Washington State University
CM: Man, it was a dream playing for Tony Bennett. He’s one of the best coaches I’ve ever had in my life. But what people don’t know – this is crazy – is that I actually played for his father first. The legendary Dick Bennett, who was the head coach at Wisconsin-Milwaukee before becoming a living legend, was my coach in the Pac-10 during my first year. Then, in my second year, when Tony took over, we went all the way up to No. 12 in the nation. That was the year Coach Tony won Coach of the Year.
I was there for the last year of his father, and, he passed the job on to Tony. Yep, I was there for that, man. Well, like you said, it’s all about timing. I can’t really look back and wish things had gone differently. But, the reason I left the school – I would say it was because I wasn’t patient. Coach Tony was telling me, “Hey, you’re about to be a junior. Just be patient, because Kyle Weaver and Derek Low are about to graduate, and the team is going to be yours. Your senior year, we’re going to give you the team. Don’t leave.”
But back then, I was just impatient. And what people don’t realize is that in the Pac-10, if you averaged 10 points, you were going in the first round because that’s how hard it was to score in the Pac-10 back then. I wasn’t patient and ended up going to St. Bonaventure, which was a blessing. I was No. 1 in the conference in three-pointers made and three-point percentage. I was also No. 7 in the entire nation in threes made during my senior year at St. Bonaventure. So, it wasn’t like it was a flop.
But, if I had stayed in the Pac-10 and put up great numbers there, who knows? I might have made it to the NBA. Still, I’m honored to have played for Coach Schmidt at St. Bonaventure.
