MBB: Northwest Conference

[LogShow]

Logshow, I read on a website that a very good player from Corvalis High School is heading to UPS....  Any other particulars on the others?

I've heard at Pacific that Bartlett is playing again and will be ready to go full swing next year, I look forward to seeing him and Howe together, should be quite a duo.

Not even knowing how recruiting is going for anybody, but I think it could be another exciting and balanced year next season, with another 6 or so teams as serious contenders for the 3 team playoff again.

I have heard that the UPS coaching staff is very very excited about this new guard from Corvalis.  Apperently he can really play, I am really looking forward to watching him play next year.  Other not too familar with the other recurits.  Heard that they have a few athletic big guys coming in, so it should be interesting to see how it all pans out.

[LogShow]

Well Bridgeland is the new coach of Whitman.  I can't say I am not suprised, I really didn't see that one coming, but a few people on this board called it.  I just didn't think that he would end up at Whitman, because honestly that is probably one of the least desirable jobs on the west coast.  I just would have thought that he would have been able to get a better job, its weird that Whitman was his best option.

[Gregory Sager]

I am truly surprised that Whitman ended up being his best opportunity

Well Bridgeland is the new coach of Whitman.  I can't say I am not suprised, I really didn't see that one coming, but a few people on this board called it.  I just didn't think that he would end up at Whitman, because honestly that is probably one of the least desirable jobs on the west coast.  I just would have thought that he would have been able to get a better job, its weird that Whitman was his best option.

Perhaps Whitman wasn't his "best option" or "best opportunity". Perhaps he chose Whitman simply for its own sake. There are coaches out there who like a challenge, you know. Not every coach wants to inherit someone else's winning tradition. It could be that Bridgeland prefers to take on the challenge of trying to create his own winning tradition from scratch. He may want to make for himself a coaching legacy as a builder rather than as a caretaker.

For evidence that this might be the case, look at his career at Puget Sound. In the four seasons between UPS's entrance into the league in 1996-97 and Bridgeland's arrival in 2000-01 the Loggers finished ninth, sixth, ninth, and seventh in the NWC standings. During that four-year span the Loggers went 22-46 in NWC play and 33-62 overall. By the time that he left after the 2006-07 season the Loggers were the threepeat NWC champions and a respected national power in D3.

From what this room has said about Whitman, it sounds like a difficult place to build a winner. I have no doubt that as a former NWC coach Bridgeland is as aware of Whitman's inherent shortcomings as anyone. There are probably fewer would-be builders than would-be caretakers in the coaching ranks -- not everyone has the patience or the endurance to deal with pushing the boulder uphill for four or five years before you see any results, if indeed you ever see them at all -- but there are still plenty of coaches out there who would relish the opportunity to silence the naysayers and turn a lemon into lemonade in Walla Walla. Based upon the losing circumstances at UPS when he arrived there, Bridgeland just might be that type of coach.

[formerhooper]

Or could it be that EB couldn't find another job and had to feed his family?  COuld it be that he couoldn't put Walberg on his resume because of the way he went out at Pepperdine and that he probably won't be able to get a D1 job for a long time?  Look for him to stay for one year and look to step in at Willamette, where his former Santa Cruz AD is.  lol.

[Pat Coleman]

Or could it be that EB couldn't find another job and had to feed his family?  COuld it be that he couoldn't put Walberg on his resume because of the way he went out at Pepperdine and that he probably won't be able to get a D1 job for a long time?  Look for him to stay for one year and look to step in at Willamette, where his former Santa Cruz AD is.  lol.

Bridgeland was already looking for a D-III job. I don't believe he ever wanted another D-I job.

[NWCer]

Well what is everyone's thoughts on how Bridgeland will do at Whitman?  I know they'll be better, does that mean challenging for the conference tourney?

What does that do to the balance, if he is able to get Whitman out of that bottom third which they've consistently been in, then they have to be replaced by someone........  So my question which program(s) does this effect the most?

Also if anyone knows the history of Bridgeland and Whitman's recruiting, where will he get his players from?

[Gregory Sager]

Well what is everyone's thoughts on how Bridgeland will do at Whitman?  I know they'll be better, does that mean challenging for the conference tourney?

What does that do to the balance, if he is able to get Whitman out of that bottom third which they've consistently been in, then they have to be replaced by someone........  So my question which program(s) does this effect the most?

Also if anyone knows the history of Bridgeland and Whitman's recruiting, where will he get his players from?

That last question would be the first one I'd ask, since any speculation about his getting Whitman out of the bottom third of the NWC is premature. Even if he's able to succeed there, it's very hard to imagine him doing so overnight. Realistically, the Whitman folks should give him one student generation (four years) to at least start to make the Missionaries competitive within the NWC. That seems to be the general rule of thumb in terms of a grace period for coaches who are taking over a moribund D3 basketball program.

From the limited amount that I know about the state of Washington, it appears that the eastern half of the state is very underpopulated except for Spokane, is it not? I notice that the vast majority of last season's Whitman roster consisted of Seattle-area players. I would imagine that Bridgeland will continue to work metro Seattle for recruits, but the distance and remoteness of Walla Walla (MapQuest says it's a four-and-a-half-hour drive from Seattle) might mean that a Whitman recruiter is behind the eight-ball when trying to sell that school to Seattle- and Tacoma-area prospects. I wonder if a more concentrated approach to recruiting the admittedly sparse hinterlands of eastern Washington, eastern Oregon, and northern Idaho might be in order as well ... or if following the example of NWC competitors and dipping into the juco pool might be the way to go.

I don't know enough about Whitman to be able to speak authoritatively to the issue of how Bridgeland should go about trying to build a program there. But my admittedly casual observation is that the fact that Walla Walla is an obscure burg of 30,000 people that's literally in the middle of nowhere might be the biggest obstacle for him to overcome.

[NWCer]

Great points Sager, thanks for dropping in.

Hadn't did my geography, but since your post I have, it is rather remote.

[old_hooper]

Bridgeland might have been an interesting candidate for the Williams job.  If he had pursued that he might of been one of the top prospects for that position based on his previous accomplishments at Puget Sound.

[pineconefan]

As a Whitworth fan I have watched the Bridgeland hiring at Whitman with great interest.  I think the hiring sends a signal that the school's administration no longer considers a young man with strong academic credentials mutually exclusive of a young man with athletic ability.

There is a potential positive by-product for Whitworth as well.  I think if you made the NWC coaches take truth serum, they would admit they spent 75-80% of the week before playing Whitman and Whitworth preparing for the Pirates.  Now they will have to take Whitman more seriously.

[Gregory Sager]

Bridgeland might have been an interesting candidate for the Williams job.  If he had pursued that he might of been one of the top prospects for that position based on his previous accomplishments at Puget Sound.

True, if Bridgeland had applied for the Williams job he might have been among the top applicants. But if I had to guess, I'd say that Williams is much more likely to select someone who has a college coaching background that includes top-level academic institutions (UAA, NESCAC, Ivy League, Patriot League). A coach who has one or more of those types of schools on his resume would have experience with the nationally-based, high-academic-status recruiting methodology that Williams uses.

[LogShow]

Or could it be that EB couldn't find another job and had to feed his family?  COuld it be that he couoldn't put Walberg on his resume because of the way he went out at Pepperdine and that he probably won't be able to get a D1 job for a long time?  Look for him to stay for one year and look to step in at Willamette, where his former Santa Cruz AD is.  lol.

Interesting post there formerhooper.  Where did you get those facts Bridgeland's actions at Pepperdine?

I can't see Bridgeland at Whitman for more then 3 years.  In all of his many stops in his still young career he hasn't stayed anywhere longer then 3 years...besides UPS where he won a title his 3rd year and knew they were going to be good for a couple years to come.

[Pio20]

I think you guys may be digging a little too deep on this one. Maybe he simply would rather stay with things he is familiar with such as a DIII program, the NWC, and the Northwest. He has a child on the way. Perhaps he wants to simply take a lowkey job (compared to being a DI head coach) and be able to spend time with his family and not have to worry about scholarships, press conferences, etc. 

[Gregory Sager]

I think you guys may be digging a little too deep on this one. Maybe he simply would rather stay with things he is familiar with such as a DIII program, the NWC, and the Northwest. He has a child on the way. Perhaps he wants to simply take a lowkey job (compared to being a DI head coach) and be able to spend time with his family and not have to worry about scholarships, press conferences, etc.

We're all simply engaging in idle speculation, Pio20 (you, too ). None of us knows for sure why Bridgeland took the position at Whitman. Short of getting a post here from someone who has spoken to him about it, I don't see this question being answered definitively.

File this conversation under "Passing The Time During The Off-season".

[Pio20]

I think you guys may be digging a little too deep on this one. Maybe he simply would rather stay with things he is familiar with such as a DIII program, the NWC, and the Northwest. He has a child on the way. Perhaps he wants to simply take a lowkey job (compared to being a DI head coach) and be able to spend time with his family and not have to worry about scholarships, press conferences, etc.

We're all simply engaging in idle speculation, Pio20 (you, too ). None of us knows for sure why Bridgeland took the position at Whitman. Short of getting a post here from someone who has spoken to him about it, I don't see this question being answered definitively.

File this conversation under "Passing The Time During The Off-season".

haha very true..passing more time...are any of the courts out there being refurbished while they get a new three point line? I know the LC court is being "re-finished" and the bleachers are being replaced...finally! Those things were painful and painfully old.