Ken Epperson did it all at Toledo, as he remains the school’s all-time leader in PTS (2016)/REB (960) and is top-5 in almost everything else. He was named MAC ROY in 1982, led the Rockets in scoring in 1983/1984, and was a unanimous 1st-team All-MAC selection during his final 2 years. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Ken about being a great scorer and playing abroad. Today is the 39th anniversary of Ken playing a career-high 49 minutes in a win over Eastern Michigan on February 4, 1984, so we take this time to remember his remarkable accomplishments.
You grew up in Louisville: what made you choose Toledo? I did not know it at the time but they were the first school to offer me a scholarship. Coach Greg Kemp was my camp coach and 1 Tuesday afternoon after a game we were walking back to the dorms and he told me that he wanted me to play at Toledo. He had to confirm it with his boss but was 99.9% sure that Toledo would offer me a scholarship. The other schools that recruited me were good but only Toledo offered me the chance to play as a freshman…but only if I worked for it and proved that I belonged in the starting 5. Toledo had a forward who was a senior so they needed to fill that position during my freshman year. After going on an official visit I saw the campus, the playing facilities, how the players interacted with each other, and how the community embraced the university. It was kind of a no-brainer that I chose Toledo.
As a freshman you averaged 16.2 PPG/8.5 RPG en route to being named 1982 MAC ROY: how were you able to come in and contribute right from the start? I asked myself that same question! The only way to describe my freshman year was a combination of good teammates, coaches who believed in me, and lots of luck. Tim Reiser was a great passer: if you got a half-step advantage on your man then he would deliver the ball on time and without breaking stride. There were a lot of obstacles to overcome but my high school coach Mike Durham taught me to play hard/smart. You should always be thinking 2-3 moves ahead because the minute you stop working is the minute you will get beat. In high school I would get double- or triple-teamed but they did not do that during my freshman year of college. I was pretty much left alone in the post to make a move, run the floor, and hit the glass for offensive rebounds. Toledo ran a motion offense, which we also ran in high school, so I was pretty comfortable right away. I knew how to get open and get my shot.
In the 1985 MAC tourney you had a 2-PT loss to Ball State in the final game of your college career: where does that rank among the most devastating losses of your career? That would rank as my top loss in college because it was the last game I played in college. We were a good team but lost our way in the second half and could not get back on track. Everything we tried just did not work: we did not play well during the final 20 minutes.
You remain your school’s all-time leader with 2016 career PTS/960 career REB: how were you able to balance your scoring with your rebounding, and do you think that anyone will ever break your records? I think that scoring and rebounding go hand in hand because getting offensive rebounds gives you more chances to score. I have always been told to go get the rebounds on both offense and defense. Every time I got the ball my first thought was: how could I score? If I did not have the ball then I asked what could I do to get a teammate open or how could I get the ball to score
After graduation you played pro basketball in Australia: what is the biggest difference between basketball in the US vs. basketball overseas? Basketball in the US is more structured: the players are very athletic and there is a big emphasis on defense. Overseas it is much more free-flowing: players do not worry too much about defense until the end of the game. In the US you practice every day but overseas you might only practice twice/week and play 2-3 games/week.
You scored 29.6 PPG in your 1st year abroad: what is the secret to being a great scorer? There is really no secret: as an American player you were expected to score a lot of points…and if you did not score then you were more than likely on the next plane back to the States! It was an offensive league so you ran the floor, attacked the basket, and went for offensive rebounds. To be a scorer you have to be in better shape than your opponent. Scoring is hard work so that means hours in the gym shooting jump shots. In practice you have to work as hard as you would during a game, and the games are twice as fast as practice.
Did you ever get to play against FIBA Hall of Famer Andrew Gaze, and where does he rank among the greatest players that you have ever seen? I played many games against Andrew. He was great at moving without the ball and also a very good shooter: his range was when he crossed over the half-court line! I learned a lot by watching him play: coming off screens, when to go back-door, and how to set back screens to get open. He is the best scorer/pure shooter who I ever played against. His dad Lindsay is the father of Australian basketball. Speaking to Lindsay about basketball and his experience of playing/coaching would be like speaking to Adolph Rupp. He has so much knowledge of the game: it is amazing what he knows.
After retiring you became a coach and won a couple of COY awards: how did your history as a good player translate into your ability to become a good coach? Having played and having a lot of expectations put on you helps with coaching. As the coach you make all the decisions from when you hold tryouts to when you have practice and what things you practice. There is a whole lot of planning involved. Players have to worry about playing but coaches have to worry about every single aspect of the game. Just like when I was a player I coached to win, and if that meant extra practice sessions then that is what we would do. I started holding shooting practice on Saturday mornings before every game. This improved our shooting throughout the season and even helped us win a game in overtime. My teams were not the most talented but they worked hard and played as a team. Coaching is an art: you have to be able to reach inside your players to get every ounce of talent out of them. A lot of players do not like to be coached: they just want to play and do not care if they win or lose. I told my players that coaching them was my main focus and winning a championship was our goal. I was lucky to have a group of guys who were underachievers: once they were shown how to play together they took it to a new level.
In 2016 you were named to the Rockets’ All-Century team: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? Making the Hall of Fame was a great honor but being named to the All-Century team was truly unexpected due to all of the great players that played for Toledo during the 20th century. I still think about how blessed I was to play for the University of Toledo: I was just happy to get a scholarship to play basketball.
Your son Jacob played basketball at Creighton and your daughter Britney played basketball at North Dakota State: who is the best athlete in the family? I asked Britney that question and she said Jacob was the better athlete. He has a lot of natural talent and picks things up really quickly. We are very happy that Jacob played at Creighton because Coach Greg McDermott is a great coach/person. Britney had to work at everything twice as hard as Jacob but she knew that she had to work at it to be competitive. My wife Kathy and I are very proud of both of them and the way they play the game of basketball. They both played the game hard and played it as part of a team.
