The Right Man at the Right Time

TEMPE (AZ) -- “For the most part, you end up selling you, your philosophy, your personality, your energy, your dream, your style of play. Your physical resources can only take you so far. The good kid will be sold on the school by the personal relationship that you create. I try to talk to them as I hope someone will talk to my daughter some day. I treat all of my players the way that I want someone to treat my daughter when she leaves our house. That is my baseline. That is what I use to tell me how to treat other people. When I go into someone’s house, I tell them the things that we can do for their daughter. I tell them what the University of Dayton is about.”

It was 10 years ago that Jim Jabir uttered those words to me. He was coming to a program that was going nowhere. To say that it was drowning in mediocrity would be kind. A winning season would be rejoiced as if it were a conference championship. Little did he know when he took the job that his first season would end with three wins. Little did he know how big the task would be.

Ten years is a lifetime in the career of a coach at one school. Most either leave on their own or are shown the door. They either look for something better when they are successful or are asked to leave when they have not. It is a tough profession. The job you did that day is shown on a scoreboard the size of a house, is broadcast on ESPN and is a headline in the local and national newspapers. There is little question if you are succeeding or not.

Ten years ago Jabir felt the pressure of building a program from nothing. He now feels the pressure of making it elite. It is a different pressure but still persistent. Expectations have changed. Certainly fan and Administration expectations have changed, but not nearly to the level of his own. Losing brings pressure, winning brings even more.

Watching Jabir on the sideline, he does not appear to be someone that is enjoying his craft. He appears to be so into every movement on the floor and looking toward the next move that there is little time to smile and enjoy what is happening. It isn’t until the action is over that the faintest of smiles appears on his face. It’s not so much the result that brings the joy, but the reactions of his players. As they rejoice in their success, he knows that he is succeeding, he knows what he has worked so hard to accomplish is actually happening.

Jim Jabir, deep down inside, is a teddy bear. On the court, he is not. He expects a lot from his players and they understand this. He uses every moment on the court as an opportunity to teach. In the championship game of the ASU Classic, he took Amber Deane out of the game 25 seconds after the second half tipoff. He saw something he didn’t like and immediately used it as a teaching moment. It is likely Deane will not make that same mistake again.

Ten years into his job at UD, Jabir has changed the view. UD is now looked upon as the best non-Big 6 conference program in the country. I’m not sure that is good enough for him. He needs more. It’s not good enough to be best of a perceived second tier. He wants to be among the best, period.

“If you start winning you can bring people in to follow the program. If people like me and we are winning, it will only bring more to the program. My hope is to start getting 4,000 to 5,000 people to games and if I can be the lightening rod to get that to happen, then so be it. I can relate to different kinds of people and if that helps get people to the games to cheer on the Flyers, so much the better.”

“As we begin to win, I’ll begin to ratchet up my expectations and I think that is good as long as they are realistic. I have to have the ability to recruit the right kids. You have to have the ability to hit a home run recruiting now and then. Right now, I can’t even get those kinds of kids on campus. We are going to keep going at it. We will look in Europe, in the Junior College ranks and at transfers if that’s what it takes. We will get it done.”

These are his words from ten years ago, but the philosophy hasn’t changed, it has just been ratcheted up. UD has gone to the NCAA tournament three years in a row; just getting there isn’t good enough. Lasting past the first weekend is a feat that this team can accomplish. The talent continues to get better. The basketball IQ now matches the physical attributes. The difference in what you see on the court today verses even five years ago is remarkable.

In winning the ASU Classic, this team showed that it can win against a Pac 12 team on the road even when they play well below their capabilities. ASU was 25-2 in non-conference home games since 2009. This was a tough, physical game that looked to be the first loss of the season. Then, the Flyers turned it on and continued their undefeated season. This was a game that was won on guts and will. This team is special. No, let me take that back, this program is special. This isn’t the beginning of an extended run of greatness, but it certainly is a turning point.

This team is dominated by freshmen and sophomores. Next year’s recruiting class could be judged to be the best class Jabir has brought in with two top 50 players and a top 25 player has already committed for the following year. It’s easy to get the cart before the horse, but the program should continue to rise with the possibility of seeing the name “Dayton” in the top ten as a distinct possibility. Despite all of this, Jim Jabir is the same man that I met ten years ago.

“Because it is so comfortable here, I would like to coach here for 20 years and then just go away. For the first time, I really feel like I belong here in this job. I have a lot of reasons for wanting this to be my last job. Having said that, it doesn’t mean that I’m not going to work my hardest. For me to stay here, I have to stay sharp.”

These were his words ten years ago, they still ring true today. Jim Jabir is proof that you can do it right and still prosper. He loves his players as if they were his own daughters. He will yell at them at the top of his lungs and give them a hug 30 minutes later. We have all been there as parents. It’s nice to know that we have a coach that feels about UD and his players as we do about him.