Tough Choices for Season’s Best Coach, Player

Larry Eustachy has a problem. Actually, it’s the compound type.

And Eustachy, Utah State’s coach, hasn’t blown some minor situation out of proportion. He has a real dilemma.

His task is this: Eustachy must choose between friends. Even worse, he also has to pick between his friends’ best players.

Big West Conference coaches select the conference’s coaches and players of the year. Winners of the men’s and women’s awards will be announced today.

Rod Baker and Seth Greenberg, coaches at UC Irvine and Long Beach State, respectively, are the leading candidates for the men’s coach of the year award and are Eustachy’s pals. In fact, Baker and Greenberg are Eustachy’s closest friends in the conference.

“I think I’m going to have to get a quarter,” Eustachy joked.

Voting for player of the year won’t be much easier. Senior point guards Raimonds Miglinieks of Irvine and Rasul Salahuddin of Long Beach are the favorites.

“Both of those guys mean a lot to their teams,” Eustachy said. “Hands down, they’re the best in the conference.”

Baker and Greenberg have impressive credentials. Baker guided the Anteaters to regular-season records of 15-11 overall and 11-7 in the Big West.

Irvine and Pacific tied for second, and Irvine will be seeded second in the conference tournament (Friday through Sunday at Reno) based on tiebreakers. Losses in its final regular-season games, against San Jose State and Pacific, denied Irvine the first conference title in school history.

Still, this has been a season for celebration at Irvine. The Anteaters’ records are their best since the 1985-86 season, when they were 17-13 and finished second in the conference at 12-6.

This is the first season the Anteaters have had an overall or conference winning record in Baker’s five-year tenure. Last season, the Anteaters were 13-16, 6-12.

“It’s rewarding to be in this position,” Baker said. “We’ve really tried to do this the right way, to take into account the student and the athlete. We got better last year, and this is just the next step.”

Baker is Greenberg’s choice.

“Rod to me is coach of the year--without a doubt,” he said.

Greenberg guided the 49ers (17-10, 12-6) to their first regular-season championship since the 1976-77 season. It was the 49ers’ first outright title since the 1974-75 season. The 49ers, seeded first in the conference tournament, won their final two games.

“This is something that is really special,” Greenberg said. “This hasn’t been done at Long Beach State in a long time.”

Baker feels good to have Greenberg’s support, but said he isn’t consumed with winning.

“It’s flattering any time your peers think well of you,” Baker said. “From the first moment I got in this [conference], I’ve always thought there were some really, really fine coaches here.”

So, who gets Eustachy’s vote?

“I think Seth has done a hell of a job, but so has Rod,” said Eustachy, who won the award last season. “We all have degrees of friendship in this league, best friends all the way down to another guy you don’t like, so sometimes you don’t get a true picture in this voting because a lot of egos are involved.

“But these are two of my favorite guys. I really don’t know. Maybe I’ll go with co-coaches.”

And player of the year?

“I think it’s Raimonds for sure,” Eustachy said. “Salahuddin is great, but so is [49er guard James] Cotton.

“Where would Irvine be without Raimonds? He really makes that whole team go. He’s just special.”

Miglinieks averages 13.7 points and leads the nation in assists at 8.6. He is the Anteaters’ all-time assists leader with 468.

“From my standpoint, watching the guy every day, he’s our most valuable player,” Baker said. “The fact is, he makes it easier for us.

“When we really have needed big baskets this year, Raimonds has made the big shots.”

Salahuddin averages 13.3 points and is third in the Big West in assists at 5.1. He leads the conference in steals with 97 and is fourth in the nation, averaging 3.6.

He has an opportunity to break the conference’s records for steals in a season and steals per game. Greg Anthony had 106 steals in 39 games for Nevada Las Vegas in 1990. Jay Goodman averaged 3.8 steals for Utah State in 1993.

“Rasul deserves to be player of the year,” Greenberg said. “He’s such a great on-ball defender, and he really held us together down the stretch when we had injuries. He made so many big plays for us.”

However, those mind-boggling passes by Miglinieks leave a lasting impression.

“It’s a tough decision,” Eustachy said, “but I think it’s Raimonds.”