Cleveland State makes the right call with athletic director John Parry.
CSU photoHis success at Butler and his performance in an interim year with Cleveland State makes John Parry a good choice for the Vikings, says Terry Pluto. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Sometimes, the obvious choice is the best choice -- even if it's barely mentioned in the media.
But that's what Cleveland State president Ronald Berkman did when taking the "interim" tag away from John Parry on Tuesday. Now, he's CSU athletic director with a new 3-year contract.
Parry has been in the job for a year as the school searched for a full-time replacement for Lee Reed, who did an excellent job before he took the same position at Georgetown.
"John has the combination of a real depth of experience and passion and energy," said Berkman. "He also brings the emphasis on academics that comes from his being at Butler."
Parry spent 16 years as Butler's athletic director, helping that school become a Horizon League power. Before Parry arrived, Butler's men's basketball team had a 6-22 record and had been to only one NCAA tournament in school history.
When Parry retired in 2006, Butler had five NCAA tournament appearances, five more with the NIT.
"John has done a great job and I'm glad we are keeping him," said Gary Waters, the school's successful basketball coach.
Parry has more jobs than keeping Waters happy. But the relationship between the athletic director and the men's basketball coach at a school with no football such as CSU is critical. Waters was hired by Reed, but it didn't take long to realize he had an ally in Parry. "We're both old school," said Waters. "We know things don't happen overnight. We know how to win at this [mid-major] level."
CSU finished the season 27-9. Three losses were to Butler, which reached the NCAA championship game for the second year in a row.
Waters revived CSU
Five years ago, Waters took over a program that had not been to a postseason tournament since the 1988 NIT. It hadn't won 20 games since 1992-93. Waters has three 20-victory seasons, one NCAA tournament appearance (2009) and twice made it to the NIT (2008, 2011).
At 13-5, CSU was in a 3-way tie with Butler and Wisconsin-Green Bay for the Horizon League regular-season title.
"Gary is a tremendous coach, and what I need to do is give him what he needs to keep this going," said Parry. "He stands for the right things. He is a defensive-oriented coach, which wins in our conference. This is where he wants to climb the mountain."
At 59, Waters is much like Parry -- he's not looking for the next job. It's Waters who took Kent State to its first NCAA tournament berth and did it twice in his five seasons at the Mid-American Conference school.
John Kuntz / The Plain DealerA growing relationship between Parry and basketball coach Gary Waters is a positive sign for the long-term health of the Vikings' most visible athletic program. "Gary did a very good job with the material that he had," said Berkman. "He is an excellent basketball coach, and an excellent human being. I think he's a great role model for our players."
Both Parry and Berkman mentioned how they appreciate Waters teaching a leadership class to his players during the season -- something not common in most major college basketball programs. Berkman believes it makes sense to keep these two veterans with successful track records at the mid-major basketball level together. Berkman said he had a year to watch Parry run the department and also see if he was truly committed to CSU.
"John wants to be here and is happy here," said Berkman. "That's important."
Drawing more fans
"I know that this is a pro city, but we are Cleveland's Division I basketball team," said Parry. "We have a good product. We have to get the word out."
The Vikings averaged 3,112 fans last season. That was up from 2,278 and 2,245 the previous two seasons. After Jan. 1, they averaged nearly 4,000 a game.
"It was really special to walk into the building and see fans to the rafters when we played Butler," said Berkman. "Any time we can bring people downtown to see our campus, it's a real plus. They can see how the campus has been transformed."
The Vikings drew 8,490 fans for that game, the sixth largest crowd in school history.But the overall attendance was the most since 2000-01. Selling mid-major basketball from a primarily commuter school that doesn't inspire much alumni loyalty in a pro town is a tough task.
Mid-majors generally don't draw well. Yes, Butler averaged 7,178 fans this season. But the only other Horizon schools averaging more than 4,000 were Wright State (4,792) and Wisconsin-Milwaukee (4,145). Valparaiso (3,362) was fourth, then came CSU (3,112) in the 10-team conference.
In the MAC, Ohio (7,096) was the leader. Toledo (4,648) was the only other MAC school over 4,000. The next three were Kent State (3,847), Ball State (3,400) and Akron (3,338). Seven of the MAC's 12 schools failed to average 3,000 fans -- four were under 2,000.
The worst Horizon League draw was Youngstown State (2,261).
"We can do better," said Berkman. "That's one of our goals, to put an exceptional team on the floor and then have people come down and watch it. We can do that here."