Two of the three assistant men’s basketball coaches have left PSU for greener pastures less than a week after Head Coach Heath Schroyer flirted with leaving and as recruits nationwide signed letters of intent.
While assistant coaches frequently change jobs, their departures add to the image of a program in tumultuous transition. Little over a month after winning its first Big Sky regular season title and finishing with the best record in nearly 50 years, the program has said goodbye to six seniors – including four Big Sky-leading starters, two assistant coaches and its head coach – only to have him reconsider at the last minute.
Third-year assistant coach Steve Gosar will assume assistant head coaching duties at junior college powerhouse College of Southern Idaho and first-year assistant coach Senque Carey will take his recruiting prowess to Fresno State.
Gosar will reunite with former benchmate Barrett Peery, now the head coach at CSI in Twin Falls, Idaho. The two were both members of Schroyer’s original staff when he came to PSU three years ago.
“I’m proud of what we’ve done the last three years. I still feel like there is some meat left on the bone [at PSU], but it’s just a good move I couldn’t pass up,” Gosar said, citing the increased pay at his new job.
Gosar said Schroyer’s flirtation with Fresno State “didn’t really affect” his decision but admitted the prospect caught him somewhat by surprise. “I just didn’t think he would ever go,” he said.
Carey’s move ensures that new Fresno State head coach Steve Cleveland will have one PSU coach on his staff, after he unsuccessfully tried to lure Schroyer last weekend.
“It says a lot about this program that schools come here and recruit my coaches,” Schroyer said, noting that Gosar and Carey join former assistants Peery and Dedrique Taylor as PSU assistants who have gone on to higher paying jobs.
Schroyer says he has a “short list” of candidates to fill the void left by the coaches’ departures and is not worried that their absences will hurt spring recruiting. Wednesday was the first day players could sign letters of intent in the spring. Schroyer has already inked two JC transfers and plans to sign one or two more in the next week.
“We’ve solidified our recruiting for this year,” he said. “The class that were putting together would be, maybe, the best class in the history of the school.”
Schroyer praised Gosar and Carey for their contributions to the program and said that the recruiting success could be attributed to the progress the team had made during their tenures.
“Instead of calling it a dream or a vision we’re starting to sell a reality,” Schroyer said.