Rich Zvosec coached a series of men's college basketball teams with interesting nicknames. In 1988, at age 27, he was hired to lead the St. Franicis (New York) Terriers. Then he moved to North Florida, home of the Ospreys. Finally, he landed at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where he coached the Kangaroos for seven seasons, six as the head man.
UMKC hired a new athletic director, Tim Hall, in 2007. One of Hall's first acts of business was to dump Zvosec after a 12-20 season. In his basketball memoir, Birds, Dogs & Kangaroos, published last year, Zvosec describes how Hall sent an administrator to supervise his farewell to the team. "It was like a divorced parent being accompanied by a social worker when he sees his own children," he writes.
Zvosec has spent the past two seasons working as a television analyst. He's also a motivational speaker and has acted in commercials and films.
Is commentating where you think your career is going, or do you see yourself getting back into coaching?
I really enjoy what I'm doing right now. Last year, I did Big Ten games. This year, Big 12. Last year, I was undefeated in the Big Ten. This year, I'm undefeated in the Big 12. It's much different. I enjoy being around the game. And, quite frankly, I enjoy the fact that when the game ends, my biggest decision is where do I want to go to eat tonight. Albeit I do miss the kids. The relationships with kids is why I got into coaching. That part of it I miss. But, on the other hand, I talk to former players all the time, so I get that as well.
In your book, you come off as, I don't want to say bitter, but
disillusioned, maybe. It sounds like you've had your fill of athletic
directors.
I don't think I'd categorize it as bitter. I've always been a realist.
It really does come down to wins and losses, no matter what
administrators will tell you. Example after example will show you
administrators will put up with NCAA violations. They will put up with
boorish behavior. They'll put up with low graduate rates as long as you
win. That part of it I don't like. I tell people that I love the profession, but I hate the business. As [former Oklahoma coach] Abe Lemons once said, we're all hired to be fired. There's a lot of truth in that.
Do you think UMKC can be viable as a Division I school?
I think so. I always believed that in order for Kansas City to step up
and take notice of us, we had to go the NCAA tournament. I still
believe that's so, but when we were in the midst of an 11-game winning
streak in my fourth year, we were getting crowds of well over 6,000 for
home games, it showed me that, you know what, you don't have to win the
conference and get to the tournament to get people to take notice. You
just have to put a good, exciting product with a mixture of local guys
on the floor.
But do you think UMKC would be better off in the NAIA or Division II?
No, I don't think so, because if they were to drop to NAIA or Division II,
they'd be totally off the radar screen. I'll give you a perfect example: Rockhurst. Bill O'Connor, he's done a fantastic job over there. They've been in the NCAA tournament two of the last three years. But you don't hear about them. They don't get the notoriety that they deserve. But if they were Division I and had been to the tournament two of the last three years, you'd hear about them.
What do you miss the least about coaching?
The tough losses. The road trips. The way the Summit League is set up,
you'd leave on a Wednesday, come back on a Sunday. That travel really
was tough. It's not like the Missouri Valley or the Big 12, where you fly on
a charter. Our charter was Southwest Air.
We don't have the brackets in front of us, but give me your Final Four.
To be politically correct, I'd say Kansas and Missouri, and I'd cover both
states. I like Pittsburgh. Jamie Dixon does a great job. They defend,
they've got a great point guard, which is important. Oklahoma. Blake
Griffin's the best player in the country. Any time you have the best
player in the country, you have a chance to win it. Very similar to the
Kansas team that won it with Danny Manning; Griffin's that type of
player. Michigan State. North Carolina. No surprises there. But that
being said, I think a team like Kansas, who has a great guard in
[Sherron] Collins and very good post player in [Cole] Aldrich, they
certainly could have a shot at it.
How about a No. 8-type seed that might do some damage?
A team I had earlier in the year at a tournament was Virginia Commonwealth. They could make some noise because they've got a 6-foot-9 kid inside named [Larry] Sanders who is as good a defender in the post as anyone in the country. And they've got a great guard named Eric Maynor, who's a two-time Colonial [Athletic Association] player of the year.
Do you have any acting gigs lined up?
I'm actually going down to Tulsa tomorrow and next week for a couple of
commercial shoots -- one for a casino. And then I was cast in a movie
that will shoot in Buffalo in the summer. It's a hockey movie,
actually, kind of like the Robby Benson One on One
movie. I am the troubled youth's surrogate father and pee-wee hockey
coach, which is a challenge, because I don't know how to skate. But
they told me as long as I can just kind of go out there, lean on a
stick, hold on to the net, I'll be fine.
Interview was condensed and edited.
like
dislike
