Mar 24, 2005
By Eddie Timanus, USA TODAY
The way Max Good remembers it, he flew to Rhode Island to interview for the job as men's basketball coach at Bryant College - and athletics director Dan Gavitt wouldn't let him leave.
"I came for an interview, and he wouldn't let me get out of town," Good says. It seems Good, once briefly head coach at UNLV, had only packed for a 24-hour trip. But Gavitt offered him the job immediately and was eager to make the announcement.
"We wanted to have the press conference and introduce him the next day," Gavitt says. "I had to take him to a Providence mall to get him a shirt and tie. It was the best money I ever spent."
In only his fourth season at the Division II school, Good has taken the Bulldogs to the Final Four for the first time in program history. Bryant beat Mount Olive (N.C.) 84-69 in Wednesday's quarterfinal round in Grand Forks, N.D. The Bulldogs meet Tarleton State (Texas) tonight in the national semifinals.
Good served as head coach for part of a season at UNLV and had a stint as head coach at his alma mater, Eastern Kentucky. But New Englanders might know him best from his long tenure at Maine Central Institute, one of the region's top prep school programs. Gavitt, who had an opening at Bryant, got in touch with Good through a mutual friend, current Ohio coach Tim O'Shea.
"Tim knew of my love for Rhode Island," Good recalls. "He called me when I was at Vegas and said there was what could be a great job there. I'd heard of Bryant, but frankly I didn't know that much about it."
That isn't surprising. Last season's NCAA Tournament appearance was Bryant's first since 1980. But Gavitt thought there was potential to build the basketball program into a winner when he signed on as AD.
"I thought this was a diamond in the rough," he says. "Rhode Island is a great college basketball area, and we have a great president who's really committed to athletics. With the right person, we could have success. With Max, we got even more than I'd hoped for."
Gavitt's name should also be familiar to Rhode Islanders. He is the son of Dave Gavitt, the former Big East Conference commissioner.
"I guess I've got big shoes to fill there," Dan Gavitt says with a laugh. "If I have anywhere near the success he's had, I'll be happy."
His personnel decisions look, well, good so far. But Good says this season wasn't always smooth sailing. The Bulldogs returned three starters from the squad that reached the regional final last season before losing on a last-second basket to Massachusetts-Lowell. But Bryant was only 7-6, including 3-6 in the Northeast-10, after losing Jan. 11 to Merrimack (Mass.). Good remembers the midnight film session that followed.
"We had the kids write down all their mistakes they see," Good says. "After that game we were there until 4 in the morning. I said, 'Fellas, this can't continue.' This is a pretty strong academic school, and they didn't want to spend those kinds of hours watching film, so that was pretty good motivation."
Since then, the Bulldogs are 17-2. For a second consecutive season, they found themselves in a regional final on the opponents' home court. This time they took care of business, beating Bentley (Mass.) 74-64 to earn the trip to North Dakota.
The team is led by Mike Williams, who blocked 19 shots in the three regional games, and John Williams, who had 27 points Wednesday against Mount Olive.
