The other day I had the opportunity to sit down and have a conversation with Paul Westphal, head coach of the Pepperdine Waves. Coach Westphal boasts one of the most impressive resumes in all of college basketball while coaching one of the most underrated teams in the country. Those two things combined can create a scary opener for the Flyers on November 21. First let’s take a look at Coach Westphal’s mighty impressive resume. In 1985, he began his coaching career as the head coach at Southwestern Baptist Bible College before moving on to NAIA Grand Canyon College in Phoenix, Arizona where he led the team to the 1988 NAIA National Title with a 37-6 record. Following the season, Westphal made the jump from college to the NBA and became an assistant coach with the Phoenix Suns, and after only four seasons as an assistant Westphal became one of the most successful head coaches in all of the game. In the 1992 – 1993 season, Coach Westphal won 62 games establishing an NBA record for most wins for a rookie coach. He went on to become the second fastest coach to win 150 games (record of 150 – 58 in first 208 games) coming up only five games short of the “Zen-Master” and current Lakers coach Phil Jackson (203 games). Almost three years after leaving the Suns, Westphal took over a Seattle Super Sonics team and again left the team with a winning record in a little over two seasons. So what is this two-time NCAA All-American from USC and a five time NBA All-Star with his number hanging from the rafters of the America West Airlines Arena doing coaching at Pepperdine?

Well, as Coach Westphal and his wife decided to move back to their roots of Southern California after he was dismissed from his position in Seattle, he was planning on writing a book. That’s when fate stepped in and Jan van Breda Kolff took a job that would change the landscape of athletics forever at St. Bonaventure and the A-10 (who knew welding wasn’t a real degree?). Coach Westphal’s phone rang and the Pepperdine job was his for the taking. In my conversation with Coach Westphal he was quick to point out that Southern California was where he wanted to be and Pepperdine is a school that has great basketball tradition. After all with 17 postseason appearances (10 NCAAs and 7 NITs) and a .619 winning percentage since 1978-1979, Pepperdine is the second most successful basketball program on the West Coast behind only UCLA. Admittedly, Coach Westphal had some concern over recruiting, after all you don’t recruit in the NBA, but after some thought he assembled a coaching staff that would support him in his weakness.

After two successful seasons, last year was a disappointing 15-13 campaign, mainly a result of injuries to key players. Pepperdine fans and Coach Westphal are ready to put last season behind them as history and a season older and injury free (knock on wood if you’re a Pepperdine fan) the Waves are looking to expand on that impressive win percentage. Personally, I think the Waves are going to have a hard time achieving this task. Why you ask, well take a look at the Pepperdine schedule. Coach Westphal stated that the intent of there out of conference schedule is to make an impression on the NCAA selection committee. With games against Dayton, Colorado, Colorado State, Maryland, Oklahoma State, and Utah, Coach Westphal had better hope his team is performing well early in the season, otherwise, that decision by the selection committee may be a moot point.

To tackle this challenge, Pepperdine will start four juniors and a sophomore on a team that is very talented and rather seasoned for a team essentially only returning five players. The Waves feature 6’4″ Alex Acker, reigning WCC Freshman of the year, All-WCC performer Terrance Johnson, and red-shirt 6’9″ Junior Glen McGowan (he’s got great hair!). Acker and Johnson are holdovers from last year’s backcourt and McGowan was red-shirted after playing only one game and sitting out the rest of the season with a knee injury and a blood clot. A gruesome and unfortunate injury, McGowan had to have a rib removed to improve the flow to his arm and prevent future blood clots. It’s obvious after the first exhibition game that McGowan is ready for the season and according to Coach Westphal he’s completely healthy. Against EA Sports McGowan dazzled with 15 points (3-3 from the 3 pt line), seven rebounds, two assists, and a steal in only 23 minutes. This could be bad news for Flyer fans as Coach Westphal noted that Pepperdine is 14-1 in the last 15 games that McGowan has played in. Needless to say, we’ll see how Monty Scott’s defense is pretty early in the season. Challenging McGowan on the perimeter and keeping him off the boards would be a challenge for the most seasoned performer, let alone a guy who will be playing in his first intercollegiate game.

The Waves will also introduce a host of new faces not seen on the court in 2003 – 2004 (Four returning red-shirt players three freshman, and two transfers). Of all the new players to the Pepperdine community look for Juco Yakouba Diawara and highly regarded transfer big man Jesse Pinegar to contribute the most. Diawara led the Waves in scoring in the first exhibition game with 19 points and also contributed four boards, a block, and a steal while committing zero turnovers. A 6’7″ 225lb forward who transferred from the College of Southern Idaho, Diawara has been tabbed by Westphal as potentially the best defender. Westphal added “Diawara can step up and make big plays for this team.” Pinegar was recruited by majors from the PAC-10 before settling on BYU for the 2000-2001 season. He then transferred to Pepperdine and sat out last year so Dayton will be the first time he laces up the shoes for the Pepperdine faithful. Pinegar has had a rocky road and hasn’t played a full season of competitive basketball since his junior year in high school due to on going shoulder injuries. He may have some rust to knock off, but if he’s healthy and ready for competition Pinegar can be a dangerous player for the Waves.

After 15 minutes of discussing this year’s Pepperdine team with Coach Westphal one thing is for sure. This team is a mystery to everyone including the man who is going to lead them through the season. With nine players new to the team or coming off the red-shirt season there is a lot of questions relating to the ’03-’04 season, but this Pepperdine team, much like the Dayton Flyers, is going to rely on the experience of the starting lineup. It’s just a matter of who steps up from a large group of unproven players. On November 21, the lights at Firestone Fieldhouse will turn on and we’ll answer the questions for all fans of Pepperdine and Dayton. One other note, for those of you heading out to the game, wish a Pepperdine fan luck against Gonzaga and they may just be your friends for life.

Other News and Notes

I spent a little time talking to Coach Westphal about Negele Knight. His comments were simple, “He was a smart player that had injury trouble.” Who knows, maybe Knight could have been a star.

Coach Westphal played against Johnny Davis his only other interaction with the University Dayton outside of Negele Knight.

Through a common acquaintance Coach Westphal is a good friend of Rush Limbaugh. Who knew?

Pepperdine will return the game to the University of Dayton in 2005-2006. A scheduling conflict in 2004-2005 is the cause of the return game.

Key Upcoming Flyer Milestones

• With 21 victories the University of Dayton Seniors will set an all-time record for most wins in a four-year career
• Keith Waleskowski needs 17 rebounds to move into 11th all-time (currently has 765)
• Keith Waleskowski needs 5 blocks to move into 10th all-time
• Ramod Marshall needs 6 assists to move into 11th all-time (currently has 332)
• Ramod Marshall needs 4 points to move into 32nd all-time (currently has 1,071)
(Keith Waleskowski is currently 31st all-time in points with 1,076)
• Sean Finn needs 11 baskets to qualify for FG% Leaders (Finn currently leads this category but does not have enough made shots to qualify)

[Originally written by Aaron Miller]