Not only did Northern Colorado’s B.J. Hill succeed a coach who had guided the Bears to their most victories in a season, Hill faced the added pressure of replacing current Colorado men’s coach Tad Boyle in “Tadsville,” as some in Greeley like to say.
Mix in the factor of Hill feeling his way as a rookie head coach and it probably should not have come as a surprise the Bears stumbled out of the gate.
But look at them now.
After a 4-7 start (with two of the victories against non- Division I teams), UNC has regrouped to go 5-0 in the Big Sky Conference for the first time since joining the league five years ago.
No, Hill didn’t follow John Wooden, but Boyle is a beloved Greeley native and earned prep All-America honors at Central High School before playing in the Kansas backcourt. Last year’s 25-8 record likely ensures Boyle a place in UNC’s Hall of Fame.
The Bears’ best player, senior guard Devon Beitzel, said Hill might have tried too hard to be a carbon copy of his predecessor and mentor rather than putting his own stamp on the program. Hill had been Boyle’s top assistant.
“In the beginning, Coach Hill was focused on trying to do things the way other people thought he should, rather than doing things his way,” Beitzel said. “He might have felt the pressure a little bit.”
Guilty as charged, Hill said.
“It’s not easy (following Boyle),” Hill said. “But I realized if I focused on that, I wasn’t going to get much else done. I respect Tad as much or more than anybody I’ve ever worked for. I learned so much from that guy. But I’ve got to be me.”
Hill conceded he wasn’t hard enough on his players during preseason practices.
Injuries also contributed to the slow start. During one practice, Hill had only six healthy bodies. “There was no competition on our team; we got soft,” he said.
Things are rolling now. Making sure he keeps his distance from his former program, Boyle had no doubts that Hill would get his team headed in the right direction with the help of four senior starters.
“It just takes time for a new voice to sink in,” Boyle said. “I found that out myself with this (Colorado) team.”
DU also has its mojo back.
Coach Joe Scott’s team opened 0-4 and dropped nine of its first 11 games before turning things around, including a road sweep of Sun Belt foes Western Kentucky and Louisiana-Monroe. The Pioneers were riding a six-game winning streak — including a 4-0 start to the Sun Belt schedule — entering Saturday’s home game against Isiah Thomas-coached Florida International.
“We’re getting contributions from a lot of different guys,” Scott said. “It seems like every single night, I’m not saying somebody isn’t playing their best, but somebody is there to pick them up.”
Name dropping.
What do coaching legend Larry Brown, Kentucky coach John Calipari, Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon and Gonzaga coach Mark Few have in common? Their phone calls are among the congratulations Boyle received after the Buffs knocked off ranked opponents Missouri and Kansas State in consecutive games. “It’s been crazy,” Boyle said. “They see what we’re doing. We’re opening up some eyes around college basketball.”
Finally, a tip of the cap . . .
To Wyoming sophomore forward Daylen Harrison. Despite all of the travel and time constraints connected with playing college basketball, the Akron, Ohio, native has enough energy, discipline and ambition to major in chemical engineering.
SPOTLIGHT ON
CSU’s depth comes in dozen
Legendary coach Bob Knight often said he preferred a small rotation of seven, maybe eight players. Colorado State’s Tim Miles uses about a dozen.
“It’s good and bad,” Miles said. “A, you have competition. Guys stay healthy. You have options. B, you’re going to have guys that are unhappy because they’re playing behind somebody with no discernable difference in talent.
“(Our rotation) is probably going to tighten up some,” he added. “But I like our depth. We’ll be prepared to have somebody fill in if, knock on wood, we get an injury. And I’ve been on the other end of it, where we didn’t have enough players.”
Ten CSU players average at least 10 minutes. Miles sometimes has former starters Adam Nigon, Andre McFarland and Jesse Carr coming off the bench. That’s a nice luxury to have.
“The good thing is, we’ve got a great group of guys that like each other; we’ve had very few issues,” Miles said.
