dons out of the stands during the season-christening Midnight Madness last week. “We want our former players to be a big part of our program and to be proud of their alma mater, because where we’re going is in direct relation to where we were in the past.”
Along with his recent connection with former players, Walters said he also tried to contact the greatest Don of all: Bill Russell. So far, the attempts have been unsuccessful.
“We’re going to keep trying to reach out and hopefully at some point he’ll want to reconnect,” Walters said. “We want to let him know that this is still the house that Bill Russell built.”
Russell was the starting center when the Dons won 55 straight games and back-to-back NCAA championships in 1955 and 1956. — Will Reisman
Rex Walters
High school experience, 1985-1988
- Originally enrolled at Independence High School in San Jose
- Transferred to Piedmont Hills High School in San Jose so he could graduate with friends
College experience, 1988-1993
- Played at Northwestern University for two years, garnering honorable mention from the Big Ten Conference as a sophomore
- Elected to transfer to Kansas University, where he led the team in scoring in his junior and senior seasons
- During his two years at Kansas, the Jayhawks went 56-12, including a berth in the NCAA Final Four in 1993, his senior season
Pro experience, 1993-2002
- Played for three teams during seven-year NBA career
- Former NBA coaches include Larry Brown, Pat Riley and Chuck Daly, who have combined to win nearly 3,300 games
Coaching experience, 2003-current
- Started college coaching career as an assistant at Valparaiso University in Indiana
- After two seasons at Valparaiso, moved to an assistant coaching job at Florida Atlantic University
- Became head coach at Florida Atlantic in 2006 after just one season as an assistant
- In two years as head coach, compiled a 31-33 record
Family
- Lives in San Francisco with wife Deanne and their five children
USF men’s basketball accomplishments
3: National championships (NCAA and NIT)
4: Dons in the Naismith Hall of Fame
15: Regular-season WCC titles (most in WCC history)
16: NCAA Tournament appearances (most in WCC history)
18: Dons named All-American
28: Weeks USF has spent at No. 1 in The Associated Press poll
36: Dons selected in the NBA draft (most in WCC history)
56: Dons receiving All-West Coast Conference honors (most in WCC history)
60: Consecutive victories by USF, 1954-56 (second-most in NCAA history)
Source: USF
Notable USF alums
Dons athletes and officials who went on to outstanding careers in various fields
| Player | Graduated | What they did |
| Art Larsen | 1948 | U.S. Open singles champion |
| Steve Negoesco | 1949 | Member of soccer coaches Hall of Fame |
| Pete Rozelle | 1950 | NFL commissioner, member of Pro Football Hall of Fame |
| Gino Marchetti | 1952 | Member of Pro Football Hall of Fame |
| Ollie Matson | 1952 | Member of Pro Football Hall of Fame, Olympic medalist |
| Bob St. Clair | 1952 | Member of Pro Football Hall of Fame |
| Burl Toler | 1952 | First black NFL game official |
| K.C. Jones | 1956 | Member of NBA Hall of Fame |
| Bill Russell | 1956 | Member of NBA Hall of Fame |
| Jim Brovelli | 1963 | NBA head coach |
| Lothar Osiander | 1968 | Olympic, World Cup and MLS coach |
| Alejandro Toledo | 1972 | President of Peru (2001-06) |
| Bill Cartwright | 1979 | NBA All-Star, coach |
| Mary Hile | 1981 | USF women’s basketball coach (1987-2006) |
| John Doyle | 1986 | San Jose Earthquakes general manager |
| Jean Afterman | 1991 | New York Yankees assistant general manager |
| Todd Fischer | 1992 | Player on PGA Tour |
| Jesse Foppert | 2001 | Pitcher with San Francisco Giants |
