Joe Dooley, life as the head basketball coach at Florida Gulf Coast
includes a routine he wasn't accustomed to during his 10 years as an
assistant at Kansas.
Each morning before work, Dooley jogs nearly seven miles on and around the beaches of the Gulf of Mexico, just a short drive from the FGCU campus.
"If you're there early enough in the morning," Dooley said, "the tide has gone out and the sand is hard enough to run on. If you go in the afternoon, you've got no chance."
Rough life.
Dooley knows to expect a ribbing -- particularly from KU coach Bill Self -- about his dark tan when he returns to Lawrence to pack up his belongings later this summer.
"Your wife looks like she could be a beach person, and your son already looks like a beach person," Self jokingly told Dooley last month. "It's you I'm worried about."
No need to fret about Dooley.
Less than two months after being hired to replace Andy Enfield, the New Jersey native with the slicked-back hair is fitting in quite nicely in Fort Myers, where the only thing he loves more than the beautiful surroundings is his new job.
Dooley couldn't have inherited a better scenario.
Florida Gulf Coast returns four starters from a squad that reached the Sweet 16 last season as a 15-seed, a first in NCAA tournament history. Fort Myers became known as "Dunk City" because of the Eagles' propensity for unleashing high-flying, acrobatic slams that captivated basketball fans across the country in upset wins over Georgetown and San Diego State.
FGCU fans were understandably hurt when Enfield bolted for USC, but the disappointment didn't last long, thanks to the hiring of Dooley, the top assistant for a Kansas program that has won more games than any team in the country over the past eight seasons.
"We've got good kids here," Dooley said. "They
Each morning before work, Dooley jogs nearly seven miles on and around the beaches of the Gulf of Mexico, just a short drive from the FGCU campus.
"If you're there early enough in the morning," Dooley said, "the tide has gone out and the sand is hard enough to run on. If you go in the afternoon, you've got no chance."
Darrell Walker/Icon SMIFourteen years after being let go at East Carolina, Joe Dooley is a head coach again.
Dooley knows to expect a ribbing -- particularly from KU coach Bill Self -- about his dark tan when he returns to Lawrence to pack up his belongings later this summer.
"Your wife looks like she could be a beach person, and your son already looks like a beach person," Self jokingly told Dooley last month. "It's you I'm worried about."
No need to fret about Dooley.
Less than two months after being hired to replace Andy Enfield, the New Jersey native with the slicked-back hair is fitting in quite nicely in Fort Myers, where the only thing he loves more than the beautiful surroundings is his new job.
Dooley couldn't have inherited a better scenario.
Florida Gulf Coast returns four starters from a squad that reached the Sweet 16 last season as a 15-seed, a first in NCAA tournament history. Fort Myers became known as "Dunk City" because of the Eagles' propensity for unleashing high-flying, acrobatic slams that captivated basketball fans across the country in upset wins over Georgetown and San Diego State.
FGCU fans were understandably hurt when Enfield bolted for USC, but the disappointment didn't last long, thanks to the hiring of Dooley, the top assistant for a Kansas program that has won more games than any team in the country over the past eight seasons.
"We've got good kids here," Dooley said. "They
