Stanford hires ex-UAB coach Haase, a former Cal player
Stanford’s new men’s basketball coach played at Cal for one season before transferring to Kansas and helping the Jayhawks become one of the best teams in the country.
Jerod Haase’ selection was announced Friday by athletic director Bernard Muir, who wasted no time in finding a replacement for Johnny Dawkins after firing him 11 days earlier.
Haase, 41, just finished his fourth year as head coach at Alabama Birmingham, where he led the Blazers to a Conference USA regular-season title this season.
In 2015, they played in the NCAA Tournament, and, as a 14-seed, they upset 3rd-seeded Iowa State in the first round.
Jerod has not only demonstrated his excellent coaching and teaching abilities over the years, but he also shares the values that make Stanford special,’’ Muir said in a statement.
The Blazers were upset by 8th-seeded Western Kentucky in the quarterfinals of the league tournament and were routed by BYU in the first round of the NIT.
The whole team will return next season, unless All-Pac-12 forward Rosco Allen decides to enter the NBA draft.
Dawkins was named April 28, 2008 - late in the recruiting calendar - because Johnson didn’t leave for LSU until April 10 after Stanford delayed on a contract offer.
Dawkins, who was hired this week by Central Florida, was the first Stanford head coach without previous head coaching experience in 23 years, a mistake that Muir apparently wasn’t about to make.
In his final game, Kansas lost to Arizona in the NCAA regional semifinals.