I don’t know Bob Sundvold. I’ve talked to the man on the telephone twice in my life. I don’t know if Bob Sundvold is a good basketball coach, though I don’t have any evidence that he’s not. I do know this: I can’t find a single person who says anything bad about Bob Sundvold, and that includes the guy who fired him. Which leads me to the conclusion that Sundvold got the rawest of deals from UMKC athletic director Bob Thomas. Thomas says vaguely that he wants to raise the bar at UMKC. UMKC wasn’t exactly a basketball powerhouse when Sundvold arrived four years ago. After three poor seasons, the Kangaroos went 16-13 last year, and won a game in the Mid-Continent Conference tournament for the first time. Ten of the twelve players from that team, and the league’s player of the year will be back next season. Bob Sundvold was on the verge of competing for the conference championship and an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament. Sorry, Mr. Thomas, but at UMKC, that’s as high as the bar goes. And Bob Sundvold may have cleared that bar next year. Bob Sundvold should have gotten the chance to try.
