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After enduring weeks of interim coaches, the Pepperdine men’s basketball team finally has coaching stability with the Athletic Department’s reintroduction of former head coach Tom Asbury on Wednesday.
While this scene has been all too familiar for the men’s basketball team over the past two years, a sense of stability came to the crowd of boosters and faculty that came out to support the coaching change.
Athletic Director John Watson and Asbury came into Heritage Hall amongst applause from the approximately 50 people in attendance, comprised of sports journalists, faculty, alumni and students.
“It’s my honor to introduce to you the man who is the most successful Pepperdine coach in our history,” Watson said. “Tom Asbury is a man who is coming home to take the reins of the program, to bring back stability and the tradition of men’s basketball at our university.”
Asbury comes back to Malibu after one year of retirement spent in Tucson, Ariz., where he and his wife Carlie had just moved into their new house when Watson called about returning to coach the Waves. When Watson called, Asbury’s answer was simple.
“I didn’t need to go into a whole lot more detail in my mind,” Asbury said. “Carlie and I talked about it and (the answer) was real direct, real short and real concise. (Malibu) is home for us.”
Home in Malibu seems to fit just fine for Asbury. During his six-year head coaching stint with the Waves (he also spent nine as an assistant coach) from 1989-94, the Waves recorded a 125-59 record, including three West Coast Conference titles (and tournament championships), three NCAA Tournament births and 38 straight WCC victories (from 1991-93).
After his success in Malibu, Asbury accepted the head coaching position at Kansas State (1995-2000) and served under Alabama coach Mark Gottfried from 2004-2007. But, his greatest success as a coach came while with the Pepperdine Waves.
Asbury was not shy about his former success at Pepperdine during the conference, but said he realizes that he will face new challenges upon his takeover of the team.
“The first time here for me, the challenge was to maintain a terrific program on the court and in the classroom,” Asbury said. “I don’t want to make predictions, but we will play hard, play defense and my student-athletes will work hard in the classroom.”
Although Asbury will not take over until after the end of this season, he will try and establish a solid foundation in the weeks leading to his takeover from interim head coach Eric Bridgeland and the rest of Vance Walberg’s staff.
Asbury met with the current players Wednesday night in hopes “everyone will stay” to get to know him and his yet unnamed staff of assistants.
Asbury feels it is best for him not to attend the rest of the games but said he will be attending the WCC Tournament so he can get a feel for the rest of the conference that awaits.
As for now, Bridgeland will end his coaching tenure at Pepperdine with three games left in conference play and the WCC tournament starting March 7.
“I’m excited for the changes on this campus,” Asbury said.
He then took questions and comments from faculty and alumni, who talked with Asbury like a true friend who finally returned home where he belongs.
“We need a lot of support here,” Asbury said. “There’s not a lot of continuity since I left. We need the boosters back, people who were here years ago. We need the support of students, faculty and the community to make this a sound, solid program and a tough place to play for teams on the road. We know we can do this because we have had success on this subject in the past.”
Submitted 02-21-2008
MALIBU, CA
