Some people think of UNC-Wilmington as a place where basketball players are trained to become D-1 coaches, such as Mark Byington/John Calipari/Billy Donlon/Todd Lickliter. However, the best Seahawk of them all was Brett Blizzard, who remains the school’s all-time leader with 2144 PTS/371 3PM/249 STL. He was a 4-time 1st-team All-CAA player, a 3-time CAA tourney MVP, and a 2-time All-American. After graduation he spent almost 15 years playing pro basketball overseas, and currently works as a trainer for young basketball players who want to make it to the next level. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Brett about being a great 3-PT shooter and getting the only NCAA tourney win in school history. Today is Brett’s 41st birthday so let us be the 1st to wish him a happy 1!
As a freshman at UNCW you started all 31 games, led the team in scoring with 15.6 PPG, and were named CAA ROY: how were you able to come in and be so successful so quickly? All the credit should go to my teammates: there were a lot of seniors on that team who went to the coach and said that I needed to shoot more. I just reaped the benefits of all their passes/screens.
You made 94 3-PT shots and won the Ed Steitz Award as the top 3-PT shooting freshman in the nation, and at the time you graduated your 371 3PM was top-20 in NCAA history: do you feel that you are 1 of the best 3-PT shooters in NCAA history, and what is your secret for 3-PT shooting? I feel like I could shoot with anybody. I was not the best but feel that I am among the best. I worked hard at it and the stats show that: the secret is just repetition/confidence.
You are the only player to ever be named 4-time 1st-team All-CAA, as well as the only player to win 3 CAA tourney MVP awards: how were you able to remain so consistent throughout your career, and how were you able to play your best when it mattered the most? Every summer I just tried to add something new to my game. I was motivated because I knew that other guys were out there working hard and I was also motivated by being at a mid-major. I got fired up for the conference tourney and lived for those moments but the key was that the entire team/coaches were focused and everyone played their role.
What are your memories of the 2000 NCAA tourney, the 1st in school history (you scored 5 PTS in a loss to #2-seed Cincinnati)? I remember how tall Kenyon Martin and the guy with the neck injury a couple of years later (DerMarr Johnson) were. They blocked a lot of our shots (9 in total) and just overmatched us.
In the 2001 CAA tourney title game you scored 8 PTS but Ed Williams’ tip-in at the buzzer was waived off in a 35-33 loss to George Mason: what was it like to play in 1 of the lowest-scoring games of the shot-clock era? It seemed like the game took forever: it was a ridiculous battle of scouting-report defense because we knew each other so well. We were both well-prepared and it seemed like the game would never end.
What are your memories of the 2001 NIT (you scored 18 PTS/5-10 3PM in a 9-PT loss to Dayton)? We were a little mad about not making the NCAA tourney and most of us did not expect to make the NIT. It was a close/tough game and their fans were packed in there. We played okay but just not good enough to win.
Take me through the 2002 NCAA tourney:
You scored 18 PTS in 43 minutes and made 2 FT with 2 seconds left to clinch a 4-PT OT upset over USC: where does that rank among the biggest wins of your career, and how did that game change your life? I definitely think that was the game that put UNCW over the hump and got us some national recognition. It was also great for the city of Wilmington. We were happy to be there the 1st time back in 2000 and brought cameras to capture the moment, but the 2nd time in 2002 we were there to win. To be a mid-major you are always the underdog so to beat a major team in the tourney was huge.
You scored a tourney-school record 29 PTS in a 9-PT loss to eventual national runner-up Indiana: what was the feeling like in your locker room afterwards, and what was the reaction like when you got back to campus? We played hard and had a lot of confidence. We were not sad about losing but rather upset because we thought that we could have beat Indiana. Everyone on campus was still fired up when we got back. There was a lot of respect and love from the community.
In the 2003 NCAA tourney you scored 15 PTS but Drew Nicholas made a 3-PT shot at the buzzer for a 2-PT win by defending champion Maryland (www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkviatDWwdY): where does that rank among the most devastating losses of your career? It seemed like Drew’s shot was in the air forever. It went right over my head in slow motion and I thought “No, this is not about to happen”. It was a helpless feeling and we were shocked when it went through the net.
You remain the school’s all-time leader in PTS/STL/3PM: did you realize at the time how prolific a player you were, and ho were you able to balance your scoring with your defense? I did not think about how good I was at the time: I just compared myself to the big superstars who got more attention than I did. I felt like I had to prove myself every year so I never got a big head or got cocky. A lot of my steals were due to my teammates helping on defense. I had a good knack for reading the situation and getting a lot of deflections: it was not like I was guarding guys for 94 feet the entire way down the court.
You played professionally in Italy and became eligible to play on the Italian national team thanks to a distant Italian relative: what did you learn from these experiences, and how did they compare to college basketball? I learned that professional basketball is a business. You lose the camaraderie that exists in college because now it is your job. Being that far away is tough for a lot of players to handle as you have to deal with a lot of new things. It was a great experience but you miss your family/friends a tremendous amount. College is about team unity/love for the game…which goes out the window when you become a pro!