Boulder – Playing for a lame-duck coach must be about as awkward for the Colorado men’s basketball team as trying to win games with eight freshmen still learning how to fight through a screen while watching for a back-door cut.
It’s easy to become confused when wondering what might happen next. And who might replace head coach Ricardo Patton.
“It is a little different. I get a lot of questions from back home about how it is,” said Kal Bay, a freshman point guard from Tempe, Ariz., when asked about playing for a coach who has already announced he won’t return next season.
A 72-69 home loss to Colorado State on Saturday night dropped CU to 3-6, its worst start since the 1987-88 season. While some disgruntled fans clamor for an immediate coaching change – including a sizable sum that apparently shows its displeasure by staying home – CU athletic director Mike Bohn said recently he will not make an in-season switch to an interim coach.
“We’re committed to letting Ricardo continue to pull this together,” Bohn said of keeping Patton in command this season. “We are very confident in Coach, and we want to create an environment of support for not only he and his staff, but for the team. I ask our fan base to do the same.”
Putting the team through another coaching change would be counterproductive, Bohn said. The underclassmen are already trying to deal with the realization they will answer to a new coach next season.
Patton announced Oct. 25 that this season would be his last. Patton realized if Bohn had intended to give him a contract extension, it would have happened last spring to boost recruiting efforts. Patton’s contract, which has a base salary of $163,300 and a total package worth just more than $722,000, expires in June.
Look for Patton to complete his 11th full season unless Bohn gets word that a no-brainer candidate could begin beforehand. Bohn said it is unlikely any coach presently employed would quit during the season to take another job, and said he wouldn’t ask anyone to do that.
Bohn regularly consults a spectrum of people connected with the program and has not detected any apathy or lack of attentiveness on the part of players or the coaching staff because of Patton’s lame-duck situation.
“I really don’t,” Bohn said. “I have seen no indication that his status has had a detrimental effect on the team. All the people that help monitor the team for me, from the equipment people to the trainers to the student athletes … they recognize that we’re young, we’re growing, everybody is working hard.”
Patton said any suggestion by fans that he or his staff may not be doing their part is ridiculous. The Buffs, who are in a two-week break and don’t play again until Dec. 23, lost by 38 to Air Force and 41 to New Mexico.
Think about it, Patton said. He hopes to coach somewhere next season. He’s trying to impress future employers. Giving up is not exactly the way to market oneself.
“And this is what we do. We coach,” Patton said. “I wouldn’t be out here scheduling two-a-day practices (twice last week) if I was not out here working my tail off for this team and for this university. Anybody that knows me knows that’s what I’m about.
“It’s not about me.”
There’s also no reason for players to coast or not listen to him, Patton said.
“Players want to play, they want to get better,” Patton said. “That’s what they signed up for. They’re not on the floor thinking about who the next basketball coach might be. When the official throws the ball up, they’re trying to play basketball.
“When we got pounded in two games, we didn’t drop our heads and give up. We went out and won at Utah. But one of the characteristics of youth is inconsistency.”
As far as senior Dominique Coleman can tell, the young players have not shown any indifference toward the outgoing staff.
“If they’re thinking about coach Patton’s departure, they’re thinking about the wrong stuff,” Coleman said. “I don’t think they are.”
Despite CU’s slow start, Bohn remains optimistic about the potential of the fuzzy-cheeked roster. Freshmen such as the 6-foot-2 Bay, 6-5 Xavier Silas, 6-7 Jeremy Williams, 6-10 Sean Kowal and others will provide Patton’s successor with a foundation of talent, Bohn said.
“There’s no question that our student athletes are working hard every day, and that’s all we can ask of them,” Bohn said. “They have a great attitude. They’re very unselfish. And the way they interact with each other off the court is certainly encouraging as well.”
The number of coaches inquiring about the job is approaching 40 and continues to trickle in more than six weeks after Patton’s announcement, Bohn said. He received four new inquiries Friday.
“We’re trying to decipher who is serious and who is viable,” Bohn said. “I would describe our efforts in the search as being very active and engaging.”
Bohn said he has not determined whether the job criteria will include head-coaching experience. He wants to receive input from the selection committee beginning Tuesday during a scheduled meeting.
Meanwhile, the team jokes around when it hears rumors, however far-fetched, about possible candidates, Bay said. Knowing that players probably won’t be asked for any input in the decision-making process, much of those laughs no doubt turn into nervous chuckles.
Staff writer Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
