Stan Van Gundy is back, and you won't believe where

	Stan Van Gundy is happy with his decision to spend more time with his family and less time with Dwyane Wade. Fernando Medina/Getty Images
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By Andy Gray

Shaquille O'Neal can't solve Dallas' defense, Dwyane Wade is battling a knee injury, Antoine Walker is shooting too many 3-pointers, and Stan Van Gundy couldn't care less. The Miami Heat's former coach has got his own team to worry about. It consists of four kids, two dogs, a cat and a wife of 18 years.

Since resigning as Miami's coach in January, Van Gundy has been the subject of speculation. Did Pat Riley push him out? Was ownership unhappy with his performance? All along, however, Van Gundy has insisted that there's no story to dig for. After 25 years on the road, he just wanted to spend more time at home.

"It's been great [being with my family]," said Van Gundy in a  phone interview. "What's really hit me on a daily basis is looking at the Heat schedule and saying, 'I would've missed this today.' With that perspective, the time off has been really good."

But at only 46, Van Gundy couldn't stay away from the game too long, and when Jorge De Cespedes, the former basketball coach at Biscayne College (now called St. Thomas University), asked Van Gundy if he wanted to help bring basketball back to the school (the program was disbanded in 1999 for financial reasons), Van Gundy jumped at the chance.

Van Gundy's current position is strictly voluntary and consists of helping the school search for its new coaches, and with the layout of the new athletic facility, as well as promoting the school's basketball revival. The dividends have already paid off, as the school announced the hiring of Jesus Labrada and Robin Harmony to coach the men's and women's basketball teams, respectively. 

Working at St. Thomas has quenched a basketball thirst that has been building since Van Gundy's resignation from the Heat on Jan. 12. Plus, it got him back to a more pure form of basketball: players at small schools competing for the love of the game and not a potentially hefty NBA paycheck.

"They play for all the right reasons at that level," Van Gundy says. "You're all in it together at the small colleges. Everyone's playing because they love to play. Very few guys harbor dreams of playing in the NBA or anywhere else. They just want to play."