This is our saddest Selection Sunday ever because there is too much Sunday and not enough Selection. America obviously has bigger problems to worry about this month and quite possibly the only silver lining is that we have a LOT of free time to reflect on Sundays from the past. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel continues our 3-part series with former Middle Tennessee star Kerry Hammonds, who shared a story from Selection Sunday in 1987 and its impact on the 1986 national champs.
You started 29 games at Middle Tennessee as a freshman and averaged 13.8 PPG/8 RPG: how were you able to come in and contribute right from the start? I thought that I averaged a double-double. I had a terrific high school coach who taught me everything. I was not a great jumper but he taught me how to get good position and go get the ball.
You entered the 1985 OVC tourney with a 10-13 record but won 3 games in 3 days with each win coming by 3 PTS or less: how much of a home court advantage did you have while playing at the Murphy Center, and how on earth did you win the tourney after such a terrible regular season? Home court advantage was a big plus for us. We had a little hot streak toward the end of the season and beat each of the top-3 teams to win it.
In the 1985 NCAA tourney you scored 9 PTS in a loss to North Carolina: could you tell at the time that Brad Daugherty (25 PTS/11 REB) was going to become a star? Yes: it was difficult to get a shot off against him. I thought that I was a big guy but HE was huge.
Your scoring decreased from your freshman to sophomore year but your FG% increased from under 40% to over 50%: how were you able to improve your shooting from 1 year to the next? A lot of practice and working hard: I guess I got a big head, which is why my average went down. I was coming off the bench for most of my sophomore year after starting most of my freshman year.
Despite a 4-PT loss to Austin Peay in the 1987 OVC tourney semifinals on your home court you made the NCAA tourney and scored 11 PTS in a loss to Notre Dame (David Rivers/Donald Royal combined for 51 PTS): were you surprised to hear your name called on Selection Sunday? Not at all: we were a pretty good team. I remember Denny Crum being mad because we got in and Louisville did not! That was probably our best team.
After sitting out the 1988 season you had 17.3 PPG/conference-best 10.3 RPG as a senior: how on earth were you able to average a double-double as a 6’7” center? Position and a good eye for the ball. We had a lot of shooters so if I wanted to score then I had to rebound 1 of their misses. I loved to rebound: it was fun because not everybody wanted to do it.
In the 1989 NCAA tourney you had 11 PTS/13 REB in a win over Florida State: how were you able to overcome a 17-PT 2nd half deficit to win by 14 PTS, and where does freshman Mike Buck’s performance rank among the greatest that you have ever seen (after only averaging 5 PPG during the season he explored for 26 PTS in 22 minutes off the bench without missing a single shot: 7-7 FG/6-6 3PM/6-6 FT)? Mike got hot! We had 3 guys who were scoring 17+ PPG and we just got on a roll. That game is in the top-3.
You still rank among the top-3 in school history with 1616 PTS/955 REB: how did you balance your scoring with your rebounding? Coming out of high school those were 2 things that I could do: they just came naturally to me. I preferred rebounding more than scoring but when you get an offensive rebound then you are in a good position to score.
In 2014 you were inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame: where does that rank among the highlights of your career? I guess it is the 2nd-highest behind getting my diploma. I was a kid from the projects in Macon, GA: I did not even expect to go to college, much less make a Hall of Fame. I just pursued my career very hard.
Your younger brother Kelvin played at Middle Tennessee as did your son Kerry II (who later became the director of basketball operations for Coach Kermit Davis): who is the best athlete in the family, and how important is the school to your family? I think that I am the best and my son is #2: if he were not so injury-prone he would probably have been #1 because he could do it all. My daughter is there now: the school has been very good to me and my family. I had never heard of it back in the day until Coach Bruce Stewart got the job and came by to recruit me. If it were not for him then I never would have went there so you could say we owe it all to him.