By JASON PUGH, Special to the Journal
NATCHITOCHES – Rick Cabrera’s introduction as Northwestern State’s new basketball coach Thursday afternoon was just another part of a longtime dream.
“My dream job is being here as your head coach,” Cabrera told NSU supporters in an afternoon event on campus. “When I decided to get into coaching, I laid down at night and said, ‘I want to be a Division I head basketball coach.’ This is my first opportunity, so this is my dream job. I’m so greatly appreciative of having this opportunity. There are only 363 (Division-I head coaching jobs). I had people believe in me that I was the next man to win an NCAA Tournament game.
“Just watching a Fairleigh Dickinson, Florida Atlantic, I say, ‘Why not us?’ That’s the attitude you’ve got to have.”
Cabrera, 47, said he wants to instill a “tough” team for the 2023-24 season and beyond, but Thursday was a chance for the first-time Division I head coach to show the other side of his emotional spectrum.
He fought back tears when speaking about his wife, Danielle, and had to compose himself when his thoughts turned to his late father Hugo Sr., saying out loud through a raspy voice, “I’m not going to talk about Dad,” to which his sister sitting in the front row responded, “He’s here.”
A six-year head coach at Lackawanna College (2004-08) and Tallahassee Community College (2021-23), Cabrera compiled a record of 152-45. He guided TCC to the National Junior College Athletic Association’s Final Four and a 31-6 record this winter, earning HoopDirt.com’s NJCAA national Coach of the Year honor.
He has also accumulated 13 years as a Division I assistant at Chattanooga, Tennessee Tech, Austin Peay and Arkansas State.
“As we went through the search process, it was clear coach Cabrera possessed all the qualities we desired in a head coach,” NSU director of athletics Kevin Bostian said. “We wanted somebody who was an elite recruiter and a developer of young men, not only on the court but off it as well. We wanted someone to fit the culture of Northwestern State. His enthusiasm, passion, energy and hands-in-the-dirt approach and grind-it out work ethic were a perfect match.”
Cabrera’s biggest takeaways from his journey? Patience and the value of family.
Throughout his remarks, Cabrera referenced a handful of quotes. One related to the Cabrera family as a whole.
“A quote that has always stuck in my head is, ‘A good coach needs a patient wife or husband, a loyal dog and a great post player, but not necessarily in that order,’” he said. “I definitely have two of the three in a patient wife and a loyal dog. I have a great post player coming, just wait and see.”
For Cabrera, Thursday’s introduction was the culmination of a two-decade journey that began as a graduate assistant at Tennessee Tech where he played basketball and baseball. It wound through Miami Killian High School and Keystone College before taking him to Lackawanna College in his wife’s hometown of Scranton, Pa.
It was during his time at Keystone that Cabrera had a bit of an epiphany and discovered just how much he wanted to coach basketball.
“I was a dorm director and an assistant coach at Keystone College,” Cabrera said. “I wish I had kept my first pay stub from Keystone College. I remember it. With taxes taken out, it was $159.38 just for the coaching stipend. That was every two weeks. I’ll never forget it. I’m out of college, and I have a master’s degree. I’m thinking, ‘What am I doing?’ It’s all about patience. It has paid off. It has allowed me to take care of myself and my family.”
It also led Cabrera to a place that helped him develop as a New York City high school basketball player.
“Dale Brown is a great friend, not a good friend,” Cabrera said of LSU’s legendary former coach. “I talked to him this morning for 20 minutes. He’s 87 years old and kicking like he did when he was 45. When I was (growing up) in New York City, Dale Brown was great friends with my dad, and my dad got him a player by the name of Jose Vargas from the Dominican Republic. Dale said, ‘Bring your son to our camp.’ I went my freshman year, sophomore year, junior year and senior year. Dale is a mentor of mine. He’s always been good to me.”
Brown wasn’t the only iconic Louisiana coach Cabrera referenced Thursday. He paid respects to longtime Demon head coach Mike McConathy.
“Mike McConathy is a guy I followed in my Division I career,” Cabrera said. “He was a heck of a coach. One of my assistant coaches came up to me in my first year at Tallahassee in the middle of the season. We were struggling on getting some offense early in the shot clock. He came up to me and said, ‘Coach, listen, I was at Southeastern Louisiana. That coach at Northwestern State had an unbelievable secondary break. They scored really quickly. At some point, they led the country in scoring (2014-15).’
“I don’t have an ego. I steal from everybody in the coaching community. I said, ‘OK, let’s try it. As a head coach, I’m going to allow you to put it in.’ He put it in and our offense was like, ‘Pop.’ It changed in a day.
“Thank you, coach McConathy. I appreciate that. Your legacy is still here. As an assistant coach, I watched you win a lot. I look forward to talking to you in the near future.”
Contact Jason at pughj@nsula.edu