Men’s Basketball: Marlin is a perfect fit for UL

Published by the Daily Advertiser Joshua Parrott March 31, 2010

Joshua Parrott

David Walker made the statement back when UL announced on March 9 that men’s basketball coach Robert Lee would not be retained following a six-year tenure that ended with five consecutive non-winning seasons.

Given the program’s recent struggles and lagging attendance, how important was it for the program to make a splash with a big-name hire?

"You can look at these things in a couple of different ways," UL’s athletic director said at the time. "You can look at it as we hope we have a successful press conference or we hope we have a successful program when we make the hire."

Or you can always try to do both.

That’s what Walker did in hiring former Sam Houston State coach Bob Marlin, who went 225-131 in 12 years with the Bearkats and is the second-winningest coach in Southland Conference history.

Marlin, 51, recently interviewed at Auburn and Houston and was in the mix at UTEP. But after talking with Houston officials on Thursday night, the Mississippi State grad pulled his name from consideration for that opening and called Walker at 12:45 a.m. Friday to accept a tentative offer at UL.

Most parents teach to their children that nothing good happens after midnight. In this case, it was the best thing that the Cajuns could have asked for.

"U of L presented a unique opportunity and gave me a chance to step into a situation that has a chance to be very successful," Marlin said. "With the Ragin’ Cajun fan support and the administration here on campus, I just felt like the time was right."

A large crowd of UL fans and boosters showed up to support Marlin when he was announced as the 13th men’s coach in program history Monday in the Cajundome’s Mardi Gras Ballroom. The crowd was so excited that Marlin once got interrupted by applause while answering a question from the media.

The irony is that Marlin repeatedly said throughout the day that the passionate fanbase played a role in his decision to leave Huntsville. (No doubt it helped that his five-year agreement with UL includes an annual salary package of $275,000. It would jump to more than $300,000 with performance bonuses. He made a reported $150,000 this season at Sam Houston. Lee made $175,000 this season with the Cajuns.)

So for whatever it’s worth, the Cajuns enjoyed a successful press conference. But more importantly they hired a coach that has a track record of building and maintaining successful programs, graduating his players and staying off the police blotter.

According to Walker, Marlin emerged from a list of more than 50 potential candidates indentified by the university and the search firm Carr Sports Associates. Seven of those individuals interviewed.

(Anyone calling this a lateral move for Marlin obviously hadn’t heard about his new salary, was unaware that UL’s facilities are arguably the best in the region and knew nothing about the program’s history, tradition and rabid fanbase. Plus, there’s the fact that the Cajuns have a chance to compete immediately in the Sun Belt Conference.)

Yes, the hiring of Marlin did not receive much coverage from the national media. But college basketball experts agree that Walker got a steal in Marlin, who would have been a top candidate for jobs in the SEC and Big 12 with another successful year at Sam Houston.

"Honestly, it doesn’t really matter whether you make a sexy hire because that feeling lasts only a day or two," said Jeff Goodman, a college basketball reporter for FOXSports.com. "What you want are long-term effects that will pay off. Sexy names don’t matter.

"I give David Walker credit for going that route instead of just trying to get a guy with a bigger profile. He got a guy who can win."

There’s no debating that fact. (And if you’re a Cajun fan and haven’t called Walker yet to congratulate him on the hire, stop reading for a second and do so.)

Marlin — who has the same straight-forward, no-nonsense approach as UL baseball coach Tony Robichaux – won more games at Sam Houston than any other Southland Conference school in the past 12 years. The Bearkats won more games than any other Division I team in Texas other than the University of Texas since 2000.

With Marlin on the sideline, Sam Houston recorded six 20-win seasons, three Southland Conference regular season titles and three runner-up finishes. From 1990-95, Marlin went 123-35 at Pensacola Junior College and had nationally ranked teams each season as well as winning the 1993 NJCAA Division I national title.

Why that is so incredible: Sam Houston never posted a winning season in Division I prior to Marlin’s arrival.

 

He has gotten it done in the postseason.

Under Marlin, Sam Houston won the Southland Conference tournament twice (2003 and ’10) to earn the program’s only two NCAA Tournament berths. Don’t forget about that junior college national championship mentioned a few paragraphs ago.

He is respected by his peers.

After the Bearkats won a school-record 25 games this season, Marlin was named the Southland Conference and NABC District 23 Coach of the Year. He is also a finalist for the Hugh Durham Mid-Major Coach of the Year Award and the Skip Prosser Award for on-court success and moral integrity.

Back in 1993, he was named the national junior college coach of the year by four organizations, including the NJCAA, Kodak/NABC, Basketball Times and Basketball Weekly. He was inducted into the Florida Junior College Hall of Fame in 2007.

He has developed his players, on and off the court.

In 17 years as a collegiate head coach, Marlin has produced 38 all-conference players, Sam Houston’s first All-American and two Southland Conference Players of the Year. The past three Southland Conference men’s basketball Student-Athletes of the Year have been Bearkats. He has had 31 academic all-conference players as a head coach.

None of that went unnoticed by Walker and UL’s administration.

"Not only has coach Marlin been a winner everywhere he has been, but he has done it the right way," Walker said. "That was extremely important to us."

Goodman compared Marlin to another underrated coach on a national level in Stew Morrill from Utah State. The Aggies are one of only three Division I teams to have won at least 23 games in each of the past 11 seasons.

"Stew can win and can coach, and Bob is the same kind of guy," Goodman said. "Bob has won games at a tough place to do so, has proven to be able to evaluate talent, can recruit good players and can coach. Those are things that you want.

"He can get the Cajuns right to the top of the league and competing for the league title every year."

Look for Marlin to do both, sooner rather than later.