Pederson: Collier will stay
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BY CURT McKEEVER / Lincoln Journal Star
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Barry Collier is off the bubble — good news for Nebraska men's basketball fans who believe he's still the one to lead the Huskers to prominence.
Thursday afternoon, a couple hours after the Huskers' 70-67 loss to Missouri in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament, athletic director Steve Pederson and executive associate AD Marc Boehm, who oversees the basketball program, announced to an invited group of media that they were standing by Collier.
Barry Ball will see a sixth season at Nebraska.
"To a large measure, what we see is two of the best recruiting classes in a long time ... We also like the play of the young people (already in the program)," Pederson said. "We want Barry to have a chance to coach these kids and see what he can do."
Though no Nebraska athletic official had ever indicated publicly that Collier was on the proverbial hot seat, Pederson acknowledged Thursday that he and Boehm had "been talking intently about this every day for the last month."
The 50-year-old Collier has struggled to create the kind of success he had at Butler University, where his last four teams won no fewer than 22 games and went to three NCAA Tournaments.
Collier's record at Nebraska is 70-77. Included in that is a Big 12-best mark of 7-9 (accomplished twice), an 0-5 showing at the league tournament and just one postseason trip (to the National Invitation Tournament).
Last month, speculation about Collier's job security reached a point to where an associate AD sent an e-mail to select ticket holders intending to squelch what was termed false rumors. At the time, Boehm offered a statement in support of Collier.
Nevertheless, as Nebraska fell below .500 following a Feb. 19 home loss to Missouri, the curiosity about Collier's status persisted. On Thursday, Pederson said he understands why someone would question whether a program was making the right kind of steps with a fifth-year coach.
His answer, in Collier's case, was yes. And Pederson told him so during a Wednesday meeting.
While expressing disappointment over a 14-14 season that is likely over (NU remains eligible for an NIT bid, but would be surprised to receive one), Pederson still has faith Collier and his staff will "ratchet it up" and meet the expectations for Nebraska to be a program that makes and wins games in the NCAA Tournament.
He labeled Collier a "very good person" and a "team player," and cited second-year assistant Scott Spinelli for being able to recruit higher-level players. Nebraska's incoming recruiting class, which is at five players and could grow by one more, has been ranked as high as No. 23 nationally.
Collier is finishing the first of a four-year deal that runs through June of 2008. If Nebraska were to have fired him, it would have cost the athletic department $1.387 million. Pederson said Thursday that lofty number played no factor in the decision.
It was a decision that tickled former Husker Beau Reid.
"All of those people, those front-running fools, are eventually going to feel pretty stupid," said Reid, who was a senior and starting forward on Nebraska's 1991 team that went 26-8 and started a four-year run of making the NCAA Tournament. "This is Nebraska; we're supposed to stick by good people. I think he's earned the chance to prove himself."
Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.
Steven M. Sipple contributed to this story.
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