Whipping Howard Stern and Don Imus in the drive time rating books of Burlington, Vt., has become old hat for radio host/Vermont basketball coach Tom Brennan. His show -- Cormier & Coach on WCVP, Champ 103.3 -- has been beating those two for almost nine consecutive years.
But never before has Brennan experienced the same success as a basketball coach that he's long enjoyed as a radio personality. That is, until this season. His 16th Vermont Catamount team is a startling 13-3, 6-0 in America East, and on pace for the school's first conference title and NCAA bid in 102 seasons.
Talk about your shock jocks.
"It doesn't get any better than this for me," said Brennan, a truly hilarious guy and perfect fit for one of the most difficult jobs in Division I.
Brennan never boasts about his coaching ability, although considering UVM has posted double-digit victories every season since 1990, he could. But when it comes to his riotous morning show, he's all talk.
"I'd never claim I am as good a coach as Rick Pitino or 326 other guys, but I am every bit as good as Imus and Stern," he says.
By March he might at least be able to claim himself one of the nation's top 65 coaches, something that is a huge accomplishment at a place such as Vermont.
This is a state that ranks 49th in population and arguably last in commitment to athletics. Vermonters are outdoorsmen, skiers, classic Yankee types who appreciate foliage, common sense and a decent hockey game.
College basketball is nice and all, but the school doesn't even provide Brennan a full compliment of 13 scholarships -- although he is grateful his current allotment of 10.5 is up from just 9.
But what he's done with his 10.5 is stunning. Particularly in landing 6-foot-8 Taylor Coppenrath, a freshman from West Barnet, Vt., one of the rare D-I players the state produces. Not surprisingly, Brennan didn't have to fend off too many rival recruiters for his star.
"His hometown is so small that when his family comes to the games it turns into a village," he cracks.
But the kid just drilled New Hampshire for 30 on Monday, helping Vermont to a school record 11th consecutive win. He's part of a wave of young guys -- four of UVM's top five scorers are freshmen or sophomores -- that have made the Catamounts the class of America East thus far.
Which really is something, as are the now capacity crowds at intimate Patrick Gym (capacity 3,228). Burlington has gone pretty much bonkers for the team -- "bandwagon stuff, which is great," said Brennan. Not that it hurts that every morning the coach is hyping his guys on the radio.
Brennan is believed to be the only D-I coach in the country who holds a full-time job in addition to his coaching duties. He actually makes more money from the radio gig than as basketball coach. That's just Vermont.
"Our school is very poor and our state is very poor," he said. "The school doesn't have a lot of resources for athletics. That's the price you pay to be in Burlington."
Not that he's interested in moving. The 52-year-old Jersey native doesn't want to coach at a wealthier school or at a program with more resources. Nor does he want to try to duplicate his radio success in a larger market.
He loves this life. He's one of the rare coaches who still offers to take each visiting coach out to dinner the night before a game, a nearly extinct coaching courtesy.
"I'm like the mayor up here, I have my own little world," Brennan said. "I'm really at peace with where I am. I don't want to coach anywhere else and I don't want to do radio in New York. Vermont is a special place; when the Governor calls it's, 'Hey, how are you doing?' It's not like New York Governor George) Pataki calling.
"I just love it here. I feel like I've died and gone to heaven."
And this season, heaven's got a team.
News And Notes
- NCAA president Cedric Dempsey, who will be 70 in April, will step down when his contract expires at the end of 2002. Dempsey oversaw the restructuring of the NCAA governing model and helped negotiate some record television contracts for the Association. He leaves office without all of his reforms in place and unable to bring the college football championship under NCAA control. University of Tulsa president Bob Lawless, chairman of the NCAA executive committee, will oversee the hiring of a replacement. Early names in the rumor mill include Syracuse chancellor Kenneth Shaw and Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany.
- Oregon coach Ernie Kent, who has the Ducks 13-4, 5-1 in Pac 10 play and ranked 23rd in the country, isn't shy about where he came up with the plan to make UO this good. It is from league powers Arizona and Stanford, who once upon a time, like Oregon, never figured to be consistent winners. Kent, a former Mike Montgomery assistant, has now seen his team go 3-0 against the two clubs this season. "They gave us a blueprint. For us to get to the level where we can play Stanford and Arizona like we did this year, that shows the growth and development of our program." Having the three-pronged offensive attack of Fredrick Jones (15.9 ppg), Luke Jackson (15.6) and Luke Ridnour (14.2) going for him doesn't hurt either.
- One of the big rages in Philadelphia right now is the John Chaney bobble head doll, even if the Temple Hall of Fame coach is (humorously) complaining about it. "If you look at the back of it, my butt does not look like that. It's drooping. I know I'm old but they should have done something about that. I wear the most expensive clothes in the whole wide world and they make me look like a dog. I'm suing everyone whose got one."
- Iowa State landed a big-time point guard this week when 6-0 Brandon Brooks, who hails from Portland, Ore., but is currently red-shirting at Indian Hills (Iowa) Community College, committed to the Cyclones. Brooks, who verbally committed to Southern California last fall before reopening his recruitment, is considered one of the top two junior college point guards in the nation, and will have three years of eligibility remaining in Ames. Tough and smart, he will certainly be a centerpiece for Larry Eustachy's program the next couple seasons.
- Oklahoma didn't just win a Big 12 game Saturday when it defeated Texas Tech 98-72, the Sooners convinced another coaching staff that they have the potential to do it all. OU is on a 12-game winning streak going into Saturday's game against Kansas, and the Sooners speed, team play and toughness have been extraordinary. "They are very impressive," said Tech assistant Pat Knight. "They are a legitimate, I think, Final Four team right now. They run everything so fast, they run their sets so fast. They remind me of Coach Izzo's teams at Michigan State. Everybody knows their role; they have scorers and rebounders. They were impressive on tape, but we were even more impressed in person."
- Florida coach Billy Donovan loves his two star freshmen, 6-9 David Lee and 6-6 James White, and not for the traditional reasons. Both, he says, have been willing to step back and play various roles for the surging, second-ranked Gators (14-1), something that McDonald's All-America recruits often balk at. Not Lee and White, who are combining for 16.1 points and 8.8 rebounds a game, but haven't forced things offensively. "One thing about highly exposed high school kids is that generally they have been big-time scorers at the same time don't do other things," said Donovan. "The best part of those two guys is their ability to pass the basketball and make other people better. It's their ability to function without scoring. Their basketball IQ, the way they were coached in high school enables me to have an enormous amount of confidence in playing them at critical times."
- Tom Izzo expected this season to be a test for his Michigan State program. A combination of inexperienced talent and a short bench was supposed to make capturing a fifth consecutive Big Ten title or advancing to a fourth-consecutive Final Four a challenge. But various injuries -- especially to junior big man Adam Ballinger -- and inconsistent play has left State 9-7, 0-3 in the Big Ten and facing a critical stretch. The Spartans have winnable games against Purdue, Penn State, Michigan and Northwestern sandwiched around trips to Iowa and Illinois, and if MSU doesn't get things going now, even reaching the NCAA Tournament, let alone winning it, is difficult to imagine. "We are going to have to regroup, play a lot harder, smarter, better if we want to win in this league," said Izzo, who is demanding sophomore Marcus Taylor and freshman Kelvin Torbert step up their games and take ownership of the team.
- If you are looking for the real next generation of superstars, talent scouts are buzzing about a couple of junior high prospects. From the Class of 2007 comes 6-4 O.J. Mayo of Ashland (Ky.) Rose Hill Christian, who is averaging 21.5 points a game on the varsity despite being in seventh grade. Just a year older is Jason Bennett of Jacksonville (Fla.) Arlington Country Day who already stands 7-1.
- This week's Lee Benson update has the Brown Mackie (Kan.) junior college star pouring in 44 and grabbing 14 rebounds against Penn Valley (Mo.) Community College. The 6-9, 28-year-old NBA prospect, who spent eight and a half years in prison, has now scored more than 40 points in five of his past six games. He is averaging 32.4 for the season.
- Next time you are in Akron, Ohio, or the greater metropolitan area, be sure to stop by Brubaker's. Downtown Akron isn't exactly the most hoppin' place in the nation, but this is a decent spot just down the street from the minor league baseball stadium and, we assume, is probably a fun place on a summer night. Unfortunately it was snowing when we were there.
