Challenge doesn't scare new Beavers coach
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CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) - Taking a job that others turned down, Craig Robinson began selling himself as the right man to restore a winning basketball tradition at Oregon State during his introduction as head coach Monday.
Robinson, who coached for the past two seasons at Brown, became the 20th head coach in the history of a once-proud program that has had just one winning season since 1990.
Athletic director Bob De Carolis, who led a coaching search that he said had taken too many twists and turns to count, introduced the 45-year-old Robinson to a crowd of about 300 at Gill Coliseum that included fans, school staff members and the media.
Other coaches, including Saint Mary's coach Randy Bennett and San Diego's Bill Grier turned down the opportunity to run the Oregon State program, something a smiling Robinson said didn't bother him in the least.
"One man's tough job is another man's challenging job and another man's enlightening job," said Robinson, who acknowledged having interviewed for the vacant Providence job as well. "The fact that other guys didn't think they could do it didn't bother me at all."
The charismatic Robinson responded to questions about famous brother-in-law Barack Obama with levity, saying that the Democratic presidential contender "is a huge Craig Robinson fan. And his schedule is quite busy right now, but I'll get him out to a game."
The Beavers went 6-25 this season, becoming the first team to go winless in the Pac-10's regular season since the league expanded from eight teams in 1978. The Beavers fired coach Jay John on Jan. 21, and assistant Kevin Mouton was interim coach the rest of the season. De Carolis said he and Robinson have a binding "memo of understanding" for a six-year deal worth more than $5 million.
De Carolis called the coaching search, which culminated amid the spectacle of the Final Four in San Antonio, "probably the most interesting - I'll use the word interesting because I probably don't want to get more descriptive than that - experience of my athletic career. ... Maybe one day we'll write a book about it." He said the 6-foot-6 Robinson's confident bearing and easy touch with people make him an excellent recruiter.
"If he can get into the home, he's gonna have a great talk with the family," De Carolis said. Robinson was 30-28 in two seasons at Brown. The Bears went 19-10 this season and finished second to Cornell in the Ivy League.
Robinson was an assistant at Northwestern for six seasons under Bill Carmody before taking over at Brown. He played at Princeton under longtime coach Pete Carril from 1980-83 and runs an system based on the motion offense utilizing backdoor cuts and a high number of passes that Carril popularized.
"This is going to be a disciplined, well-coached team that is going to be fun to watch," Robinson said. That discipline will begin with practices - which Robinson said will be at 5:30 a.m.
"Five-thirty is my favorite time of day and since I am the coach, we're practicing at my favorite time of day," he said. Oregon State is the 13th winningest program in NCAA history but the program went into steep decline soon after the retirement of Hall of Fame coach Ralph Miller in 1989. Remembering that his final college game was played at Gill Coliseum during the 1983 West Regional, Robinson ticked off a list of former Beaver greats from that era that included future NBA players Steve Johnson, Mark Radford, Ray Blume and Lester Conner.
"I think there is a tremendous opportunity to win here," Robinson said. "Call me romantic but I remember 20 years ago, and 25 years ago."
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
