NCAA Basketball: Purdue, Vols with head coaching hires from the year 2005

6. Ken Bone (Portland State)

Portland State wasn’t a basketball school, at least not on the D1 level. The Vikings weren’t being buried in the Big Sky, having actually just gone 19-9 in 2005, but there wasn’t really anything to celebrate yet for the program. Watching coach Heath Schroyer depart for an assistant coaching job after that season could’ve ruined the momentum of the program, but the new coach finally made some headway.

Ken Bone was one of those coaches who had extensive experience as a lower-level head coach while also possessing years recruiting and assisting at the D1 level. He had been very successful leading Seattle Pacific and a few other schools and had just spent three years on Lorenzo Romar’s staff at Washington. Certainly familiar with the Pacific Northwest, Bone got right to work and the results were worth the wait.

The program would win 19 games again by Bone’s second year, but it’s his final two years that stand out. In both 2008 and 2009, Portland State won the Big Sky Tournament (winning the regular-season title in 2008 as well), with Bone leading the program to their first two (and only) NCAA Tournament appearances.

A pair of 23-win campaigns were impressive and it led Bone to take the Washington State job just a few weeks later. Meanwhile, Portland State looks to return to the Big Dance, as their glory days clearly came with Bone on the sidelines.