Effort Pays: UW, Bender Are Happy Together

Bob Bender rode his bicycle to work this week through Washington Park Arboretum, with its flowering trees and shaggy underbrush.

"I enjoy that," he said.

Bender is one of the good stories in college athletics, the coach who never complained about Edmundson Pavilion, who showed immediate respect for longtime coach Marv Harshman, who embraced rather than feared the women's basketball team, and was never jealous of the football program.

And, in the process, slowly, carefully and properly built a team, taking the Huskies to the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

Even in conflict, his approach proved impeccable. Bender didn't deny an interest last week in the coaching job at Texas, which was refreshing.

"I didn't want to be one of those coaches who says, `I don't have any interest, I don't have any interest,' and then turns around and takes the job," he said.

"Texas interested me like Washington interested me, but in the end I realized everything I could do there I could do here, where I really enjoy being."

Bender likes shopping at the neighborhood Bert's Red Apple, taking his daughter for ice cream in Madison Park, spending time in the nearby Central District, where he has developed solid friendships among educators and coaches.

On other days he can go across town to Seattle Center to see the Sonics play, take his daughter to the Pacific Science Center or take his wife, Alice, to a play.

"We're happy here," he said.

Texas supposed it was dealing with another young, ambitious, myopic coach, whose world doesn't extend beyond the court and whose ego and future are tied up in winning games and making money.

Athletic Director DeLoss Dodds arranged to meet Bender in Dallas last week. Then Bender flew in university regent Tom Hicks' Lear jet to Palm Springs, Calif., where he met with Hicks, the owner of the Dallas Stars and soon-to-be owner of the Texas Rangers.

Impressive? Yes. What Bender was looking for? Not really.

There were pluses. The school is close to more players than Washington is. It plays in a league dominated by one team (Kansas), not three. And then there were reports the salary would be more than the $550,000 paid to Tom Penders before he resigned.

Bender asked the question every employee asks about an out-of-town job. When do I visit?

He was told that when a coach visited, it would be to attend a press conference announcing he had taken the job.

Texas was either too pressed for time, too arrogant, or too stupid to bring the Benders to Austin for a little house-shopping and tire-kicking.

Texans call Austin the best place in Texas. Maybe it is. For all its wonderful outdoor activities and night spots, though, it remains three hours from Dallas/Fort Worth and with a downtown clogged by an overgrown campus backed into a state government complex.

Not only didn't Texas understand Bob Bender, it didn't understand how important his wife, Alice, is in the process.

"I hired Bob and Alice as a team," said Barbara Hedges, the UW athletic director. "They have a definite partnership. I have a good relationship with Bob, but I have just as good a relationship with Alice."

Hedges was convinced that no matter how much Bender liked Texas, their relationship guaranteed her a final shot to keep him. And she had played her hand before Bender got involved in Texas, which was exactly the right thing to do.

She gave Bender a raise at the end of the season and then sweetened the pot after the team advanced to the Sweet 16.

She arranged to have Bender's basic salary package grow by nearly $100,000, from $289,140 to $373,712. Then she boosted his postseason incentive deal from $58,345 to $91,000.

Should Bender take the Huskies to the NCAA championship game next year, he would be paid $464,712.

His basic salary from the university - paid by the athletic department - jumped from $150,140 to $183,712. Knowing what was important to Bender, Hedges added a $10,000 travel allowance for his family and $3,712 for a social membership at Sand Point Country Club, with a $20,000 allowance to lease a car.

In the new deal, the rest of the guaranteed money comes from Nike ($50,000), KOMO ($35,000), Fox Sports Northwest ($30,000) and boosters ($75,000).

"I had a lot of people call and tell me to do what it takes to keep Bob," said Hedges. "One of the football coaches said, `Whatever you do, don't let him leave. He's my favorite person.' "

In the end, Hedges kept Bender because he wanted to stay and because of a relationship she developed in hiring him. And the one with Alice Bender, of course.

You can contact Blaine Newnham by voice mail at 464-2364.