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Richard Stevens: Listen Krebs: Cooper best to replace McKay

By Richard Stevens
Tuesday, February 13, 2007

At the risk of being premature, at the risk of predicting Lobos jock boss Paul Krebs eventually will do what needs to be done - here's a vote to give Michael Cooper serious consideration as the next Lobos men's basketball coach.

First the really obvious:

Five NBA championship rings.

Ex-University of New Mexico Lobos superstar/community icon.

A proven winner at four levels of basketball.

Usually likable, usually personable, might open up practice to the media.

In throwing out these pluses, maybe the community icon thing is the biggie. As much as anything, UNM needs to bring in a coach who has a chance to return instant fan support and excitement to a fading program and a dying Pit.

And is there really any other viable candidate who can do such a thing?

The key word here is viable. Sorry, Lobos fans, but Rick Pitino, Rick Majerus, Brad Pitt, Madonna, Phil Jackson, Mike Krzyzewski and Zeus aren't interested in becoming Lobos.

Cooper has personality. He knows how to turn on the charm, the charisma, the suave. He can be Reggie Theus of the North.

Oh, Coop doesn't have "Hang Time" to throw in recruits' faces, but he can wave those five NBA rings under their noses and have Magic Johnson give them a call.

The ex-Los Angeles Laker can recruit California talent and probably talent anywhere and not because the players remember this NBA legend, but because their coaches and parents do.

Coop also knows the game. He played on probably the best Lobos team in history, for Norm Ellenberger. He won NBA titles with the Lakers under Pat Riley. He coached a team to the WNBA title. He coached a team to an NBA D-League title. He believes in defense.

He probably is smart enough to work The Pit crowd, because he saw Ellenberger do it better than anyone else.

OK, here are the negatives:

No college coaching experience.

No college degree.

Might bring in some old NBA deadwood rather than forming a staff of Division I professionals.

Sure, the college coaching thing is a gamble. Kind of like the one New Mexico State University made with Theus. Kind of like the one UNM made with Don Flanagan. You go with your gut feelings. The gut feeling here is that Krebs has pretty good gut feelings. He'll know whether Coop can do the job or not.

The college degree thing is the biggie on this list, but UNM could easily spin this into a positive and grab national attention through the spin.

The story line: UNM hires an ex-Lobo whom the university let down when he was a student/athlete. UNM insists new coach get a UNM degree, and new coach will attend classes with his players - and write his own term papers. New coach has two seasons and two summers to complete degree, or he gets fired with no compensation.

Coop will agree. Who wouldn't, to get out of Tingley Coliseum?

The national media will eat this up. The publicity will be huge. And maybe UNM really does owe this to Coop.

That brings us to the possibility Cooper will fill his staff with too many old NBA buddies. Here's a solution: Raid Ritchie McKay's staff.

The best thing about McKay's regime is probably his coaching staff. It's a good one. Coop would be wise to try to keep Duane Broussard and Scott Didrickson, and bring in a Coop guy as the No. 1 assistant and a Coop guy as director of basketball operations.

So, there you have it. Only one thing left to do. See if you can figure that out all by yourself.