SAN JOSE, Calif. β Chris Mack hasnβt changed.
This is a guy who, eight years ago and with the Xavier interim head coach label freshly affixed, allowed a Star reporter to tag along so he could get an understanding of the Wildcatsβ newly hired coach, Sean Miller. Gave him a tour of the campus and everything.
On Wednesday afternoon, with his obligatory press conference with the media complete, Mack sat on the floor of the Musketeers locker room in San Joseβs SAP Center, flipping through his phone, seemingly without a worry in the world. Other head coaches pace the bowels of the arena, chewing through their cheeks. A Sweet 16 is a frenzied event for them.
The annual Will-He-Leave springtime of an on-the-rise head coach has taken Mackβs name from coast to coast. But his life is good: Mack lives a Sunday drive from his hometown of North College Hill. His parents drop in on his live radio appearances, and the Musketeers are playing in March Madnessβ second weekend yet again.
Mack hops up and chats about the foundation that has been laid at Xavier. Mack is as laid-back as a koala bear after a bamboo feeding. Heβs happy. Heβs content.
He hasnβt changed.
Neither has Xavier.
A mid-major power
When Mack took over for Miller β whoβll meet his former protΓ©gΓ© for the second Sweet 16 in three years on Thursday at 7:09 p.m. βXavier was considered an ascending program, a high βmid-major,β even if theyβd long established a pattern of success.
Under Pete Gillen, Xavier made the NCAA Tournament six times in nine years after just two previous bids in program history β and in 1990, the Musketeers beat Kansas State and Georgetown to make their first Sweet 16. When Gillen left for Providence, Skip Prosser took over, and Xavier made the tournament four times in seven years while winning at a 70 percent clip. Prosser, who was hired by Wake Forest in 2001, begat Thad Matta, who nudged the program a step further with a pair of first-round wins and then the teamβs first Elite Eight in 2004 before moving on to Ohio State.
Enter Sean Miller. And Mack.
Miller was promoted from Xavier assistant to head coach, and he brought back Mack, who had joined Prosser at Wake Forest. With Mack at his side, Miller led Xavier to 120 wins in five years, four straight NCAA Tournament berths and three straight Atlantic-10 Conference titles, an Elite Eight and a Sweet 16. Miller left for Arizona in 2009, and Mack took over at Xavier.
Hereβs what he inherited: A program that had made the tournament 18 times in 24 years, with two Sweet 16s and two Elite Eights. Are you really a Cinderella if youβre so consistently asked to the ball?
βIf you do it here and there, people tend to forget about you, Mack said. βBut if you have a team that continually goes to the NCAA Tournament, you stay fresh in peopleβs minds, and that helps debunk that myth.β
And then Mack added, βAnd the other thing is, four years ago, we joined the Big East.β
He remembers the day, even.
βWe were at the Atlantic-10 Tournament, and our AD said, βLetβs keep it under wraps, but this is about to happen,ββ Mack said. βAnd I mean, it was incredible for our program. We were so excited.β
The big shift happened in 2013, Mackβs worst year at Xavier. His first three had gone swimmingly, with 71 wins, two A-10 titles and two Sweet 16s. The team then slid to 17-14.
But by then, the university had long invested in the program, giving the Musketeers the kind of attention β financial and otherwise β that they needed to make such a leap. Cintas Center, Xavierβs home arena in Cincinnati, opened in 2000 and has been filled at roughly 97 percent capacity since then.
βWe were ready,β Mack said. βOur facilities, our resources, our commitment to basketball β that was already there.β
The wins, helped, sure.
It also helps to be the BMOC.
βA different dynamicβ
Itβs not a small thing, being the biggest dogs on campus.
Ask Gonzaga.
The Bulldogs have benefited from being The Show in Spokane, Washington. Gonzaga has no football team to draw the attention and time of boosters. Gonzaga basketball is a religion in the Pacific Northwest, as much as it can be at the tiny Jesuit school.
βWe donβt need what the big boys need, but that being said, we take chartered flights, we have a practice facility going up, and big things are happening without football,β Gonzaga assistant Donny Daniels said. βIn Spokane, I think it works.β
Xavier is also Jesuit, with a student population of under 5,000; it also has no football team. In Cincinnati, there are plenty of sports vying for the publicβs attention, but Musketeers basketball is most definitely a top draw.
βMuskie Nation, the fans, the campus β theyβre amazing,β senior forward RaShid Gaston said. βThey show us a lot of attention, and theyβre always supportive, win or lose.β
Added Mack: βHomecoming is built around a basketball game, reunions are basketball weekends,β he said. βParents weekend is our Midnight Madness. Itβs a different dynamic.β
This is how Mack, a guy on the radar of just about every team in the country could, has stayed grounded for so long. It makes sense the more you talk to him.
βItβs not just about money, itβs not just about visibility, he said. βIf I felt like we couldnβt do everything at Xavier that other teams are doing, β¦ it might not be easy, but I feel like we can win a national championship here.β
Thatβs helped keep him there, and thereβs another thing, too.
βHeβs loyal, thatβs the best word I can use,β Gaston said. βHe puts his family, his players, his staff and the city he comes from above all, and you have to respect that. Not just as a coach but as a human being.β
And speaking of respect, hereβs Arizonaβs Miller to give the last word.
βChris Mack is one of our gameβs bright coaches, great coaches,β Miller said on Wednesday. βHeβs not my former assistant. He stands on his own two feet and his record and what heβs done speaks for itself. β¦ I give a lot of credit to Chris and his staff, their team and players, but also Xavier. Itβs a special place who loves college basketball. And it just seems like they bring out the best in everybody.β
