Season preview: HoopsHD interviews new Abilene Christian head coach Brette Tanner

Posted on September 3, 2021 by Jon Teitel

We are keeping our fingers crossed in the hope that we can return to a “normal” version of college basketball this year: fans in the stands, announcers without masks, etc. Nobody knows exactly what is going to happen but we will try to restore some order with season previews featuring the best players/coaches in the country. We commence our coverage with new Abilene Christian head coach Brette Tanner. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Tanner about upsetting Texas in the NCAA tourney last season and his expectations for this season.

You played college basketball at Allen County CC/Emporia State: how good a player were you back in the day, and how did you get into coaching? I thought that I was pretty good at the time but later realized that I was not very good! There was a rule about how many out-of-state players you could have at a Kansas junior college so as an in-state kid there were coaches lining up to recruit me. I played for some legendary coaches and always knew that I wanted to be a coach myself. I wanted to play for guys who could help me get my foot in the door and was fortunate enough to do that.

You spent the past 8 years as an assistant to Joe Golding at Abilene Christian: what makes him such a good coach, and are we going to see UTEP on your schedule anytime soon? I do not know if we will see UTEP on the schedule anytime soon just to be fair to him. When I came here from Stephen F. Austin in 2013 and had to go back and play them it was tough for me to do. I think we might play the Miners once Joe’s former players are gone. He is a good coach because he has zero ego, which is rare in this business. He surrounds himself with talented people and does not micromanage them. He has taught me the importance of building relationships with his players: it is real and he helped me grow that same philosophy, which is more important than winning/losing.

Coach Golding called you the “architect” of the Wildcats’ dominant defense: what is the key to creating a great defense? It is not rocket science and there are a bunch of ways to skin a cat. Our guys trust us and they know that we will do everything we can to put them in a position to be successful. We play super-hard but they also play free of the fear of making mistakes.

In the 2021 NCAA tourney your team had a 1-PT upset of Texas (www.youtube.com/watch?v=81A14JTZXdY): where does that rank among the greatest wins of your career? That has to be up there! My whole family went to school in the state of Oklahoma so I think the biggest win in the past was in December of 2007 when I was an assistant at SFA and we beat OU/Blake Griffin. Being in the state of Texas and beating the Longhorns with someone who I am so close with was pretty special: it is definitely #1 now.

There were a ton of other teams from the Lone Star State in the tourney last March (including Final 4 participant Houston and eventual champ Baylor): how goes the evolution from a football culture to a basketball culture? We were actually just having this conversation at lunch the other day. Football is still pretty important but basketball is growing tremendously because there is so much talent in this state. I also look at schools like Texas/Texas Tech who have made big investments in basketball, which has gotten us to where we are today.

You were hired as head coach in April: how is it going so far? Great! I will be able to tell you more in December but Joe gave me a voice when I was an assistant and he let me coach the defense 100%, which helped this transition. The guys have faith in me whether we win or lose that we are doing things the right way. I am excited for the new journey but it is the same goal.

You lost a few players to graduation/transfer but do return Damien Daniels, who was named conference tourney MVP last March: how crucial will he be to your team’s success this year? He will be extremely crucial as this is his 4th year in the program. We have a couple other returning all-conference/all-defensive players in Coryon Mason/Reggie Miller who will be huge for us. We have some new guys in the post but our guard corps is extremely talented/experienced, which will really help us on defense.

Your non-conference schedule includes a pair of games to open the season at Utah/Texas A&M: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? Both of them. I have been doing the schedule for us for a long time and thought it was easy…but now that I moved over 6 feet I feel that the schedule is terrible! Utah has a new coach in Craig Smith, and Buzz Williams is building A&M into a basketball school. They will both be huge challenges for us but so will in-state teams like UT-Arlington. People do not realize how good the mid-majors are: Jacksonville State is bringing every single player back and Drexel was an NCAA tourney team. We do not have any D-1 slop on our schedule so there is no rest for us.

Your roster includes players from Italy/Rwanda/Australia: what sort of recruiting philosophy do you have? My background is junior college but I realize the importance of recruiting high school players. Everyone this year was recruiting in the transfer portal and nobody was recruiting JC players so we picked up 3 kids that I think will be steals. I have been very vocal that international recruiting can be a niche for us. We have an unbelievable international department here and we need to keep working on that.

What are your goals for this season, and what are your expectations for this season? My expectations do not matter: they have already been set for me. Part of me wishes I had taken over a bad program with no pressure at all…but if we had not created high expectations then we probably would have been fired! I will not run from the expectations as we move into a basketball league like the WAC: we want to be in a position to compete for a championship in March and be even better than we were a year ago. We are embracing expectations and will try to meet them.

Posted in Interviews | Tagged , | Comments Off on Season preview: HoopsHD interviews new Abilene Christian head coach Brette Tanner

In Memoriam: HoopsHD remembers former SIUE coach Larry Graham

Posted on August 31, 2021 by Jon Teitel

Before he became the winningest coach in SIUE history, Larry Graham was an amazing basketball player. After setting Odom High School records for most career PTS/REB, he led the Bulldogs to the quarterfinals of the Indiana single-division state tournament before losing in sudden death, then played college basketball at Vincennes University and Texas Wesleyan. He later won a pair of Illinois state titles as a high school coach, then won almost 2/3 of his games as head coach of the Cougars. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Larry a few years ago and is proud to present this never-before-published interview. Today marks the 1-year anniversary of Larry’s passing so we take this time to celebrate his life/legacy.

Your nickname was “Buddy”: who gave you the nickname, and how did you like it? I was always called “Buddy” until I started coaching in Illinois, which is when they started calling me Larry. After I won an award 1 year they called me up to the stage as “Buddy”, and my players got such a kick out of it that it stuck again.

You were a 3-year starter at Odon High School where you made the 1959 state semifinals before losing to New Albany in the last-ever sudden-death OT game in state history: what are your memories of that game? I have tried to put it out of my mind! The 1st team to score 2 PTS would win the game and I am the guy who missed the last shot ever taken in the last-ever sudden-death OT game, which was not a good feeling. We should have won the game even though we were a small school playing against a big school: we kind of choked at the end of the game by missing some FTs. Even though we were a very small school we thought that we were like the famous “Hoosiers” of Milan after knocking a bunch of teams off. There were 12,000+ people at the game and we should have won because we led throughout, but after I missed the shot they came down and made a long shot to win it.

You later played college basketball at Vincennes/Texas Wesleyan: how did you 1st get into coaching? I wanted to become a pro basketball player and really thought that I would make it. 1 of my college coaches set me straight so from then on it was my dream to become a coach.

You later became an assistant coach of the women’s team at Lindenwood University: what is the biggest difference between coaching men vs. coaching women? I like to coach both genders. The women really listen to you so you have to be careful: they will do exactly what you say on offense even if the defense does something unexpected. They want to win and they play hard. I should have had them cutting harder and playing a more freelance style.

You won 2 state championships as a coach at Madison High School in 1977/1981: what did it mean to you to win a pair of titles? Everything! Madison was a diverse school with Black/White students so we had a lot of problems but everyone got behind the basketball team. We sold out our home games and traveled well. The title games were on TV and gave us a lot of confidence. The 1st 1 was so quick that I did not think about it but I was able to plan for the 2nd 1. It meant a lot to me/my players/the community.

After SIUE received some NCAA sanctions the program was suspended in 1983: why did you take the job to resurrect the program in 1984, and how much pressure was there on you? There was no pressure. I actually applied for the job after winning the 1981 title but they do not usually hire high school coaches. I was encouraged to reapply and took a $10,000 pay cut but I am glad that I did because it was a good learning experience.

The team also got a new home of its own when the Sam M. Vadalabene Center opened in 1984: how big a deal was it to get an on-campus arena? We used to play at the local high school so I was the 1st coach in the new gym and it was a big deal. People were excited about the program coming back.

What are your memories of the 1986 NCAA D-2 tourney (James Jappa scored 20 PTS in a 4-PT loss to Wright State)? It was a home-court tourney where you had to guarantee a certain amount of money to the NCAA. Wright State was a really good team but we were ahead for most of the game.

What are your memories of the 1987 NCAA D-2 tourney (John Edwards scored 31 PTS in a 3-PT loss to eventual champ Kentucky Wesleyan)? It was another road game against a great team but we represented ourselves well.

What are your memories of the 1989 NCAA D-2 tourney (Corey Crowder scored 36 PTS in an OT win by Kentucky Wesleyan, then Tim Brown scored 23 PTS in a 10-PT win over Ferris State in the 3rd-place game)? There was a loose ball in OT and when we got back to the huddle 2 of my best players snapped at each other so I benched them for the start of OT. I had planned to get them back in at the 1st dead ball…which took 2½ minutes! I remember the last play against Ferris State: 1 of our seniors had a wide-open look but he gave it to a teammate who had a better look.

You have been quoted as saying you were a laid-back coach but a “pretty big crybaby with the referees”: do you have any regrets? No regrets at all: that is my personality and I had my share of technical fouls. Usually when I was whistled for 1 I deserved it. I am a laid-back guy but I wanted things done my way and if the players messed up then I told them to do it again the right way.

Your 147 wins remain the most in school history: did you realize at the time how prolific a coach you were, and do you think that anyone will ever break your record? Someone will break my record if they ever keep a coach around long enough: no question. I just wanted to win games but was very fortunate to have good players. It is a hard place to coach: it used to be a commuter campus but it is hard to draw recruits there. It is going to be a great program down the road in several years because it is a great campus in a great location.

You won 806 games in high school/college: what made you such a great coach? That is all I knew. I was totally dedicated to it and was a gym rat so my players respected me for that. I was there during good times/tough times and was able to identify with African-American players, which did not hurt.

In 2007 you were named 1 of the “100 Legends of the Illinois High School Basketball tournament” and in 2012 you were inducted into the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame: where do these moments rank among the highlights of your career? They were huge! I am also in a couple of other Hall of Fames but those 2 were big honors. I also got into the Indiana Hall of Fame as a player, which was great because I grew up there.

When people look back on your career, how do you want to be remembered the most? I really have not thought about it but I was a hard worker who was dedicated to my players. Obviously I want them to know that I was a winner but I could not have done it without my players/assistants. I enjoyed working with minority athletes and got the best out of them: I think I made a difference in a lot of people’s lives.

Posted in Interviews | Tagged , | Comments Off on In Memoriam: HoopsHD remembers former SIUE coach Larry Graham

How to fix the NCAA: HoopsHD interviews Constitution Committee member Greg Christopher

Posted on August 30, 2021 by Jon Teitel

Earlier this month the NCAA Board of Governors appointed 23 members from across all 3 divisions to its Constitution Committee. The Committee will try to identify the key principles within college sports and help construct a new model that both preserves the existing values while allowing for concrete changes to be made in service of all student-athletes. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Committee member Greg Christopher (vice president for administration/director of athletics at Xavier) about how the process will proceed and how the Musketeers basketball team is looking for this fall.

Earlier this month the NCAA Board of Governors announced that it was appointing 23 members (including yourself) to its Constitution Committee that will “identify the core principles that define college sports and propose a new governance model that allows for quicker change without sacrificing broader values”: what are the principles that you believe in the most, and what are the most crucial elements of the new model? I think that college athletics has reached a bit of an inflection point so it is necessary to take a step back. When people have asked me about it in the past I mentioned that the NCAA manual is 451 pages, which we are not trying to rewrite! The constitution itself is relatively brief so the most central “non-negotiable” gets back to the tethering of academics to college athletics. Some people feel this idea is outdated but I believe very strongly in ensuring that our student-athletes are students 1st. I am also committed to broad-based programs with a wide array of opportunities/teams.

NCAA President Mark Emmert has stated that “The time is now for substantive change”: why now rather than 5 years ago or 5 years in the future? You probably could have picked anytime in the past decade but there is currently a lot of “noise in the system” and a continuous march of litigation, as well as conference realignment/equity review. We also need to see where the student-athlete voice fits into this in light of the NCAA v. Alston case because there are so many angles.

The Big East is well represented both by you and Georgetown President John DeGioia: what perspective do you 2 bring while coming from outside a Power 5 football conference? I am glad that our conference has a couple of voices at the table. I think it is a pretty representative group from across D-1. I know the Power-5 get a fair amount of attention but I am glad that there is a wide variety of voices.

The Board of Governors recently announced its historic decision to convene a special constitutional convention in November, which is “intended to propose dramatic changes to the NCAA constitution to reimagine aspects of college sports”: what part of the current constitution do you dislike the most, and what dramatic change are you most eager to propose? We have not really gotten to that point yet so it is premature to speculate. Our 1st step is to try to get some feedback: there was a survey sent throughout D-1 with feedback due early next week that will be compiled. In the months ahead we will pull out the major themes of the input, then craft some proposals by November.

You played football at Miami University in Ohio before your career was cut short due to injury: what impact has that injury had on your career in overseeing other student-athletes (if any)? “Played” is a liberal term! I had 1 too many concussions for my doctor’s liking. It is an invaluable opportunity to serve a new generation of student-athletes and live vicariously through them.

You also have connections to several other schools in the Midwest (worked at Purdue/Bowling Green and are now athletic director at Xavier): is it important to treat them all equally or do different kinds of schools deserve different kinds of constitutional oversight? My perspective is distinctive because my career path is unusual. Each of the 3 schools I worked at come from a different bucket within D-1. The Power-5 have different parameters within D-1 but it seems to work okay from a governance standpoint. However, since we have over 1000 schools within all 3 divisions, we might need to see how tethered the divisions should be to each other.

In 2018 you were named the Division I-AAA Under Armour Athletics Director of the Year and in 2020 you won the Mike Cleary Organizational Leadership Award: what did it mean to you to receive such outstanding honors? I think it is more of a reflection of the people who work around me and the team that we have. It is obviously appreciated and I feel humbled, but it is a recognition of the entire team.

What is the hardest part of being an AD during a pandemic, and how are things looking for the fall semester? The last 18 months have been challenging as we tried to work through it. We are an enterprise that is in disruption within an industry (higher education) that is in disruption. We are 2 weeks in but so far so good: we have a great group of athletes/coaches. There is less uncertainty this year than there was last year, when there was more anxiety. We were on campus last year, which not every other school was, but now that we are in the “2nd cycle” we have a better idea of how to operate.

The Musketeers made the NCAA tourney 26 times in 33 years from 1986-2018 but have not made it in any of the past 3 years: how much pressure does the program’s great track record put on current coach Travis Steele? I think that pressure comes every year, which is part of the fabric here at Xavier, and we embrace that. I think the past 3 years have gone about as we expected while Travis remade the roster, but at the end of the day we want to get into the NCAA tourney via the “final 2% of the climb”.

Last year the basketball team started 11-2 before losing 6 of its final 8 games: what are the expectations like for a roster that has a bunch of returning upperclassmen (including Nate Johnson/Adam Kunkel/Paul Scruggs/Ben Stanley)? We do have a lot of returnees. We got off to a hot start last year and then had 2 extensive COVID pauses that really threw a wrench into the continuity of how we were playing, which turned us into a different team. Nate Johnson’s injury did not help: when you lose 1 of the top 3-PT shooters in the nation (45.2 3P% last year), it makes it hard to win games.

Posted in Interviews | Tagged , , | Comments Off on How to fix the NCAA: HoopsHD interviews Constitution Committee member Greg Christopher

In Memoriam: HoopsHD interviews Len Trower-Mfuasi about Warren Jabali

Posted on August 29, 2021 by Jon Teitel

When you change your last name to the Swahili word for “rock” you need to be tough enough to back it up, and Warren Jabali did exactly that. A 3-time all-MVC selection at Wichita State, he chose the ABA over the NBA and paid immediate dividends by winning ROY, scoring 33.2 PPG in the 1969 ABA Finals, and being named Playoffs MVP. He was named an All-Star 4 times in a 5-year span from 1970-1974 and was All-Star Game MVP in 1973. Warren passed away in 2012 but HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Len Trower-Mfuasi about his best friend’s scoring/passing/defending. Warren would have turned 75 today so we take this time to reflect on his life/legacy.

Warren played at Central High School and is still considered 1 of the greatest players to ever come out of the Kansas City area: why did he decide to go to Wichita State? He did not come from a family of people who went to college so he learned the game in the backyard of a segregated community. He did not have his eye on any particular college but received a lot of offers. He went to Kansas for a visit but did not like the culture there. When he went to Wichita and met Dave Stallworth and others who were from the Black community and saw them all partying together, he decided that he liked that atmosphere.

He was a 3-time All-MVC selection: how was he able to be so dominant throughout his college career? I am sure that he worked on his game but he was also gifted. He was built like a football player and could jump incredibly high. He could handle the ball like a 5’10” PG and could pass like Steve Nash: his skills were just instinctive. He could drive and dunk and had a pretty decent jump shot, and was also pretty fast for a guy of his size in that era. You could not steal the ball from him because his hands were extremely strong. I am only 5’10” and I measured my hands against his once: he did not have hands much bigger than mine but he was so strong. He loved to set up his teammates.

In the summer of 1968 he was picked 44th overall by the Knicks in the NBA draft but decided to sign with Oakland after they picked him in the ABA draft: why did he go with the ABA instead of the NBA? If I recall correctly it had something to do with the money. I think he just got a more attractive offer from the ABA.

He was named ROY after scoring 21.5 PPG and helping his team improve from 22 wins the year before to 60 wins: how was he able to come in and help turn things around so quickly? Again, I do not think he knew how talented he was in relation to other players. I am not sure who else was on that Oakland team. It was like LeBron James: he had the same impact in terms of scoring/passing. Teammate Rick Barry once said that Warren was superior to Oscar Robertson in REB/AST!

He scored 33.2 PPG in the 1969 Finals vs. Indiana en route to winning the title and being named playoff MVP (becoming the only rookie guard in NBA/ABA history to be named Finals MVP until Magic Johnson did so in 1980): what did it mean to him to win the title, and how did it feel to win such an outstanding honor? He won that in part because Barry was injured in the playoffs. He never talked much about awards: his focus was on the condition of African-American people at the time and he was not the most social person. Most athletes were coddled people who just cared about parties but Warren was a student of current events. I am sure that it meant something to him but he never discussed it during the 47 years that we were friends. He was a serious-minded person.

Take me through the 1973 All-Star Game (which is often referred to as “Jabali’s Jamboree”):
He had 16 PTS/7 AST/3 STL and made the only 3-PT shot of the game en route to being named MVP: how was he able to play his best against the best? Because he was just as good as everyone else, if not better.

The very next day he was placed on waivers and was not picked up by any other team (allegedly for doing something during All-Star Weekend that embarrassed/enraged all the owners): what did he allegedly do, and did he think it was a racial thing? He told me that he found out that they were going to give the players a cheap watch in exchange for playing in the game, and he considered that to be an insult. He started organizing the players to boycott the pregame dinner with the players/owners and some of the players did indeed boycott: I was told that Dr. J initially agreed before changing his mind at the 11th hour. He always thought in the back of his mind that it might be racial: how else do you go from being MVP to being unemployed in a 24-hour span?! He had a reputation that mischaracterized who he was so the incident was just the straw that broke the camel’s back.

In February 1975 he scored 23 PTS for San Diego in a 176-166 4-OT win over the Nets (Julius Erving scored a career-high 63 PTS), which at that time was the highest scoring game in the history of pro basketball: where does Dr. J’s performance rank among the greatest you have ever seen? He told me that it was an incredible game where Erving did anything he wanted to do, but the guy Warren spoke most highly of was Roger Brown of the Pacers.

A few months later at age 28 he had to retire due to knee problems: how frustrating was it for him to not be able to go out on his own terms? He could still play but I think that he just had no place to go, like Allen Iverson. Nobody wanted to pick him up because he was “damaged goods” in terms of his legs/personality. He was frustrated but there were other things off the court that he could do so it did not bring him down in spirit.

His 2389 career AST remain #6 in ABA history: how was he able to balance his passing with his scoring? When you can pass and handle the ball as well as he did the defense could never tell what you were going to do, so he could fake passes and go to the hole. The media lumped John Brisker along with Warren as the “bruisers” in the sport. He had creative moves way back then, just like Earl Monroe. I got the chance to play against Monroe once: talk about humiliation! Look at a guy like Tony Parker: you knew that he was going to either drive to the basket or pull up for a jumper, but if you were back on your heels then you never knew exactly what he would do.

He had a reputation as 1 of the most feared defenders in the league: what was his secret for playing great defense? He had quick hands and was feared in part due to his reputation: you would not use your elbow to push him away because he would come right back at you. Nowadays you can get called for a foul just by touching a guy’s fingernail. Back then the refs had personal attitudes towards certain players…so when he got tripped by someone and no call was made he would just step on his opponent! He had good lateral movement and could elevate high enough to send his opponent’s shot back.

Warren passed away in 2012: when people look back on his career, how do you think that he should be remembered the most? Warren said he does not consider himself to be 1 of the greatest of all time but I told him that his modesty was ridiculous. If you look back on his skill set in addition to his stats you can see how good he was. He was 6’2” and could hit his head on the rim during high school. I definitely think that he should be included in the top-50 greatest players of all-time. When Barry went down during the championship run Warren took over and averaged 30 PPG. He was making a lot of moves that Michael Jordan later performed during the 1990s.

Posted in Interviews | Tagged , , | Comments Off on In Memoriam: HoopsHD interviews Len Trower-Mfuasi about Warren Jabali

Happy Birthday!: HoopsHD interviews Wright State legend Bill Edwards

Posted on August 28, 2021 by Jon Teitel

Bill Edwards is Ohio through and through: born in Middletown, high school in Carlisle, and college in Fairborn. By the time he left Wright State in 1993 he had become the best player in school history: 1993 MCC POY/tourney MVP, a trip to the 1993 NCAA tourney, and the greatest scorer/rebounder the Raiders had ever seen. He followed up a short NBA career with a very long European career before returning to his alma mater to showcase his strength and conditioning skills. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Bill about scoring 45 PTS in a game and winning a bronze medal. Today is Bill’s 50th birthday so let us be the 1st to wish him a happy 1!

Your nickname at Wright State was “Dolla Bill”: who gave you the nickname, and how did you like it? In my sophomore year there was a local reporter who said that “if you gave him the ball, it was like money in the bank”: it just took off and everyone called me that. After I turned pro people thought that the nickname was because I had money!

In December 1992 you scored a school-record 45 PTS (20-30 FG) and had 13 REB in a win over Morehead State despite getting taken out of the game with 5 minutes left: was it just 1 of those scenarios where every shot you put up seemed to go in because you were “in the zone”? Yes: I felt really good in that game. I joked with my coach that he should have left me in: I did not know how many PTS I had but on nights like that you never want to come out.

In 1993 you scored over 25 PPG and were named conference POY: what did it mean to you to win such an outstanding honor, and did you feel like you were 1 of the best players in the country? It was hard to judge myself against other players around the country: I just did whatever it took to help my team win. We all had roles and my role was to score/rebound. It was an honor but I never tried to attain POY awards.

What are your memories of the 1993 NCAA tourney (you scored 18 PTS in a loss to Indiana, who was led by 29 PTS from Calbert Cheaney)? It was a rough 1 for us in our 1st-ever trip to the NCAA tourney. We were hoping to go somewhere warm…and they sent us up the road to play the Hoosiers in Indianapolis! They had a great coach in Bobby Knight and a good team: Cheaney, Greg Graham, etc.

You remain the all-time leading scorer/2nd-best rebounder in school history: did you realize at the time how prolific a player you were, and did you think that anyone would ever break your records? Scoring was just something that I did starting back in high school. God blessed me with the ability to score but I never thought that my records would last 20 years. I was only 190 pounds when I arrived in college but just had a knack for knowing where the ball would come off the rim. The only reason I had the rebounding record (which was broken by Loudon Love last season) is that kids these days just do not do the little things. I am amazed that schools cannot recruit kids to just rebound the ball because every team needs a good rebounder.

Despite not getting drafted you ended up playing 3 games for Philadelphia in 1994: what is your favorite memory from your brief time in the NBA? I did not have too many good memories because we were 1 of the worst teams in the league that year (25-57). It was fun to play with guys like Moses Malone: he was very down-to-earth.

At the 1998 FIBA World Championship your team held a 10-PT lead with 3 minutes to play, but Serguei Panov went coast-to-coast for a layup with 4 seconds left to clinch a 2-PT win by Russia: what did it mean to you to play for team USA (no NBA players were on the team due to labor problems), and where does the Russia game rank among the most devastating losses of your career? It was an honor to represent my country after the lockout, which I never expected to happen. The Russia loss was hard because we spent our entire summer trying to win a gold medal. It hurt, but it was still gratifying to win the bronze.

You played professionally overseas for 12 years: what did you learn from that experience, and how did it compare to college basketball? I liked playing overseas even though I did not know what to expect. The game was a bit rougher because you would have to beat your man and then beat someone else because there was no illegal defense. I know that a lot of guys get homesick and end up coming home but it never bothered me…as long as my check arrived on time! I kept some of my money in my freezer: whenever I thought about getting back to the US I would just open up my freezer and count my money.

Your son Bill Jr. played for Penn State/Miami Ohio: why did he decide to switch schools? I think he transferred because he was homesick, even though he denied it. It bothered me when he left because I knew that Miami was not the best fit for him. He called me the 1st week he was in Miami and told me that he was thinking of leaving. It was a big change to go from the Big 10 to the MAC.

You later became an assistant strength and conditioning coach at your alma mater and took classes to get your undergraduate degree: how did you like the job, and what is the post-graduate plan? It was a new experience to be a strength and conditioning coach: I never realized there was so much else to it besides lifting weights but I was happy for the opportunity. After graduation I hope to continue coaching at the next level or maybe head overseas.

Posted in Interviews | Tagged , | Comments Off on Happy Birthday!: HoopsHD interviews Wright State legend Bill Edwards

The Olympians: HoopsHD interviews Jim Sumner about 1964 Olympic gold medalist Jeff Mullins

Posted on August 24, 2021 by Jon Teitel

The NBA Finals date back to 1947 (when they were known as the Basketball Association of America Finals) and the very 1st NCAA tourney was held in 1939. Olympic basketball competition is even older: it debuted as a demonstration event in 1904 and the men’s version became a medal sport in 1936, with the women finally getting their chance to go for the gold in 1976. The United States has dominated Olympic basketball competition from the start: the men have won 16 gold medals in the 19 tournaments they have participated in during the past 85 years, while the women have won 9 gold medals in the 11 tournaments in which they have competed during the past 45 years. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel continues his coverage by chatting with Jim Sumner (columnist for Go Duke: The Magazine and Duke Basketball Report) about Jeff Mullins making back-to-back Final 4s and winning a gold medal.

Mullins is 1 of many Olympic gold medalists born in Queens (including Bob Beamon/Vincent Matthews/Al Oerter) and went to high school 2 miles from the Kentucky campus in Lexington (where his wife Candy became a cheerleader): what the heck did they put in the water in Astoria, and what made him choose Duke? His father worked for IBM and the family moved to Lexington when Mullins was in high school. He went to high school there for at least two years, maybe three, but did not grow up dreaming of playing for Adolph Rupp. Mullins had a high school teammate in Lexington named Jon Speaks. Rupp came to practice 1 day and offered Speaks a scholarship. Speaks asked for a day or two to think about it and Rupp got upset and pulled the offer. Mullins saw a side of Rupp that he did not like. Speaks ended up as an All-ACC guard at NC State but died tragically in an automobile accident in 1963. Coach Vic Bubas was just starting to establish his program at Duke. He had to convince Mullins that he could coexist with Art Heyman, who was a year ahead of Mullins. Bubas told Mullins that Heyman was a willing and skilled passer and he was correct. Mullins averaged over 20 PPG in the two seasons that he and Heyman played together.

In the 1963 NCAA 3rd place game he had 14 PTS/10 REB in a win over Oregon State: how did that tourney run in 1963 help the team prepare for another great effort in 1964? Heyman was a senior in 1963 and won all of the national POY awards so I do not think there was any wait-until-next-year attitude. Duke went into the 1963 Final Four on a 20-game winning streak and expected to win it all. That said, starters Mullins/Jay Buckley/Buzzy Harrison returned as seniors in 1964, and top reserves Hack Tison/Denny Ferguson moved into starting roles as juniors. So, it was a veteran team that was coming off of Duke’s first Final Four season.

Take me through the 1964 NCAA tourney:
In his opening game on Friday the 13th he scored 43 PTS/19-28 FG and had 12 REB in a win over Villanova (including a 45-footer to end the 1st half): was it just 1 of those scenarios where ever shot he put up seemed to go in because he was “in the zone”? The NCAA Tournament was not seeded in those days. Duke was ranked third and Villanova was seventh in the AP poll. They matched up in an East Region semifinal but everyone knew that this was the title game. Villanova started two players (Wally Jones and Jim Washington) who would become longtime NBA starters and a 3rd (Bill Melchionni) who would become an ABA star. As an aside, Melchionni’s younger brother Gary/nephew Lee both later played at Duke. Villanova’s leading scorer was a 6’4” forward named Richie Moore. Mullins grabbed 12 REB and held Moore to 8 PTS (10 below his average) and forced him into 5 turnovers. That half-court shot gave him 28 PTS by halftime and put Duke up 49-33 at the half. A great player rising to the occasion with a great all-around game.

In the title game he scored a team-high 22 PTS in a loss to UCLA: how close did they come to ruining the Bruins’ undefeated season? After the Villanova game Duke beat Connecticut by 47 PTS in the East Region finals. Duke was then matched against a great Michigan team featuring two All-Americans in Cazzie Russell and Bill Buntin. Michigan had embarrassed Duke 83-67 earlier in the season at Ann Arbor and Duke really wanted revenge. Russell was the best player on the court (31 PTS/13-19 FG) and Mullins was pretty good (21 PTS/8 REB). However, the 6’10” Buckley outplayed Buntin in the best game of his career with 25 PTS/14 REB as Duke won 91-80. In the other semifinal Kansas State led undefeated and top-ranked UCLA much of the game before falling at the end. The Duke players saw part of that game but not UCLA’s comeback because the coaches wanted to get them some rest. Remember that the Final Four was held on Friday/Saturday in those days. Duke had expended a lot of physical/emotional energy in beating a talented and really physical Michigan team so there was not much time for them to recover/prepare for a UCLA team that thrived on its zone press. Duke led UCLA 30-27 in the first half when they let down their guard. UCLA’s press forced some live-ball turnovers, which they turned into layups. The lapse only lasted a few minutes but before Duke regained its composure UCLA had run off a 15-0 burst and turned that 3-PT deficit into a 12-PT lead. Duke never again got closer than 8 PTS. It is hard to argue the results of an undefeated team winning the national title game by 15 PTS.

As a senior in 1964 he was named All-American/ACC Athlete of the Year/MVP of the NCAA Eastern Regionals: what did it mean to him to receive such outstanding honors? As good as Mullins was in 1962/1963 (and he was very good), Heyman still got the lion’s share of acclaim. Mullins proved that he could carry a team in 1964: not by himself of course, but he was the undisputed star on a Duke team that went further than any other Duke team up until that time.

He scored 21.9 PPG during his college career and had double figures in each of his 86 games: what was his secret for being a great scorer? He was very versatile and a great shooter: he could score in transition, get to the line, and then convert from there. He also averaged 9 RPG at Duke, which was pretty good for a 6’4” 185-pounder. He was known for his ability to use the backboard and was a very creative scorer.

That fall as a member of team USA he missed the 73-59 win over the USSR in the final with a knee injury: what did it mean to him to win a gold medal despite not getting to play the last game? He obviously would have liked to have been healthy.

He was named an All-Star 3 straight years from 1969-1971 and helped Golden State win an NBA title in 1975 by sweeping Washington: how do you view his pro success as compared to his college success? Mullins probably never gained the recognition he deserved for his NBA career. He was not on national TV very much and the Lakers absorbed what little attention the West Coast got from the Eastern media. His teammate Rick Barry was better and certainly flashier and Mullins was on the downside of his career by 1975 as a role player. For seven seasons or so he absolutely was one of the NBA’s best guards and had some great playoff performances…only they took place in the middle of the night on the East Coast and were not really publicized.

In 1985 he was hired as head coach/athletic director at Charlotte, where he set a school record with 182 wins over 11 seasons and made 3 NCAA tourneys: why did he get into coaching, and what did he learn from College Basketball Hall of Fame coach Vic Bubas about how to succeed on the sideline? Bubas was known for two things: recruiting and organization. UNC-Charlotte caught lightning in a bottle in 1977 with Cornbread Maxwell and Lew Massey but they never really had the resources to recruit against the ACC. Mullins was an outstanding coach and teacher.

His #44 jersey was retired in 1994 and in 2002 he was named as 1 of the 50 greatest players in ACC history: when people look back on his career, how do you think that he should be remembered the most? Along with Art Heyman, Mullins was a key part of Duke’s first truly great teams and deserves all of the honors that he has received.

Posted in Interviews | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The Olympians: HoopsHD interviews Jim Sumner about 1964 Olympic gold medalist Jeff Mullins