Coaches cannot hamper the development of young players

Good article about the 12th-seeded Arizona Wildcats had booked their tickets to the Sweet 16 with a 71-57 win against Cleveland State, thanks to players who refused to quit and coaches who refused to allow their egos to hamper the development of young men they grew to adore.
After legend Lute Olson's sudden resignation, Dunlap's refused to take the interim job. So why did Dunlap say no?

Principle, Dunlap said. "I said, 'If you give me or anybody else the interim label, you're going to lose four recruits that are high-end,'" he said. "That's not a good way to deal with things, and I believe in doing things right."
"I wasn't good enough to coach this team. Let's face it," Dunlap said. "That's perfectly OK. It's a huge corporation. It has huge tradition."

Dunlap, had spent the past two years as a Denver Nuggets assistant. Dunlap threw himself into his job.

"I'm a 16- to 18-hour worker," he said. "All I want to do is work myself to exhaustion and get to the pillow."

Dunlap can handle a workload. This is a man who once ran a 100-mile marathon. He also knows how to build a winner. He succeeded in his three seasons as head coach of the Adelaide (Australia) 36ers from 1995-97, and then he moved on to Metro State, a Division II school in Denver. Under Dunlap, Metro State made nine consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament and won national titles in 2000 and 2002. Those Metro State teams won with innovative defensive schemes similar to the ones that have helped Arizona to the Sweet 16.
When Pennell was named head coach, the staff had 23 days to prepare the Wildcats for the season. Knowing they didn't have time to polish fundamentals and install a scheme, coaches moved straight to installing the scheme.
"We made a choice in a compressed time period, and it worked," Dunlap said. "We throw a lot at our opponent. In the NCAA, the preparation time is minimal. So we do things that are a little unusual defensively, and in the thin air, it works."

Arizona ran a trap out of its base 2-3 zone that frustrated the Vikings all day. Dunlap and Pennell and the staff will cook up something new for top-seeded Louisville. For the most part, the coaches have stayed positive. They had little choice. They've also kept their egos in check. Pennell said he never experienced a moment's awkwardness with Dunlap, even though Dunlap could have had his job.

"When I first got the job, people kept saying, 'You're going to love his knowledge. You're going to love being around him. You're going to learn a lot.' He's been unbelievable to work with. His knowledge is off the charts."

Dunlap doesn't regret turning down the interim job.

"If I were to have a regret at this point, it would be totally selfish about what the returns were," he said. "I'm a purist. I made my decision on principle."
Dunlap said "It's a dream. It's tremendous, given the hardships we went through," Dunlap said. "Also, it's a tribute to communication, and it's a tribute to simple goals. We stuck to that."