Paola Boivin
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 13, 2005
Can you be convicted in the court of public opinion if the jury box is half empty?
That's the strange status of Arizona State coach Rob Evans, who can't draw a crowd but can attract some rather strong opinions about his future.
Most fans don't want that future here.
Evans can quell the cries very simply. He can inspire the Sun Devils to play themselves into the NCAA Tournament. Following Saturday night's loss to Southern California, that will require winning at least four of their remaining five games, a difficult task but one necessary to alter the public relations spin.
In, and Evans has coached the Sun Devils to the NCAA Tournament two of the past three years.
Out, and Evans has coached the Sun Devils to the NCAA Tournament only once in the past seven.
"The goal of every program we sponsor is to get in to postseason play," ASU Athletic Director Gene Smith said before Saturday's game.
If Evans falls short of that goal, fans have the right to demand better. What they will learn, however, is that this is not the plum job many believe it to be, that the coaching elite will not be lining up for an interview.
On a popular ASU message board, one fan wrote, "Why not try for Krzyzewski! Or Calhoun, or Sampson, or Pitino."
Uh, because they won't come here? The Sun Devils couldn't even land Gonzaga's Mark Few, another fan favorite, who is enjoying a new arena, not to mention a program that finds its way into the NCAA Tournament each year.
What college coaches will tell you privately is that ASU isn't even considered one of the top six jobs in the Pac-10 anymore.
Stanford and California have the lure of academia. UCLA and Arizona have the pull of tradition. Oregon has McArthur Court, frequently named one of the toughest places in the country to play, and Washington has a bigger budget and a better recruiting base.
ASU fans like to talk about the attraction of the weather and the fine-looking coeds, but in truth, those are perks, nothing more.
What coaches see when they look at Tempe is an anemic fan base that one of the top players in the country can't inspire, a dominating program 90 miles to the south, and a local recruiting base that is improving but still falls short.
That Evans has struggled is a shame, really, because he's everything right about college basketball.
He cleaned up a program in disarray and his players are solid representatives of the university. In this high-salary, win-at-all-costs era, that's no longer enough.
Patience is a thing of the past. In Mike Montgomery's first eight years at Stanford, he had just two NCAA appearances and fell to 7-23 overall and 2-16 in the Pac-10 during his seventh year. Had the administration pulled the trigger, it would have lost a man who built one of the more impressive college programs in the country - 12 NCAA Tournaments in 18 seasons including his last 10 - until the lure of NBA money pulled him away.
No one has the luxury to wait anymore.
ASU officials feel many have overlooked preseason media predictions - last in the Pac-10. They see a team that's exceeded expectations. The rest of us see a coach who was entering his seventh season sporting a team many believed to be the worst in the conference.
It's all about perspective. There's one way Evans can change that of the fans.
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/columns/articles/0213boivin0213.html
