San Jose State well aware of 'Bows
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
If Phil Johnson and his San Jose State Spartans can continue their improbable success against the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team, who knows, maybe he'll succeed Riley Wallace some day.
It's happened before.
JOHNSON
Johnson and Wallace will match coaching strategies tomorrow when the Spartans host the Rainbow Warriors in a Western Athletic Conference game at The Event Center in San Jose, Calif.
"We have a history," Wallace said. "That's probably why it's so tough to coach against his teams. He knows what I like to do and I know what he likes to do."
Long before Wallace and Johnson became rival head coaches in the WAC, they were rival head coaches in the Oklahoma junior college system.
"Back then, the (junior colleges) in Oklahoma were at a pretty high level," Wallace said.
Wallace remembers the day well. In 1987, his powerful Seminole College team lost its first conference game "in five or six years" to Johnson's Northern Oklahoma squad.
After that season, Wallace was selected as the head coach at UH. Wallace was so impressed with Johnson that he recommended him for the Seminole job.
Wallace went 68-36 in three seasons at Seminole; Johnson continued that success for the next three seasons, going 60-39.
"We wanted to keep the program strong and I knew he would do a good job," Wallace said.
Their paths crossed again in the 1998-99 season, when Johnson became head coach at San Jose State. He left San Jose after that season to become an assistant coach with the Chicago Bulls, but returned to the Spartans last year.
"He runs a lot of similar stuff he did back then," Wallace said of Johnson. "His teams have always played good defense and done a slow-tempo half-court offense."
Johnson said Wallace's tendencies have also endured. "He's always run a disciplined offense with a lot of screens and passing," he said. "His teams are always the hardest to guard."
Johnson's Spartans have won three of the four meetings with Wallace's 'Bows, including a two-game sweep last season. San Jose State won only four conference games last season, including the two against Hawai'i.
"There's been a little bit of luck, to be honest," Johnson said. "It might be the case where I know Riley and what his teams like to do, but that doesn't mean I know how to stop it."
Same as in the past meetings, Hawai'i is considered the favorite tomorrow. The 'Bows are 9-3 overall and 1-1 in the WAC. The Spartans are 5-7 and 0-2.
"You can throw the records out when we play them," Wallace said. "It'll be a tough game no matter what."
• Day off: The 'Bows arrived in San Jose, Calif., yesterday morning and relaxed the rest of the day.
"We need a day off," senior co-captain Phil Martin said. "We've been going hard (in practice) the last couple of days."
The team went to The Event Center last night to watch the UH women play San Jose State.
Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8101.
