by Peter Christian
Reggie Theus, it appears, would like to put the 80’s in the past. The former UNLV star and NBA player took a break from his duties as an assistant coach with the Minnesota Timberwolves to interview for the vacant head coaching position for the DePaul Blue Demons.
The DePaul job has been technically available since Jerry Wainwright was fired in January earlier this year and a few other high profile names have been rumored to be linked to the job but ultimately the search for a new head honcho has been unfruitful. In fact, just a few weeks ago the DePaul administration went as far to publicly post the job opening on its HR website (apparently the posting on “The Ladders” didn’t work out).
Now, weeks after most rumors of any potential other candidates taking the job have died down, Theus is now a front running candidate for the job mainly because, well, he called back.
Look, it’s not like Theus isn’t qualified, he has NCAA Division I coaching experience both as an assistant and a head coach as well as NBA coaching experience, but it’s not likely the caliber coach that DePaul set out for when they canned Jerry back in January. Theus was a rising commodity back in 2007 when he coached the New Mexico State Aggies to the NCAA tournament only two seasons after replacing the legendary Lou Henson. Reggie turned that buzz into an NBA head coaching gig with the Sacramento Kings (whom he played for from 1984-1988). From there, things went sour. He was fired after only 18 months with the team and then caught on with the “That NBA Guy from the 80’s” traveling tour… wait, what? You mean he, Rick Rambis and Bill Laimbeer aren’t simply traveling from NBA City to NBA City raising awareness about above average role players in the NBA from the 1980’s? They’re what? Coaching the Minnesota Timberwolves??? Hold on.
Enjoy this while I do some fact checking
OK, you’re never gonna believe this (and I swear this isn’t a late April Fool’s Day prank) but Rambis, Laimbeer and Theus are actually the real coaches of the Minnesota Timberwolves this season! Can you believe that? Who would assemble nearly an entire staff with guys who were fan favorites nearly 30 years ago? Oh, David Kahn… OK, well that seems like another post altogether. Back to Theus.
While DePaul is pretty much the worst “power conference” program in the nation (fact checking…. yep, that’s confirmed), this could be a good move for Reggie. He spent 6 years in Chicago as a player for the Bulls (finishing 2nd in the Rookie of the Year voting in 1979) and had the best scoring year of his career there (1982-83). The DePaul job is also a good step for him because it allows him to build from the ground up while having a high ceiling. Even if the DePaul program is in the dumps, the school still belongs to the Big East which means an opportunity to be on national television a couple times per season and a chance to play against the big boys of Syracuse, Georgetown, Villanova, UConn, etc.
Conversely, DePaul potentially hiring Theus could help them as well. Reggie is a proven recruiter and has an edge for landing some top level talent: he played in the NBA. When Reggie landed one of the nation’s top high school recruits in Herb Pope while still at New Mexico State, Pope told the media that one of the reasons he chose to play for Theus was for the opportunity to learn under a coach who knows what it takes to make the leap from the NCAA to the NBA and do it with more than moderate success. That isn’t something that a lot of college coaches have today and could be a huge recruiting tool in the always talent heavy Chicago area.
While, the current gig of rehashing the old days with Rambis and Laimbeer might be a blast (while also mixing in a few coaching tips for the current Timberwolves players), the opportunity to regain some of the success Theus just began to taste as a Division I NCAA coach might be too tempting to pass up. And if the job is offered to him, I think he should take it.