BYU basketball coach Steve Cleveland sees himself carrying a banner of sorts on behalf of junior college coaches every-where.
Gone are the days when JC coaches were the first candidates considered to fill Div. I openings. But those days are not lost on Cleveland, who points to Lute Olsen, Jerry Tarkanian and Denny Crum as examples of JC coaches some 15 to 20 years ago who successfully stepped up to the next level and established powerhouse programs."I can name 10 of them that are all pretty prominent names," said Cleveland, who was hired by BYU last March from Fresno (Calif.) City College.
The progression from JC to Div. I was "the traditional cycle" back then, said the first-year Cougar coach. "Now the cycle is that we're drawing from within, from Div. I assistants."
In the shadow of Tarkanian's Fresno State program, Cleveland compiled a 156-72 win-loss record (.672 percentage), and his Ram teams made the playoffs in each of his seven seasons.
Cleveland realizes his hiring at BYU was unique. The university made its choice from a small pool of coaching candidates who are LDS Church members. But he hasn't forgotten his community-college roots and his counterparts at that level.
"I feel a real responsibility for doing the very best I can because I know those people," he said. "I know what they're going through and I know they can coach."
HEADY COMPANY: As a head coach in the Western Athletic Conference, Cleveland finds himself catching his breath every now and again when he considers the company he's in - Majerus, Tarkanian, Haskins, Bliss, et al.
"These are men who I have been watching coach for the last five to 10 years, who I have the deepest respect for and whose practices I have actually attended," he said.
"The WAC is getting its due - you look at the coaches here, and I think it gives the conference instant credibility."
GENDER GAP: BYU women's basketball coach Trent Shippen knows the nuances of both the men's and women's games. He played at Ricks College and Colorado State in the late 1980s, and before arriving in Provo this year, he coached both the men's and women's teams at Ricks - at the same time.
At CSU, Shippen helped the Rams to a third-place finish in the NIT Tournament, where he set the Madison Square Garden single-game record with six three-pointers. During his senior season, CSU won the WAC title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament's second round.
Shippen spent the past three seasons as the women's coach at Ricks and compiled a 71-26 record and a .732 winning percentage. He was an assistant coach for the men's team for three years, with the two positions overlapping for two seasons (1994-95 and 1995-96).
There are the obvious differences between coaching the men's and women's games. "Obviously, you can't be in the locker room," quips Shippen, who adds that his coaching style is consistent no matter the gender.
"The biggest difference is athleticism," he said. "It's a quicker game, getting up and down the floor, the height of the jump. The fundamentals - the shooting, the passing are the same . . . .
"There's definitely a different type of emotion," Shippen added. "Sometimes they (the women) can get a little bit more emotional than the guys. The positive feedback is important for both the women and the guys, but it needs to be a little more delicate (with the women)."