By David Thompson
Four years ago, the University of Portland men's basketball team was coming off an 11-18 season.
After firing current "Portland Trailblazers Courtside" host Michael Holton, the Pilots put their future in the hands of 40-year-old, first-time head coach Eric Reveno.
Four years later, Reveno has turned the once sad program into a competitive contender.
Teams from around the country have noticed the program that Reveno has built, and he is being considered for head coaching vacancies at schools such as Boise State and University of California-Irvine.
While Reveno has not been made an offer at either school, he did interview at Boise State a few weeks ago, confirming that schools have taken notice to what Reveno has done at Portland.
Boise State ultimately went with Gonzaga coach-in-waiting Leon Rice as their new head coach and the rumors at UC-I are just rumors. But, the fact of the matter is that Reveno is getting noticed for his success and if the University just sits back and watches, it will not be long before they have a coaching search of their own.
Reveno has gone 59-65 in his first four seasons as a head coach. The last two seasons Reveno has coached the Pilots to 19 wins and 21 wins, the latter of which ties a school record for wins in a season.
Reveno was the 2008-2009 WCC coach of the year and a finalist for the 2010 Skip Prosser Man of the Year award.
While many in charge of the situation have said that they hope that Reveno stays long term, there are no guarantees in the business.
"We think Coach Rev is a great coach and we hope he's our coach here for a long time," Portland athletic director Larry Williams told The Oregonian on March 23. "I think the record speaks for itself in what he's done here."
Accepting a job at a place like Boise State may be tempting for Reveno. The move up to a school that can offer more in terms of money and facilities would seem like a logical step for any coach, but Reveno's intentions are still unclear.
There is a camp that believes that Reveno is using the interest from other schools to secure a contract extension. Reveno is currently in the midst of his contract that will expire after the 2011-2012 season.
While Reveno has not commented on his status, he has moved on with business as usual updating his Twitter account with many tweets about how he can help make the Portland program better.
For now, Reveno and the University of Portland are moving forward to the upcoming season. Seven new Pilots are expected to help Portland compete for a Conference Championship.
