NEW ORLEANS – Throughout his three-decade coaching career, LSU coach Van Chancellor has certainly beefed up his resume.
Chancellor won an Olympic gold medal in the 2004 Summer Olympics as coach of the USA National Team, an honor the coach calls the greatest of his career.
The 64-year-old also won the first four WNBA championships from 1997-2000 with the Houston Comets. Chancellor’s team posted the highest winning percentage of any American professional basketball team in 1998, going 27-3.
But the one accolade Chancellor has yet to obtain is a birth in the Final Four, where the former Ole Miss coach was 0-4 in his previous Elite Eight appearances.
Chancellor has another opportunity to banish the ghosts of his Elite Eight past Monday night when LSU takes on North Carolina in the New Orleans Regional Final.
“A lot of great teams don’t go to the Final Four,” Chancellor said. “A lot of teams get close, like I had at Ole Miss. All you have to do is play bad for five minutes, and you’re going to go home.”
Chancellor’s two closest misses came in 1985 and 1986 when the Rebels lost by less than five points in the regional final in two consecutive seasons.
In both seasons, Chancellor was dealt a tough draw by the NCAA. The Rebels were defeated by both Western Kentucky and Texas on their home floors on last second shots.
“Those are probably the two losses that have stayed with me my entire career,” Chancellor said.
Chancellor’s Rebels also were one step from the Final Four in 1989 and 1992, but were beaten by more than 20 points against Auburn and Southwest Missouri State, respectively.
At LSU, Chancellor took over a team which has been to four consecutive Final Fours.
Coaching eight players who have 15 NCAA tournament wins, Chancellor has made it a point this season to make the campaign more about a continuation of his players’ journey, rather than a completion of his.
“Since he’s been here, he’s been stressing the issue to make sure we have fun,” said senior center Sylvia Fowles. “We’ve been in this position many times, but to be in the position to have fun relieves a lot of pressure.”
Chancellor said he believes most fans will consider his first season at LSU as a failure unless he is able to advance to the Final Four. He said he has more faith in his coaching abilities now than ever before.
“It’s a combination of age and winning the [WNBA] championships and winning the gold medal,” Chancellor said. “When you’re a younger coach, you think you have to prove certain things. As I have grown older in coaching, I don’t feel like those things are out there. I am enjoying the moment.
“Instead of worrying about tomorrow, I am just enjoying today and having a great time.”
—-Contact Casey Gisclair at [email protected]