LOS ANGELES – UCLA athletics director Dan Guerrero didn’t pull any punches.
His guy, Steve Alford, isn’t afraid of the pressures that come with being the head coach of UCLA, one of the most storied college basketball programs in the nation.
"He’s not the kind of guy that’ll shy away from what UCLA basketball is all about,” Guerrero said. “He’ll handle the expectations with dignity, with understanding, and with class because that’s the kind of person that he is. So, I think that he’s ready for this stage, without question.”
Take that Shaka.
Stevens, have some too.
Being the head coach at UCLA isn’t like any other job in the country.
Sure, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Kansas are all prestigious in their
own right. But, for starters, none of those schools are in a market as
large as Los Angeles., or boast a resume that UCLA great John Wooden produced during his Westwood tenure.
And, none of them have to compete with the Lakers, Clippers, and Hollywood for attention. If you want the spotlight, the product better be great, or you'll be an afterthought.
“UCLA is not the kind of place where every coach out there would want to
tackle those expectations,” Guerrero said. “When you talk to
representatives (of coaches), it’s very clear that not everyone is ready
for this stage.”
Enter Steve Alford.
He walked right
into the new Pauley Pavilion for his introductory news conference on
Tuesday, announcing he was ready to take on those expectations head
first.
Alford’s a guy that has 22 years of experience as a head
coach. As a 16 and 17-year-old prep star, he played in front of tens of thousands
of people.
“It’s not a lot of high school kids playing in front of 20,000 people on a weekend,” Alford said.
He
played for Bobby Knight, in perhaps, the heyday of his chair throwing
antics at Indiana, and the two paired for the national title in 1987. Alford also shared a backcourt with Michael Jordan on the 1984
U.S. Olympic team.
A combination of those things, Alford feels, has prepared him for Los Angeles.
“I think I’ve been conditioned, both mentally, physically, spiritually (for this),” said Alford, who replaces the fired Ben Howland
“It’s
cliché but it’s UCLA and there’s just something about those four
letters that bring a lot of attention to (it). Wow, what an
opportunity.”
With rival USC making a big-name hire itself, taking Andy Enfield from tourney-darling Florida Gulf Coast, the pressure is already on.
Alford's up for the challenge.
Now it’s time for results.
