THE UNIVERSITY JAREY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2007
SPORTS
11B
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Bill Bovce/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Saint Louis basketball coach Brad Soderberg won't be on the sidelines for the Billikens next season. Soderberg was fired Tuesday after five seasons at Saint Louis despite the school's first 20-victory season since 1998.
Billikens fire head coach
Soderberg let go despite leading team to 20-win season
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ST. LOUISE — Saint Louis coach Brad Soderberg was fired Tuesday after five seasons, a move tied to the school's new $80.5 million arena under construction and his failure to produce an NCAA tournament bid.
The school announced the move in a statement that said the success of the Chaifetz Arena, scheduled to open for the 2008-09 season, was contingent on a program that could contend for conference championships.
Saint Louis was 20-13 last season, Soderberg's first 20-victory season and the school's first 20-victory season since 1997-98, and finished in the middle of the pack in the Atlantic-10 Conference. But the Billikens haven't made it to the NCAA tournament since 2000.
Soderberg produced NIT bids in his first two seasons at Saint Louis, but the school did not make it to the postseason his final three seasons. He's 80-74 overall with a career record of 211-147 and was let go with two years remaining on a five-year contract he signed in November
The Billikens bottomed out with a 9-21 record in 2004-05, but rebounded with 16 victories the following season.
The school said it will begin the search for a replacement immediately. It said Soderberg was fired after an "extensive review of the state of the men's basketball program" since the end of the season. In the statement, the school said it did not "anticipate" making further comments regarding the change.
A call to Soderberg's cell phone seeking comment was not immediately returned.
The move came two days after the annual team banquet and six days after Soderberg signed a pair of recruits to national letters of intent.
Saint Louis' new arena is named for Richard Chafetz of Chicago, a 1975 graduate of the school whose $12 million donation for the arena was announced in February. Chafetz founded ComPsych Corp., a provider of employee assistance programs, in 1984.
The school said it is $7.5 million short of its fundraising goal.
Also on Tuesday, a favorable decision by the Missouri Supreme Court frees the university to use $8 million in special tax financing to develop the arena.
The arena will be the new home for the school's men and women's basketball and volleyball teams, as well as a venue for concerts, family shows, sporting events, trade shows and other events. The projected seating capacity is 10,600, which is not a huge increase from the team's average of more than 9,000 per game last season in the Scottrade Center.
Saint Louis finished its season with a 60-40 loss to George Washington in the semifinals of the Atlantic-10 tournament semifinals. The school moved to the Atlantic-10 in 2005-06.
The school will have four starters back next season, losing only senior center Ian Vouyoukas.
》 NBA
Grizzlies G.M. to quit in July
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jerry West left retirement and the comforts of California to see if he could transform the woeful Memphis Grizzlies. Five years later, the Lakers great decided to stop trying.
He said Tuesday he would leave as the Grizzlies' director of basketball operations July 1 at the end of his contract. Injuries, losses, weariness and uncertainty became too much.
"I'm not a youngster anymore," said West, who turns 69 next month.
W e s t
oversaw the
Grizzlies' only
three play-
off berths,
although he
never got to
draft who played on great teams," West said. "That's one of the things we need. We need to upgrade our backcourt. ... You need a leader back there."
Heisley brought in West in April 2002. But West never had the advantages he enjoyed in the large market of Los Angeles, where he signed Shaquille O'Neal and traded Vlade Divac for Kobe Bryant.
"We were going nowhere with the team we had. We could not continue to do what we did."
JERRY WEST
Memphis general manager
"There's been a lot of turmoil here," he said. "The ownership thing have made it very difficult to concentrate on what we need to do here to improve our basketball team."
He was hamstrung at the start by bad moves from the team's
enjoy a postseason victory. This season, there were problems on several fronts: The Grizzlies not only had the worst record in the NBA but were up for sale.
West said "the wear and tear of the season, particularly like this," took a toll.
West, whose silhouette from his playing days forms the NBA logo, disclosed his plans during a 20-minute session with reporters. But his departure had been the worst kept secret in Memphis, with his contract up after this season. He put his 18-room home up for sale in February, calling that a "downsizing" move after his son left for college.
Billionaire owner Michael Heisley said Monday night the team would be off the market if a viable offer doesn't come by May 1.
West is staying through June 30 and will advise Heisley on his replacement and a new coach and in a draft that could deliver 7 foot center Greg Oden or college player of the year Kevin Durant. Then he said he would be open to working as a consultant.
"We need a big tough rebounder, and there's a kid who's a big tough rebounder in this
early days. The Grizzlies landed the No. 2 pick overall in the 2003 draft. West never got to decide between Car m e l o Anthony or Dwayne Wade becausethatpick went to Detroit to complete a 1997 trade.
"We've got some very good players," he said. "Pau Gasol is an AllStar, but we need a superstar. And if that doesn't turn the people on, then I wouldn't know what would do that."
His biggest deal? Ridding the Grizzlies of Jason Williams in a five-team trade in August 2005. His trade of Shane Battier to Houston for rookie Rudy Gay shows promise.
West lured Hubie Brown out of TV and to the bench. Brown won NBA coach of the year honors with 50 victories in 2004, the year West was honored as the league's executive of the year.
When Brown retired unexpectedly, West replaced him with
Mike Fratello. But the Grizzlies were swept out of the playoffs in 2004, 2005 and 2006. They started a youth movement to rebuild and save money.
West fired Fratello in December and replaced him with Tony Barone Sr. after the worst start in the NBA. It didn't help. The Grizzlies, 21-60 entering Wednesday night's finale at Minnesota, clinched the worst record in the league last week and their poorest victory total under West.
Not easy for someone who never handled losing well, whether as a two-time All-American at West Virginia or player, executive or general manager for the Lakers, where he won a combined eight titles.
"We're probably better off where we are, even though it was painful for everyone and our fans, walking out of here some nights when we were just horrendous," West said. "It was painful for everyone to watch that."
West said he thought Heisley needed two people to replace him: a general manager and a vice president of basketball operations. As for the next coach, West wouldn't name names, but a possibility could be Phoenix assistant Marc Iavaroni.
In any case, West said the next coach needed to know the franchise must work to build a team for years, not make the playoffs one season, then have the league's worst record the next.
"We were going nowhere with the team we had," West said. "We could not continue to do what we did."
In the end, neither could he.