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ISU men's basketball: Year two brings familiarity for Bill Evans and Bengals
By Kyle Franko [email protected] @goodfranks | Posted: Friday, August 2, 2013 9:31 pm
Idaho State men’s basketball head coach Bill Evans doesn’t possess a magic wand.
And there isn’t an easy-to-follow formula for reversing a program’s losing woes.
ISU hasn’t had a winning season since 2002-03, and the last time the Bengals win total hit the double-digit mark was 2008-09. The six victories a year ago is tied for the fewest since 1999.
But, and let’s be clear about this point, now in his second year coaching Idaho State, Evans will not lay the 24 losses in 2012-13 at the feet of the previous regime.
“I don’t ever want anyone to think the reason we were 6-24 ... was because of (former ISU head coach) Joe O’Brien,” Evans said. “It was because of me, and our ability to win games, or inability to win games. It’s just the way it is.”
Evans refuses to offer excuses for the Bengals’ record or last-place finish in the Big Sky standings. He won’t go there.
And, really, that makes total sense.
In year two, Evans and his coaching staff are closing in on fully installing and instilling their personalities on men’s Bengal basketball in Pocatello. In this second year — one that up to this point has been dominated by recruiting, recruiting, recruiting — Evans can feel the tendrils of his influence seeping out to his players.
In his own words, he’s indoctrinating them.
“One of the things we’ve done here at Idaho State since I’ve been here, we’ve really developed a good culture — one that requires really hard work,” Evans said. “We have high expectations for our guys. They know us and we know them.”
The indoctrination, though not complete, is about ensuring the players have the right attitude.
“If they can’t say something positive, I don’t want them to say anything at all,” Evans said. “I’m the only guy that’s going to be negative.”
Attitude is a murky, nebulous term. But Evans wants a player who is selfless and positive and enthusiastic. He wants someone who can take a coach’s advice and provide some of his own to younger players.
He wants his guys to feel a sense of ownership over the program, and for them to feel the weighted importance of wins and losses.
“Those are the things that I continually approach them about and continually talk to them about,” Evans said. “If you’re selfish and your effort’s not good, you can’t win anyway. You have no chance of winning.”
During Evans’ introductory press conference in March of 2012, he said he arrived with a plan. Now 17 months later, the plan is in place. Players like senior guard Tomas Sanchez and junior wing Chris Hansen are showing Evans that they understand what he expects.
Over the summer months, between recruiting trips, the coaching staff can spend two hours a week with the players. Twice, one of his guys has stepped in and corrected someone else’s behavior, and Evans never had to say a thing.
“I had a young guy that said something to me that he shouldn’t have said,” Evans said. “It’s going to happen. One of our guys went over to him and said, ‘We don’t do that here.’ It takes courage to be a leader. It’s not easy. And you’ve got to stick you’re neck out there a little bit.”
“I had a another guy that I was talking to,” Evans said. “Beautiful young guy and he wasn’t looking at me. Kind of walking away from me as I was talking to him. One of our guys said, ‘Hey, stop and look at coach.’ I didn’t have to say that. They did that. ... He wasn’t being disrespectful to his teammate. He was helping me out.”
They’re small but necessary steps. Evans says the players are drinking the cool aid. Mix the 2013 recruiting class with four returning starters and the Bengals might sit at the precipice of bouncing themselves out of the Big Sky cellar.
“We’ll be deeper. I think we’ll be more talented," Evans said. “Does that turn into winning a whole bunch more games? I hope so. I think so.”
ISU men's basketball: Year two brings familiarity for Bill Evans and Bengals
By Kyle Franko [email protected] @goodfranks | Posted: Friday, August 2, 2013 9:31 pm
Idaho State men’s basketball head coach Bill Evans doesn’t possess a magic wand.
And there isn’t an easy-to-follow formula for reversing a program’s losing woes.
ISU hasn’t had a winning season since 2002-03, and the last time the Bengals win total hit the double-digit mark was 2008-09. The six victories a year ago is tied for the fewest since 1999.
But, and let’s be clear about this point, now in his second year coaching Idaho State, Evans will not lay the 24 losses in 2012-13 at the feet of the previous regime.
“I don’t ever want anyone to think the reason we were 6-24 ... was because of (former ISU head coach) Joe O’Brien,” Evans said. “It was because of me, and our ability to win games, or inability to win games. It’s just the way it is.”
Evans refuses to offer excuses for the Bengals’ record or last-place finish in the Big Sky standings. He won’t go there.
And, really, that makes total sense.
In year two, Evans and his coaching staff are closing in on fully installing and instilling their personalities on men’s Bengal basketball in Pocatello. In this second year — one that up to this point has been dominated by recruiting, recruiting, recruiting — Evans can feel the tendrils of his influence seeping out to his players.
In his own words, he’s indoctrinating them.
“One of the things we’ve done here at Idaho State since I’ve been here, we’ve really developed a good culture — one that requires really hard work,” Evans said. “We have high expectations for our guys. They know us and we know them.”
The indoctrination, though not complete, is about ensuring the players have the right attitude.
“If they can’t say something positive, I don’t want them to say anything at all,” Evans said. “I’m the only guy that’s going to be negative.”
Attitude is a murky, nebulous term. But Evans wants a player who is selfless and positive and enthusiastic. He wants someone who can take a coach’s advice and provide some of his own to younger players.
He wants his guys to feel a sense of ownership over the program, and for them to feel the weighted importance of wins and losses.
“Those are the things that I continually approach them about and continually talk to them about,” Evans said. “If you’re selfish and your effort’s not good, you can’t win anyway. You have no chance of winning.”
During Evans’ introductory press conference in March of 2012, he said he arrived with a plan. Now 17 months later, the plan is in place. Players like senior guard Tomas Sanchez and junior wing Chris Hansen are showing Evans that they understand what he expects.
Over the summer months, between recruiting trips, the coaching staff can spend two hours a week with the players. Twice, one of his guys has stepped in and corrected someone else’s behavior, and Evans never had to say a thing.
“I had a young guy that said something to me that he shouldn’t have said,” Evans said. “It’s going to happen. One of our guys went over to him and said, ‘We don’t do that here.’ It takes courage to be a leader. It’s not easy. And you’ve got to stick you’re neck out there a little bit.”
“I had a another guy that I was talking to,” Evans said. “Beautiful young guy and he wasn’t looking at me. Kind of walking away from me as I was talking to him. One of our guys said, ‘Hey, stop and look at coach.’ I didn’t have to say that. They did that. ... He wasn’t being disrespectful to his teammate. He was helping me out.”
They’re small but necessary steps. Evans says the players are drinking the cool aid. Mix the 2013 recruiting class with four returning starters and the Bengals might sit at the precipice of bouncing themselves out of the Big Sky cellar.
“We’ll be deeper. I think we’ll be more talented," Evans said. “Does that turn into winning a whole bunch more games? I hope so. I think so.”
