Asbury to Wave Goodby : College basketball: Pepperdine coach accepts job at Kansas State after his team goes 19-11.

From Malibu to Manhattan--Manhattan, Kan., that is.

Tom Asbury, having previously been offered several coaching jobs, finally accepted one Tuesday, leaving Pepperdine to head the men’s basketball program at Kansas State of the Big Eight Conference.

“I think it’s going to be a great situation,” Asbury said. “The Big Eight presents great challenges. The school has great administrative leadership, and great facilities.”

Asbury, 48, succeeds Dana Altman, a Nebraska native who resigned two weeks ago to coach at Creighton in Omaha.

“Tom has a presence about him that captures your attention right away,” said Max Urich, Kansas State’s athletic director. “He has terrific values, work habits and technical knowledge of the game. Exceeding all that is his communication skills.”

After succeeding Jim Harrick as Pepperdine’s coach in 1988, Asbury guided the Waves to a 125-59 mark in six seasons. He has led the team to three NCAA tournaments berths.

Last season, the Waves were 19-11 and took Michigan to overtime before losing in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

“I think I’m getting to an age when it’s time to move on,” Asbury said. “I’ve taken this program--I don’t want to say as far as I can--to a level where we have really done well. I don’t know how much more I can do.”

Asbury was offered the Kansas State job during his visit to the school Sunday. He delayed making his decision until Tuesday because Iowa State Coach Johnny Orr is expected to announce his retirement and the Cyclones had made overtures to Asbury. When Orr did not announce his retirement Tuesday, Asbury accepted Kansas State’s offer.

“I didn’t want to make any snap decisions,” he said. “I looked at the Iowa State job, but it wasn’t really open. They said they would contact me if it (opened). It’s been a slow year in the West for good jobs.”

Asbury, who plans to be in Manhattan on Thursday for a news conference, was an assistant at Pepperdine for nine seasons before replacing Harrick.

Since he became head coach, Asbury has weighed coaching offers from Wichita State, Colorado State, Montana State and San Diego State.

Under Asbury, the Waves won 20 or more games four times and never finished worse than second in the West Coast Conference.

“We are very happy for Tom to be accepting this position,” said Wayne Wright, Pepperdine’s athletic director. “Tom is at a stage of his career where he was either going to be here another 15 years and then retire, or move on. This one job came on and provided such a challenge that he had to take it.”

Kansas State had also offered the job to Tubby Smith, whose Tulsa team upset UCLA in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Smith rejected that offer last Friday and is expected to replace Billy Tubbs at Oklahoma.

Asbury suffered his biggest loss before the season started. His daughter, Stacey, died of complications from an eating disorder in September.

“It was a tough year. Boy, it was really a tough year,” Asbury said. “I’m tired, but it doesn’t take long to re-juice.”

Under Altman, Kansas State had a 63-42 record in five seasons, including a 20-14 overall mark and a fourth-place finish in the National Invitation Tournament last season. The Wildcats, however, were 4-10 in the Big Eight and Altman was criticized for using a deliberate offense and for playing a weak nonconference schedule.

Asbury plans to pick up the pace.

“Obviously, we need to recruit good players, play up-tempo style and try to get people back into the seats,” he said. “They don’t have great personnel coming back. That’s the only downside of the program.”

Wright said Steve Aggers, Asbury’s top assistant, will be given top consideration for the Wave job.

Asbury said there were no advantages to recruiting for a university near the beach.

“It’s hard to recruit anywhere,” he said. “The fact that Pepperdine is near the beach is way overrated. Kids don’t care about the beach. They want to play for a winning program.”

Tom Asbury at Pepperdine

Season Overall Pct. WCC Pct. Fin. Postseason 1988-89 20-13 .606 10-4 .714 T-2nd NIT 1989-90 17-11 .607 10-4 .714 2nd -- 1990-91 22-9 .710 13-1 .929 1st NCAA 1991-92 24-7 .774 14-0 1.000 1st NCAA 1992-93 23-8 .742 11-3 .786 1st NIT 1993-94 19-11 .633 8-6 .571 T-2nd NCAA Totals 125-59 .679 66-18 .786