On Friday they saw the former Redhawks coach in a completely different light when he was introduced as their new head coach on Friday after he signed a five-year contract, worth $180,000 annually.
Sophomore guard Shawn Lewis didn’t remember much about Seattle’s style of playwhen they visited last year, but after meeting with Callero prior to Friday’s press conference, he was excited for the opportunity to play under him.
“I’m sold,” Lewis said. “I had my doubts before. I didn’t really know what kind of coach he was going to be. He sold us on a lot of things that we talked about.”
Lewis wasn’t the only one with doubts. Cal Poly athletic director Alison Cone explained that while the decision was difficult and Callero came in under the radar, he was never low on the potential list to her.
“I think there are doubters with any decision that you make,” Cone said. “People had their favorites. Joe’s name was kept especially quiet because he had a Division I head coaching job. You can make a case a number of names but in the end you’re looking for the right fit.”
Callero has led a number of programs through transitions, most recently leading Seattle University from an NAIA school all the way to the Division I ranks in an eight year period.
The Redhawks finished 21-8 last season and 13-8 against Division I opponents in their first year at college basketball’s highest level. Callero was 117-105 overall in his time at Seattle.
So after turning Seattle into a winning program, many wondered, why leave the school that he had turned around so completely.
“There are a number of reasons,” Callero explained. “I think this is a special place to raise a family.”
As one of 16 siblings and the father of a young daughter, Callero knows all about family and he struggled with the decision to leave his basketball family behind in Washington.
“We took Seattle University from a very developing NAIA Division III school that had a number of challenging years and build it up to Division II, and Top 20, conference champion type team and then transition it up to Division I.”
But there are drawbacks to those transition periods. Seattle would not be eligible for postseason play until the 2013 season, a non-issue for Cal Poly.
“Being in the Big West gives us an immediate opportunity,” Callero said. “The potential here to pack that gym, to travel well, create a following in all areas and to have student-athletes at the highest level; it’s unique.”
The Mustangs suffered through a tough year, finishing 7-21 last year and 3-13 in the Big West Conference, missing the conference tournament for the second time under former head coach Kevin Bromley. In nine years at Cal Poly, Bromley finished with a 99-145 overall record.
Cal Poly lost three seniors from last year’s team including top big man Titus Shelton. The Mustangs have five open scholarships to fill and only a few weeks leading up to signing day, but Callero sees little in the way keeping the team from being a serious contender for the conference championship next season.
“I don’t see any difficulties,” Callero said. “We’re undefeated right now. We’re 0-0. There’s nothing but clear pasture in front of us.”
Callero lauded Cal Poly for the caliber of student-athletes it can bring in and stressed that he has goals in mind off the court that don’t include winning basketball games.
“We talked about how we can improve the program in all areas,” Callero said. “We talked about team GPA, trying to get up to 3.0. We talked about our facilities. We talked about our schedule. We want to schedule Pac-10 teams and we want to go on the road. We want to really increase the visibility and aggressiveness in the level in which we’re trying to schedule.”
The Mustangs had a strength of schedule rating of 230th in the nation last year according to collegerpi.com. Seattle did not have a rating due to their transitional status, but did play at traditional SEC power Kentucky last year.
Junior guard Lorenzo Keeler was glad to hear that the Mustangs will try to schedule some of the better teams in the nation next season.
“I’m excited,” Keeler said. “When I was little I dreamed about playing college basketball and that’s what I thought about; playing the Stanford’s the Carolina’s. That’s college basketball.”
Keeler wasn’t the only Cal Poly player excited to see the Callero regime take over.
“As soon as I got back from spring break, we didn’t even have a coach then, I started working out,” Lewis said.
“Now I just can’t wait for the new season. He makes me want to start playing right now.”