Reveno on list for UC-Irvine Job?

After two seasons of tremendous success at UP, we're going to have to get used to seeing Reveno's name popping up as a potential candidate for coaching openings. Here's the first one I've seen so far... randomly popped up in my Google alerts:

Eric Reveno, former Stanford player and coach who has done a nifty job making the University of Portland competitive, will be in the picture at Irvine - where the athletic director, Michael Izzi, formerly worked at Stanford and is a buddy of Reveno's.

http://www.presstelegram.com/moresports/ci_14638211

Fair enough if the AD there is friends with Reveno, but UC Irvine? Really? Pretty sure Reveno would want to move up with his next job...

I agree, sounds like a silly move for him.

A usually reliable poster on GU board is reporting that he is hearing that Reveno has taken UC-Irvine job. Any additional information here? I am a UP season ticket holder and would be disappointed to see Reveno leave Portland.

Portland to UCI is a sideways move at best, a step down at worst. Considering Rev has been recruiting the last couple of days and talking about how much respect the Pilots are getting from recruits, there's no way this happens.

Now if the Ducks come calling, I'll get concerned ...

There are better Big West schools down here that would be more of a lateral move.

Rob's Jacket wrote:Portland to UCI is a sideways move at best, a step down at worst. Considering Rev has been recruiting the last couple of days and talking about how much respect the Pilots are getting from recruits, there's no way this happens.

Now if the Ducks come calling, I'll get concerned ...

...concerned that Rev has lost his head if he goes. I don't see Oregon as much of a stepping stone at all. Yes, they can offer more money, but, so can OSU or pretty much any other school in the Pac-10. Trading money for job security isn't usally a good tradeoff in college athletics in my opionion... Coaches of other sports like Dennis Erickson have learned that the hard way.

onetouchfutbol wrote:

Rob's Jacket wrote:Portland to UCI is a sideways move at best, a step down at worst. Considering Rev has been recruiting the last couple of days and talking about how much respect the Pilots are getting from recruits, there's no way this happens.

Now if the Ducks come calling, I'll get concerned ...

...concerned that Rev has lost his head if he goes. I don't see Oregon as much of a stepping stone at all. Yes, they can offer more money, but, so can OSU or pretty much any other school in the Pac-10. Trading money for job security isn't usally a good tradeoff in college athletics in my opionion... Coaches of other sports like Dennis Erickson have learned that the hard way.

onetouchfutbol, I think your Husky bias is showing through.

The Ducks have been to the NCAAs in five of the last ten years, including two Elite Eights. They do have gobs of money, but they also have a roster stacked with young talent and will have the nicest arena on the west coast next season. You're right that Oregon isn't a stepping stone - for the right person, it could be a place to stay for a long, long time.

Honestly, I don't think the Ducks will look at Rev. If they're getting rid of Ernie, they need to make a splash, and though Rev's done amazing things on the Bluff, he doesn't have the "star power" UO will be looking for.

no way ducks look at rev....not big enough of a name. It is concerning that the UC Irvine rumors have not been officially squashed yet....stonehouse? That move would be extremely disappointing.

Rob's Jacket wrote:Portland to UCI is a sideways move at best, a step down at worst. Considering Rev has been recruiting the last couple of days and talking about how much respect the Pilots are getting from recruits, there's no way this happens.

WCC is currently the #12 conference. The Big West is currently #18. (per Sagarin)

I follow sports too much, and I was frankly not aware of the Big West Conf. I am familiar with Pacific, Long Beach State and the other schools in that conference, but wasn't aware what affiliation they had. I don't see them ever having more than one bid to the NCAA tourney. Their regular season and conf. tourney champ UCSB was rewarded with a #15 seed and a match-up with Ohio State. The league is definitely a step down from the WCC.

Unless you are playing men's volleyball... But yeah, thats pretty much the story, I'm not worried about Rev going to Irvine at all.

That move wouldnt make any sense for Rev, at all.... and I dont think there will be "official" information to squash every rumor that comes out... Rumors on the internet are just that.

All the writer was going on was that the AD there used to work at Stanford and hence knows Reveno.

Of course I'm sure that Irvine called Reveno. Heck, I'm sure lots of places are going to want to call Reveno. Remember, he put together back-to-back 20 win seasons (well, 19 last year but it just sounds so much nice to say back-to-back 20 win seasons) at Portland. No small feat.

Like I said - we're going to have to get used to hearing his name pop up whenever a job opening comes. St. Mary's fans have been dealing with it for years now. And remember, just because his name pops up doesn't mean it's serious. Most of these negotiations all happen through back channels and behind closed doors.

This Irvine story is just speculation from a writer.

Stonehouse wrote:This Irvine story is just speculation from a writer.

As opposed to what we post here!

There is some talk that this season was a bit of a disappointment. Remember that the pre-season chatter was a top-2 finish, and possibly a WCC championship. We never seriously challenged for that. But there were only a couple games that should never have been lost: PSU and perhaps the first Idaho game. The UW game should have been closer, but they did end up in the NCAA. Nevada ended with 20 wins and an NIT bid. A road loss there is not too bad, but perhaps a win would have swapped tournaments for us. And losing to LMU on the road is not a shame, but that was a great opportunity to draw a line above all other WCC teams behind us.

So as happy as we are with Rev, a school that just fired their winning-est BB coach, who had two Elite 8 appearances, is looking for a much bigger splash hire than our coach. Which is fine with me!

As a alum from almost 2 decades ago and living just outside NY, I don't follow the team as much as I'd like. Something about being in Big East country makes it hard, especially with my wife being a Syracuse grad. But I check in on this board from time to time and, at least from a far, the program looks stronger than ever. Heck, I think the team finished 6th, 7th or 8th everyone of my years. Then Chavez and Holton never did anything. And now the team goes 3rd in back-to-back years. Sure, I would have loved to see us challenge for 1st or 2nd. But with Raivio's injury, not sure how much could be expected. (Full disclosure: I only followed games in the box score the next day.) We're graduating a couple big contributors, but people seem to think next year's class can step in.

Can someone tell me what the situation on Reveno's contract is? I thought I remember last season there was talk of extension. But I never heard anything further, so I assume it didn't happen. Am I right? Around here, you'll give out long-term contracts unless things aren't improving. Even the jerk Gonzalez got one at Seton Hall. You guys are way closer to the pulse on campus, but I don't see good things if Reveno leaves or we get rid of him.

Contract information is held closely in the UP Athletic Department (darn it!)... so it's hard to know specifically where things stand now.

What we know: Rev has finished his 4th season on what I would assume was originally a 5-year contract. On pure speculation, I would assume that it was extended/modified/made more lucrative after last year's success... I cant imagine that Larry Williams would allow Rev to hang out there without a multi-year contract, especially with other schools showing interest in him. This is also important on the recruiting trail. I would assume that the contract will be re-evaluated after this year, as well.

And it's not just the head coach's salary/incentives that are negotiated... recruiting budgets, assistant coaches, facilities, etc. are, too... I have to assume the recruiting budget has been increased with all the recruiting travels that Rev has posted about... and the fact that the assistant coaching staff has not rolled over in 4 years leads me to believe that they are being treated well... There have been facility improvements (the Chiles Center spiff-up last year), and there are more in the works for next year and beyond...

Haha well, I guess since we are a private school, we have every right to keep the contract business behind closed doors... But yeah as PNut said, actual salary is only a part of the equation, continued dedication to the program by the ath. dept. whether that be shelling out for assistants, upgrading facilities, adding to the recruiting budget or even willingness to help get those big games with other teams is big in retaining coaches.

In some ways I think those "other" sides of commitment to program development play a bigger role keeping a guy like Rev than just pure monetary compensation (Not to say that doesn't play a role). To know that the school is willing to do what it takes to help you sell your program to recruits and fans is a big thing for an up and coming coach, as long as the school continues to do that, the greater chance we have of keeping Rev!

I would like to think that we can keep a coach like Reveno, but it is not going to be easy. PilotNut explained it perfectly. You hire the right coach, then give him all the tools (salary, recruiting, assistants, facilities . . ect.) he needs to succeed and he will stay and be successful.

Think Mark Few. How many times have you heard his name for open coaching positions. He stays at Gonzaga because they have given him the tools to continue to be successful in the long term.

Right now is a critical time for Portland basketball. We are having some success, but are we having the type of success that Reveno wants? Is Portland as a school that can constantly challenge for the WCC title? I think if he has the right tools, Reveno can get it done. The problem is that those tools cost a lot of money.

Well the other thing is the fan support will play a huge role going forward. I mean, no matter how well Rev works to improve the team and put out a great product, if he has to keep playing in front of a not even half full arena and languid student section at best you think that's going to encourage him to stay? Quite simply, no, it's not gonna work. On top of that, it strains the athletic dept because they don't have the gate receipts to bolster their investments in the program. It's all very cyclical.

The Fan support has been a worry for me all year. If we don't come, he may/will not stay.

As for facility improvements, I cannot wait to see the next ones. I don't know what is planned but I know what I want. For me, I would really like an improved scoreboard with more info on the players in the game. We use to keep score with the sheets they provided up until this past year and I really miss having that info. Well I can still get it going to GameTracker, but that is a lot slower over a cell phone network.

NewUPFan wrote:We use to keep score with the sheets they provided up until this past year and I really miss having that info.

Speaking of fan support and this. There are plenty of seats by my seats in the first row and you can easily see the monitors with the live stats. Plus if you get seats on the bench side Reveno is pretty entertaining to listen to.

This is pure speculation, but perhaps the paper sheets being handed out is reduced in an effort to be more green? Regardless, a state of the art scoreboard would do more than enough to remedy that (and potentially provide a chance for replay images and potential advert revenue).

As long as they keep the timer that measures hundredths of a second I'll be happy, I always like that little quirk for some reason...

Definitely need to have butts in the seats. I haven't seen any numbers, but I think that attendance has been trending upward the last couple of years. There is still a long way to go though.

A city the size of Portland (with very limited sports entertainment options) should be able to average 3-4000 in Chiles. I know 95.5 the game has been very supporting of the Pilots this year, including having Rev on the radio at least every week. If good basketball continues to be the norm on the bluff, the seats will get filled.

The Athletic Dept. is looking into a new 4-sided scoreboard with video and stats to replace the old one in Chiles Center... The hope is to have it installed prior to next season, but it is not as easy as one might think with electric codes, expen$e, roof weight limits, etc...

But that will be sweet when it happens.


(Not sure if they would have to pay extra for the hundredths of a second option... they may have to delay the replacement of the fur-lined seats at Merlo...)

PilotNut wrote:The Athletic Dept. is looking into a new 4-sided scoreboard with video and stats to replace the old one in Chiles Center... The hope is to have it installed prior to next season, but it is not as easy as one might think with electric codes, expen$e, roof weight limits, etc...

But that will be sweet when it happens.


(Not sure if they would have to pay extra for the hundredths of a second option... they may have to delay the replacement of the fur-lined seats at Merlo...)

I don't know if anyone will get this, but I hear the old Winterhawks owners have some spare video screens. They're state of the art, too.

The UO blog Addicted to Quack has a list analyzing possible new coaches for the Ducks. In the Other Category, they include Coach Rev:

Eric Reveno - Portland

Pros: Let's be honest, he did beat Ernie Kent. He'd be an easy sell on moving from Portland to Eugene. I also don't think it would take a huge salary to pull him away.

Cons: In my opinion we would be getting Ernie Kent 2.0. Runs a very similar offense of run and gun and three point shooting. While hiring him might make a splash locally, I'm not sure it will garner the attention nationally that Oregon is looking for.

LINK
Interesting analysis. The list includes Few, Bennett and Grier. And near the top of the list is our own Eric Spoelstra.

BTW, I don't think I agree with the analysis that Rev's offense is the same as Ernie's. 3 point shooting, yes, but run and gun? Maybe it just looked like that when we were running past the Ducks.