UAB set a school record last year with 27 wins and made the NCAA tourney for the 1st time in 7 years. The Blazers’ basketball program was created back in 1979 and had a lot of success early under Coach Gene Bartow: 15 straight winning seasons, 7 NCAA tourney appearances from 1981-1987, and even a trip to the Elite 8 in 1982. 1 of the stars of those early-1980s teams was Steve Mitchell, a 3-time all-conference player who was named All-American in 1985. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Steve about his many NCAA tourney games and playing pro basketball. Today is Steve’s 58th birthday so let us be the 1st to wish him a happy 1!
As a young boy you allegedly spent nights sleeping with a basketball in your bed: how long did you keep that up for, and do you think that it helped you at all on the court? I started doing that as a young child and continued to do so until high school. This was brought up during my senior year at UAB after I requested a basketball at the Iowa Hawkeye Classic that I could keep with me overnight. I did not sleep with the basketball, but because it was a different brand that we had never used in a game before I wanted to handle it as much as possible to get a feel for it. The next night I scored 33 PTS and our team manager (who gave me the ball) told everyone that I slept with it. Although basketball was my “favorite girl” I did not sleep with her that night!
Coach Gene Bartow became the 1st-ever basketball coach at UAB after coming over from Memphis and you were part of his “Memphis Connection”: how did you end up choosing UAB, and how important were Memphis-area players to UAB’s success? The early success of UAB was due largely to the contributions of Memphis players. Daryl Braden (from TCU), Larry Spicer, and George Jones (the latter 2 both from Baylor) were the first 3 guys to transfer after learning that UAB had hired Coach Bartow to start a basketball program. After those guys came, Leon Morris, Raymond Gause, and McKinley Singleton all came to UAB from Memphis. I chose UAB mainly because they were a top-25 program during my senior year in high school: the previous year they had even made the Sweet 16. UAB had 6 seniors graduating from that team so I thought that I would have an opportunity to play as a freshman. Another factor was that my father was from Birmingham: my family would go to Birmingham 2-3 times/year during my entire childhood so I was very comfortable here. Birmingham has always been a “home away from home” for me.
You were a 3-time 1st-team All-Sun Belt performer: how were you able to continue to dominate throughout your college career? I just worked my butt off every off-season to improve my areas of weakness.
In the 1983 NCAA tourney Wayman Tisdale scored 17 PTS in an 8-PT win by Oklahoma: how did you feel about going scoreless? I was bitter because Oklahoma won the game…but the fan-filled practices and the atmosphere were just incredible and made me thirsty for more. Tisdale was a grown man even as a freshman and deserving of every accolade that he received. I had never seen a guy that big/skilled before.
What are your memories of the 1984 NCAA tourney (you had 8 PTS in a loss to BYU in Birmingham, who was led by All-American Devin Durrant with 23 PTS/10 REB)? I had even more bitterness because that time we lost on our home court in front of our own fans: that really bothered me.
In 1985 you scored a career-high 33 PTS vs. Arkansas State: was it just 1 of those scenarios where every shot you put up seemed to go in because you were “in the zone”? Some nights it is just meant to be no matter what the defense does. That night in the Hawkeye Classic was just my night as everything was clicking on all cylinders. Too bad there was no 3-PT line back then: I would have finished with 50 PTS!
That same year you were named an All-American: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? It felt good that all of the long hours/hard work I had put in was paying off for me and being recognized by others…but what I really wanted to go further in the NCAA tourney than the 1st round. You have to remember that the Blazer fans were used to watching winners. Before I got here the 2 previous UAB teams went to the Elite 8/Sweet 16 in back-to-back years. In my mind we were coming up short by being eliminated so soon, so while the individual award was good I wanted to see us advance further as a team.
Take me through the 1985 NCAA tourney:
You scored a team-high 18 PTS in a 2-PT win over Michigan State (All-American Sam Vincent scored 32 PTS): how was your team able to get the win? We were fortunate to beat a very good Michigan State team. They had 1 of the country’s best backcourts in Vincent/Scott Skiles so we knew that it would be a huge challenge. However, we also knew that if we could beat them then we would get to play Memphis in the 2nd round. With 4-5 guys from Memphis on our roster we had a lot of motivation so we were not about to let the Spartans prevent us from getting that chance.
You scored 13 PTS in a 1-PT OT loss to Memphis (All-American Keith Lee scored 28 PTS) after Andre Turner made a jump shot with 6 seconds left in OT: what was it like to play against Memphis after having grown up there, and how did you feel after finding out later that you had been playing with a stress fracture in your foot? I actually knew that something was wrong with my foot during the 1st round game. In fact, I did not practice at all before the Memphis game. I knew that I was not 100%, as my movement was compromised due to the pain in my foot, but this was the game of a lifetime. In a game of this magnitude, against guys who I grew up playing with/against all of my life, my foot would have had to come off of my leg to keep me out of that one! Andre and I had been friends/teammates in middle school and even went 21-0 as 9th graders. We were probably closer than any 2 players on either team: in fact, we stay in touch to this day and get together whenever I go back home to Memphis. It was not until I returned to Birmingham and had my foot scanned that I found out it was a stress fracture that was causing the pain.
In the summer of 1985 in the World University Games in Japan, you led Team USA in assists while winning your 1st 5 games by an average score of 119-60, but lost the gold medal game to the USSR when Valdemaras Chomicius made a 3-PT shot with 3 seconds left for a 96-93 victory and the gold medal: did you consider the tournament a success (due to your team making it so far), or a failure (due to not winning the gold medal), or something in between? It was not just a regular 3-PT shot that beat us for the gold medal: it was a half-court heave! We considered it a failure. When we 1st assembled as a team to prepare to go to Japan, Coach Lee Rose told us that our objective was to bring back the gold medal. We never discussed the silver medal because we did not go halfway around the world for anything except a gold medal.
Take me through the 1986 NCAA tourney:
You scored a game-high 21 PTS in a 2-PT win over Missouri (your World University Games teammate Derrick Chievous also had 21 PTS) when Jerome Mincy knocked the ball away at the end of the game before the Tigers could get a shot off: was it extra-special to beat Chievous after playing with him the previous summer, and did you get the feeling that every tourney game you ever played would go down to the wire? It was good to see Derrick again after the World Games, but I knew that 1 of us would be going home disappointed after the tourney: I was just glad that it was not me! I felt like most games in the tourney would be close and not get decided until the last 10 minutes.
You scored 7 PTS in a loss to UNC (future #1 overall pick Brad Daugherty had 13 PTS/13 REB): did you just happen to have a cold shooting night at the wrong time, and what was the feeling like in your locker room afterwards? I was devastated: not so much because we lost to a very good UNC team, but because MY LAST GAME in a Blazer uniform was my worst ever (3-21 FG). I had good looks but they just did not go down: I have never been more disappointed.
You are still UAB’s career leader in PTS/AST: did you realize at the time how prolific a player you were? I did not realize it at the time. I am really surprised that I am still the all-time leading scorer despite the introduction of the 3-PT line after I graduated.
In the summer of 1986 you were drafted in the 2nd round by Washington (10 spots ahead of Jeff Hornacek): were you thrilled to realize your dream of making it to the pros, or disappointed that you did not get selected in the 1st round? I was disappointed not to be selected in the 1st round, which was a personal goal of mine. By not being taken in the 1st round, I knew that there would be no guarantees and that I would have to earn a spot on the team. After a coaching change between the draft and rookie camp I found myself in an impossible situation. Washington had 3 returning point guards and 2 other veteran point guards in camp so it did not take a genius to figure out that the 36th pick in the draft would not make the roster.
After graduation you played professionally for several years in Italy, France, Germany, Puerto Rico, and then returned to America to win a CBA title in 1992: what did you learn from these experiences, and how did they compare to college basketball? I quickly grew up and became a man, especially during the 3 years I spent in Europe. Unlike the experience in Japan playing in the World University Games, there were no tour guides or translators. I was on my own as a 21-year old who was thousands of miles away from home and dealing with language barriers, exchange rates, etc. Luckily, I was still playing a game that I loved to play and was getting paid good money to do it. So, after getting over some homesickness and of all the other things I found to complain about, I realized how lucky I was to have the opportunity and decided to make the best of it. Comparing those experiences to college is like comparing apples to oranges. Pro basketball was more of a business: I was playing with and against grown men who were trying to feed their families and their approach to the game reflected that every day.
In 1995 you earned your master’s degree and became an assistant athletic director at UAB, in 1997 you became Director of Bartow Arena, and in 2006 you became a radio analyst for UAB basketball games: how important is your alma mater to you, and which job did you like most? UAB continues to remain important to me over the last 35+ years since I decided to come here as a student-athlete. I have met so many wonderful people here who have made such a big impact on my life. I have witnessed this school’s tremendous growth over the last quarter-century-plus and these were the things that I looked for as a high school athlete. UAB enjoyed unheard-of success during its first 6 years of intercollegiate athletics. I do not know of another program that had that kind of success (1 Sweet 16/1 Elite 8) so early. I really felt that this was a special place and I wanted to be a part of its growth. I liked my jobs as Director of Bartow Arena/radio analyst best. I could still be close to the game of basketball and talk to our fans about a game that I still love dearly.
You have known current Detroit Mercy coach Mike Davis for over 3 decades: what is he like as a coach, and what is he like as a person? I have known Mike since I 1st came to play at UAB. He was a couple of years older than me and playing at Alabama, but every summer we would all play in a summer league here in Birmingham. Years later in 1991 he was my assistant coach in Wichita Falls when we won the CBA championship. In fact, it was Mike who called me and convinced me to come and join them that year. As a coach he is extremely intense and prepared. Like most coaches, he does not take losing very well and does everything in his power to prevent that as much as he possibly can. He is a very funny and down-to-earth, laid-back type of guy…in the summertime, that is! Sometimes tough losses can change coaches’ personalities, depending on which season you meet them in.
