The men’s basketball team hasn’t been the most exciting conversation-starter around the Cal Poly campus lately.
I think it’s easy to say this is because of the lack of success the team has had recently, finishing just 7-21 (last place in the Big West Conference) after the 2008-2009 season and 12-18 the season before. What’s more troubling is the idea that success is not far from reach in a rather mediocre Big West Conference.
A first place finish in the conference tournament would earn Cal Poly an invite to the big dance in March. However, Cal Poly has found itself watching the tournament on television every year since joining the conference. So what’s the remedy? Or rather, who’s the remedy?
Cal Poly athletic director Alison Cone thinks the answer lies in Joe Callero, an experienced West Coast basketball coach. For those of you who haven’t heard, Callero was announced the new men’s basketball head coach last Friday, replacing coach Kevin Bromley.
According to Cone, Callero was brought to Cal Poly to “develop young people who play basketball” and “help us achieve our goal of consistently competing for a Big West Conference championship and a postseason birth in the NCAA tournament.”
That would be nice, but does Callero have all the answers for the struggling basketball team?
Last season, Cal Poly looked good on paper. They have closely competed with opponents in almost every statistical category, losing games by an average of just five points.
Statistically, the success for the Mustangs seemed to come on the defensive end of the court, finishing ahead or just matching opponents in blocks, steals and forced turnovers.
However, they did lose games on the other end of the court, falling behind in points, field-goal percentage and assists. The same trend followed for the 2007-2008 season. So it would appear that if coach Callero is going to revive the men’s basketball program, it may need to be with some offensive production.
There just may be some hope after all. At his previous job as head coach of the men’s basketball team at Seattle University, Callero boasted offensive numbers higher than Cal Poly in every offense statistical category excluding free-throw percentage.
What’s even more hopeful is that Callero will be bringing with him the same impressive defensive statistics. (In fact, last season Seattle University held its opponents to almost eight fewer points than Cal Poly’s).
Going by the numbers it seems Callero will be a good fit for the Mustangs. Even when ignoring individual game statistics, Callero does boast an impressive résumé.
Last season, Seattle finished 21-8, including a remarkable 10-0 home record and a win over Cal Poly. With that, hopefully Callero brings his success with him. In the past 15 years, the Mustangs have acquired four new men’s basketball coaches, a number that doesn’t exactly equal success.
At an introduction press conference on Friday, coach Callero stated: “I’m looking forward to the parade downtown when we make it to the dance.”
So are we.
Tyler Jauch is a political science sophomore and the new Mustang Daily sports columnist.