14—The Daily Collegian Thursday, Feb. 29, 1996
Jack of all trades
Cager assistant coach more than just recruiter
By DAVID COMER
Collegian Sports Writer
When Frank Haith was a gradu
ate assistant coach at Wake Forest
during the 1989-90 season, he
helped lure current NBA players
Randolph Childress and Rodney
Rogers to the Deacons.
Then Haith went to UNC-Wilm
ington, where he was the Sea
hawks' recruiting coordinator and
aided in making their program a
winner. Haith then moved to Texas
A&M and used his recruiting
prowess to help the Aggies play in
the NIT last season.
Now in his first season as an
assistant coach for the Nittany
Lion basketball team, Haith is the
recruiting coordinator. But don't
call Haith just a recruiter. He does
more, including on-the-court coach
ing and scouting.
"(Lion coach) Jerry (Dunn)
offered me an opportunity to be
involved with the total program,"
said the 30-year-old Haith, who like
Dunn, is a sharp dresser. "In this
business, you don't want to be
labeled. You want to be the total
entity."
Haith enjoys coaching because it
gives him an opportunity to teach,
and he likes breaking down film of
opponents.
But by all means, Haith relishes
recruiting. After talking to him, it's
easy to see why he is a successful
recruiter. He is outgoing, friendly,
positive, returns phone calls and
likes to talk. He sounds interested
in what people are saying.
"I get a thrill out of recruiting,"
Haith said. "I enjoy meeting people
and to be a good recruiter, you
have to enjoy meeting people. I
spend a lot of time on the phone,
and sometimes my wife could kill
me."
During the recruiting process,
Haith tries to create relationships,
and in the process, develop bonds
with the players he is courting.
That, said his wife Pam, is why her
husband talks on the phone so
much. He is spending time learning
about the recruit's family and
about his life and interests.
"He loves to talk on the phone,"
said Pam. "Those phone calls aren't
just for business. He is trying to
develop relationships with the
recruits and that is what produces
the long conversations."
And when one of those players
picks Haith's school, the coach gets
a good feeling because he knows he
will play a big part of the recruit's
life for the next four years. Born in
Queens, N.Y., and raised in North
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Men's basketball assistant coach Frank Haith ponders a referee's call
This season marks Haith's first on the bench at Penn State.
Carolina, Haith wanted to return to
the East Coast, so he accepted the
job with Penn State. After he met
Dunn, he saw an opportunity to
recruit quality student-athletes and
realized the positive effects the
new Bryce Jordan Center and the
Big Ten could have on Lion basket
ball, Haith was sold.
He said his first months at Penn
State have been great and the win
ning has helped make the transi
tion even smoother. Things have
gone pretty much as planned.
With the coaching experience
Haith has had across the country,
he has also been able to bring with
him new coaching ideas and estab
lished recruiting contacts.
"He is really good on the floor
with the kids, and you always need
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fresh ideas," Dunn said. "He knows
some different networks that we
maybe were not familiar with."
Haith's job means long hours in
the basketball office watching film
and road trips for both recruiting
and road games.
For Haith, that also means time
away from Pam and their two-year
old son Corey.
"When we first started dating, he
had such a love and a desire for
what he was doing," Pam said. "I
knew what his coaching would
involve. I've become a part of
that."
"My wife has been wonderful,"
Frank said. "She's the ultimate
coach's wife."
And he's the ultimate assistant
coach.
ROUND TRIP
Eli
EIII
EA
King of the Blues
By MICHAEL PALM
Collegian Sports Writer
If it were up to Wayne Gret
zky, he would have been traded
about four or five weeks ago. In
a conference call yesterday,
Gretzky said that's basically
when the decision to move him
was made.
It finally happened Tuesday,
when the Los Angeles Kings
sent Gretzky, the NHL's all
time leading scorer, to the St.
Louis Blues for Craig Johnson,
Roman Vopat, Patrice Tardif, a
1997 first-round draft pick and
a fifth-round pick this year.
"We don't think in negative
terms," St. Louis coach/general
manager Mike Keenan said.
"We only think in positives of
winning the Stanley Cup. If it
doesn't come to pass, I don't
have any reservations."
The Kings apparently did.
Rumors persisted, first sending
him to the Blues. The New York
Rangers were next on the hot
list. But in the end, it came
down to St. Louis.
"My priority was to play for
Mike and the St. Louis Blues,"
Gretzky said.
His first game will be tonight,
when the Blues play at Vancou
ver on ESPN2. The new captain
of the Blues, Gretzky has close
relations with St. Louis, making
the transition easier.
Icers
Continued from Page 8
Westfall teamed up two minutes
into the third to extend the leers'
lead.
Kmit dug the puck out of the cor
ner, passed it to Westfall behind
the net, who in turn dished it off to
Pietrangelo in front of the crease.
Pietrangelo one-timed it into the
back of the net.
Keegan scored his second goal of
the first round game a little over
one minute later to finish off the
Ice Devils.
"You need seniors to play big in
big games," Battista said of the
effort his seniors made. "All these
guys really stepped it up."
Notes:
■ The Icers play lowa State at
4:00 p.m. today. The Cyclones,
ranked sixth in the tournament,
upset No. 3 Arizona 3-2 yesterday
afternoon.
"They looked good in beating
Arizona," Battista said. "They have
a big, strong team and a strong
goaltender."
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"Our expectations
and the
expectations of our
fans have increased
tremendously."
Mike Keenan
Blues' coach
He's good friends with Brett
Hull, and the two should make a
potent scoring tandem. And
Keenan coached Gretzky in the
Canada Cup of 1987 and 1991.
"I'm darn excited about being
here," Gretzky said.
As is the rest of the team.
Keenan has been adding pieces
to the puzzle with the main goal
being the Stanley Cup.
"Certainly, this is the biggest
piece as far as the Blues are
concerned," Keenan said. "Our
expectations and the expecta
tions of our fans have increased
tremendously."
While Gretzky was eager to
escape the misery of Los Ange
les' subpar season, it doesn't
appear he'll be leaving St. Louis
soon.
"Hopefully, we can bring a
championship here," Gretzky
said. "This will be my last stop
hopefully."
Penn State beat lowa State, 6-5,
on Nov. 24 in the Chicago Classic.
■ other action yesterday, No.
4 Eastern Michigan beat No. 5
Michigan-Dearborn 5-2.
■ Defending champion and host
team Ohio opened up its slate by
crushing Delaware, 10-0, last night.
Coach Battista said the shellack
ing may show the Bobcats are the
team to beat, but in the same
respect can be beaten.
"They are definitely heavy
favorite to win it all," he said.
"That doesn't mean a whole heck of
a lot to us, we're here to win."
The shutouts by the top two
seeds denote that goaltending and
team defense may dictate the tour
nament flow, he said.
Through the ease of round one,
the Icers coach warns of a danger
ous path ahead toward the ACHA
title.
"We have a tough, tough road
ahead," Battista said. "We have by
no means an easy way to the
finals."
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