 "Photo: RYAN BRENNAN/THE VISTA")
Controversy, a discrimination lawsuit, Jim Jones, the NCAA tournament and outrage. These are just some of the issues that have colored Coach Bill Grier's tenure at USD. But the sharply dressed fellow with the crew cut hair keeps marching on. It almost seems as though with each added blow to the program, the man from Silverton, Ore. becomes stronger and wiser.
When Mr. Grier was brought to USD by way of Gonzaga, he was expected to bring the program out from the purging fires of purgatory, dress it up and have her start walking down Christ's highways paved with gold. At first this seemed promising. After Coach Grier led USD to it's second ever NCAA berth and first ever tournament win over college basketball titan Connecticut, something magical happened.
In that year alone, Grier turned an uncertain fan base into disciples, the Jenny Craig Pavilion into temple.
Even better was his eye for recruiting. Bill Grier could spot a player from the window of a moving train or in a crowd shot at St. Peter's Square. USD's last two recruiting classes under Grier serve as evidence. The ratings of his recruits have read like the test scores of the guy you try to cheat off of in chemistry class. Grier's prize recruit this year, Ben Vozzola, received a 92 on ESPN.com's official rankings. He is the most decorated and highly sought after recruit the school has ever had.
But after last year's struggles (11-21 overall, 3-11 in conference), it seemed as if these aforementioned dreams were nothing more than fantasy, simply lustful wishes of a fan base that still had not found what they were looking for.
But Bill Grier has a plan. This August, he made one of his most brilliant moves yet.
Interestingly enough, it was a minute detail that inspired the decision. The NCAA rule, 30.7.2.1, governs "incoming student participation" on foreign tours. It states that teams are allowed to take foreign tours once every four years. This part of the rule has not changed.
What changed, however, is that transfers are now allowed to play if they attend summer school.
This information is so pertinent for USD because of the magical number 8, which is the number of newly eligible players on USD's roster. A rule change that will allow Grier's new additions to play summer ball - an all important opportunity for team bonding that couldn't have come at a better time.
Furthermore, Coach Grier needs to find a way for his team to gel quickly if he is going to have any luck taking USD outward and upward. So he decided, rather emphatically, that a trip to Vancouver was the solution.
In regards to his team's lack of experience and the prospects of the Vancouver trip, Coach Grier replied, "The two most important parts of the trip are practices and the time spent together developing chemistry."
When he was pressed about his thoughts on the outlook for the team he said, "We return a post player that was all freshman team in our conference last year, Chris Manresa. Ken Rancifer is a wing player that came on strong toward the end of last year and will be as sophomore this year. Then we have a bunch of freshmen and sophomores trying to prove themselves."
Now the trip has come and gone. USD took two out of the three games it participated in. The wins came over British Colombia (91-83, OT) and Thompson Rivers University (73-64) respectively. The loss came at the hands of the University of Fraser Valley (73-61), a game that was never close.
Matt Dorr was the anchor in the wins, averaging 14 points per game in the pair of victories.
Ken Rancifer proved why Coach Grier publically praised him prior to the trip. Rancifer, in the second victory over British Columbia, was simply sensational. He had 21 points, picking his spots as artfully as a riverboat gambler making good use of an ace showing.
Optimism seemed to be the over-arching theme by the trip's conclusion. The team is young, athletic and full of promise. In time, perhaps they can form a bond or a coalescence that will result in the unity their coach so desperately desires.
Fans may be skeptical about whether such a feat can be accomplished after a prosaic three- game road trip.
But those who hold their ears close to the ground would tell you something different. They would tell you to put your money on that guy with the crew cut hair.
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