Having three coaches in four years isn't exactly the hallmark of NCAA basketball stability. But for Ben Bosanac '04, Tim Deihl '04, Greg Kristof '04, Bryan Lambert '04 and Jon Marks '04, it will soon become the reality of their Brandeis playing careers. On Thursday, July 10, Chris Ford became the second Judges' coach in three years to depart abruptly - Ken Still resigned just before the 2001 season to take a job in the Boston public schools system- when he accepted an NBA offer from new Philadelphia 76ers head coach Randy Ayers.

Ayers wanted the 54-year-old Ford, who has a resume of over 300 NBA coaching victories (with the Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Clippers), to be his top assistant. "He's coached some of the greatest players to ever play the game," Ayers said. "And he'll serve as a calming effect on me."

Ford's sudden move back to the pro circuit has had no such calming effect on the Brandeis program he left.

"It's has been tough having three different coaches in four years," veteran Bosanac said. "We've had to prove ourselves to three different people. It's very frustrating and very hard to continue to show who you are and what you're about, especially at the Division III level."

"The experience has been extremely trying," Kristof said, "due to the fact that our program has had no continuity in the past three years. But it has been interesting to learn from coaches with different styles."

"It's going to be hard for the older players," Bosanac added, "because the new coach who comes in looking to rebuild the program might look over the seniors hoping to give young players more time to develop a comfortability level."

Despite the turmoil that has surrounded Ford's brief tenure in Waltham, Brandeis Athletic Director Jeff Cohen insists it was the right hire to make amid the circumstances Still's resignation created. "Given our situation, I thought it was well worth the chance to hire Chris with the hope that he would give us a few years," Cohen said. "He did not know nor did he expect the offer from the Sixers to come when it did. Our arrangement with him, as with all of our coaches, was to honor an offer if he received one he felt he could not turn down."

With such a high coaching turnover rate in recent years, Brandeis has become an anomaly in the D-III ranks. At the cutthroat D-I level, rapid-fire hiring and firing methods are commonplace, with valuable commodities such as television appearances and booster or alumni compensation always on the line.

A quick glance around the UAA reveals the stability most other men's basketball programs have enjoyed over the past decade. At the University of Rochester, current Yellowjackets head coach Mike Neer has spent an astounding 27 seasons at the school, earning over 400 career wins. Carnegie Mellon University's Tony Wingen and the University of Chicago's Mike McGrath (the '00 UAA Coach of the Year) have spent 12 and 11 years, respectively, at their schools.

Most players were aware that Ford's ambitions remained a return to his NBA roots, and that has helped them cope with the loss. "I understand Coach Ford's decision to leave Brandeis," Bosanac said. "Because he's an NBA coach and that's his home."

"He was a wonderful person," Bosanac continued. "And I enjoyed all the time spent with him, but that's in the past now and hopefully with a new coach the university will get its basketball program on the right track again."

While Cohen won't reveal his final list of head coaching candidates, citing a confidentiality agreement signed by all parties involved, there is a consensus among the players that the program needs a leader with long-term vision and commitment.

"We need to find someone who is going to make Brandeis his home," Bosanac said. "Because you can't be effective when there's a new face every two years. We need a coach with a system, and that system will dictate who is recruited."

Cohen, who isn't worried about having a coach in place before school starts ("before practice starts is a must," he said), seems to have a similar philosophy. "We will look for someone who we feel will give us a life's work approach.