Blog matters

There were no ultimatums discussed. The coach wasn’t made to plead for his job. Nor was he yelled at.

No, Washington State athletic director Bill Moos says his meeting with men’s basketball coach Ken Bone on Wednesday was devoid of much drama, Moos deciding a while ago that he was likely to retain Bone for a fifth year as the Cougars’ coach.

Bone said during his season wrap-up teleconference on Thursday that the Cougars need to be better next season, stating the obvious that “4-14 is unacceptable” in reference to WSU’s record in Pac-12 play this season.

Moos wasn’t quite as direct when we spoke yesterday. He didn’t really need to be. Bone understands what needs to happen, Moos said.

Moos said they didn’t discuss attendance, either. Again, they didn’t need to.

“He knows. He’s sitting on that bench and seeing the empty seats,” Moos said. “Of course, in the sports of football or men’s basketball, that’s important. Basketball has got to pay for itself and hopefully make some money, and quite frankly we have not in recent years.”

Every few years, Gonzaga head coach Mark Few loses one of his assistant coaches and one of his best friends in the process. Six years ago it was Billy Grier to San Diego (replaced at GU by Ray Giacoletti) and three years ago it was Leon Rice to Boise State (replaced by Donny Daniels).

Today it was Giacoletti, who was announced as the new head coach at Drake. He agreed to a five-year contract. I couldn’t pin down the annual salary but heard it’s in the $400,000-$450,000 range.

Who replaces Giacoletti? It’ll be interesting to see if Few goes with someone with no previous affiliation to GU (as he did in selecting Daniels) or someone with Zag ties (possibly Brian Michaelson, assistant director of operations).

After the Idaho State Board of Education approved the University of Idaho’s request to seek membership in the Sun Belt Conference, athletic director Rob Spear confirmed via Twitter that UI will join its old conference – for football only – in 2014.

This is obviously welcome news for those Idaho fans who bemoaned the Vandals potentially having to join the Big Sky in football after experimenting with independence. On the flip side, for those who wanted to see Idaho in the Big Sky, this isn’t such great news.

The Sun Belt has agreements with the New Orleans Bowl and GoDaddy.com Bowl. Karl Benson said he hopes to have a third bowl affiliation, and maybe a fourth.