Huse's Tenure (A typically poorly written Mslacat novel)

[mslacat]

I have been asked many times, over the past 12 months my opinion(s) on the state of the Montana State basketball program. I have bit my tongue most of times and have chosen not to comment except to about a handful of folks out there. Kind of taking a cue from good ole Thumper “If you can’t say anything nice don’t say anything at all”. This is why I have been pretty quiet the past 12 months. I also felt some loyalty to the current roster of Bobcat players who I do think are both talented and great examples of what I like to see representing the Blue and Gold. I felt any comments made during the season could be taken as a slight towards them, so I chose to wait until the season concluded to speak my mind.

This is position I have not been in, in over 33 years of religiously following Montana State Basketball. I did not want did not want Starner to leave. I was not one of the faithful calling for Durham to leave, quite or be fired I wanted him back. Today, though, I have absolutely no confidence in the current state of the program as far as it’s on the court performance is concern. I have for the most part held my tongue because I knew Peter Fields would not do anything as long as there was another year left on Huse’s contract. Huse’s contract though is now almost completed, but to be honest I am not sure even now Fields will do anything.

Huse is very well respected and liked with-in the athletic department. I have also had many opportunities to talk and email back and forth with Huse on a regular basis for almost his entire tenure at MSU. I am a member of the 6th Man Club and Fast Break Club. I have friends who have been intimately involved with the athletic department, and I have been friends with parents of MSU basketball players. So my opinions are guided hopefully with a little insight, but yet they are simply my opinions and should be treated as such.

In one area Huse has been wildly successful. When he took over the program it was in bad shape off the court and academically, thanks to the Brandon Miller fiscal. Huse had to clean house and this killed MSU’s NCAA APR rating (Durham did not help him any either in this matter). MSU’s APR was so bad, that we were the first Big Sky basketball to be punished by the NCAA for low APR performance. Huse rebuilt MSU’s APR from scratch to such a degree that MSU Men’s Basketball for the past 3 years (possibly longer) has had the highest APR score and graduation rate among ALL Big Sky schools. Huse, Fields and the 6th Man Club set up a couple programs that many other programs at MSU have since copied. The Athletic Department and 6th man Club pays for summer classes for basketball players so they can pick up additional credits and it also pays for an additional year of schooling, if needed, for an athlete after they have used up their athletic eligibility. All of this is to ensure that MSU basketball players have every opportunity to graduate with a degree. Brad is, also, a first class person and one of the most strait-shooters as I have ever met. Brad has run a clean program that stresses accountability, academics and community involvement. These accomplishment have won Huse a lot of favor with-in the athletic department, university and with some boosters like myself who value these accomplishments

In one conversation I had with Huse a few years back where the topic was his relationship with the players I blurted out the term “taskmaster” to described him. Huse lit up with a big smile and said “yea, I like that, I like that a lot”. I understand he has used that term a few times since. This though is also is an area where he has not been as successful and that has been building constructive meaningful relationships with his players. Some coaches have an open door policy towards players to deal with any question or problem. The main complaint I have heard from players and parents over and over the in past is Brad’s inaccessibility. His door is shut. It is locked and the key is lost. This is especially true once the season starts. I have heard all sorts of stories of players struggling with one matter or another and not getting the help from Brad they would have hoped for. Basically it was sink or swim. Now I don’t want to make this novel any longer than I already have but let’s just say Coach Huse and Coach Binford are really cut from the same cloth in a lot of ways, but Binford while still being very demanding on her players she manages to build respect and chemistry from her players. Overall the players in Binford’s program will go down to the person to support Binford and the team. In Huse’s program it feels more like the players just want to survive the program. Any chemistry developed among the players has to generate by the players. Some years we have been lucky to have players like Bobby Howard and Eric Rush to pull it together, but most years it seems the team has been fractured into camps. This year we were blessed to have a few guys like Moon, Dison and Colbert who through pure force of character has become the chemistry of the team.

All of this in my opinion has led to fragile teams, once things started going bad it snow balls and it becomes every man for themselves. It has led to players burning out in season and it has led to players just saying F-it bailing out when the season ended. In a nutshell few players (especially high school recruits) swam, most sank.

A few other areas that have concerned me are the recruiting patterns philosophy or lack thereof. I don’t think much attention has been paid to getting the right players for the type of system Huse wants to run. Last year with Johnson, Singleton, Stewart, Blount Fall and all, we had one of the most athletic team in the conference and yet the team was plodding on offence. It was like buying a Porsche and using it to pull your horse trailer. It did not work very well. We have good very players but I am not sure they are good for what Huse wants to do. I have heard this more than once that the assistants are sent loose to find the best most talented players they can, but not enough direction is given to them as to what type of player would be the best for the program.

I also have some issues with where Huse has recruited from. Without stretching this letter longer, let’s just say if you bring someone with significant cultural adjustment issues you better support them or there not going to thrive or even stick around. Montana and Tinkle do a fantastic job of this they have developed a strong family unit starting with the coaches, to the players and down to the manager.

Now we get to the issue that bothers me the most and you need to take into consideration all that I wrote above. Many have lamented about all the JC’s players Brad has brought into the program, but I would ask what other choice has he had. High school recruits are not sticking around. If you look at the most successful Bobcats through-out his tenure by far he has had better luck with JC. We spend 10’s of thousands of dollars educating, developing basketball skills and building up their bodies for the rigors of D-1 ball only to see our high school recruits bail-out just as our investment is starting to pay off. Other schools in most cases are benefiting from that investment. Something I pointed this out on Twitter: only two players (Budinich & Davis) on this year’s team were with the team in the 2010-11 (2 years ago) and those two players are walk-ons. That year was a freshman and sophomore laden team. They have all quit, left, or were kicked off the team. Now I have listen to people come up with individual reasons for each player who left calling it bad luck. One or two is defections could be called bad luck, but when every scholarship freshman and sophomore player leaves the program that is a pattern. I am a firm believer in that you make your own luck, good or bad. How can you develop leadership, chemistry and tradition when your most experienced players are JC’s? Historically, each year it seems like we lose 3-4 players during the season and then a couple more that summer.

I am a firmly believe that we have very talented players on our current roster. I have said from the beginning of the season, that we are not quite in Weber or Montana‘s level in talent. We also had some glaring problems with the makeup of the team - lack of depth at the post comes to mind, but very talented none the less. I did feel, though, that on any given night this team could beat ANY team in the conference including Montana and Weber. In the same breath I also felt we could also self-destruct, on any given night and loose to a NAIA team. I pretty much think that is what we not only this year but the past 7. For Huse’s tenure almost all of the Bobcats teams have been fragile in chemistry and mentally. Which team we played, has been less of a factor than whether we caught them on one of our winning streaks or a losing streak because you knew we would have both in conference play. We just could never tell how long the streaks would last.

Remember though while the above does in my feeble opinion describe the seven year tenure of Huse pretty well, on the court it must be pointed out in Huse’s tenure at MSU, while he never won the” big one” but he always made the Big Sky Conference Tourney. Weber State and Montana are the only other schools that can also make that claim.

So you have to make your own mind up about Huse, I am not going to do it for you. The off the court performance of his team has been exemplary, I don’t feel any of you can argue with this fact. On the court he has had some success, but at times the product MSU has put on the floor at times left me pretty embarrassed. I lay this though firmly at Huse’s feet and not the players. Honestly, as it stands right now, if you were to add two players of Will Cherry and Kareem Jamar caliber to this team next year I would still not have the confidence that MSU would do any better than we did this year.

Moving Forward

From everything I have heard, Fields will be looking hard for reasons to keep Huse as MSU’s basketball. Will 4th place be enough? I don’t know. It has even been suggested to me that Fields WILL NOT fire Huse, but the ultimate decision will need to be forced. upon the athletic Department by President Cruzado IF she chooses to get involved. I feel pretty confident, though, that Field will not make a brash decision and it will be at least a week before the topic is addressed especially if the decision is to not renew Huse's contract.

For those wondering if Huse could be harassed or forced out. No way in heck would he quit.

Again all of this is my opinion and it is based on rumors I have heard so as such this whole post should be treated at best as second or third hand rumor and opinion.

[BozCatFan]

In one area Huse has been wildly successful. When he took over the program it was in bad shape off the court and academically, thanks to the Brandon Miller fiscal. Huse had to clean house and this killed MSU’s NCAA APR rating (Durham did not help him any either in this matter). MSU’s APR was so bad, that we were the first Big Sky basketball to be punished by the NCAA for low APR performance. Huse rebuilt MSU’s APR from scratch to such a degree that MSU Men’s Basketball for the past 3 years (possibly longer) has had the highest APR score and graduation rate among ALL Big Sky schools. Huse, Fields and the 6th Man Club set up a couple programs that many other programs at MSU have since copied. The Athletic Department and 6th man Club pays for summer classes for basketball players so they can pick up additional credits and it also pays for an additional year of schooling, if needed, for an athlete after they have used up their athletic eligibility. All of this is to ensure that MSU basketball players have every opportunity to graduate with a degree. Brad is, also, a first class person and one of the most strait-shooters as I have ever met. Brad has run a clean program that stresses accountability, academics and community involvement. These accomplishment have won Huse a lot of favor with-in the athletic department, university and with some boosters like myself who value these accomplishments

I believe this is EXACTLY why Huse has been here for 7 years and will remain here for a while. It doesn't appear that the administration is concerned about winning as much as they are in Missoula. The focus is solely on Football. There is so little interest in basketball in Bozeman that there just isn't the pressure to make any change from the fans or anywhere else.

[MSU01]

]

I believe this is EXACTLY why Huse has been here for 7 years and will remain here for a while. It doesn't appear that the administration is concerned about winning as much as they are in Missoula. The focus is solely on Football. There is so little interest in basketball in Bozeman that there just isn't the pressure to make any change from the fans or anywhere else.

And this is certainly something that shouldn't be understated - MSU won the President's Cup last year from the conference. Since its only conference championship last year came from the football team, then I would assume that the academic side of the equation is a large part of what caused MSU to receive this award. Regardless of who is the coach, this emphasis will surely continue. I'd rather have MSU finishing middle of the pack with great academic performance than winning titles while heading down the road to APR nightmares. Of course, the best thing would be to excel in both areas, and I have no doubt that it is possible to do so.

The most concerning thing to me is if there are issues with Huse's relationship with his players and ability to provide leadership and team chemistry, especially if it has gotten to the point where boosters and media members are well aware of the situation. The two options are for Huse to make some changes in an effort to improve this situation, or stick with the status quo and continue with the player defections and discontinuity of the roster. I will say that of all the bosses I have worked for over the years, the one I disliked the most was the one who did what mslacat described - door closed, not available, little or no camaraderie with employees creating an atmosphere of a group of individuals doing their own thing instead of working as a team, and decisions made without any input from those most affected.

[autocat]

Let me give my two cents: THE MENS BASKETBALL PROGRAM SUCKS!

[BelgradeBobcat]

When Mslacat talks Bobcat basketball, I listen. Thanks for posting. I think we can really see the tug-o-war the MSU administration is dealing with here. There's a lot of good things behind the scenes, but huge concerns as well.

I kind of think of Huse as a younger Hysell. Huse is not as awkward as Hysell was in an interview ("we'll Dean, we got our asses kicked"), but he never looks comfortable either. And I never got the feeling that Hysell was beloved by his players and it's the same with Huse. The difference is in basketball your whole program can turn around with just one or two players-whereas football is a whole different animal in that regard. If we get our Devon Bietzel-we'll all would be forgiven real quick.

But here's a question: Does anyone know of a head coach who had a record as bad as Huse's for as long as Huse has been here that finally turned it around? I don't know of any. The only example that comes to mind is Mike Krzyzewski at Duke who started out 17-13, 10-17, and 11-17 before for getting it rolling. Comparing Huse to coach K is laughable I know, but I was just wondering.

Nice interview of Huse by Gidal in today's Chronicle. Especially interesting thoughts from Huse about the Northern Colorado game. http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/sp ... 963f4.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[DicTater]

Thanks, Mslacat. I have no inside info on the BB program, I just watch games. But, the insight that Huse has a closed door policy is consistent with his closed mind policy. It sure explains why guys leave and why the ones who stay don't listen to him. It has always been apparent that the players don't respect Huse, and now I know why. He doesn't have any interest in them except as players, so they aren't going to care about him.

I was reading a story about how sad Will Cherry and Mathias Ward were to be leaving the Griz program. They both said that the family atmosphere fostered by Tinkel was a big part of their experience. It got me to thinking that I've never heard a player say that about Huse. It always seems like they're glad just to get out. I would think that it would be pretty hard to recruit high school players if present players don't care.

It is clear, though, that Huse has no intention of changing or adapting. That being the case, the results won't change either. He needs to go now.

[AlphaOAlum]

Ditto BelgradeBobcat; when msla cat posts about hoops I perk up.

I don't usually weigh in on basketball; not really my thing. But I didn't realize that APR was in the toilet for men's basketball 7 years ago also. Interesting that the crucial support needed for APR success somehow missed the implementation phase with Basketball and Football.

MSU's basketball is in a similar situation that ISU's football is in for APR. I know that at ISU subpar players had to be retained, because "cleaning house" would have absolutely destroyed the thin thread of APR hope they had. APR impacts more than academics; it now makes a program re-build a 3-4 year affair, because a coach can't just rid themselves of players they don't want. They have to coach through the poor players, graduate them, and recruit their own players, coach them up, etc.

I have no idea if Huse has had sufficient time to steer the ship on MSU basketball. I keep coming back to the idea that through the name of the coach has changed, the product on the court really hasn't for the last two decades. It's not entirely Huse's fault; it's institutional and says something about the culture of athletics at MSU.

[John K]

Ditto BelgradeBobcat; when msla cat posts about hoops I perk up.

I don't usually weigh in on basketball; not really my thing. But I didn't realize that APR was in the toilet for men's basketball 7 years ago also. Interesting that the crucial support needed for APR success somehow missed the implementation phase with Basketball and Football.

MSU's basketball is in a similar situation that ISU's football is in for APR. I know that at ISU subpar players had to be retained, because "cleaning house" would have absolutely destroyed the thin thread of APR hope they had. APR impacts more than academics; it now makes a program re-build a 3-4 year affair, because a coach can't just rid themselves of players they don't want. They have to coach through the poor players, graduate them, and recruit their own players, coach them up, etc.

I have no idea if Huse has had sufficient time to steer the ship on MSU basketball. I keep coming back to the idea that through the name of the coach has changed, the product on the court really hasn't for the last two decades. It's not entirely Huse's fault; it's institutional and says something about the culture of athletics at MSU.

I disagree with you to some extent. While neither Starner's nor Durham's teams dominated the conference, they did produce better results than Huse. And just as importantly, there was far greater fan support during their tenures...there was a time when MSU actually outdrew UM. That's precisely the point really. Most fans aren't asking for MSU to become the top program in the conference. Most of us would be very satisfied if Huse could simply replicate the relatively modest levels of success that we achieved under Starner and Durham. But he hasn't even been able to do that, let alone approach the UM/WSU level. And we certainly didn't have as much player turnover under Starner and Durham. Most of our players actually stayed in the program for their full 4-5 years back then. Under Huse, hardly any of our players have done that.

[aucat]

Thanks guys for the very interesting insights to MSU hoops. I completely agree with the great improvement regarding academics and running a clean program. Obviously this is paramount in any of our MSU athletic programs. However, unless I overlooked it in any of the submissions, the one thing that an AD ALSO has to be strongly concerned with is finances. I'm sure that most of you read the recent article in the Bozeman Chronicle about the deficit the athletic dept. was running, despite the recent successes in football.

When you come right down to it, an athletic program is almost like running a business. You've got to have sufficient revenues to cover your costs.

As I mentioned in another post, just imagine what the success of both the UM Men's and Women's teams brought to the the UM athletic bottom line. Both of those teams were winning big and the fans turned out. Add the UM men and women's attendance, and they were averaging around 5500 fans per game while we were probably averaging around 3000 if even that.

The current state of basketball at MSU has produced a situation of great apathy by its fans. I was watching the Bobcat sports report last night on TV and one of the men's asst. coaches commented how excited he was that the BSC tournament was in Missoula because that would not be a long trip for our fans. Well, I just think our fans were too indifferent to care whether it was in Missoula or Sacramento.

I think Fields has two big aspects to weigh in making his decision. Yes, thank goodness, we have a coach who does everything in his power to run a clean program and keep a good APR. But, you've got this financial element. Unfortunately, fans don't buy tickets to come watch players who make good grades and go to class and get involved in community projects. That's a great and necessary bonus. But fans come to games to see teams and players that produce WINS!!!!!!!!

We need a coach who can do both. It would be easy to say, gosh we just can't do that in Bozeman, Montana. Trouble is, we see it getting done in Missoula, MT year after year after year. There just aren't any excuses.

Having said all of that, heck, I don't have any prospects. But right now, I would rather take a chance on a YOUNG, enthusiastic coach who has been part of a VERY SUCCESSFUL program and give him a chance to build a great program. If he does that, then yea, he'll probably leave to go to a big time school, but by then maybe we'll have our program built up.

Seven years. Seems to be long enough. I like Brad Huse as much as the next guy, but as someone else said, has there every been a coach who turned things around the 8th or 9th year of his tenure?? I sure can't think of any.

[John K]

Thanks guys for the very interesting insights to MSU hoops. I completely agree with the great improvement regarding academics and running a clean program. Obviously this is paramount in any of our MSU athletic programs. However, unless I overlooked it in any of the submissions, the one thing that an AD ALSO has to be strongly concerned with is finances. I'm sure that most of you read the recent article in the Bozeman Chronicle about the deficit the athletic dept. was running, despite the recent successes in football.

When you come right down to it, an athletic program is almost like running a business. You've got to have sufficient revenues to cover your costs.

As I mentioned in another post, just imagine what the success of both the UM Men's and Women's teams brought to the the UM athletic bottom line. Both of those teams were winning big and the fans turned out. Add the UM men and women's attendance, and they were averaging around 5500 fans per game while we were probably averaging around 3000 if even that.

The current state of basketball at MSU has produced a situation of great apathy by its fans. I was watching the Bobcat sports report last night on TV and one of the men's asst. coaches commented how excited he was that the BSC tournament was in Missoula because that would not be a long trip for our fans. Well, I just think our fans were too indifferent to care whether it was in Missoula or Sacramento.

I think Fields has two big aspects to weigh in making his decision. Yes, thank goodness, we have a coach who does everything in his power to run a clean program and keep a good APR. But, you've got this financial element. Unfortunately, fans don't buy tickets to come watch players who make good grades and go to class and get involved in community projects. That's a great and necessary bonus. But fans come to games to see teams and players that produce WINS!!!!!!!!

We need a coach who can do both. It would be easy to say, gosh we just can't do that in Bozeman, Montana. Trouble is, we see it getting done in Missoula, MT year after year after year. There just aren't any excuses.

Having said all of that, heck, I don't have any prospects. But right now, I would rather take a chance on a YOUNG, enthusiastic coach who has been part of a VERY SUCCESSFUL program and give him a chance to build a great program. If he does that, then yea, he'll probably leave to go to a big time school, but by then maybe we'll have our program built up.

Seven years. Seems to be long enough. I like Brad Huse as much as the next guy, but as someone else said, has there every been a coach who turned things around the 8th or 9th year of his tenure?? I sure can't think of any.

I don't know if you'd ever be able to find an example of this, simply because very few schools would have kept a coach around for as long as MSU has kept Huse, given the results that he's produced. Very few coaches would ever even get to a 5th or 6th year, let alone an 8th or 9th year, with the kind of record he's had. And I know that we've made the tourney for 9 straight seasons, but you only need to be in the top 2/3 of the standings to get into the tourney, so it's not like it's all that difficult.

[AlphaOAlum]

Philosophically, is it possible to have a school be good in both major Men's sports?

Kentucky's basketball (usually) is good. Their football gets to .500 and is a tailgating warm up for hoops season.

Tennessee's football was good at the same time their Women's basketball team was good.

Someone do the research and tell me the answer!

[John K]

Philosophically, is it possible to have a school be good in both major Men's sports?

Kentucky's basketball (usually) is good. Their football gets to .500 and is a tailgating warm up for hoops season.

Tennessee's football was good at the same time their Women's basketball team was good.

Someone do the research and tell me the answer!

I think you only need to look 200 miles to the west for your answer. I know UM was down in football last season, but I don't think anyone expects them to stay down for long. Historically, they've been very good in both major men's sports for more than 25 years now, with 16 BSC titles in football, and 9 in MBB, over that period of time.

[aucat]

There are examples all over the place. Oregon football and hoops. How about Florida? Didnt' they win the championship in both sports the same year a couple of years ago? Ohio State just won the Big Ten hoops tourney and their football team went undefeated. Texas USUALLY does well in both.

I'll end there, but yes, you can do both. And as the other poster said, just look to the west about 200 miles.

If we're looking for excuses not to have a good hoops program, we'll have to come up with better than this.

[BelgradeBobcat]

A few more at our level: North Dakota State, South Dakota State, Northern Iowa, Stony Brook. Very good at both.

[John K]

There are examples all over the place. Oregon football and hoops. How about Florida? Didnt' they win the championship in both sports the same year a couple of years ago? Ohio State just won the Big Ten hoops tourney and their football team went undefeated. Texas USUALLY does well in both.

I'll end there, but yes, you can do both. And as the other poster said, just look to the west about 200 miles.

If we're looking for excuses not to have a good hoops program, we'll have to come up with better than this.

Florida went back to back in hoops in 2006 and 2007, sandwiched around their FB title in the 2006 season. Then they won in football again in 2008, so they won 2 titles in each sport in the span of less than three full calendar years...a pretty impressive run. Ohio State was the Buffalo Bills of that era, as they lost the title game in football to Florida in 2006 and to LSU in 2007, sandwiched around a MBB title game loss to Florida in 2007.

[grizzh8r]

No titles, but other schools with recent, sustained success or historically good in both FB and MBB - Wisconsin, Notre Dame, K-State, Oklahoma St., Michigan, West Virginia (down year this year for both, but historically strong), Pitt, Cincinatti, Louisville, UCLA (historically strong, coming back up in both sports). It's obviously harder to do at our level; goes back to the whole money thing.

Edit: I should add Baylor to the list. Their Men's hoops were down this season (though they did blow the doors off KU), but were good the past 5 seasons or so, women's program is strong, football has had recent sustained success.

[wbtfg]

Question for the MSU bball junkies on the board. Does Brad Huse have a system or an identity to the way he coaches? Basically what I mean by this are, what are some of the offensive and defensive trademarks that have been consistent during his 7 years in Bozeman?

I haven't seen as much MSU bball as I would like, so I could be WAAAAAY out in left field on this one, but it seems to me like he tries to mold his coaching style to the players, and with such high player (and assistant coaching) turnover, it doesn't seem like Huse has really been able to set a strong identity of what MSU basketball is. I'm curious about the thoughts on this from those who have seen a majority of the games over the past few years.

[defensivearts]

Thank you Msla Cat-

What you have written is very even-handed and well-reasoned. Your document should be sent to Peter Fields and Waded Cruzado.

[John K]

Thank you Msla Cat-

What you have written is very even-handed and well-reasoned. Your document should be sent to Peter Fields and Waded Cruzado.

I agree completely on both counts.

[dwainegf]

Question for the MSU bball junkies on the board. Does Brad Huse have a system or an identity to the way he coaches? Basically what I mean by this are, what are some of the offensive and defensive trademarks that have been consistent during his 7 years in Bozeman?

I haven't seen as much MSU bball as I would like, so I could be WAAAAAY out in left field on this one, but it seems to me like he tries to mold his coaching style to the players, and with such high player (and assistant coaching) turnover, it doesn't seem like Huse has really been able to set a strong identity of what MSU basketball is. I'm curious about the thoughts on this from those who have seen a majority of the games over the past few years.

We run a fake motion offense which basically runs clock without looking like you are stalling. The problem as most of us know is that this leads to "desparation" shots in a short clock situation, hence all the 3 point attempts in years past. This years team had the benefit of Biglow who could break down the defense off the dribble and create opportunities for his team mates that weren't neccessarilly 3 pointers. I have wondered why we just don't run a standard motion offense with more back screens (Princeton offense) and backdoor cuts. This is an offense that has worked well for teams who don't neccessarilly have the talent to run and gun with their opponents (Air Force). The fake motion offense doesn't utilize the screening and back cuts to the extent of the regular offense. Were we trying to wear out our opponents? I think what occurred is that the fans have been worn out. I do miss the Starner days when we player pressuer defense with a fast tempo offense. Is that likely to lead MSU to more victories? probably not but it is exciting to watch.