Is The Clock Ticking On Jim Baron?
Monday, April 04, 2011
There has been a lot of attention paid to the Providence College men’s basketball program over the past month. After a second straight dismal season in the Big East, the school fired head coach Keno Davis and replaced him with local hero Ed Cooley.
But while the Friars coaching search may have dominated the headlines, it also stirred up the emotions of U.R.I. basketball fans.
Rhode Island has had a much better go of it on the hardwood in recent years winning 109 games over the past 5 seasons which is more than any 5 year stretch in program history. What it has lacked, however, is a coveted trip to the NCAA Tournament.
The lack of a trip to the Big Dance combined with PC’s decision to change coaches for the second time in three years has caused a lot of Rhody fans to question the future of their program under head coach Jim Baron.
Being a head coach in Division-1 men’s college basketball is not an easy job. It’s a “what have you done for me lately” – type position where only wins and, depending upon where you are, occasional trips to the NCAA tournament matter.
But coaches understand this. It’s also why most of them get paid so well because of the scrutiny and the lack of job security that comes along with it. That’s the deal.
As has been written here in the past, Baron is both a solid coach and human being. He is a man of great integrity who has built a sustainable program after walking into a difficult situation 10 years ago. About the only criticism one could have of Baron is that he has yet to lead one of his teams to the Tournament in his 10 years in Kingston.
It’s not as if his teams haven’t come close. There have been a few seasons where the Rams seemed poised to be a Tournament team come January. However, by March, those Tournament hopes were dashed by mediocre play within the conference forcing them to settle for bids to either the N.I.T. or, as was the case this season, the C.B.I.
Sources close to the team wonder if Baron’s teams tire in the months of February and March after strong starts to the season. Baron works his teams hard in practice which is why they seem so prepared each season coming out of the gates. But does he know when to take his foot off the gas pedal? Good question.
It’s also apparent that in college basketball, most teams take on the personality of their head coach. Baron is a man of discipline and his teams reflect that on and off the floor. But he is also a very guarded man who some say can be a bit uptight or even paranoid. Are those qualities being transferred to his players? That’s anyone’s guess.
Everything else about Baron’s approach is to be applauded. His kids attend class and rarely get into any type of trouble. And his teams compete consistently in the upper half of the 14-team Atlantic-10 conference each season.
But many Rhody fans long for a taste of the big time that is the NCAA Tournament where they haven’t been since Lamar Odom hit the game-winning shot to beat Temple in the 1999 A-10 Tournament championship game.
If you’re expecting Athletic Director Thorr Bjorn to make a change anytime soon, think again. Bjorn signed Baron to a 1-year contract extension last spring bringing his contract through the 2013-2014 season.
At the time of the extension, Bjorn did say, “Jim and I both know that after building the program to this point, the next step is to participate in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament as it is currently structured.” What was seemingly left unsaid in that statement is, that if Baron cannot deliver on that before the end of this contract, that he may likely not receive any more extensions.
One thing seems certain, with the financial crisis the state of Rhode Island is currently in the midst of, it would be highly unlikely for the state to approve the dismissal of the state’s highest paid employee while still under contract. It is not a move Rhode Island can afford to make at this time. Nor is it a necessary one.
Baron deserves a chance to see if he can lead this program to the Big Dance over the next 3 years based upon the job he has done thus far.
Granted, it won’t be easy in a league that gets only 2-3 out of its 14 teams in to the Tournament regularly. But Baron knew that coming in from conference rival St. Bonaventure.
There’s also the issue of having just 3 years remaining on a contract with the chance of another extension being slim. Recruiting will become more difficult for Baron and his staff because prospective recruits won’t be certain if he will be their coach for 4 or 5 years at the school.
But that appears to be a gamble that Thorr Bjorn and U.R.I. might be willing to take.
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