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Sidelines Kalani Simpson |
Wilton, like
banner, hanging toughTHAT banner is still there, high up in the Stan Sheriff Center, still hanging tough.
And so is Mike Wilton, still waiting, still hanging tough.
He knows a thing or two about that. He's had experience, in the not-so-old days, as a coach of one of the nation's best programs kept waiting, waiting, waiting to see if his employer was going to offer him another one-year contract.
There's a lot of uncertainty in his chosen profession.
You don't go into coaching men's volleyball as a career choice if you're not a tough guy.
But that doesn't mean you don't think about having a national championship stripped away. That doesn't mean it's not on everyone's mind at least a couple of times a week or in the back of it more often than that. That doesn't mean it isn't hard having this over your head but out of your hands.
The topic endures the way that flag does, even in this time of Super Bowls and double overtimes and Texas baseball in town and football recruiting coming to a boil. Just under the radar Hawaii men's volleyball carries on and that fire still burns and the banner still stands.
Proud.
Maybe even just a little defiant, up there, hanging military straight and perfectly still.
It's not going anywhere. Not yet.
And when Wilton addressed the Honolulu Quarterback Club yesterday, the first thing people wanted to talk about was what the coach called "the championship they would like to take away."
He said he still doesn't know much about the national title now in peril because one of his guys had once played ball among European pros. The NCAA, which handles such things, has been quiet. Too quiet.
The appeal process was never supposed to have taken this long.
"I'm not too sure I'm qualified to speak about that august group," Wilton told the Quarterback Club. "I'm not too sure who is. It is a difficult organization to comprehend in terms of decisions that they make. 'Random' and 'arbitrary' are words that come to mind."
Especially when you consider a couple of former foreign semipros have recently been let off the hook at Kansas State and Florida State. Some see this as a sign of good news to come. Some still aren't sure.
As usual, UH continues to win. "A more pleasant subject for sure is this year's volleyball team," Wilton said. "I'm really, really having a good time coaching this group." And the pain in his voice faded away, February sunshine in its place.
The competition is tough as ever ("just about everybody that's got a team has got a good team") and there are all the usual challenges -- seven of eight regulars are in their first full-time seasons on a college court. These guys have a lot to learn. But that's the kind of thing that makes coaching fun.
"It makes for an interesting stew," Wilton said. And you cooks all know what comes next:
"It gets better every day."
In the meantime, that proud banner still hangs over all.
Uncertainty does, too.
And Wilton continues to hang tough.
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
Kalani Simpson can be reached at ksimpson@starbulletin.com