Search the Community

The days of Texas State trying to play racehorse basketball with a program thats not prestigious enough to recruit thoroughbreds are done. Danny Kaspar will see to it. In the process, he might see to something else. Winning. Thats the hope for Texas State basketball fans, who have witnessed but one winning mens basketball team in the 21st century, and that was more than 10 years ago. One of the reasons is, of course, Danny Kaspar, who bedeviled them for years as the head coach at Stephen F. Austin (SFA) before accepting Texas States offer in April to bring some of that to San Marcos, rather than against it. At SFA, Kaspar was 19-3 against Texas State. I get so sick of watching him beat us all the time, Texas State athletic director Larry Teis said. I didnt like him when he was at SFA, but I love him now that he is at Texas State, said a Texas State basketball coaching legend, Vernon McDonald. The guy can flat out coach. And anyone who watched that first-round National Invitational Tournament (NIT) game between SFA and Stanford this year heard all about Kaspar from color commentator Bill Walton, who went so far as to say Kasper is saving the game of basketball. More Walton on SFA from that game: You look at their defensive footwork. They close out. They dont gamble. They work together. This isnt a physically dominating team. But they play with heart. They play with their brain. They have passion. They have a tremendous vision and plan. They got a brilliant leader over there. This is a most interesting team here. Very interesting, because Kaspar doesnt play a game of basketball thats designed to pack houses. But it is designed to win. Maybe that will pack Strahan Coliseum, which seats 7,200 about 5,500 of which are empty at an average home game for the Bobcats, who represent a university with more than 30,000 students. Kaspar has been a head basketball coach at the collegiate level for 22 years. His record is 465-193. This year, SFA finished 27-5 and went to the NIT. That might start filling a few of those seats. In the last six years at SFA, Kaspar won 138 games, more than any other college basketball coach in Texas. In his last 12 years at SFA, Kaspars teams won 237 games, more than any other program in the state, except for the University of Texas. Lots of references to Texas here. Thats another thing about Kaspar. Hes a Texas guy, through and through. All of the Texas basketball people know him. During the universitys hiring process, Teis received a call from Gregg Popovich, the championship San Antonio Spurs coach. He recommended Kaspar. Case closed right, there, perhaps, but there was more. High school coaches from around the state sang his praises. Another good sign, because Kaspar really likes the local kid. And he likes him a certain way, which isnt a way that excites most NCAA Division I coaches. Ive told my assistant coaches, Find me high-character, low-maintenance people with reasonably good skill level and reasonably good athletic level with high basketball IQ who are coachable, Kaspar said. I want a well rounded player. I want a player who respects his coaches and respects his parents. If a kid doesnt respect his parents, hes not going to respect me. Nothing there about running up and down the floor, jump shooting prowess or mad basketball skills. Nothing about making connections at the shoe camps. Everything there about kids who can be taught the game. If I was at Kentucky and I got four McDonalds All-Americans, I might change my philosophy, Kaspar said. And thats kind of the point. Two points, really. Texas State is no place for thoroughbreds, because it isnt Kentucky. And he doesnt need to change his philosophy, because it works. One more point, an important point. In the basketball world, Texas State not only isnt Kentucky, but it isnt even Texas. Thats just reality apprehension. In the tough world of college basketball, reality apprehension counts. And heres reality. Great athletes merely should win. Hard workers will. And Kasper knows where to find those. Hes been around them all of his life. Take out a map and look at Texas. Then look over to Louisiana on the right, then up to a bit of Arkansas, then back over to the left you see Oklahoma, then drop back down into Texas. Thats where Kaspar said he expects to find them. They can be found, for example, in San Antonio, which is where the Bobcats found Jeff Foster once upon a time. Foster went on to a 13-year career in the NBA after leading the Bobcats to two Southland Conference regular season titles, one league tournament championship and an NCAA Tournament bid during a collegiate career that ended in 1999. That was 1999, a long time ago. Texas State hasnt seen his like, or teams anything like that, anytime since. Where have you gone, Jeff Foster? Turns out, Kaspar said, that theyre still around. I dont think we can beat Texas or Baylor for a kid, Kaspar said. We have to be like a good stock picker. We have to find kids early and get good value. I really believe the Austin and San Antonio areas, in many ways, are overlooked. You look at that (Texas State) team with Jeff Foster. They had three players from San Antonio who helped them win. We should not have to travel far to find those recruits. We have too many people on our team from all over the country, and I dont understand that. Instead of trying to imitate Kentucky, recruiting nationally, trying to bring in players who would go to Kentucky if they really could horse race up and down the court, Texas State under Kaspar stands to be what it is. A program that can win with solid teams built through time, rather than one-and-done NBA wannabes. Kaspars SFA team led the nation in scoring defense not scoring at 51.2 points per game this past season. In 2010-11, SFA led the nation in scoring defense at 56.7 points per game. The season in between, SFA ranked third at 54.4 points per game. Thats not racehorse players. Thats grinders who sit down and guard people. By the way, SFA and Kentucky went the same distance this year. First round of the NIT. You have to get a well-rounded person now in order to build a great program, Kaspar said. You have to get a great young man who is a hard worker who will let himself get coached and challenged. Many times, high school kids are pampered and spoiled at the high school level. I dont want that kid. Read more: