http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-06-21/sports/ct-spt-0622-haugh-chicago--20120622_1_jerry-wainwright-head-coach-life-coachWainwright happy back in well-grounded Midwest
After 'wonderful experience' on West Coast, former DePaul coach taking expertise to Marquette
June 21, 2012|David Haugh's In the Wake of the News
During the lone season Jerry Wainwright spent at Fresno State as an assistant basketball coach, he lived in a furnished apartment but never brought a car to California. Every day Wainwright walked three miles to campus and back, allowing him to stretch his mind as much as his legs.
"Instead of being stuck in traffic, you had time to think about some things and work on your tan,'' Wainwright cracked Thursday.
Each step Wainwright took felt farther away from home. His wife, Debbie, visited but spent the last year tending to family health issues in Cincinnati. His two sons and four grandchildren live in the Chicago area and North Carolina. Calling his son Scott at 2 a.m. Eastern in North Carolina showed Wainwright just how out of place he was.
He forgot the time difference.
"Scott was like, 'Dad, are you OK?'" Wainwright said. "My body never adapted.''
He knew his heart never would. So three weeks ago, without another job yet, the 65-year-old left a promising Fresno State program after "a wonderful experience back on the floor,'' that exposed the native of Berwyn to a West Coast mentality he says improved him as a coach.
"It's a whole different lifestyle in the West, a lot of choices,'' said Wainwright, who DePaul fired in January 2010 midway through his fifth season. "And from a political and social sphere, being liberal from birth doesn't necessarily make someone the easiest person to coach. Team sports is opposite of democracy.''
Marquette offered Wainwright familiar Midwestern sensibility closer to his wife's family and a chance to return to the Big East Conference.
Wainwright realized he wasn't ready to retire yet when a fellow senior citizen at a health club asked about the odd music blaring out of his iPod. It was a Tupac Shakur song former players once recommended that carries meaning for Wainwright.
"It sounds awful but I don't know how to deal with old people,'' Wainwright said.
Thanks to Marquette coach Buzz Williams, Wainwright gets to stay young. As an aspiring head coach, Williams wrote letters to various Division I coaches. Wainwright always wrote back. A relationship developed and when Williams heard of Wainwright's availability, he found a spot for him on his reshuffled staff.
"I always have been humbled by (Wainwright's) willingness to share wisdom with me as I have advanced,'' Williams said in a statement.
Wainwright's official title is Director of Basketball Operations. That's because Basketball Swami would look funny on a name plate. He plans to talk to players daily. He wants to coach Marquette's young coaches.
"Can I help Buzz from a basketball perspective? Sure. But it's different than at Fresno where we were trying to put a car together,'' Wainwright said. "Here, you're polishing and trying to squeeze a few more miles per hour out of the engine.''
In 16 seasons as a Division I head coach, Wainwright went 245-225. Nobody ever complained about his record as a life coach.
"Everything in college athletics now is on a fast track,'' Wainwright said. "But it's not all about basketball. When everything's lost, relationships last. I think coaches can get lost on an island.''
In retrospect Wainwright admits feeling emotionally stranded at DePaul, where he was 59-80. Humor couldn't hide all the pain of losing.
"My last few years, I don't think I took the time to enjoy everything I used to enjoy,'' Wainwright said. "There is incredible pressure in college athletics now. Everybody wants to live on top of the mountain but the happiness and perspective comes during the climb.''
In Wainwright's world, everything happens for a reason. In his last game at DePaul, he broke his leg in a sideline accident. Months later, he developed a hernia as a result of the same collision. Without hernia surgery, Wainwright doubts doctors would have conducted tests that revealed prostate cancer — which he beat thanks to early detection.
Listen long enough to a guy whose DePaul legacy goes beyond wins and losses and you start believing getting fired saved Wainwright's life.
"I feel extremely disappointed I didn't do a better job at DePaul but I'm not embarrassed,'' Wainwright said. "I thought the product and the kids who graduated were better for the experience.''
Not surprisingly, Wainwright prefers discussing the future over the past because he likes setting goals even more than cracking wise.
"What is that old saying, you work eight hours for pay, 12 hours for a good boss and 24 hours for a good cause,'' he asked. "Marquette was close and had the right guy as head coach. I'm going to maximize the moment and enjoy the process.''
One step at a time — except this time Wainwright will drive to work.
