Coach Won’t See Promised Land

Pete Cassidy, coach of the Cal State Northridge men’s basketball team for a quarter of a century, was told on Wednesday that his contract will not be renewed.

Interim Athletic Director Paul Bubb said Cassidy is not the man to lead the Matadors into an important few seasons, when the team will have increased funding and move into a legitimate Division I conference for the first time.

“I think the time was right for a change,” Bubb said. “Going into a new conference and having some added resources available, it just seems the time was right if we were going to make a change. . . .

“I’m not sure, given the resources that the program is going to have, that Pete is the one who could make the next move, take us to the next level. I think it’s a three- to five-year process.”

Though Cassidy’s departure has been rumored for months, the final announcement came as a shock to Northridge basketball players, assistant coaches and Cassidy himself.

Cassidy took the news very hard. Reached at home Wednesday evening, he choked up and would only say: “I can’t talk, not tonight.”

Many Northridge basketball observers lined up to sing Cassidy’s praises, including John Wooden, a friend.

“He’s a quality person, the type we need more of in the coaching profession,” the legendary former UCLA coach said. “He’s had no backing, yet his teams played quality basketball. They just didn’t have the players you need for the top level.”

Cassidy’s 25th season at Northridge ended less than two weeks ago. He was excited about recruiting with additional scholarships that could make the program competitive in Division I.

Northridge, which has struggled since moving to Division I in 1990, will get a scholarship hike from 10 to 12 and join the Big Sky Conference.

In the days before Cassidy was fired, there were campus meetings in which developers unveiled their plans for a potential new basketball arena on the North Campus property.

Things seemed to be turning around, but they will do so without Cassidy.

“I think if we are going to attract not only players but fans, we need a change,” Bubb said.

Bubb said applications for the position will be accepted for four to six weeks, and a coach will be hired by mid-April, shortly after a permanent athletic director is selected.

Bubb has been interim athletic director since Bob Hiegert was fired last summer, but he is one of three candidates for the permanent position, Ron Kopita, Northridge vice president in charge of student affairs, said Wednesday.

Bubb said he and Kopita considered letting Cassidy’s situation go until after the new athletic director is hired, but they didn’t want recruits to sign with Cassidy without knowing if he would be back. The NCAA spring signing period begins April 10.

“I want someone that has a burning desire to be successful,” Bubb said. “Almost an undying drive to get the job done here. Whoever comes in here has to understand what Cal State Northridge is like, what it’s like to be at a program that doesn’t have all the amenities the others have, and how you can get the type of players you need to be successful.”

Among those rumored to be candidates for the job are Bobby Castagna, a UC Santa Barbara assistant who played at Northridge in the early 1970s; Bob Braswell, an Oregon assistant who formerly coached at Cleveland High; Mike Miller, coach at Los Angeles City College; Jack Fertig, a former USC assistant who is an administrative assistant at Fresno State, and Marty Wilson, Pepperdine’s interim coach last season and a graduate of Simi Valley High.

Assistants Mike Johnson and Tom McCollum, whose status will be determined by the new coach, have been asked to continue recruiting.

“I’ve got to do my job,” said Johnson, who just completed a nine-day recruiting trip. “We need a big man. I’m not going to let the kids down and I’m not going to let [Cassidy] down for that matter.”

Though Cassidy’s career at Northridge ended with disappointment--the Matadors finished 7-20 this season--it was otherwise filled with accomplishment.

He compiled an overall record of 334-337, including four California Collegiate Athletic Assn. titles. In Division II, Northridge was 282-225 under Cassidy.

Cassidy’s 25 consecutive seasons at the same school ranked him sixth among active Division I coaches at the start of the season.

He trailed only James Phelan (Mt. St. Mary’s, 42 seasons), Don Haskins (Texas El Paso, 35), Dean Smith (North Carolina, 35), Pete Carril (Princeton, 29) and Norm Stewart (Missouri, 29).

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Contributing: Mike Hiserman.