The Bear watches from a chair in the tunnel. He could have a more prominent seat at the Don Haskins Center, but Don Haskins doesn't want one. UTEP will always be his program, but it's no longer his team, and he doesn't want to intrude on Billy Gillispie's magic. Besides, the Bear likes a quick getaway.
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| Omar Thomas (left) is one of four juco transfers whose impact has been felt at UTEP.(AP) |
Diabetes hasn't been kind to Don "the Bear" Haskins since he retired in 1999 with 561 victories and the state's only national championship. The disease attacked one of his feet, and while in recent weeks he has been getting better, four months ago it claimed a toe.
The Bear doesn't fret over the missing toe. He'll tell you he's as happy now as he's been since retiring after 30 years as the Miners' coach.
UTEP basketball is back. The Bear is whole again.
"There's nobody happier that's sitting there watching a full house again," Haskins says. "What Billy Gillispie has done in two years ... I can't even imagine what he's done."
Neither can Gillispie. One year after his first team went 6-24, the Miners are 19-5 and bearing down on the program's first NCAA appearance since 1992.
"It happened a lot sooner than anybody thought," Gillispie says. "I knew we'd be much improved. We set the bar so low last year, we had to be improved. As far as my expectations ... I had no idea. I thought we might have this kind of season -- I was hoping -- maybe next year. But I didn't know for sure if we'd be (this) far along next year."
When UTEP hired Gillispie off then-Illinois coach Bill Self's staff on Nov. 2, 2002, it was five days before the Miners' 2002-03 exhibition opener. The previous coach, Jason Rabedeaux, had left 10 days earlier for reasons he called personal and private.
Gillispie inherited Rabedeaux's three assistants and eight scholarship players, whose character exceeded their talent. The 6-24 season they produced was surprisingly uplifting.
"Last year our team was 6-24, and I wouldn't have enjoyed watching the games -- I wouldn't even go -- if we didn't give it a hell of an effort," Haskins says. "Last year the effort was there, and we always had about 7,500 (in attendance), which is a pretty good crowd for a team not winning. Our fans in El Paso are so good. It's unbelievable."
UTEP basketball is The Show in El Paso, a reason Gillispie -- with deep Texas roots and a reputation as a monster recruiter -- took the job under such unorthodox circumstances. As for UTEP athletics director Bob Stull, the timing of Rabedeaux's Oct. 21, 2002 resignation allowed him to study Gillispie at Illinois practices.
Last season Gillispie lost on the court, but he won off it. His Top 20 recruiting class had two junior college All-Americans, point guard Filiberto Rivera and forward Omar Thomas. His four juco transfers overhauled UTEP's talent without hurting its character.
"We've had a major turnaround, and you couldn't do it that quickly unless you have high-character kids," Gillispie says. "Guys we've recruited are playing a majority of the minutes. Guys from last year, their attitude has been fantastic. Last year they may have played 30 minutes a game, and now they might not play five. And the new guys have been great, fitting in. Everybody on the team has been so fantastic at being team player."
- Example A: Last season's leading scorer was guard Giovanni St. Amant, who set UTEP freshman records for scoring average (13.6) and 20-point games (seven). This season he averages 16 minutes off the bench, is seventh on the team in scoring -- and has worked as hard as he did a year ago, Gillispie says.
- Example B: Senior Roy Smallwood, a 6-6 forward, ranks among the top 10 UTEP career leaders in points, rebounds, steals and blocked shots. This season he's producing eight points and 5.2 rebounds in 23 minutes per game, all below his career averages.
- Example C: Last season at Panola (Texas) College, the 6-foot-5 Thomas led the NJCAA in scoring at 36.1, with 70 in one game. He leads the Miners in scoring at 15.3, but requires less than 10 shots per game.
"I thought (Thomas) would be a guy who shoots every time he got it," Haskins says. "But he passes, and he defends great. I watch the bench to see how guys react, and I've never seen a more together team. All the junior college guys, I cannot believe the job Billy Gillispie has done with them. I used to say, 'It takes one year (of acclimation) to get one year (of good play) from a JC guy.' Not on this team."
Gillispie has molded the Miners with fire, starting with two weeks of preseason conditioning he calls boot camp. At the end of the twice-daily, 40-minute sessions, players run 33 line drills -- old-school types call them "suicides" -- in 30 seconds or less.
"Practices are hell," Haskins says.
Gillispie has lessened the intensity during the season with one exception: an hour-long practice on game days. It's not a walk-thru. It's not a shoot-around. It's the real thing.
"We practice hard," Gillispie says. "I believe once you get that mental framework of going hard every time you step on the court, it gives you an edge."
Gillispie isn't above dangling a carrot, either. A reserve who leads the team in rebounding -- provided he has at least eight boards -- starts the next game. That has players frothing at the mouth, reserves and starters alike, and explains how a short, skinny team is breaking even on the glass.
"I've never ever heard of that rule," Haskins says. "I wish I'd have thought of it."
Haskins thinks of plenty. He and Gillispie are close, with Haskins welcome at practice and Gillispie welcome for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. Gillispie counts himself as the fifth-best coach at UTEP, behind Haskins and his three first-year assistants, all recruiting aces: Alvin Brooks, the former coach at Houston; Doc Sadler, a former high school and junior college head coach, who assisted at Arizona State and Texas Tech; and Cuban born Sergio Rouco, a former coach in Miami, Venezuela and the Dominican, whose roots make him particularly effective recruiting to UTEP.
"The only weak link on the staff," says Gillispie, "is me."
Right. Haskins fears Gillispie is coaching himself onto a bigger stage, with Utah and UNLV likely to be interested. The Bear doesn't know what 2004-05 will bring, but he knows what to expect in March when the NCAA Tournament announces its field.
"I'm getting packed," Haskins says. "We're going somewhere to play."
