By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Writer
Something was wrong with the television picture and it wasn’t just that the Western Athletic Conference Tournament championship game was supposed to have been on another channel.
For here was Riley Wallace standing at center court at Reynolds Center, the WAC trophy thrust high above his head in triumph.
Here was the University of Hawai‘i men’s basketball coach accepting congratulations and pats on the back from a receiving line of conference coaches and officials.
Here was the redhead, of all people, on his way to the NCAA Tournament. And not as a ticket-holding spectator.
How could this be when — as everybody who phoned local call-in radio, or so it sometimes seemed — said UH’s problem was its coach.
What was going on when, one by one, the more talented teams, Texas Christian, Fresno State and Tulsa, fell before somebody the Internet chat rooms all but certified as a so-so coach at best?
Wallace winning back-to-back postseason showdowns with Jerry Tarkanian and Billy Tubbs? Couldn’t happen in this century, we were told.
In January, as the Rainbows struggled in conference and waited for the NCAA to render a decision on Haim Shimonovich, people questioned Wallace’s management and his coaching. In February, as UH floundered on the road, they wanted his job.
And, get this, more than a few believed Rick Pitino would actually be interested in taking it.
"That one, the Pitino talk, that was so ridiculous that it really made me laugh," Wallace said. "There are no gold mines in Hawai‘i for him."
Maybe you could say, as the saying goes, even a blind squirrel is bound to find an acorn once in a while. And, undoubtedly, some critics still will.
But the reality of this remarkable season is that quietly and patiently a man who is not known for a whole lot of either actually did one of his best jobs of coaching. What’s more he accomplished it under some of the most trying circumstances of his 14-year UH stewardship.
When the Rainbows’ injuries gave them the look of a season of "ER" episodes, Wallace maintained an even keel. When the paper wars with the NCAA over Shimonovich’s eligibility stretched from days into months, he displayed patience and even a sense of humor.
And when it finally came time to knit all these disparate patchwork pieces into a presentable whole, Wallace somehow managed to do that, too, toning down the volume on his coaching and turning the playbook inside out.
What’s more he did it under the considerable pressure of the conference stretch run and amid a shrill chorus of shouts for his neck.
Whatever was wrong with the picture, it was hardly the fault of a coach who did a lot right to get there.
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