Jilted Ventura Finds New Man

Describing the opportunity as “a perfect fit,” Glen Hefferman, former coach at Columbia College in Sonora, Calif., on Thursday was selected to replace Jim Keating as men’s basketball coach at Ventura College.

Hefferman said emphatically he is here to stay.

“I want [the players] to know that I am here and I am going to be here,” Hefferman said at a press conference on campus. “I’d have preferred the circumstances to be different, but anything good does not come easily.

“When a good job is open, you have to go for it.”

Hefferman, 31, who compiled a 23-10 record in one season at Columbia, will try to provide permanence for a program rich in past success but shrouded recently in instability.

Keating, former men’s coach at Shasta College in Redding, Calif., was hired as Ventura coach July 2. After several days spent in seclusion amid rumors that he was having second thoughts, Keating announced Wednesday he had decided to remain at the Northern California school as a physical education instructor.

Returning to a list of 38 candidates, administrators quickly selected Hefferman, a two-time applicant who was among a handful of finalists when Keating was hired.

Hefferman, who will teach physical education, was hired on an emergency basis, pending approval by the Ventura County Community College District board Sept. 9. Ventura Athletic Director Dick James described the process as “a formality.”

“We are extremely lucky to have a man of his quality accept our position on such short notice,” James said. “We have a leader who wants to be here and we’re thrilled to have him.”

Had another day passed, Hefferman said, he might have remained at Columbia.

When contacted by James on Wednesday, Hefferman was in Modesto, searching for an apartment and planning to reunite his family.

During the summer, Hefferman returned to his native Chicago, where his wife, Linda, was studying nursing and living with the couple’s three children during the past year.

Linda Hefferman was preparing to transfer to Modesto Junior College, and Hefferman was arranging to move the family to the area. The sudden change of events, Hefferman said, worked out perfectly. His wife will enroll in Ventura’s nursing program.

“I still have all my stuff packed away in a U-Haul,” Hefferman said. “I’ve been on the road for days.”

Hefferman, formerly an assistant at Central Michigan, guided Columbia to second place in the Central Valley Conference. It was his first season as head coach at the college level.

Among his first tasks at Ventura will be calming a turbulent environment.

Keating was scheduled to replace Virgil Watson, whose contract was not renewed after the past school year because of what the school deemed as teaching deficiencies.

Watson led the Pirates to a 60-9 record in two seasons, including a state championship in 1996. But his dismissal was opposed by many players and campus employees.

In an apparent reaction to Watson’s firing, several players transferred or stated they were planning to play elsewhere next season. On Thursday, Hefferman addressed reports that Keating was threatened by a faculty member while visiting Ventura in July.

“If the posse is after me, we’ll circle our wagons,” Hefferman said.

On Wednesday, Keating would not confirm the incident occurred. He said his decision to remain at Shasta was based on his family’s desire to remain in Redding.

Regardless, James conceded that the Pirates’ new coach is likely to encounter hostility.

“I just think it’s going to take some time for the wounds to heal,” Hefferman said. “We have good kids and good students, and if we put a quality product on the floor, the community will come out and see the kids. They’re not here to see me.”