The Olympians: HoopsHD interviews Jim Sumner about 1996 Olympic gold medalist Grant Hill

Posted on August 22, 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 Grant Hill winning back-to-back NCAA titles and a gold medal.

Grant was born in Dallas/raised in Virginia with a mother who wanted him to attend Georgetown and a father who wanted him to attend North Carolina: what made him choose Duke? Well, his parents let him make his own decision. Great basketball, great academics, and he knew that he would start immediately. He and Coach Krzyzewski hit it off immediately. Given his father Calvin’’s background, Grant had a pretty grounded view of big-time sports and was never interested in being just a jock.

He won back-to-back titles in 1991/1992:
In the 1991 Final 4 he scored 11 PTS in a 2-PT win over defending champion/undefeated/8-PT favorite UNLV: I know that it was not a revenge game for Grant since he did not play on the team that lost by 30 PTS to the Rebels in the 1990 title game, but how did they pull off 1 of the biggest upsets in tourney history? Duke lost three pretty good starters from that 1990 team (Alaa Abdelnaby/Phil Henderson/Robert Brickey), but Christian Laettner/Bobby Hurley/Billy McCaffrey/Greg Koubek/Brian Davis/Thomas Hill/Crawford Palmer did return. Coach K convinced his team that UNLV had been so dominant that they would not know how to win a close game: “Keep it close and we will win in the stretch”. Duke doubled Larry Johnson, daring George Ackles to hurt them, and the gamble paid off. Grant did a great job on 1st-team All-American Stacey Augmon, holding him to six points (10.5 below his season average). Grant scored an aggressive, athletic basket off the opening tap and that set a tone: last year was last year and Duke was not going to be intimidated this year.

In the 1992 Elite 8 with Duke trailing Kentucky by 1 PT with 2.1 seconds left in OT, he heaved an inbounds pass 75 feet to Christian Laettner for the game-winning jumper at the buzzer (www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo3G2MfOYeA): what are your memories of 1 of the greatest college basketball games/plays of all time? Grant had tried a similar pass at the end of the Wake Forest game a few weeks earlier and thrown a hook that sailed out of bounds: second time is the charm, I suppose! Obviously, it did not look good for Duke with 2.1 seconds left: I still cannot believe that UK did not guard him on the inbounds pass. It was a well-designed, well-executed play by two great players who had proverbial ice-water in their veins. Let me share an anecdote from that 1992 season that says a lot about Grant. Hurley broke his right foot in the middle of the season and missed three weeks. Grant took over at the point, despite having never played that spot. His first game at point was a road win over Shaq and LSU. Around the time Hurley came back, Grant hurt his own foot and missed several weeks. Hill’s roommate/classmate/good friend Tony Lang had started at power forward while Grant was playing point and then at power forward while Grant was out. Lang was playing well and helping his team win games, so when Grant was cleared to play he went to Krzyzewski. He suggested that since Lang was playing so well, why not let him continue to start and bring me off the bench: one of the best players in college basketball suggesting to his coach that it might help the team for him to come off the bench?! Hill did indeed come off the bench…up until the title game, when Brian Davis was injured and Lang and Hill both started.

After winning his 2nd straight NCAA title in 1992 he was selected to a team of college stars (including Bobby Hurley/Penny Hardaway/Chris Webber) who scrimmaged the “Dream Team” to help them prepare for the Olympics:
On June 24th he had a 62–54 win over the Dream Team (Coach Mike Krzyzewski later said that USA head coach Chuck Daly “threw the game” through such tactics as intentionally limiting Michael Jordan’s minutes and making unusual substitutions to teach the NBA players a lesson), and in a rematch the following day the Olympians won handily: did they just come out and try to destroy the college kids after learning the hard way that they were not unbeatable? I do not recall either of these scrimmages being heavily publicized at the time. It probably became a bigger deal in hindsight.

Despite not having Laettner/Hurley in 1994, Hill led Duke to the title game and had 12 PTS/14 REB in a 4-PT loss to Arkansas: how close did he come to becoming 1 of the few college basketball players to ever win 3 titles? Hill really carried that team to the title game. He led Duke in scoring and assists while playing a point-forward position. He helped shut down Purdue’s national POY (Glenn Robinson) in the Elite Eight: Robinson averaged around 30 PPG that year but Hill/Lang held him to just 13 PTS/6-22 FG. Hill was the best player on the floor in the semifinal win over Florida: 25 PTS/6 REB/5 AST. Duke led Arkansas by 10 points early in the second half of the title game but was really thin that season; 7 players got the bulk of the playing time and Arkansas was famous for its deep bench that allowed it to play “40 Minutes of Hell”. Grant did not shoot well against Arkansas: some of that came from trying to check 250-pound tourney MOP Corliss Williamson, who was a great college player. I think that Arkansas wore Duke down late and the better team won.

He graduated as the 1st ACC player ever with 1900+ PTS/700 + REB/400 + AST/200 + STL/100 + BLK: where does he rank among the best all-around players in conference history? Pretty high. Players at his level tend not to stick around for four years anymore. When you combine his versatility, his big-game chops, and the success of his team, he certainly ranks among the ACC’s best players.

After being drafted 3rd overall by Detroit in 1994, he was named NBA co-ROY with Jason Kidd and became the 1st rookie in any of the 4 major pro sports leagues to lead All-Star fan voting: how was he able to make such a smooth transition from college to the pros? Well, he was pretty good!! He was an elite athlete who played with/against the best players in college basketball for four years and was coached by one of the great coaches in the game, but he was not one to rest on his laurels. He was not a great long-range shooter in college but once he hit the pros he sought out the tutelage of Duke alum Chip Engelland (Class of 1983), a well-known shooting instructor. Hill never became a great shooter in the Reggie Miller category but he improved enough that defenders had to respect his shot, which made it easier for him to drive around them and get to the rim.

In 1996 he was selected as the youngest member of Dream Team II, a squad that featured 10 other future Hall of Fame players (Charles Barkley/Karl Malone/Reggie Miller/Shaquille O’Neal/Hakeem Olajuwon/Gary Payton/Scottie Pippen/Mitch Richmond/David Robinson/John Stockton) and a Hall of Fame coach in Lenny Wilkens:
He was 1 of 9 players on the team who averaged at least 8 PPG: do you chalk that up to having a bunch of unselfish teammates, or did the coaches emphasize the need for everyone to pass the ball as much as possible, or other? They are not mutually exclusive but any Lenny Wilkens-coached team is going to share the ball.

He had 19 PTS/4 REB/5 AST/5 STL/0 TO in a 133-70 win over China, which set a record for the most PTS ever scored in a game by team USA (www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_E6PDUj1Qk): was it simply a case of the US having more talent than any other country? Yes

He beat Serbia and Montenegro in the final: what did it mean to him to win a gold medal? I never discussed it with him but am sure that it was one of his career highlights, as it would be for anyone.

He averaged 21.6 PPG/6.3 APG during his 1st 6 years in the NBA and was named an All-Star 5 times, but after an ankle injury in 2000 that later forced him to miss the entire 2003–04 season he averaged 13.1 PPG/2.6 APG: what impact did the injury have on his life/career, and how good do you think he could have been had he stayed healthy for his entire 19-year pro career? Hill was on a trajectory that would have led to him being considered an all-time great. He was never a “look-at-me” kind of player but you do not become that good without being fiercely competitive. He always thought that he could return to his pre-injury level and worked enormously hard to do so.

Since retiring in 2013 he became part of the lead announcing team for the NCAA tourney in 2015, was named a co-owner of the Atlanta Hawks that same year, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2018: when people look back on his career, how do you think that he should be remembered the most? I think there is a realistic chance that people will look back on his playing career as a prelude to what is still going to happen. Did you know that he is an avid collector of African-American Art and has helped the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke develop its collection of such art into one of the nation’s best? He has just been named as both managing director of USA Basketball and a member of Duke’s Board of Trustees. He is smart, capable, and accomplished: not just for an ex-athlete but for anyone. I suspect that he still has places to go, things to do, and worlds to conquer. I am not sure that there is much of anything that is outside his skill set.

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Happy Birthday!: HoopsHD interviews former Cleveland State coach Kevin Mackey

Posted on August 21, 2021 by Jon Teitel

Cleveland State had a heck of a season last year: after losing 21 games in 2020, the Vikings bounced back in 2021 with a 19-8 season and the school’s 3rd-ever trip to the NCAA tourney. However, the greatest team in school history remains the 1986 squad: 29 wins, a 2nd-straight regular season title, and the 1st-ever #14-seed to make the Sweet 16. The most memorable name from 35 years ago is probably Ken “Mouse” McFadden, but the coach who upset Bobby Knight and then had a 1-PT loss to Navy/David Robinson was Kevin Mackey. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Mackey about discovering Manute Bol and that sensational Sweet 16 run. Today is Coach Mackey’s 75th birthday so let us be the 1st to wish him a happy 1!

In the 1976 Catholic state tourney title game as head coach at Don Bosco Technical High School in Boston, Ronnie Perry of Catholic Memorial scored 45 PTS but missed a FT with 1 second left to lose by 1 PT: what did it mean to you to win a title like that? We also won the state tourney that is open to all schools. Ronnie was 1 of the best high school players that I have ever seen: smart, highly skilled, and very disciplined…but it is a team deal. The high school basketball was terrific: I originally started down the street at Cathedral and was later invited to join Don Bosco. All of the kids got D-1 scholarships and we would sell out games that were shown on TV. We got more publicity in the Boston Globe then most of the local college teams: a lot of people asked me why I left because I was doing better than the college guys!

You later spent several years at Boston College as an assistant to Dr. Tom Davis and Gary Williams: what was the most important thing that you learned from each of these great head coaches? It was a great experience for me because they are both great coaches. We had 3 Sweet 16 appearances and 1 Elite 8. Dave Gavitt was starting a league called the Big East that everyone thought was crazy but obviously the rest is history. They encouraged me to challenge them behind closed doors such as when to trap our opponents. The 1 coach who still does it is at “Press Virginia”. Bob Huggins had a couple of bad seasons and told me that he had problems scoring enough points in the Big 12. I told him I had the answer and I gave him the whole thing. You cannot have 1 foot in and 1 foot out: you have to put both feet in and just sink or swim.

In 1985 you saw Manute Bol playing for a Sudanese team that was touring the US: what was your reaction when you saw 1 of the tallest players ever, and did you think that he would ever make it to the NBA? I got tipped off about him when someone sent me a picture and I could not believe the skinny kid: he must have been standing on a table! He was 7’6” with an incredible wingspan. The Celtics would sometimes come over and play against our guys at BC: Danny Ainge told me that the reason his teammates could not guard our players like John Bagley/Michael Adams was because they were good enough to make the NBA themselves. Manute did not know how to play but was still able to block every 1 of their shots. Bob Ferry called me and said he had heard some rumors about a great player I had. I told him that Patrick Ewing/Ralph Sampson/Hakeem Olajuwon were better players…but Manute was the best shot-blocker that I have ever seen. I think that if he had grown up in America that he would have ended up in the Hall of Fame because he would have learned how to play as a kid rather than later in life. He was a great man who gave away all of his money.

Take me through the magical 1986 NCAA tourney as head coach at Cleveland State:
Eric Mudd had 16 PTS/18 REB in a 4-PT upset of Indiana: how did that game change your life? It gave our program credibility. Bobby’s son Pat is a fellow scout with me in Indiana and a good friend of mine. I studied all of Bobby’s principles of how to play defense and I knew them pretty well after watching tape of 15 of their games that season. The Hoosiers struggled against our pressure, which gave our players a lot of confidence. They were supposed to beat us by 100 PTS but reality is sometimes different. Bobby was a great coach in a class by himself and very complimentary of us after the game. As a result of that game the school ended up building a 13,000 seat arena that I never got to coach in! You have to give the kids credit: when they buy in it becomes their story.

After becoming the 1st #14-seed to ever reach the Sweet 16, David Robinson had 22 PTS/14 REB/9 BLK and made the game-winning layup with 5 seconds left in a 1-PT win by Navy: where does Robinson rank among the greatest players that you have ever faced? I coached Ewing in the 8th grade of a summer league and at BC we played against Sampson/Olajuwon in the NCAA tourney. A lot of people say that Robinson ran over my center before he made the final shot…but if you think that they are going to let a group of 12 street fighters lose to the US Navy you are wrong!

Your “run and stun” style involved pressing all over the court, which was later adopted by Hall of Fame coaches such as Rick Pitino/Jerry Tarkanian: what makes it so effective, and why don’t more coaches use it? People said that it was like we were playing 8-on-5 and a lot of coaches refused to play us ever again. I have spent most of the past 20 years working for the Pacers and have watched a lot of college games. The college players are so much superior athletically compared to their knowledge of how to play the game. With 350+ D-1 schools across the nation, there are hardly any who can create a “canvas of chaos” when you only have 3 days to prepare for your next game. All coaches are control freaks by their nature, but I spent every day working to play at a tempo that was out of control. We identified kids who were quick, hungry, had a chip on their shoulder, and had a little “nasty” to them. Most people want a little space to live their lives so when you take your opponent out of their comfort zone it gives you an advantage. You have to be in great shape and fully committed. It is not in anyone’s DNA and there are very few true believers: assistant coaches are worried that they might get fired if they believe in it too much. 1 day my friend Jimmy Valvano asked if he could drop by to have me teach him the whole system: he asked me if he could do anything in return and I asked him if he could teach me how to make a dollar! The test is when some loudmouth in the 5th row tells you to get out of it and you just stick with it.

You have spent the past couple of decades overcoming your own demons: what advice do you have for others trying to do the same? It is very difficult to do by yourself: my children were behind me and I went to rehab with John Lucas, who educated me about addiction. John has helped an incredible number of people and has a heart of gold: he knows more than a lot of people who have a PhD. He was also the 1 who told me that Myles Turner would be the real deal.

After your college coaching career you became a hugely successful minor league basketball coach, winning 3 straight USBL titles with the Atlantic City Seagulls and an International Basketball Association championship in your very 1st season with the Mansfield Hawks: what is the biggest difference between college and pro basketball? You are dealing with grown men who have an agenda so there is a different look in their eyes. Some have a dead/hollow look but I love the toughness/desperation of the guys who are hungry. Back then you were the coach/scout/GM and had complete control. The owner does not want to start rebuilding a program: he wants to win every night. I told the players there was a lot of money to be made if they were successful for me. The college door closed for me, which was 100% my fault, so I would coach 2 pro teams a year to keep food on the table. It was a tremendous education for me and has helped me a lot in scouting. Paul George was picked 10th overall in 2010, but he probably should have gone 1st.

In 2004 Larry Bird hired you to be a scout for the Indiana Pacers: what is the best part of being a scout, and what is the worst part? It is the purest part of the game because it is all about talent. If you take our top-60 list you might have a couple of guys who get red flags for character, and the doctors can look at a guy with bad knees and say that he will only play a few years, but everyone has a different opinion. When a kid becomes an instant millionaire some of them stop working because it is Monopoly money, while others will do whatever they can to get a piece of that. We will not keep our jobs for a long time unless we get it right: every guy sitting on a barstool thinks it is the easiest job in the world.

What is the biggest change that you have seen in the sport over the past few decades? I wish they would only play a couple of games during the summer. I was watching NBA TV the other night with Hall of Famers like Reggie Miller/Isiah Thomas demonstrating different drills: THIS is what players/coaches should be watching. With technology the right way to do things is out there: you just have to seek it out. I have college stars who shoot 58 FT% ask me how they are playing: I want to tell them that there are 8th grade girls in Indiana who are shooting 75%! I feel bad that a kid who is blessed physically has no clue how to play and no skill set because nobody has taught him.

When people look back on your career, how do you want to be remembered the most? I was someone who learned a lot of lessons and hopefully helped a few men along the way.

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The Olympians: HoopsHD interviews Jim Sumner about 2-time Olympic medalist Carlos Boozer

Posted on August 20, 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 Carlos Boozer winning the 2001 NCAA title and a pair of Olympic medals.

Boozer was born in Germany and raised in Alaska (where he won back-to-back state titles): what made him choose Duke? I cannot really speak to why he chose Duke but I can provide some context. Obviously, Boozer did not have any local options while prepping in Juneau but was well known for his play on the AAU circuit. He was nationally recruited and UCLA was long regarded as the leader for his services. During Boozer’s senior year in high school Elton Brand was named national POY while only a sophomore at Duke. Boozer was good enough to wait it out without anyone pulling an offer. When Brand announced that he was going to the NBA and Chris Burgess announced he was transferring to Utah, the door was wide open for Boozer to come in and start. Duke had long since signed Jason Williams and Mike Dunleavy Jr. so Boozer knew that the talent cupboard would still be full.

He was part of a great recruiting class in the fall of 1999: what were the expectations like for him and his 3 fellow McDonald’s All-Americans (Dunleavy/Casey Sanders/Williams)? Prior to 1999 Duke had never lost a player early to the NBA. Following that 37-2 season, Brand/Corey Maggette/William Avery all left early, Burgess transferred, and Trajan Langdon/Taymon Domzalski graduated. Only Shane Battier, Chris Carrawell, and Nate James returned from that team; Matt Christensen was redshirted after an LDS mission but came back in 2000. So, everyone knew that the freshmen would have to be ready to contribute from day one. Past players as talented as Danny Ferry/Christian Laettner/Battier had been able to ease into college ball but Williams/Dunleavy/Boozer did not have that luxury. Duke was ranked 10th in the preseason AP poll so it is not like they came out of nowhere, but I think it is safe to say that they exceeded expectations.

Take me through the 2001 NCAA tourney:
After a 2-PT OT win at Maryland in January (which included a comeback from a 10-PT deficit with 54 seconds left in regulation), he had to leave the rematch in February with a foot injury, missed the ACC semifinal 2-PT win over the Terps while rehabbing his injury, then scored 19 PTS in a win over Maryland in the Final 4 (which included a comeback from a 22-PT deficit, the largest comeback in Final Four history): what are your memories of that intense 4-games-in-9-weeks rivalry? We need to go back to February 27: the last home game, and Senior Day, for Battier and James. Duke had beaten Maryland in College Park in overtime earlier in the season after a great late-game comeback. Duke was ahead when Boozer broke his right foot and Cameron went absolutely silent: like hear-a-pin-drop silent. There was no guarantee that he could return for the end of the season but the Duke medical staff, coaching staff, and Boozer himself did everything right. It was the perfect balance between rest, treatment, and conditioning. Duke had gone smaller/quicker without Boozer, which gave lots more time to freshman guard Chris Duhon, and they won the ACC Tournament without Boozer. Duke beat Maryland on a late tip-in by James at the buzzer in the ACC semifinals (www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA-GiUc20DM), routed North Carolina in the title game, then had to readjust to Boozer’s return in the NCAA tourney. What most people remember about the Duke-Maryland game in the Final Four is Coach Krzyzewski responding to the deficit by telling his team that he was not going to call any more plays, but simply let his team freelance: that played more to the strengths of Battier/Williams/Dunleavy/Duhon. Maryland had a lot of size on that team (center Lonnie Baxter was a beast) and they were abusing Duke on the boards. Boozer changed that barely a month after breaking his foot and deserves a large part of the credit for that win.

He had 12 PTS/12 REB in a 10-PT win over Arizona in the title game: what did it mean to him to win a title? Arizona also had lots of size, starting 7’1” Loren Woods and 250-pounder Michael Wright. Boozer did not start but came off the bench and played 30 solid minutes, helping Duke neutralize Arizona’s size advantage and allowing Battier/Williams/Dunleavy to dominate on the perimeter.

Where does that 2001 Duke team (which set NCAA records by winning 133 games over a 4-year period and making 407 3-PT shots) rank among the greatest in school history, and how on earth did they lose to Indiana in the 2002 Sweet 16 after being favored by 13 PTS? The 2001 team could rank as high as second in Duke annals behind the 1992 NCAA title team that went 34-2 with Laettner/Bobby Hurley/Grant Hill. The 2002 team was not the same team because Battier/James had graduated. Battier was consensus national POY and James was an All-ACC player, but they were also among the best leaders that Krzyzewski has ever had. Duke jumped out to a big lead over Indiana in the Sweet Sixteen but did not respond well to IU’s physicality. Duke had six future NBA players on that team while Indiana only had one (Jared Jeffries). IU simply outworked Duke down the stretch of that game and Duke missed the leadership of guys like Battier/James.

In 2002 he was named All-American/1st-team All-ACC/ACC tourney MVP: what did it mean to him to receive such outstanding honors? Boozer/Dunleavy/Williams were all named 1st-team All-ACC that year, which was the first time that any school had three 1st-team All-ACC selections, and UNC duplicated that feat in 2012 with Tyler Zeller/John Henson/Harrison Barnes. Nobody else has done that…and with 15 teams in the league it is hard to imagine it ever happening again (barring a contraction of teams).

In April of 2002 he declared for the NBA draft, then was selected 35th overall by Cleveland: why did he decide to leave school early, and were people 2nd-guessing him after he was not taken in the 1st round? Nobody at Duke was surprised when he decided to leave after the 2002 season. Most people expected him to go in the first round but he was a little shorter than expected, without a great wingspan/vertical leap or other similar measurables. Obviously, lots of GMs and draft evaluators whiffed on this one so I assume that it was a motivator.

He won a bronze medal with team USA at the 2004 Olympics and a gold medal with team USA at the 2008 Olympics: what did it mean to him to represent his country, and what did it mean to him to win a pair of medals? I am sure that it was a career highlight to be a member of the 2008 “Redeem Team”, especially since he got to play for his old college coach, but it is not something that we have ever discussed.

He was a 2-time All-Star, made the playoffs for 8 straight years from 2007-2014, and remains top-80 in NBA history with 52.1 FG%/9.5 RPG: where does he rank among the greatest NBA big men in Duke history? Pretty high. He is definitely behind Brand, and Laettner was an All-Star before suffering a serious Achilles injury. Mike Gminski (pre-Krzyzewski) was a pure center, while most of the other Duke 5s we are discussing became NBA 4s. Boozer had a better NBA career than many other first-round picks (such as Alaa Abdelnaby/Cherokee Parks/Shelden Williams/Miles Plumlee/Mason Plumlee) so he definitely played above his draft slot.

When people look back on his career, how do you think that he should be remembered the most? Boozer was a blue-collar, back-to-the-basket, beneath-the-rim kind of player. He never made a 3-pointer at Duke and did not have a lot of spectacular dunks/blocks. He was never even the best player on any of his college teams: Carrawell was ACC POY in 2000, Battier was consensus national POY in 2001, and Williams was national POY in 2002. He did not make a lot of highlight-reel plays but was surrounded by people who did, so it was easy for him to slip under the radar. However, Boozer made 63.1% of his field goal attempts, which remains the highest percentage in Duke history (Zion Williamson shot 68 FG% but did not get enough attempts) and is an extraordinary accomplishment. Duke won games with him at center, lots of them, so that is a pretty good legacy.

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Happy Birthday!: HoopsHD interviews former Vanderbilt star Shan Foster

Posted on August 20, 2021 by Jon Teitel

Vanderbilt is well-known as an awesome academic institution but Shan Foster showed that they can play a little basketball as well. He made the Sweet 16 in 2007, was named an All-American/SEC POY in 2008, and finished his career as the school’s all-time leader in PTS/3PM. In the summer of 2008 he was drafted by Dallas and later played pro basketball for several years in the US and overseas. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Shan about beating Kentucky by 41 PTS and being a great scorer. Today is Shan’s 35th birthday so let us be the 1st to wish him a happy 1!

You received scholarship offers from several great schools like Kansas/Notre Dame: what made you choose Vanderbilt? Vandy is the best academic school in the SEC. I grew up watching the SEC and wanted to make a name for myself in that league.

You shot 44.5 3P% as a freshman and finished your career with a school-record 367 3PM: how were you able to come in and contribute right from the start, and what is your secret for making shots from behind the arc? There is no substitute for hard work: you just need to get in the gym by yourself. I spent countless hours making shot after shot until I built up the muscle memory needed to be an elite shooter.

Take me through the 2007 NCAA tourney:
You scored 20 PTS in a 4-PT 2-OT win over Washington State: what are your memories of what Coach Kevin Stallings later called “1 of the best college basketball games I have ever been involved in”? That game was a nail-biter the whole way. They played great fundamentally-sound defense and made very few mistakes offensively: they had a very well-coached team. I remember our team being relentless in our preparation before this game. That level of focus was hard for the Cougars to overcome as we broke away in OT.

You scored 16 PTS in a 1-PT loss to Georgetown: do you think Jeff Green traveled before he made the game-winning shot with 2.5 seconds left (www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNbDn3yoYNw), and where does that rank among the most devastating losses of your career? Jeff Green definitely traveled…which is why it was the most devastating loss of my career.

As a senior you won your 1st 16 games (the best in school history) before scoring 17 PTS in a 6-PT 2-OT loss at Kentucky on January 12, 2008: how much confidence did your team have entering OT after overcoming a 16-PT deficit in the 2nd half, and what went wrong in the 2nd OT when your team combined to score a single point? We entered that game with tremendous confidence because our family atmosphere and level of personal accountability was at an all-time high. Playing at a high level helped us become who we were.

Exactly 1 month later you scored 20 PTS in a 93-52 win over Kentucky that was the Wildcats’ worst conference loss ever: were you out for revenge after they ruined your perfect season, and what was the feeling like heading to the locker room at halftime with a 41-11 lead? We definitely wanted payback but it was just another game. We always wanted to win at home at all costs: you have to protect your home court.

After missing your 1st 6 3-PT attempts in your final home game on March 5, 2008, you ended up with a career-high 42 PTS by making your final 9 shots from 3-PT land including the game-winner with 2.7 seconds left (www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUQyS6M2DAA) in a 1-PT OT win over Mississippi State to give the Commodores their 1st undefeated season at Memorial Gymnasium in 15 years: how were you able to go from ice-cold to red-hot, and did it eventually reach a point where every shot you put up seemed to go in because you were “in the zone”? I had great teammates who continued to encourage me to keep shooting. Eventually the percentages would even out and that night they did again. Once I got into a rhythm it seemed like anytime I could see the basket my shot was going up and going in.

In 2008 you were named All-American/SEC POY: what did it mean to you to win such outstanding honors? It was an amazing accomplishment and 1 that I was on a serious mission to attain. To be considered as 1 of the best is an honor.

Your 2011 career PTS remains the most in school history: did you realize at the time how prolific a player you were, and do you think that anyone will ever break your record? Records are meant to be broken and I look forward to the day when we have a player performing at that level. I did realize that I was playing at a high level but my goal was to not stay there but to get better: settling was never an option.

After getting drafted by Dallas in 2008 you spent a few years playing overseas before retiring in 2013: what is the biggest difference between the NCAA and pro ball overseas, and why did you decide to retire? The biggest difference is that pro basketball is a business: who gets to play and gets opportunities are not always decided by who is the best player. I fell in love with the game and not the business, which is why I retired.

You later accepted a position with the YWCA of Nashville and Middle Tennessee as director of MEND, an initiative dedicated to ending violence against women and girls by engaging men: how big of a problem is such violence, and what did MEND do to help fix the situation? Tennessee is 6th in the nation when it comes to the number of men killing women. 1 in 4 women experience domestic violence and every 20 minutes the police department responds to a domestic violence call so I would say that the problem is pretty big. Our goal is to make Nashville the safest city in the nation for women/girls. We will accomplish this by engaging men and educating boys to change the culture that supports violence.

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The Olympians: HoopsHD interviews Jim Sumner about 1976 Olympic gold medalist Tate Armstrong

Posted on August 18, 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 Tate Armstrong being a great shooter and winning a gold medal.

(photo credit: worthpoint.com)

Armstrong was born in Georgia and went to high school in Texas: what made him choose Duke? I am unsure if he was heavily recruited. He was a 6-2 center in high school and was also a ball boy for the Houston Rockets. Jack Marin played for Houston at the time and they shot around before games. Duke coach Bucky Waters had helped recruit Marin to Duke when Waters was an assistant, and Marin later recommended Armstrong to Duke. Ironically, Waters never got to coach Armstrong.

He played for Coach Neill McGeachy as a freshman: why did the Blue Devils hire Bill E. Foster to replace him in 1974, and what impact did it have on the team? Waters had a five-year contract and entering his final year he asked Duke AD Carl James for an extension. James declined and Waters resigned days before the beginning of practice. McGeachy was Waters’ top assistant and James did not really have any other options. McGeachy was given one year to prove his worthiness. His team went 10-16, which set a school record for losses. By accounts, McGeachy’s players loved him, but 10-16 is, well, 10-16. Foster came in and installed an up-tempo offense, both to bring back a dwindling fan base and attract recruits, and this played to Armstrong’s strengths.

After averaging 9.7 PPG/1.7 APG as a sophomore he averaged 24.2 PPG/4.4 APG as a junior: how was he able to improve so much in the course of just 1 year? Two reasons. One, he was healthy. Two, he was in better shape. Foster told him he wanted him to be in better shape for 1976 so Armstrong went home to Texas and ran 10-15 miles every day…in Houston…in the summer.

In 1976 he was named 1st-team All-ACC and 1st-team All-ACC tourney: what did it mean to him to receive such outstanding honors? I am sure that he was pleased but I am also sure that he wanted more wins. He told me once that it was agonizing to score so many points in so many losses, but it was Duke’s best chance to win games.

He won a gold medal with team USA at the 1976 Olympics: what did it mean to him to represent his country, and what did it mean to him to win a gold medal? I am sure that he was pleased but I suspect he wishes that he could have played more.

In his senior year the team started 10-1 before losing 12 of their final 16 games to finish 14-13: how good could that 1977 roster (including 4 future NBA players in Armstrong/Mark Crow/Mike Gminski/Jim Spanarkel) have been had Armstrong not been limited to only 14 games due to a right wrist injury he suffered during an 8-PT OT win at Virginia that January? This is one of the great what-ifs in Duke history. A maximum of two teams from any one conference could go to the NCAA Tournament in those days and North Carolina was going to get one of those two spots. Duke almost certainly would have had to win the ACC Tournament to go to the NCAA Tournament. I doubt whether they had the depth to do that but an NIT bid was very doable, and after a six-year run of mediocrity even an NIT bid would have been a major step in the right direction. A final note on that season: Armstrong’s last game was that win at Virginia, which ended a five-year-ACC road losing streak for Duke. Armstrong scored 33 points and played the entire second half and overtime with a broken right wrist…and he was right-handed. He finished the game despite a broken wrist that hurt tremendously with every shot/dribble.

He finished his college career with 51.9 FG%/80.4 FT%: what was his secret for being such a great shooter? Are great shooters born or made? Yes. In other words, he came to Duke with potential and worked very hard to maximize that potential. As a senior he beat Washington and Richmond on buzzer-beaters so everyone knew that he could shoot in the clutch.

In the summer of 1977 he was drafted 13th overall by Chicago (5 spots behind Jack Sikma): did he see that as a validation of his college career, or the realization of a lifelong dream of reaching the NBA, or other? From my conversations with Tate, I think his NBA memories are bittersweet. He was hurt a lot and played at a time when drug use and marital infidelity were issues that bothered him…a lot.

He played 2 years with the Bulls and after retiring he became a real estate developer in the DC area and had 7 children: how did his Duke education prepare for life off the court? Well, his wife was a Duke cheerleader when they met, so he probably would cite that! He was a somewhat famous ex-athlete with a degree from an academically elite and well-known university. Combine that with the kind of work ethic that made him a standout basketball player and one can connect the dots pretty easily.

When people look back on his career, how do you think that he should be remembered the most? It is hard to say. He was really only healthy for about a season and a half, never played in the NCAA Tournament or NIT, and never played past the first round of the ACC Tournament. That magical 1978 Duke season basically overshadowed anything Duke had done in the almost decade since Vic Bubas left coaching, but when Tate was healthy he was one of the great shooters/scorers in Duke history. Only Dick Groat (twice), Art Heyman (thrice), Bob Verga, and JJ Redick have ever averaged more points for Duke in a season then the 24.22 Armstrong averaged in 1976. He is probably best remembered as someone who should be better remembered.

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The Hoops HD Report: July/August Session

Posted on August 17, 2021 by David Griggs

After a long hiatus, the Hoops HD crew is finally back!!  On this episode we discuss the possibility/probability of Oklahoma and Texas moving to the SEC, and what impact that could have on conference realignment.  We also discuss the impact of players now being allowed to profit from their Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) and how that could possibly impact the competitive balance in college hoops.  We also touch on the Alston Case and how the Supreme Court upheld the original ruling.

And for all you radio lovers, below is and audio only version of the show…

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