Hiring of McBride ends Cal’s search
Katie Roupe/Observer-Reporter
Kent McBride resigned Wednesday after two seasons as California University’s men’s basketball coach. The Vulcans were 21-35 under McBride.
Newly hired California University men’s basketball coach Kent McBride speaks at a news conference Thursday at the Natali Student Center.
New California University men’s basketball coach Kent McBride greets Jeffrey Jones, husband of Cal president Geraldine Jones.
CALIFORNIA – The power of youthful enthusiasm will be put to the test next basketball season at California University.
At a news conference Thursday afternoon, California officials announced the hiring of Kent McBride as the Vulcans’ new men’s basketball coach. The 33-year-old McBride comes to California after five seasons as the head coach at Concord (W.Va.), the most recent of which included a Mountain East Conference tournament championship and berth in the NCAA Division II tournament.
“It’s really an exciting time for me,” McBride said. “My enthusiasm level is through the roof.
“Cal U. is the kind of job you have to look at. I am a Concord alum, played there, went there and my family is from there, so to leave there is very difficult. That says how special this place is. A job like this doesn’t come around very often.”
It’s a job that has been open only twice in 30 years, this time after Bill Brown announced in February that he was retiring following his 20th year on the Vulcans’ bench. Cal is coming off a 7-21 season, the worst under Brown, who had a 365-211 record with the Vulcans.
McBride had an 83-63 record at Concord. The Mountain Lions were 22-10 this season and won the Mountain East tournament after finishing fourth in the league in the regular season. Concord was eliminated in the first round of the NCAA tournament in March by Mountain East rival West Liberty.
Prior to becoming Concord’s head coach, McBride was an assistant for two years at Glenville State and West Virginia Wesleyan and the head coach for one season at Wyoming East High School in West Virginia.
McBride’s hiring ends a long process to find Brown’s successor. Cal had five coaches on campus in April for interviews, then decided to start the process over with a new search committee. McBride was one of the original five finalists. Cal athletic director Karen Herpe said it was McBride’s complete fit for Cal that kept him at the top of the list of candidates.
“It went from his cover letter to his résumé to his accomplishments at Concord that brought attention to him,” Herpe said. “He brings a great deal of commitment and attention to detail. He had a 100 percent graduation rate at Concord. He has the full package that you’re looking for in a coach.”
McBride is no stranger to challenges. He took over a Concord program in 2011-12 that was two years removed from a six-win season and guided the Mountain Lions to 17 victories and the semifinals of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament in his first season.
It’s a similar situation to the one he is stepping into at Cal. McBride said he will implement the same blueprint for success with the Vulcans that he used at Concord.
“Everybody has big visions, big hopes, big dreams,” McBride said. “I want to get across to the players that those dreams don’t happen without the small victories. California is a program that is going to be expected to compete for championships, but there are a bunch of small things that must happen before that happens.
“You have to be an everyday winner. We’re going to talk to the players about being an Everyday Guy – go to class, do your job every day. Until that comes across, winning won’t happen. Winning is a byproduct of everyday actions.”
At Concord, it took five seasons of growth before the Mountain Lions won their first conference championship.
“We’ve proven that model is successful,” McBride said. “It works at different speeds, but you have to stick to the vision. There are steps you cannot skip.”
In the Mountain East, McBride coached in a run-and-gun, up-tempo conference that featured eight teams that averaged at least 80 points per game last season. The PSAC is a largely slow-paced, grind-it-out conference. McBride didn’t say what style of play he’ll bring to the Vulcans, other than it is “player-friendly” and that he is willing to change his playbook to fit personnel. Cal has nine returning players from a team that averaged 67 points per game.
“We feel very confident in the direction we’re headed,” McBride said. “You’re going to have a coach who will create a product you’re going to be proud of, a product that is going to represent the university the way you want to be represented. We’re going to get there as fast as we possibly can, but we’re going to do it the right way.”
McBride’s wife, Holly, is a former women’s basketball player at Concord. They have a 19-month-old son, Campbell.