Photo by: David Lorish
It is a move that you should put down in DU history. Bold it, italicize it and you should go ahead and highlight it.
Athletic Director Peg Bradley-Doppes hiring men’s basketball coach Joe Scott from Princeton on March 21 has turned out to be one of her finest decisions.
And on Sunday he quietly earned career coaching victory No. 100.
There were no balloons or confetti or ESPN mention or headlines in the local papers, but a humble Scott guiding his Pioneers to an unprecedented season.
Sure it is nowhere close to the 902 wins that former Head Coach Bob Knight retired with, but with this season’s conditions the 11 wins are more than impressive.
“Impressive isn’t a very good word to use. It is very inspiring to see how he and his coaching staff have worked and convinced that young group of basketball players to believe in what they’re doing,” commented hockey Head Coach George Gwozdecky.
It was just one year ago when the Pioneers found themselves without a head coach and nowhere close to a winning way. DU finished last season an embarrassing 4-25 after four consecutive winning seasons and what looked like a positive direction for the DU basketball program.
That positive direction has been restored as Scott has the Pioneers off to a more than impressive 11-12 start to the season and 7-5 mark in conference, good for a first-place tie in the West Division.
Scott has not just directed this team to seven more wins than they had all of last season, but has done it with limited personnel. Sophomore Tyler Bullock, last season’s second-leading scorer left the team after just six games. Senior David Kummer suffered his third injury in five seasons at DU during the 16th game of the season and the Denver rotation which was at eight strong at the beginning of the season was and is down to six.
Of those six, three are freshmen and just one a senior and one is a walk-on.
Try being a Division One college coach and winning with a six-man rotation and literally having only one other player to call upon. It is no easy task.
Scott has done better than what most expected.
“I don’t think anybody outside of the program gave them a hope in hell once those two guys were out of the lineup,” said Gwozdecky.
Taking over a 4-25 program and then have to recruit after all the major athletes have already signed and then have to install a brand new offense and then on top of that have to build a fan base is no easy task. That is what Scott has done since being hired.
His recruiting has led to three starters. His system, better known as the Princeton offense, has back-cutted the heck out of opponents. The attendance is already 4,000 more than all of last season, with two home games remaining.
By the way, the Princeton offense is no easy lesson to learn, just ask any player on the team, that is if they can still hear.
Win No. 1 came during Scott’s first game as a head coach with Air Force against Houston, No. 3 a 51-49 victory against Denver, No. 25 during his third season as head coach over Navy and No. 50 a 61-49 decision over San Diego State.
“I knew I was sitting around there, but I stopped keeping track as the games become more important,” said Scott to the Associated Press after the game.
What is important for the Pioneers is that for the first time in a couple seasons DU has momentum.
This is due to the leadership and dedication of Scott and his staff.
It is a long shot that DU will make the NCAA tournament, but the Pioneers are not a long time away from it.
Denver may not have a huge student section or fan base now, but as the winning continues and the Princeton style intrigues, the seats will fill.
Bradley-Doppes has done more than just bring in a new basketball head coach, she has delivered a message to the DU community that basketball is here and here to stay.
