Posted on: Friday, March 26, 2004
Don't close the book on Wallace
| • | 'Bows took tough road to 21 wins |
By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist
The University of Hawai'i-Manoa men's basketball media guide says its coach, Robert Riley Wallace, will be a still-feisty 63 when the next season opens.
His current contract says he might be in the final year of a three-year contract as well. Though there seems little chance of that between a clause providing "two additional years if the parties mutually agree in writing" and Wallace's avowed intent to coach as long as he's winning and enjoying himself.
Indeed, if all the teams were like the one from the just-finished season, Wallace says, "I might coach 'til I'm 70."
Still, whether Wallace ends up coaching two more years or another seven, it isn't too early to begin discussing the eventual legacy of the man who is already UH's longest serving and winningest (283-238) men's basketball coach.
Four consecutive postseason appearances, the only back-to-back NCAA Tournament invitations, three Western Athletic Conference tournament titles, five 20-win seasons ...
Considering the sorry state of Rainbow Warrior basketball when he took over in 1987, any of the above would stamp his stay as significant even if he plopped down in a rocking chair on his Las Vegas property tomorrow.
Yet, you get the feeling Wallace aims to leave with much more and isn't finished adding to a legacy that is still a work in progress.
If anything, this 21-12 season and its remarkable finishing kick seem to have whetted an appetite to take the program to loftier heights. It seems to have provided inspiration to do it sooner rather than later.
When the so-called "white out" night for the National Invitation Tournament game against Nebraska produced the first sellout of the Stan Sheriff Center in two seasons and the loudest crowd since the Alika Smith-Anthony Carter days of 1998, it struck a resounding chord.
"We'll have some black-outs, some green-outs ... so be ready," Wallace promised. The assumption inherent was the players he has signed — or expects to sign — and the schedule they will play will be worthy of the following UH has been building.
Quite a contrast from a time when Wallace seemed more focused on keeping the job than expanding the program's horizons. Maybe at a school that had experienced decidedly more 20-loss seasons than 20-win ones until he came along, such dedication to self-preservation was both instinctive and necessary.
But these last four seasons, the most successful such block in the 'Bows' history, have given not only Wallace, but the program and its fans a taste for more. They have raised the bar in a manner that present the coach with what figures to be one of his last and biggest challenges.
Of such things lasting legacies are polished.
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.
