Higher Calling

Long before star-69, 8-year-old Penny Johnson would call 8-year-old Bobby Braswell on the telephone.

Bobby would answer. Penny would hang up.

“She had a crush on me,” Braswell, the Cal State Northridge basketball coach, says fondly of his wife of 16 years. “I can’t blame her.”

A romance finally blossomed in high school. They rode the bus together to Cleveland High from their homes in Los Angeles. Penny’s mother had recently died and Braswell offered comfort.

“He was kind,” Penny recalled. “He’d call me and we’d talk. He was always very focused, very spiritual. Always very concerned with doing things right.”

Anyone who has drawn Braswell’s ire--on or off the court--might not use the word “kind.” But anyone who knows Braswell understands his devotion runs deep for God, family, basketball and discipline.

As for his devotion to Northridge--the alma mater he has guided to the brink of its first NCAA tournament appearance--it soon figures to be tested by other college job offers.

“It’s flattering when people are interested in you, but you have to keep that in perspective,” Braswell said. “I can’t stop the phone calls. I’ve had people call and I’ve had people ask. There’s a lot of money [to be earned] out there in different places. But my family is happy here, and being happy is the most important thing to me.”

A joyous season continues tonight, when Northridge (20-9) plays Weber State (15-13) in a Big Sky Conference tournament semifinal at Northridge. The Matadors can advance to the NCAA tournament by winning the Big Sky tournament final Saturday night at the Matadome.

It has been a breakthrough season for Northridge. The long-unheralded program has blossomed in its fifth season under Braswell, 38, the son of an Army sergeant whose spit-and-polish approach and up-tempo attack have molded the Matadors into a tough opponent for anyone.

Northridge’s 78-74 victory over UCLA on Nov. 21 at Pauley Pavilion rocked college basketball. And the Matadors didn’t fare badly in a 99-90 loss to USC on Dec. 5.

But the Matadors at the Big Dance? Many believe they don’t stand a chance.

“That’s what you think,” Braswell said.

Braswell led another alma mater, Cleveland High, to two City Section finals and a 79-16 record in four seasons from 1985-89. He became a head coach and a husband the same year, taking on both responsibilities at 23.

The first of his three children, Jeffrey, now 14, was born while he was at Cleveland. Braswell has another son, Christopher, and daughter, Kyndal.

“He’s always seemed older than he is,” said Penny, who admits initially being intimidated by Bobby’s confidence. “He knew that he wanted to go into coaching.”

Just as the Matadors have become too big for the 1,600-seat Matadome, their coach appears to have outgrown his role. Considered a shooting star, Braswell is certain to be courted by other schools after the season.

Will he stay or will he go?

Mike Johnson, Braswell’s top assistant, says Braswell is happy at Northridge and probably will be back next year.

“But if somebody makes you an offer you can’t refuse, you can’t refuse it,” Johnson said.

Braswell insists he isn’t looking for a job, but that won’t stop schools from pursuing him.

A former assistant at Oregon and Long Beach State, Braswell has been a candidate for other jobs the last two seasons. He was a finalist at Oregon State last year, losing out to former Colorado State coach Ritchie McKay. He has also been a candidate at Washington State and Long Beach State, where he was an assistant from 1989-91.

Last season, Cal State Fullerton contacted Northridge about Braswell.

“After the NCAA tournament, there will be a lot of coaching vacancies across the country,” said Dick Dull, Northridge athletic director. “I imagine Bobby Braswell will be on a lot of people’s short list.

“He is an extraordinary basketball coach. We’re going to be out to keep him. But I realize if Duke, North Carolina or UCLA come calling, we wouldn’t be able to match that kind of financial package.”

It is conceivable Braswell someday will leave. Surely, he can aim only so high at financially strapped Northridge. There are greater challenges.

Some might say his task at Northridge is finished, or soon will be. Braswell believes it has just begun.

“The best is yet to come,” has been Braswell’s catch phrase this season.

He also consistently mentions God.

Braswell begins postgame interviews with a brief expression of his faith. The night Northridge defeated Eastern Washington and clinched the Big Sky regular-season title, Braswell read a piece of scripture tucked in his pocket.

Braswell won’t turn a deaf ear to job offers. But any decision to leave Northridge would be a difficult one.

“Understand this,” he said. “Right now, my heart and soul is 100% committed to Cal State Northridge. I don’t have my mind on checking out other jobs. I’ve always felt, because of my faith and my belief, that this is where God wants me to be and that this is going to work out.”

Braswell signed a contract extension last summer, a four-year agreement that pays him $100,116 this season. Northridge will move next season to the Big West Conference, a move applauded by most, including Braswell.

Administrators wish to elevate the school’s athletic profile and Braswell has done his part. But dreams of new stadiums and arenas at Northridge have amounted to no more than that.

The best may be yet to come, but a new basketball arena is years away. Braswell realizes as much. But that’s part of the challenge.

“I’ve always dreamed about this place being the place I wanted to coach,” Braswell said. “I’ve always felt that this Valley, if you give them a great product, give them something to cheer about, the people out here will come out and support it.”

He has assembled a quality product on the floor. Solid recruiting from the first day has built a team stocked with seniors that finished first in the Big Sky by two games.

Playing for Braswell is the players’ challenge.

“He demands a lot of you,” guard Markus Carr said. “A lot on the floor and in life. He wants you to keep working hard, no matter what.”

Attend a Northridge home game and immediately you’re drawn to Braswell, whose booming commands rise above the din. The needle jumps into the red at tip-off and there’s no letting up until the final buzzer.

“Coach is very focused about doing his job and worrying about this team,” Johnson said.

During a game last week at Portland State, two nights after the Matadors clinched first place, Braswell erupted at officials when center Brian Heinle slipped and fell.

“Can we get the floor swept?”

Disappoint Braswell and risk a tongue-lashing.

“He wants things done the right way,” Heinle said. “And if they aren’t, he’s going to make sure next time they are.”

One might assume Braswell learned to bark orders from his father, James, who died in 1996, one day before Braswell earned his first victory at Northridge.

More than fire, Braswell said, he inherited a sense of integrity and devotion.

“He was a very caring and tender man,” Braswell said. “But he would hold you accountable.”

Braswell does the same with players. Each is given a student-athlete handbook, spelling out rules and emphasizing integrity, respect and humility.

“These players know when they come in that there are going to be demands placed on them,” Braswell said. “They know they’re going to be challenged.”

What’s it like to be chewed out by Braswell?

“It’s different,” Carr said. “When I first got here, I wasn’t used to that. He can go on and on and on.”

From Heinle, the Big Sky’s scoring leader and most valuable player, to team manager David Cory, who recently caught you-know-what because he was too slow providing a chair for Braswell during a timeout, the coach demands accountability.

“Everyone gets called to task,” Johnson said. “I got it the first day he was here and I didn’t even do anything.

“Coach is very focused. You gotta do your job. We do things very organized and are very routine. If anything gets in the way of that, it’s an issue.”

When bearded forward Jeff Parris challenged team grooming standards, Braswell banned him from media day and the team photograph. Guard Marco McCain drew a one-game suspension for violating team academic rules.

Carr got the boot from practice by Braswell after kicking a ball in frustration.

Guard Carl Holmes, Braswell’s nephew, doesn’t get off easy. In fact, the opposite might be true.

“It’s hard, especially in my position, being his nephew,” Holmes said. “My freshman year, he was on me and Brian a lot. As time goes on, you get used to it, but back then I was like, ‘Man, I’m tired of him being on me.’ ”

Suffice to say, Braswell keeps you on your toes.

Penny’s two cents?

“He’s intense,” she said.

Braswell knows he pushes hard. That’s his approach.

“I believe it is my job to push these guys past their comfort level,” he said. “If they’re not pushed, if they don’t learn to push themselves past that level of comfort, they’re never going to be able to achieve the things they are capable of achieving.

“I’m very calculated about what I say and how I say it. Some guys have to be pushed a certain way. Some guys, their manhood has to be challenged for them to step up. But, ultimately, when we walk off the floor, these players know that whatever I said, whatever has gone on, it’s over.”

Off the court, Braswell welcomes players into his office, his home and his life.

Strong bonds remain between Braswell and former players. Lucious Harris, who played for Braswell at Cleveland and Long Beach, and former Long Beach standout Byron Russell of the Utah Jazz were instrumental in helping fund a renovation of the Matadors’ locker room this season.

“These young men mean a lot to him,” Penny said. “Preparing them for life and stressing character. They are like family.”

When Holmes was 14, the Braswells became his legal guardians. Holmes joined the family shortly after Braswell was hired as an assistant at Oregon.

Holmes, a 6-2 shooting guard, and Heinle were high school standouts and have proven to be among Braswell’s best recruits. Holmes has been more.

“He’s been a blessing,” Penny said. “He just kind of touched us.”

Holmes, recently married, still pitches in at the Braswell home, tutoring the couple’s sons in algebra.

“I love playing for him,” Holmes said. “Even when he gets on us, we know he loves us. A lot of Division I coaches are just out to get the wins and the rings and the national championship. But I know he’s not about contracts or big programs. He’s about his family and the Lord.”

Penny said she is willing to move anywhere Bobby might decide to answer the call.

And about those hang-up phone calls to Bobby, she would like to set the record straight.

“I only did that once,” she said, albeit a bit bashfully. “Get that straight.”

Her husband would settle for no less.