Westhead Will Stay--Unless He Gets Offer He Can’t Refuse

The Paul Westhead job rumor mill has been working overtime since Westhead led the underdog Lions to the NCAA Tournament’s Great Eight. In fact, going into the season, many observers around the country expected that with Hank Gathers, Bo Kimble and Jeff Fryer graduating, Westhead would follow suit.

Miami, Colorado and Texas A & M were among the schools that were supposedly serious Westhead suitors.

But when Westhead finally addressed the issue this week, he was still firmly seated as Loyola coach--and writing-class teacher--and expects to be doing the same next season.

Westhead and the Lions were so wrapped up in Gathers’ death and the subsequent emotional ride through the tournament that he didn’t have the time or desire to return job inquiries.

On Tuesday, he said: “Until this day, I have dismissed any notions of even partial contacts. There have been some phone messages; today I at least returned some. I have not set any meetings.”

He has always left the door open, but unless some major college bowls him over with an offer while he attends the Final Four, or an NBA team comes along with an offer too good to turn down, Westhead appears headed for his sixth season at Loyola.

“I’ve never said to a team before, ‘I’ll be back.’ I assume I will unless something comes up.”

Westhead said the perception in some places that he would use Loyola as a springboard to a bigger job has never been true. While he may leave someday, he said, “I never really looked to springboard.”

Players said Westhead has not told them he would be back. At least one, sophomore Chris Knight, has indicated that he doesn’t want to return unless Westhead does.

“We hope he comes back, but whatever he does, we wish him well,” swing man Tom Peabody said. “I just want whatever’s best for Coach.”

The craziness of the three weeks since Hank Gathers’ death, the highs and lows and media shows, has subsided at Loyola Marymount (at least until the lawsuits are filed). Now that the games are over, the media firestorm has ended and the players are back to a normal schooltime routine, the time for reflection begins.

As much as humanly possible, the team did it for Hank--won three games in the NCAA Tournament, advanced to the Great Eight, knocked off defending national champion Michigan with a record-setting blitz, and made left-handed free throws as a mid-game reminder of Gathers’ spirit.

Loyola Coach Paul Westhead said it all hit him early this week when he drove along the northern base of the campus, where a big “LMU” sits on the hillside. It now reads “LMU 44,” a reference to Gathers’ uniform number. “It’s the unexpected moments when it really hits you,” he said.

“It’s something that’s gonna hit everyone on this team now,” Westhead said after Sunday’s loss to Nevada-Las Vegas. “No more practice, no more games. The last three weeks it’s been kind of a whirlwind for our team.”

Bo Kimble, Gathers’ friend from their schoolboy days in Philadelphia, said the emotion suddenly hit him on the plane ride home from Oakland after Sunday’s game. “I had my moments in the air; I had a difficult time gathering myself. But it was to myself, and nobody saw it,” Kimble said. “I’m a lot stronger than I expected. All my life there’ll be stages it’s gonna hit me.”

This week Westhead said he hadn’t yet fully considered the team’s final days together. He and the players met briefly Tuesday and will hold their season-ending banquet next week, after Westhead returns from the Final Four.

“I’ve had time to think about the loss of Hank,” he said. “I haven’t had time to think about the loss of the rest.”

For most of the season, Westhead said, the Lions were a loose group who “did all the things of a normal basketball team” but nothing special. But after Gathers’ death, the team took on emotional intensity and played with a courage and spirit that captured the nation’s admiration.

“The last three weeks they did things you wouldn’t expect of a normal college player,” he said. “They became a different team, and it will be harder to let go. It will be harder for me this time. These three weeks won’t be repeated, and they can’t be. It can’t last; it’s not something that’s meant to last. These phenomena can’t last that long; they flame out.”

On Tuesday the Lions were honored on campus with an impromptu parade. They cut down a net to commemorate the ceremony they never got to complete the weekend Gathers died. Kimble cut the last strand left-handed, then took over toastmaster duties in Gathers’ absence. A large gathering of students responded enthusiastically.

Westhead said: “They’re better players and better persons; they can handle life situations with poise and dignity because of the last three weeks. They were forced to dig down in themselves, and they’ve grown.”

In the wake of Gathers’ death and his teammates’ courageous quest through the NCAA Tournament, the Lions became the focus of the kind of media coverage usually reserved for events of the scope of the World Series and the Super Bowl.

The morning after the Lions defeated Michigan, Loyola Sports Information Director Barry Zepel had 65 calls on his office answering machine. He wasn’t able to return most of them because there were hordes of reporters and cameramen from around the nation on campus at all times.

Westhead said that under normal circumstances, he would have shielded his team. But this time he felt the constant attention was helpful. “By and large it turned out to be a helpful friend,” Westhead said. “With clusters of (media) people, even the hardest professional team begins to crack or get jittery. I think what happened was our fellows were so emotionally devastated, the media became a distraction, (a way) to funnel their sorrow.

“It reached a point last week where normally I’d have thought it was hurting our team when you’re gonna play two days later, but in this case I thought it was good for them. That’s my guess.”

In a final season-ending gesture, Westhead called UNLV Coach Jerry Tarkanian and thanked him for the way his team carried itself Sunday. The Rebels, often known as college basketball’s bad boys, shook Westhead’s hand before the game and wished him luck, and played a gentlemanly game.

“They’ve been maligned enough that they should be complimented when they show grace,” Westhead said.

“They, along with us, raised the level of the game. They were courteous and respectful. I haven’t had a team come and shake my hand since the 1960s. It was for Hank. I accepted it as meaningful for their players. I sensed it would be a dignified game. I felt they were not going to spoil anything that had to do with Hank.”

Westhead also had a veiled prediction for this weekend’s Final Four. “If (UNLV) can stay focused on the game, I don’t see how anybody can beat them,” he said. “That’s how they were against us.”

Stat of the Week: Cal State Dominguez Hills sophomore Jennifer Boen leads the Lady Toros softball team in nearly every category, from pitching victories (8) to batting average (.412) to runs (15) to triples (2) to on-base percentage (.474).

College Notes

First baseman Darrell Conner has tied teammate Fred Camarena for the Dominguez Hills lead in batting at .381 and has a 14-game hitting streak. Unfortunately for the Toros, in the same game he extended his hitting streak, he injured his wrist in a rundown and may be lost for the season. His arm was immobilized in a cast last week, and doctors hoped to determine this week whether there is a fracture. . . . The Loyola men’s volleyball team closes out its most successful season in years at home 7:30 p.m. Wednesday against Long Beach State. The Lions, rated ninth this week, defeated third-ranked Stanford on Wednesday in four games. They have won seven of their last 10 matches. . . . The Dominguez Hills softball team plays a home double-header at 1:30 Saturday against Cal State Hayward.