Pat Kennedy was wearing a ring recently that was as understated as a candelabra, as reserved as Ricky Martin.
If you ever need to pick a college or pro coach out of a room of people, look at the hands first. Look for the largest, gaudiest ring you can find. That’s your coach. That’s your coach’s way of being loud and proud, of presenting some of his credentials.
Kennedy’s ring celebrates the 1992-1993 season, when his Florida State team went to the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament. It’s a good memory for him, but it’s a little like being reminded of involuntary celibacy: Man, has it been a long time. Kennedy’s last NCAA appearance was six years ago.
He shouldn’t feel too bad. DePaul hasn’t been to the dance since the 1991-92 season. They are joined now, the school and the coach with the big ring, and this should be the season the two get their fondest wish. Kennedy agrees, saying that anything less than an NCAA tournament bid would be a major disappointment for his program.
“My wife hates when I say it,” he said. “She says, `You always set such high goals and you’re always so optimistic.’ It’s the only way I know how to live. What gets her so mad is that I’m so outspoken about it.
“When I go into a kid’s home and try to recruit him I say, `These are our goals.’ This is why you get a kid excited about coming to your school. Rick Pitino didn’t tiptoe into kids’ homes and say, `Hey, we’re going to try to be good at Kentucky.’ He said, `I want to win a national title,’ and that’s why kids went there.
“I think the NCAA tournament should be our goal. Anything can happen once you get there. We’ve just got to get to the steady diet of being there. That’s the next step for this program.”
Of course, Kennedy believes his team should have gone to the NCAA tournament last year instead of to the National Invitation Tournament, but don’t get him started.
“I still believe in my heart, but was not outspoken about it, that we were clearly a better choice than UAB last year,” he said. “Everything added up to that. I still don’t know why we didn’t get in.”
There is momentum now, and Kennedy and DePaul fans can feel it. Quentin Richardson decided to stay in school one more season, even though he could have bolted to the NBA after his freshman year. Just before practice began this season, the NCAA clearinghouse declared freshman Steven Hunter, a 7-foot-1-inch center from Proviso East, eligible. Season-ticket sales are up 25 percent from last year. Leo star Andre Brown, one of the top players in the country, recently committed to DePaul. King point guard Imari Sawyer is expected to follow.
The Blue Demons did take one step backward recently and now have a decided limp. When center Lance Williams broke his foot in practice last month, it was a setback for the program. He’s out until December. But Kennedy sees a silver lining there too: Now Hunter and senior Ayinde Avery will get more early minutes and more opportunity to improve.
The Blue Demons are ranked 10th in the country by one publication and in the Top 20 by many others. Kennedy might be the optimistic guy his wife says he is, but even that’s a little too optimistic for him.
Yes, guard-forward Paul McPherson, a transfer from Kennedy-King Junior College, has been better than Kennedy expected. But DePaul struggled last year against pressure defense, mostly because of inexperienced guards.
The good news for jittery Blue Demons fans is that Kerry Hartfield has been moved from point guard to shooting guard, his natural position. That opens a spot for sophomore Rashon Burno, but he too has to learn to handle the ball and the pressure better. That’s why Kennedy believes all the enthusiasm is a little excessive.
“I think the general expectations are too high around town and around the country in these publications,” he said. “There are still some things we have to accomplish. We’ve got to solidify our point-guard position. Rashon’s worked very hard. (Freshman) George Baker’s his backup, and the two are going at it every day in practice.
“The competition level in practice is three times what it was last year. George wants minutes, and Rashon wants to establish himself as a leader. Last year we were experimenting. We got 18 wins out of experimenting. So we’ll be better there, but I don’t know how good.”
Kennedy didn’t expect all this to happen so quickly. He figured it would happen four or five years after he was hired in June 1997. Instead, he picked up Richardson, Williams and Bobby Simmons, went 18-13 last year and attached a siphon to Chicago’s high school talent.
He believes this experience could be very different from his days at Florida State. After coming within one victory of the Final Four in 1993, the Seminoles fell quickly into mediocrity. The players from the state of Florida whom Kennedy tried to recruit off the success of that season opted for other Atlantic Coast Conference schools. And hammered the Seminoles.
“The difference here is that DePaul is known as a basketball school,” Kennedy said. “We’ve kind of got control of this market, and it’s gotten back into the national realm for the local kids.
“The second thing is, there are going to be good players in Chicago every year. Now for the first time in my career, I feel like maybe I have a shot at having an opportunity where if we can consistently keep the best two or three kids at home each year and even if we get the ones who are going to leave early (for the NBA), then we’ll always have four or five really good players in our program. Now maybe you get to that UConn level where you’re expected to go to the (NCAA) tournament every year.
“I think now we’re approaching that crest.”
It’s no secret that Richardson is the reason for almost all of this. He was everything Kennedy hoped for and more. He was a McDonald’s All-American who actually played like one, leading all freshmen nationally in rebounding with a 10.5 average and finishing third in scoring at 18.9 points. He lent instant legitimacy to a program that was living on memories.
So far, he has taken Chicago along with him on a joy ride.
“It makes me feel good just knowing we were the class that started bringing back all the Chicago kids and the other great players from around the country to DePaul,” Richardson said. “That’s a big accomplishment.”
In keeping with the concept that change is good, DePaul has a new logo, a new mascot and a newly named arena. It’s Allstate Arena now, not the Rosemont Horizon. There are new seats, and a new feeling. The feeling is that the Blue Demons should win.
“You know you have to play that much harder because a lot of people are going to be watching you a lot closer this year,” Richardson said.
Kennedy understands that his program might be moving into a different realm, where victories are met with relief instead of joy. That’s the mark of a team’s arrival on the national stage.
“What I am concerned about is that this team now, with the talent level that we have, reaches the potential to be good,” Kennedy said. “If I do that, I know I’ve done a really good job as a coach. To do that, we have to be competitive every night. Every game we play we should have a chance to win.
“What happened last year with Duke should never happen again.”
After much buildup, then-No. 1 Duke blew out the Blue Demons 96-64 at the United Center. They get another crack at the Blue Devils on Dec. 4 in Durham, N.C.
Without Williams, the coming weeks could be particularly cold. The Blue Demons could face Michigan State in the Puerto Rico Shootout later this month. They’ll face Duke, St. John’s and UCLA in December.
“We’ve got to guard against the early part of the season not having Lance,” Kennedy said. “If I had Lance right now, I’d feel a lot better. We do have a good schedule. If we go to Puerto Rico and stumble a little, we’ve got to keep the troops up and keep the fans up and keep everyone looking at the bigger picture.
“We’re not going to really see how good we are or know where we’re going to get to until late January or early February.”
Kennedy doesn’t know if there’s another big ring in his future, either. But if there is and you see him, here’s a suggestion: sunglasses.
