A fellow hoops junkie asked after interim men’s coach Rob Smart steered the Carleton Ravens to their 12th Canadian Interuniversity Sport title in 14 campaigns, and Ryerson interim men’s coach Patrick Tatham was named the recipient of the Stu Aberdeen Trophy as national coach of the year, whether any rookie coaches had similar successes in the past.

Theprecise answer, of course, was not immediately apparent, perhaps because of early-onset senility and partly because of the sorry state of basketball record-keeping in Canada. There are years, if not decades, in which even the names of coaches who headed teams (particularly with respect to women’s hoops) are all but lost in the depths of time, as well as eras in which coaches seemed to shuffle from school to school, or from women’s program to men’s program (and back again), offering their services like itinerant salesmen, taking work where they could get it, and making it extraordinarily difficult to track their wanderings.

It brought to mind the work of existential novelist John Barth, who once wrote that “it always seemed a fine idea to me to build a showboat with just one big flat open deck on it, and to keep a play going continuously. The boat wouldn’t be moored, but would drift up and down the river on the tide, and the audience would sit along both banks. They could catchwhatever part of the plot happened to unfold as the boat floated past, and then they’d have to wait until the tide ran back again to catch another snatch of it, if they still happened to be sitting there. To fill in the gaps they’d have to use their imaginations, or ask more attentive neighbours, or hear the word passed along up-river or down-river. Most times they wouldn’t understand what was going on at all, or they’d think they knew, when actually they didn’t.”

CIS coaching history may not be quite as nihilistic as Barth’s floating opera, or life in general, but it is as “fraught with curiosities, melodrama, spectacle, instruction and entertainment,” and probably,as impossible to track with any degree of precision.

All that is only to say that, to the extent that it is possible to accurately glean coaching history in CIS hoops, the short answer is that Smart is not the first rookie coach to win a CIS title. Nor is Tatham the first rookie to win an Aberdeen or its women’s equivalent, the Peter Ennis Trophy, named after the Laurentian legend who led the Voyageurs to a pair of CIS crowns.

In fact, one women’s coach, Bruce Langford at Simon Fraser in 2001-02, managed to accomplish the task of winning both the Bronze Baby,and an Ennis, after steering the Clan to a 35-0 campaign in his augural year at the helm. Langford, who’d just coached Mission Heritage Park to a pair of Triple-A girl’s high school crowns and who’d earlier led Hatzic to a Double-A title, stepped in to replace Allison MacNeill, who’d resigned to become an assistant at the University of Oregon, where national team coach Bev Smith had just accepted the reins. With a squad featuring such talent as Jessica Kaczowka and Teresa Kleindienst, Langford’s Clan steamrolled Laval 66-52, prompting him to dryly observe that “this has been a storybook season.”

Yet, Langford wasn’t the first rookie coach to capture a CIS crown. That honour belongs to Windsorcoach Bob Samaras, in the very first CIS men’s championship in 1962-63, after being hired to replace Hank Biasatti. Samaras, a Wayne State University graduate, had been lured from Detroit’s Eastern High, where he’d compiled an 80-7 record over five years, capturing a Michigan state crown and twice being named the state’s high school coach of the year. He promptly steered the Lancers, a predominately Michigan-born team, to a 53-50 home-court title win over an Acadia Axemen squad coached by none other than Aberdeen, the man after whom CIS men’s coaching honours are named.

The feat wasn’t accomplished again in the men’s draw until 1989-90, when John Dore assumed the helm at Concordia on a part-time basis and led the Stingers to a 80-62 win over Guelph, thus becoming the first Quebec-based team to win a CIS crown. In a campaign marked by considerable controversy, Dore saw his star point guard quit the team before Christmas after being benched a game for missing practice. With untoward accusations flying left and right, Dore stuck by his guns and the Stingers came together as a unit. Co-captain Mike Baker credited Dore with bringing out the best in the Stingers. “We’d run through a brick wall for him and there aren’t too many players who’d say that about their coach.”

Just one year later, in 1990-91, another rookie duplicated the feat, when Dr. Craig Boydell took over the reins from Doug Hayes at Western. The researcher, administrator and professor noted that”I came in as a 47-year-old rookie with a perspective on life, which I think helped me develop a system,” (i.e., defensive discipline, and presumably, given Boydell’s subsequent units, incredible ball movement) which the Mustangs, led by tournament MVP John Stiefelmeyer, used to clip Guelph 78-69.

Others have come close to all the marbles, including Ed Hall at Saint Mary’s in 1975-76; Ian MacMillan at Acadia in 1980-81; interim coach Dwight Kearns at Brandon in 1983-84; and Joe Raso at McMaster in 1992-93, all of whom finished as CIS runners-up. MacMillan also collected an Aberdeen for his efforts.

On the women’s side, U.B.C.’s Ron Thorsen was the first to capture a crown in his coaching debut. The three-time Canada West first-team men’s all-star took over the women’s program from Norm Vickery in 1973-74 (after Vickery, who’d won the first two CIS women’s titles, bailed for Laurentian, where he subsequently won five straight crowns, commencing in 1974-75). Thorsen’s T-Birds dumped the New Brunswick Red Bloomers 67-55 in the final, though their top seven included three freshman, three sophomores and one junior. It helped, though, that all that young talent featured such future legends as national team players Carol Turney-Loos and Bev Barnes.

A year later, Sue Evans nearly duplicated the feat for the T-Birds, when she replaced Thorsen, and U.B.C. finished as runners-up to Laurentian. Others who came close included Kathy Shields at Victoria (1978-79); and Scott Edwards at Alberta (2006-07). Connie Bothwell is believed by most to have started coaching at New Brunswick in 1972-73, though some say her inaugural season was in 1973-74, when the Red Bloomers finished as runners-up. Edwards also earned an Ennis for his rookie coaching efforts, as did Alberta’s Sherry Melney in 1985-86, after guiding the Pandas to a 7-3 second-place finish in the Canada West regular season, as well as Cape Breton’s Ron Carew in 1995-96, after leading the Capers to a 10-10 third-place finish in the AUS.

Several other rookie coaches have made a CIS draw, or won a regular season or postseason conference title, oft-times because, like Smart or Tatham, they did an exceptional job after stepping in as interim coaches for those taking sabbaticals (in their cases, for Dave Smart at Carleton or Roy Rana at Ryerson, respectively), or because they were replacing coaches retiring from strong, established programs.

Aside from the aforementioned, who either won or nearly won it all, and with apologies for omissions and errors caused by the vagaries of Canadian hoops record-keeping (please contact wkondro@sympatico.ca with additional information or corrections), other rookie coaches who have made a CIS men’s draw included: Peter Mullins (U.B.C., 1962-63); Ernie Zoppa (Carleton, 1964-65); Howard Lockhart (Wilfrid Laurier, 1966-67); Don Smith (Wilfrid Laurier, 1970-71); Sam Wimisner (McGill 1971-72); Dick Hunt (Acadia, 1973-74); Garry Smith (Alberta, 1976-77); Mike Heale (Laurentian, 1977-78); Gary Heald (Saint Mary’s, 1979-80);Nick Grabowski (interim Windsor, 1980-81); Tom Bishop (interim Calgary, 1982-83); Gerry Barker (interim York, 1982-83); Eddie Pomykala (co-coach McGill, 1983-84); Ken Schildroth (McGill, 1984-85); Bill Wedlake (Winnipeg, 1985-86); Ron McCutcheon (interim Brandon, 1989-90); James Hillis (interim Brandon, 1993-94); Greg Jockims (Cape Breton, 1994-95); Reggie Carrick (Brandon, 2003-04); and Barry Rawlyk (Saskatchewan, 2010-11).

On the women’s side, others included: Ennis (Laurentian, 1979-80); Dodie Goodwin (Bishop’s 1971-72, although it is unclear if she was a rookie); Sandra Robinson (New Brunswick, 1971-72, though similarly unknown when she started coaching); Doug Hayes (Western, 1971-72); Steve Forman (Loyola, 1974-75, again unclear when he started coaching);Wayne Hussey (Bishop’s, 1977-78, though it is possible he started coaching a year earlier); Tom Kendall (Winnipeg, 1978-79); Coleen Dufresne (New Brunswick, 1980-81);Claire Mitton (New Brunswick, 1984-85); Andrea Blackwell (Bishop’s, 1984-85); Chris Hunter (McGill, 1987-88); Trix Kannekens-Baker (Lethbridge, 1987-88); Debbie Patterson (Regina, 1989-90); Len Lang (UPEI, 1992-93); Pauline Lourdon (New Brunswick, 1993-94); Lisen Moore (McGill, 1994-95); John Campbell (Laurentian, 1997-98); Carlos Brown (Ottawa, 2004-05); Andy Sparks (Ottawa, 2008-09); Damian Jennings (Calgary, 2012-13); and Sonia Ritchie (interim Laval, 2014-15).

Most rookie coaches, though, don’t have the luxury of taking over an established program, and are more often hired to rebuild one in the doldrums, which constitutes an altogether different task and is an increasingly common undertaking. Since the year 2000, for example, when Smart took over Carleton and established what is now the gold standard for hoops programs in Canada, there have been 161 openings in the CIS coaching ranks, whether because of sabbatical, retirement, or more often of late, dismissals, as CIS institutions realize the value of successful basketball programs.

Rob Smart and Tatham were among 12 rookie coaches in the CIS ranks this season. Tatham captured an Aberdeen after guiding the Rams to a 17-2 regular season record (tops in the OUA East division), and a 73-68 victory over Carleton in the Wilson Cup title bout. Seeded number one in the CIS draw, they defeated U.B.C. 109-101 in overtime in the quarterfinals before losing 98-87 to Calgary in the semis. Smart guided Carleton to second-place finish in the OUA North division with a 16-3 record. Seeded second in the draw, the Ravens dusted Thompson Rivers 91-75, Dalhousie 76-66 and Calgary 101-79 to win the crown.

The 10 other rookie coaches were Ryan Steer (interim Windsor), Justin Gunter (Waterloo), Nate Philippe (UQAM), Rastko Popovic (Concordia), and Aaron Muhic (Trinity Western) on the men’s side; and Dave Oldham (MacEwan), Claire Meadows (UBC-Okanagan), Nathan McKibbon (Mount Royal), Guillaume Giroux (Laval) and Tenicha Gittens (Concordia) on the women’s. The combined regular season conference record of those 10? A respectable 78-106. Add Tatham and Smart’s tallies and you get an almost glittering 111-111.

The 12 newcomers did not represent a record number of coaches making their debut. As recently as 2012-13, there were 15 rookies in the CIS coaching ranks, including Adam Friesen (Fraser Valley), Marc Dobell (Mount Royal), Pete Guarasci (UBC-Okanagan), Todd Jordan (Northern British Columbia) and Jonah Taussig (Saint Mary’s) on the men’s side, as well as Jennings, Novell Thomas (Brandon), Erin McAleenan (Lethbridge), Michelle Hynes (Manitoba), Loralyn Murdoch (Northern British Columbia), Joe Enevoldson (Mount Royal), Greg Gould (UPEI), Augy Jones (St. Francis Xavier), along with interim coaches Jill Humbert (Saskatchewan) and Dani Sinclair (Victoria) on the women’s side. Their combined regular season record? 124-200.

Whether on a permanent or interim basis, there have been 46 rookies in the CIS coaching ranks in the past four years alone, or 48.9% of the 94 positions, which suggests another generational change is occurring, on par with that seen during the late 1970s and early 80s.

The most number of rookie coaches in a single CIS campaign appears to have been 1978-79, when at least 20 newcomers joined the coaching ranks, if not more, as the AUS women’s hoops coaching picture is all but a complete mystery, including who manned the helm of such former members as Moncton, New Brunswick-Saint John and Mount Allison.

The 1978-79 crop included a pair of luminaries who went on to capture multiple CIS women’s titles, i.e., eight-time champ Shields andthree-time champ Kendall, as well as one-time men’s champ Guy Vetrie, who started his career at Saskatchewan but later won acrown at Victoria. In a remarkable period of transition, there were at least 49 rookie coaches in the four-year period between 1978-79 and 1981-82, during which there were between 72-75 teams. That translates into a coaching turnover rate between 65.3%–68% (or even higher, given the clouded AUS women’s picture).

As a general rule, rookie coaches fare nowhere near as well as did Rob Smart and Tatham in this year’s ranks. In fact, it’s far more common that life is nothing short of a grind for such newcomers as they rebuild rosters with the sort of players who are capable of playing their preferred style. Typically, even legends started slowly. Seven-time champ Ken Shields (all at Victoria) had a 6-3 record as a rookie with Laurentian in 1970-71. As further evidence of that proposition, what follows are the rookie coaching records for all 94 current CIS coaches, including Peter Campbell, who is retiring at the Laurier helm;Matt Skinn, who announced last month that he is stepping down at Cape Breton;and Si Khounviseth, who was turfed earlier this week at Brock, just four years after winning the OUA West women’s coach of the year award.

CIS MEN’s COACHES REGULAR SEASON LEAGUE RECORDS AS ROOKIES (alphabetically, first by conference, and then by team):

Atlantic University Sport
Acadia’s Kevin Duffie: 6-23, with the Axemen, 2014-15
Cape Breton’s Matt Skinn: 18-8, with the St. FX women, 2008-09
Dalhousie’s Rick Plato: 10-10, with the Tigers, 2014-15
Memorial’s Peter Benoite:3-17, with the Sea-Hawks, 2008-09
New Brunswick’s Brent Baker: 10-10, with the St. FX women, 2006-07
UPEI’s Tim Kendrick: 13-7, with the Panthers, 2011-12
St. Francis Xavier’s Steve Konchalski: 6-6, with the X-Men, 1975-76
Saint Mary’s Jonah Taussig: 6-14, with the Huskies, 2012-13

Canada West
Alberta’s Barnaby Craddock: 10-10, with Brandon, 2005-06
Brandon’s Gil Cheung: 4-20, with the Bobcats, 2010-11
British Columbia’s Kevin Hanson: 9-13, with the Thunderbirds, 2000-01
UBC-Okanagan’s Peter Guarasci: 5-17, with the Heat, 2012-13
Calgary’s Dan Vanhooren: 8-14, with the Dinos, 2000-01
Fraser Valley’s Adam Friesen: 10-12, with the Cascades, 2012-13
Lethbridge’s Mike Hansen: 15-7, with the Pronghorns, 2013-14
MacEwan’s Eric Magdanz: 7-13, with the Griffins, 2014-15
Manitoba’s Kirby Schepp: 4-16, with the Bisons, 2009-10
Mount Royal’s Marc Dobell: 5-17, with the Cougars, 2012-13
Northern BC’s Todd Jordan: 6-16, with the Timberwolves, 2012-13
Regina’s Steve Burrows: 5-17, with the Cougars, 2013-14
Saskatchewan’s Barry Rawlyk: 20-4, with the Huskies, 2010-11
Thompson Rivers’ Scott Clark: 11-11, with Simon Fraser, 2000-01
Trinity Western’s Aaron Muhic: 1-19, with the Spartans, 2015-16
Victoria’s Craig Beaucamp: 11-9, with the Vikes, 2003-04
Winnipeg’s Mike Raimbault: 20-2, with Brandon, 2007-08

Ontario University Athletics
Algoma’s Thomas Cory: 5-17, with the Thunderbirds, 2013-14
Brock’s Charles Kissi: 10-12, with the Ryerson women, 2010-11
Carleton’s Dave Smart: 11-9, with the Ravens, 1999-2000
Guelph’s Chris O’Rourke: 6-8, with the Gryphons, 1997-98
Lakehead’s Manny Furtado: 11-8, with the Thunderwolves, 2014-15
Laurentian’s Shawn Swords: 4-18, with the Voyageurs, 2007-08
McMaster’s Amos Connolly: 11-11, with the Marauders, 2010-11
Nipissing’s Chris Cheng: 0-19, with the Lakers, 2014-15
Ottawa’s James Derouin: 11-11, with the Gee-Gees, 2010-11
Queen’s Stephan Barrie: 17-5, with the Western women, 2006-07
Ryerson’s Roy Rana: 10-12, with the Rams, 2009-10
Toronto’s John Campbell: 19-1, with the Laurentian women, 1997-98
Waterloo’s Justin Gunter: 1-19, with the Warriors, 2015-16
Western’s Brad Campbell: 5-17, as Mustangs interim, 2004-05
Wilfrid Laurier’s Peter Campbell: 10-4, with Laurentian, 1985-86
Windsor’s Chris Oliver: 4-18, with Queen’s, 2002-03
York’s Tom Oliveri: 16-6, as Lions interim, 2004-05

Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec
Bishop’s Rod Gilpin: 0-12, with Gaiters women, 1993-94
Concordia’s Rastko Popovic: 10-6, with Stingers, 2015-16
Laval’s Jacques Paiement Jr: 10-6, with the Rouge et Or, 2008-09
McGill’s David DeAveiro: 7-15, with Ottawa, 2001-02
UQAM’s Nat Philippe: 7-9, with the Citadins, 2015-16

CIS WOMEN’s COACHES REGULAR SEASON LEAGUE RECORDS AS ROOKIES

Atlantic University Sport
Acadia’s Len Harvey: 2-20, with Mount Royal, 2013-14
Cape Breton’s Fabian McKenzie: 3-14, with the Capers, 1998-99
Dalhousie’s Anna Stammberger: 10-10, with the Tigers, 2009-10
Memorial’s Mark English: 13-7 with UPEI, 2014-15
New Brunswick’s Jeff Speedy: 15-5, as Victoria interim, 1993-94
UPEI’s Greg Gould: 6-14, with the Panthers, 2012-13
St. FX’s Augy Jones: 13-7, with the X-Women, 2012-13
Saint Mary’s Scott Munro: 2-18, with the Huskies, 2008-09

Canada West
Alberta’s Scott Edwards: 16-6, with the Pandas, 2006-07
Brandon’s Novell Thomas: 0-22, with the Bobcats, 2012-13
British Columbia’s Deb Huband: 9-11, with the Thunderbirds, 1995-96
UBC-Okanagan’s Claire Meadows: 10-10, with the Heat, 2015-16
Calgary’s Damian Jennings: 19-3, with the Dinos, 2012-13
Fraser Valley’s Al Tuchscherer: 9-14, with the Cascades, 2006-07
Lethbridge’s Dave Adams: 6-15, with Lethbridge men, 2001-02
MacEwan’s Dave Oldham: 17-3, with the Griffins, 2015-16
Manitoba’s Michelle Hynes, 2-20 as co-coach of the Bisons with Randy Kusano, 2012-13
Mount Royal’s Nathan McKibbon: 2-18, with the Cougars, 2015-16
Northern British Columbia’s Sergey Shchepotkin: 6-16, with the Timberwolves, 2013-14
Regina’s Dave Taylor: 10-12, with the Cougars, 2006-07
Saskatchewan’s Lisa Thomaidis: 5-15, with the Huskies, 1998-99
Thompson Rivers’ Scott Reeves: 2-21, with the Wolfpack, 2006-07
Trinity Western’s Cheryl-Jean Paul, 3-21, with the Spartans, 2010-11
Victoria’s Dani Sinclair: 16-6, as Vikes interim, 2012-13
Winnipeg’s Tanya McKay: 7-8, with the Wesmen, 1996-97

Ontario University Athletics
Algoma’s Ryan Vetrie: 0-22, with the Thunderbirds, 2013-14
Brock’s Si Khounviseth: 13-9, with the Badgers, 2009-10
Carleton’s Taffe Charles: 8-14, with the Ravens, 2007-08
Guelph’s Christin Dickenson: 12-10, as Waterloo interim, 2007-08
Lakehead’s Jon Kreiner: 5-17, with the Thunderwolves, 2003-04
Laurentian’s Jason Hurley: 6-22, with the Voyageurs, 2013-14
McMaster’s Theresa Burns: 0-12, with Ryerson, 1988-89
Nipissing’s Margaret Jones: 1-11, with Carleton, 1989-90
Ottawa’s Andy Sparks: 15-7, with the Gee-Gees, 2008-09
Queen’s Dave Wilson: 4-8, with the Gaels, 1982-83
Ryerson’s Carly Clarke: 0-20, with UPEI, 2009-10
Toronto’s Michele Belanger: 5-7, with the Blues, 1979-80
Waterloo’s Tyler Slipp: 7-15, with the Warriors, 2008-09
Wilfrid Laurier’s Paul Falco: 11-11, with the Golden Hawks, 2008-09
Western’s Brian Cheng: 5-15, with Victoria, 2001-02
Windsor’s Chantal Vallee: 9-13, with the Lancers, 2005-06
York’s Erin McAleenan: 10-12, with Lethbridge, 2012-13

Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec
Bishop’s Alex Perno: 10-6, with the Gaiters, 2008-09
Concordia’s Tenicha Gittens: 7-9, with the Stingers, 2015-16
Laval’s Guillaume Giroux: 9-7, with the Rouge et Or, 2015-16
McGill’s Ryan Thorne: 6-10, with the Martlets, 2003-04
UQAM’s Albena Branzova-Dimitrova: 7-9, with the Citadins, 2011-12

Next week — Rookie coaches Part II: Tests of patience.