When Dana Altman took over the Oregon job, it meant a change in some of the coaching charts of the Pac-10. Incredibly, just four years removed from taking over at Arizona State, Herb Sendek already is fourth in longevity in the Pac-10. Only Lorenzo Romar and Ben Howland are current league coaches who have been at their Pac-10 school longer than Coach Herb, who also will have "2009-2010 Pac-10 Coach of the Year" engraved next to his name in all publications and web references until the end of time.
Some other nuggets you might not know or cared about but will be forced to at least think about as you read through this note...
--After the 2005-2006 hoops season, there were 60 Division I coaching changes, including Coach Herb coming to Tempe. Guess how many of the 60 remain? If you guessed 35, you got it. So less than 60 percent of the coaches hired four years ago remain.
--This one might catch you off guard. Fourteen major conference teams made coaching changes after the 2005-2006 season. Of those 14, here is who remains at the school in addition to Coach Herb: Mick Cronin (Cincy), Andy Kennedy (Ole Miss), Mike Anderson (Missouri), Sidney Lowe (NC State), Doc Sadler (Nebraska) and Jeff Capel (Oklahoma). Who were the other hires that have since departed? The seven are Kelvin Sampson (Indiana), Greg McDermott (Iowa State), Bob Huggins (West Virginia), Sean Sutton (Oklahoma State), Fred Hill (Rutgers), Bobby Gonzalez (Seton Hall) and Tony Bennett (Washington State).
--When it comes to Division I wins, Mike Montgomery leads the Pac-10 coaches with 593. He is followed by Altman (410), Howland (334) and Coach Sendek (330). Not a shock to say Coach Montgomery's 28 years overall leads the league, followed by Altman at 21 and Coach Sendek at 17...yes, he has been coaching for 17 seasons. He was 30 when he took the Miami of Ohio job in the spring of 1993.
--Coach Sendek is third in terms of games coached at the Division I level. Montgomery has coached in 859 Division I tilts. Altman is next on the list with 653. Coach Sendek enters the list with 544.
--You might be shocked by this one. Sean Miller turns 42 on Nov. 17 this November and is the youngest of the Pac-10 coaches. Johnny Dawkins turns 47 on Sept. 28. Guess who is third and turns 48 in February? Yup, Coach Sendek hits 48 on Feb. 22, 2011.
--As far as dancing goes, Coach Montgomery has made 14 NCAA appearances, while Dana Altman and Ben Howland have been there eight times. Herb Sendek checks in with seven at three schools. His NC State squad went in each of his final five seasons (2006-2010). He took Miami to the NCAA Tournament in 1995 and led ASU to March Madness in 2009.
