Last Saturday North Dakota had a 4-PT OT win over Weber State in the Big Sky title game to earn an automatic bid to this week’s NCAA tournament. The Fighting Hawks have made 19 NCAA Tournament appearances but their very 1st as a D-1 program will come against #2-seed Arizona in a West Region match-up on Thursday night in Salt Lake City. Yesterday HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with North Dakota assistant coach Jeff Horner about his own tourney memories as a player at Iowa and winning a tourney title game in OT last weekend.
You graduated from Iowa as the school’s all-time leader with 612 AST/262 3PM: how did you balance your scoring with your passing, and what is the key to being a good PG? I just let the game come to me: I would start out trying to find my teammates, and then get my own scoring going later in the game if necessary. It was easy to balance it out because when you are playing 36 MPG you can make mistakes and still remain on the floor.
In 2006 you were named Big 10 tourney MVP but then lost to #14-seed Northwestern State in the NCAA tourney when Jermaine Wallace made a fadeaway 3-PT shot with 0.5 seconds left in a 1-PT upset: what is the key to winning games in March, and what is the key to being a Cinderella? You just have to come in and play with a lot of confidence. Even though we were a #3-seed, Northwestern State was not afraid of us: they played carefree whereas we felt that we had everything to lose. The biggest problem for us is that after we built a 17-PT lead we were unable to stop their own momentum during their comeback.
You work for Coach Brian Jones: what makes him such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have ever learned from him? He has taught me how to handle players: he lets our guys be our guys regardless of their background. I think that is the toughest thing for college coaches to do, which is why our kids respect him and want to play for him.
In the 2016 CIT your team had a 3-PT OT loss to UC Irvine: what did your team learn from that game that you think can help them going forward this year? We were able to host a postseason game, which was a big deal for our school, and hopefully we got some experience that we can use to play on a bigger stage this week. We do not lack confidence and are not afraid to play against anyone.
You do not have a single guy on your roster who grew up in North Dakota: what sort of recruiting philosophy does your staff have? We have a kid coming in next year who was the North Dakota high school POY so hopefully we can get our in-state recruiting going well over the next couple of years. We have a lot of connections in Minneapolis/Iowa and have brought in a few JC guys as well. I feel that a lot of kids from the Midwest are a good fit for our staff’s personality.
You played several good non-conference teams this year like Bakersfield/Iowa/Northern Iowa: which 1 of them impressed you the most? Iowa was really young this year but still made the NIT. Bakersfield is super-athletic and UNI has a great coach in Ben Jacobson. Playing those good teams earlier this year should help us in the postseason.
SO PG/SG Cortez Seales was named Big Sky 6th Man of the Year: what makes him such a good player, and how crucial has your bench play been to your team’s success this year? He has an old-school game where he does not take a lot of threes or dunk the ball: his mid-range shooting is fantastic. His teammates call him “the ultimate bad shot-maker” because he misses a lot of open shots but it is just impossible for opponents to block his shot even when they are right on him. We bring a couple of other guys off the bench including a 7-footer in Carson Shanks, who he will be a big key when facing a big team like Arizona. Our bench has been huge and brings it everyday in practice even if they are not getting a lot of minutes during games.
Last Saturday Quinton Hooker was named conference tourney MVP after scoring 28 PTS in a 93-89 OT win over Weber State in the Big Sky tourney title game: how were you able to pull out the win, and what was the reaction like when you got back to campus? I honestly do not know how we pulled it out! We were trailing at the end and not making plays that we usually make but we just kept fighting. I told a fellow assistant that if we could somehow get it to OT that the game was ours. Everyone was happy and there were many tears of joy: this exact moment is why you work so hard during the off-season. We had an assembly when we got back to campus with hundreds of people who showed up: it was awesome.
After starting the season 5-6 you have only lost 3 games since New Year’s Eve by a combined 10 PTS: how were you able to turn things around in January? The 1st 10 games were against a lot of big/tough teams on the road, but we always competed and felt that we stayed right with our opponents. We got a big-time wake-up call after getting beat by 37 PTS at Portland State in late-December, so that loss helped us re-focus, as did our loss to Sacramento State a couple of weeks ago.
You received a #15-seed: what do you know about Arizona, and are you going to ask your old college coach Steve Alford (now at UCLA) for any tips on his Pac-12 rival? They are huge and super-talented with big guards and a very good team. Some people are picking them to go all the way, but we just have to keep it close and play with nothing to lose. I have already texted Coach Alford so hopefully he can help us out a bit!