Basketball: Brandon men's coach resigns

Another week, another coach stepping aside and citing all the odd jobs and ancillary duties that get piled on top of the tough-as-it-is task of winning games. This time it's Keith Vassell at Brandon:
"Brandon University will be looking for a new men's basketball coach for the 2010-11 Canada West Conference season.

"Keith Vassell has stepped down, citing a variety of factors for his decision. 'Being a coach at Brandon University means wearing a lot of hats," he said in a press release, 'and I felt that with that, and for personal reasons, a change was in order.'

"The search for a new head coach will get underway in the coming days." — Winnipeg Free Press, March 29
The scary thought is it took a week to pick up on the fact the coach at a school which played in the national title game in 2007 has resigned. It's a tough road to hoe at a small school if the proper support isn't there; it makes the success coaches such as Cape Breton's Jim Charters, among others, have had all the more impressive.

Taking Vassell at his word, one wonders if this will be a wake-up call. What Brandon had in its salad days with Jerry Hemmings is probably long gone. Some would say that is not so bad, either.
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11 comments:

  1. Apparently Vassell's wife and kids were holed up in Winnipeg while he works
    in Brandon....an untenable situation for sure.
    With all due respect to Keith Vassell, I wonder why Brandon chose him over Mike Raimbault two years ago.
    As an interim coach he led Brandon to a 20-2 record.
    All Raimbault has done the last two years is take UNBC to
    consecutive trips to the CCAA nationals and a national title this year.
    And he is a native of Brandon as well.
    A home town boy who can coach...what's not to like?
    This might be a case of 20/20 hindsight, but BU is said to now be eagerly pursuing the man they spurned two years ago.
    It might be poetic justice if Raimbault instead takes the Winnipeg job.

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  2. Raimbault is staying put at UNBC. Defending National Champions, he'll be there at least one more year.

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  3. Really?
    I thought he interviewed for the Winnipeg job and was one of the finalists.
    He's obviously been very successful at the college level but CIS
    is the highest level of ball in the country and I would think by and large
    the pay is better overall at the university level.
    Maybe Winnipeg or Brandon for that matter is all that appealing to him.
    Now that he's established himself in BC, perhaps he'll just bide his time
    until one of the BC based CIS schools has a job opening.
    For one, TRU has been foundering ever since it joined the CIS a few years ago.
    And I really wonder about Craig Beaucamp.
    He's had some success at UVIC...national finalist in 06...but recently a lot of players have been leaving
    that program, and that doesn't appear to be a good sign.

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  4. The Winnipeg Free Press said today that Raimbault will be the Wesmen's new coach,
    even though it hasn't been officially announced.

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  5. I've heard that too.

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  6. Well, so much for sticking around UNBC, eh?
    Like that was going to happen.
    Looks like the "Defending National Champions" will have to defend with somebody else.

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  7. Ironic that Raimbault signs with UWinnipeg the day Brandon posts their job advertisement.

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  8. Wow, guess my source in PG was bad. Hopefully he can turn that Winnipeg program around.

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  9. How many "interim" coaches post a 20-2 record?
    And how many administrations would let a guy like Raimbault slip through their fingers?
    Among the many blunders Brandon's athletic dept. had made over the
    last few years, not getting Mike Raimbault's name on a contract is probably the biggest.
    Keith Vassell was a undoubtedly a great player but being a great
    player doesn't automatically mean one becomes a successful coach.
    The more Brandon's admin tries to distance itself from Jerry Hemmings' legacy
    the more it comes back to haunt them.

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  10. Tough decision for Raimbault, although it would probably be a very sizeable pay raise.

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  11. Hire back Jerry Hemmings!

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