Yeah…I Said It (Commentary)
Keener leaves program optimistically
Posted on March 8, 2008
RICHMOND - Friday night’s 73-55 loss to Northeastern in the first round of the 2008 Colonial Athletic Association tournament will be remembered as Dean Keener’s last game as the JMU men’s basketball coach.
In a selfless move Keener deflected the attention from himself in his final press conference, electing instead to praise his team and reiterate his feelings that the program is moving in the right direction.
“I’m just disappointed that we lost,” Keener said. “I’m not necessarily thinking [ahead]. I don’t have a terminal disease. Life’s good. I’ve got a great family and two healthy kids I’ll be able to spend some time with when I decompress a little bit in the next week or two.
“We didn’t accomplish everything we wanted to but [as a] staff we can walk out of here knowing that the program is better than it was when we took over.”
Keener added that the program didn’t get where he wanted it to be, but that a “foundation” has been set for the next coach.
His 31-85 record over the last four years doesn’t spell out progress, but Keener was able to attract higher quality players including transfers from the Big 12 (sophomore Dazzmond Thornton transferred from Texas Tech) and the Atlantic 10 (junior Abdulai Jalloh from St. Joseph’s).
JMU was also able to attract players on a wider geographic scale. Thornton and sophomore Pierre Curtis played high school basketball in Denver and Jalloh and senior Terrance Carter hail from Maryland. Juniors Juwann James and Kyle Swanston arrived in Keener’s second season from Florida – part of a Southeast region he was familiar with after being an assistant with Georgia Tech for four seasons prior to JMU.
Whether or not the school’s name has really been spread is yet to be seen and whether or not the next coach would look to expand on any of those areas is also in limbo.
James wasn’t ready to look forward to any changes just yet as he reminisced about his only college coach to date.
“I mean that’s like losing a family member,” James said. “He’s been my coach for three years. He’s the guy who recruited me and taught me what it was to be a young man, a student and also an athlete. I mean that’s like losing a father figure.”
The team has had over two weeks to begin coping with the loss of the “father figure” since Keener resigned on Feb. 22. His players responded by going 2-2 and fighting for their coach.
JMU’s next coach will have to make a strong impression to match the connection veterans like James had with Keener.
“They’ve had blind faith in a program that hasn’t won a lot,” Keener said. “And we’ve had faith in them.”
It seems the key to the current JMU roster having faith in its next coach depends on its faith in the school to find a legitimate and proven coach.
If history is remotely indicative of the future, athletic director Jeff Bourne should consider taking his time and consulting with a lot of people, including the players.
He might also not want to choose a guy based on his former JMU ties.
