Benedictine center Chris Bonham thought he’d just sat down for a normal end-of-season team meeting last Friday afternoon.
But instead of turning in their equipment two days after a season-ending loss to Evangel in the HAAC Tournament quarterfinals, the Raven men’s basketball players were told they’d be looking to a new leader next season.
Earlier that morning, BC athletic director Charlie Gartenmayer and college president Stephen Minnis told Joe Brickner his 12th year at the helm of Raven basketball would be his last. Brickner was let go following a dismal second half of 2009-2010 in which his team dropped 10 of its last 13 contests.
“I’m disappointed,” Brickner said Tuesday. “I thought we really had something going in the right direction for the first time in quite some time.”
Brickner said he’d received an ultimatum from Gartenmayer and Minnis last April following a 10-18 campaign: make the NAIA National Tournament in Kansas City or be fired.
Halfway through this season, Benedictine (16-14, 9-11 HAAC) was in position to accomplish the former. Ranked 14th nationally and playing near the top of the conference standings through most of January, things started to unravel for the Ravens Feb. 6 with a 62-49 loss at Lindenwood.
Benedictine’s only win after that came 19 days later, a 78-55 Senior Night effort against Avila University. BC dropped six of its last seven regular-season conference games, finishing well out of contention for a top-three HAAC finish and an almost certain national tourney berth.
Gartenmayer declined to go into much detail about the firing. “We made a decision and we’re moving forward,” he said. “We appreciate Coach Brickner’s efforts over the last 40 years. We need to elevate the program to another level, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
In addition to compiling an overall record of 167-207 as Benedictine’s head coach, Brickner played for St. Benedict’s College from 1966-1970, winning a national title his sophomore year. He also served as a college board member and instructor in BC’s Executive MBA program.
BC, one of the strongest small-college programs nationally in past decades, never finished higher than second in the HAAC during Brickner’s tenure and failed to qualify for NAIA Tournament play.
The Ravens finished with a winning record in two of the past eight seasons.
A national search for Brickner’s replacement began immediately. An online application with due March 12 was posted to the BC website. Gartenmayer said he would be reviewing the applicants and deciding which ones to interview in person.
“Our hope is to expedite this process as quickly as possible,” Gartenmayer said, “with regard to recruiting, current players and those types of things.”
Bonham, whom Brickner recruited out of Paradise Valley High School in Phoenix, said he wasn’t expecting his head coach to reveal he’d been let go.
“He was pretty emotional, we were pretty emotional,” Bonham said. “It was a shocker. We all had higher hopes this year, but with the season as a whole, especially with the senior class coming in, you thought they might just keep it going for him, so it was shocking to hear it like that so soon after the season.”
The junior center averaged nearly 36 minutes during BC’s last several games.
Brickner said overusing Bonham, as well as having limited production from forward Alex Miller (illness) and center Trei’Von Daniels (injured ankle) left BC extremely thin up front down the stretch.
A preseason leg injury to Sam Hund and the academic ineligibility of transfer Michael Harry further complicated matters down low.
“Those are some things that are frustrating,” said Brickner, whose teams went a combined 110-125 in conference play. “Had they gone a different way, I don’t know if we’d have gone to Kansas City or not, but you’d like to think we hadn’t lost as many down the stretch.
“You’ve got to take your ego and set it aside and say ‘maybe there is somebody else that can get it done.’ I hope the next guy coming in can take what we’ve built and get us there. I’ll be the first guy in the stands in Kansas City cheering for these kids.”
Brickner, who will remain close to the program until a new coach is fully settled in, said he wasn’t sure of his plans moving forward.
It also remains unclear what the future holds for five-year assistant coach John Peer.
