Gib Arnold is still trying to wring the last drops of knowledge out of his mentor. At various points during this weekend’s Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, the Hawaii basketball coach could be seen commiserating with his Texas-El Paso counterpart, Tim Floyd, in the Stan Sheriff Center.
In the arena tunnels, in the bleachers watching another game, perhaps even during a surf session on Saturday. The setting doesn’t matter; it’s like old times at USC, where Arnold was lead recruiter for Floyd during a four-year run that included three straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
"He’s taught me everything I know about man-to-man defense, but unfortunately he hasn’t taught me everything he knows about it," Arnold playfully lamented.
Floyd scoffs at this.
"He saw it all, trust me," Floyd said with a laugh. "He saw it all. Back then was as good as it’s ever been while we were out there."
The two have since moved on — Arnold got his first Division I head coaching gig at UH last season and Floyd recovered from a controversial exit at USC to land smoothly in El Paso — but they’ve kept in touch and swapped plenty of war stories.
Floyd called to congratulate Arnold after UH’s biggest win in recent years, an 84-82 overtime upset of No. 14 Xavier on Friday night. They were to meet up again on Saturday to talk strategy about their Christmas opponents: UTEP defeated UH’s 11:30 a.m. foe, Clemson, 61-48 on Thursday. And UH took a heartbreaking first-round loss, 65-62, from the Miners’ third-place opponent at 2:30 p.m., Auburn.
Umm, is that level of information sharing … normal?
"Yeah, sure, it’s family," Arnold said. "We’re in the same coaching lineage."
Floyd has coached around the country, and at one time was tabbed as Phil Jackson’s successor with the Chicago Bulls. That didn’t work out, but he’s enjoyed plenty of success in the college ranks at everywhere from New Orleans to Iowa State to USC. Floyd is renowned for his defense; his teams have held opponents below 50 points 52 times in his career.
Arnold, ever the inquisitive understudy, has taken elements of Floyd’s defensive scheme and integrated it with elements picked up at other stops and through innovation.
That the two are on even footing as head coaches is something new — and advantageous. Both were relieved not to play the other in the DHC; such a contest might have jeopardized their budding cross-conference alliance. Once Western Athletic Conference play rolls around, UH will practice at former WAC rival UTEP’s facilities for the nearby game at New Mexico State on Feb. 23.
Perhaps so the master can study the former apprentice up close and personal?
"He’s certainly added to what we’ve done and we’ve studied films trying to steal a little bit from what he’s doing," said Floyd, who sees plenty of similarities between their teams, such as in the manner two men drop back on defense, and how they game-plan to stop opponents’ top scorers.
"I told him I was proud of how hard his teams play. Offensively, they’re a little bit like us, and he knows it because he’s in early rebuild," Floyd said. "He needs one more perimeter scorer and one more big scorer and he’ll be off and running, because they do a lot of things right."
Interestingly enough, Floyd’s Miners take on the coach he replaced at UTEP, Tony Barbee, who accepted the job at Auburn before last season.
UTEP proved the perfect landing spot for Floyd.
Floyd resigned from USC in June 2009, soon after allegations emerged that he passed along a $1,000 cash payment to a handler to sway star guard O.J. Mayo to play at USC.
In the summer of 2010, the NCAA cleared Floyd of wrongdoing, although the USC athletic department had already admitted culpability in the matter and imposed its own sanctions, including a one-season ban on postseason play. All 21 wins were vacated from the 2007-08 season — the lone year Mayo was a Trojan.
Floyd has steadfastly maintained that he left USC not out of guilt, but because he would not remain where he wasn’t wanted.
He felt wanted in El Paso, where he had lived until age 8 and had his first assistant coaching gig under the legendary Don Haskins. In his first season as UTEP head coach, he guided the Miners to a 25-10 record and an NIT appearance.
"It’s home," Floyd said of the remote border city in western Texas.
That’s what Arnold, a Punahou graduate, said of Hawaii when he accepted the UH job in March 2010. He spent a layover year under Kevin O’Neill at USC after Floyd’s resignation — then it was time to lead.
"I coached for him more than any other coach," Arnold said of Floyd. "I consider him my mentor and a guy I look up to. I had a phenomenal experience coaching with him."
