Welfare of His Players Is Westhead’s Concern

I spent the 1985-86 academic year as a visiting professor at Loyola Marymount. During my first semester, a reserve member of the men’s basketball team was having a difficult time in one of my classes, which prompted a meeting between me and the then first-year coach of the team, Paul Westhead.

I came away from the meeting tremendously impressed by the concern Coach Westhead showed for the welfare of his player off the court. I doubt that many other coaches, for all their pronouncements about the importance of academics, would have been willing to meet with me personally about such a matter.

In 1988, I am once again impressed by Coach Westhead. Very few coaches would be secure enough to go so much against the prevailing view of how basketball should be played, particularly as far as putting the game into the hands of the players is concerned.

Let’s hope this season will be remembered, not for the North Carolina game, but for the many exciting moments that preceded it.

ALAN GIN

Goleta