Former Louisville Forward Chane Behanan Will Play For Larry Eustachy And Colorado State Next Year
ByFormer Louisville forward Chane Behanan is a fun and talented player, the type of undersized post presencde NBA executives used to shy away from but now are inexplicably drawn towards (a la #1 overall pick Anthony Bennet).
After being dismissed from the Louisville team earlier this season, the 6-foot-6 Behanan will play his senior season for Colorado State next year, ESPN reported.
"I am extremely excited to have Chane enrolled at Colorado State," Colorado State head coach Larry Eustachy said in a statement. "It is a great fit for both of us. He is a tremendous kid, and I really enjoyed getting to know him during his brief visit to Fort Collins."
Eustachy, if you can remember, has had some personal problems of his own. He resigned from Iowa State in 2003 after being photographed at two different college parties kissing young women and drinking beer. During the subsequent press conference, he'd admitted he checked himself into alcohol rehab.
Based on most reports, substance abuse was the primary factor determining Behanan's exit and leading him into the care of John Lucas and his program directed towards athletes with addiction problems.
"I feel much better off the court," Behanan told ESPN. "Everything's falling into place. John Lucas is a great role model and leader -- and he's helped me a ton over the last few weeks."
Perhaps it was that connection that brought Behanan to Colorado State.
"I wanted to get my degree," Behanan told ESPN.com. "I'm about 38 hours short. I also felt as though it was the right fit with Coach Eustachy."
Likely, it was also Eustachy's reputation as a head coach. At every stop, from Idaho to Utah State to Iowa State to Southern Mississippi to Colorado State he's raised the profile of his teams, almost always to the NCAA tournament. Typically, he starts relatively slowly. By years two, three, or four, he usually has an NCAA-bound, 20-30 win team. Only at Iowa State did he experience failure after leading them to the Elite Eight in his second year and 25 wins and a first round loss his third, but that could have partially been due to the drinking. In his lone year at Colorado State, he helped the Rams to 25 wins and the second round of the tournament. This year, however, they're just 12-9, 3-5 in the Mountain West. (They play #5 San Diego State on Saturday night.)
In his time at Louisville, Behanan has probably showed slightly more promise than actual results, at least in the regular season. Though he shoots rather efficiently from the field, he didn't average more than 10 points per game in any of his seasons. In the tournament, however, he's raised his game. Demonstrating his physical yet nimble inside game and open court athleticism, he shot over 50 percent in every game during last year's run, including 15 points and 12 rebounds in the championship. The year before, during their Final Four run, he was even better, exceeding 10 points in every game, with 17 points, 7 rebounds against Florida in the Elite Eight.