In the previous issue of The Pacer, I wrote a column talking about what it would take for the men’s basketball team to climb out of their continuous stupor of not being good enough to win in the Ohio Valley Conference. In the midst of my rambling, I included this statement:
“The point I’m trying to make here is that unless a big-name Division I coach decides to prove me wrong and signs at UTM, the men’s basketball team is caught in a vicious cycle of mediocrity, the kind that in theory can only be stopped by a wunderkind of the caliber of a LeBron James, or a Derrick Rose minus the SAT fiasco.”
It turns out that first part actually happened, more or less, anyway.
Former UNLV assistant coach Heath Schroyer was announced on Thursday as the new men’s basketball coach at UTM, ushering in a new era of basketball for the Skyhawks – or so fans hope, anyway. Schroyer brings 18 years of coaching experience to UTM, including seven seasons as a head coach (three years at Portland State, four years at Wyoming). He clearly knows a thing or two about coaching.
So is Coach Schroyer at least part of what this team needs? Absolutely.
UTM’s last head coach, Jason James, had never been in that position at any school prior to joining the Skyhawks. In fact, UTM was the first school he coached for at all, having spent seven seasons as an assistant under Bret Campbell. When he became head coach, the team made the OVC Tournament exactly once during his five-year tenure – the 2010-11 season, when the Skyhawks made it to the second round. Lack of experience coupled with lack of fan support, however, doomed the program to basement-dweller status for the following three years.
The only issue with James was simply that he didn’t have the experience needed. He can be a great coach when he needs to be, but he wasn’t experienced enough in the head position to be able to effectively lead the team.
That’s where Schroyer comes in.
With all this experience, Schroyer could be primed to bring the Skyhawks back to relevance, if not next season then in the coming years, as he builds a solid team through recruiting. In fact, it’s quite likely that UTM will be back atop the OVC West before the decade is out.
As our athletic director Julio Freire is so fond of saying, “It’s a great day to be a Skyhawk.”
