NU's ugly duckling program a longtime puzzle

[sarge87]

NU's ugly duckling program a longtime puzzle

 

By Lee Barfknecht

WORLD-HERALD BUREAU « Big Red Today

 

LINCOLN — Nebraska athletics has claimed 24 national championships in five sports: football, volleyball, men's gymnastics, women's track and women's bowling.

 

The Huskers have won a Big 12-best 75 conference titles in 13 sports: football, volleyball, women's basketball, baseball, men's indoor and outdoor track, women's indoor and outdoor track, wrestling, women's gymnastics, soccer, softball, women's swimming.

 

Five NU teams finished 2008-09 ranked in the Top 10: volleyball, wrestling, men's indoor track, men's gymnastics, women's bowling.

 

Noticeably absent from all those lists is men's basketball.

 

Even more noticeably absent is much to brag about at all for a sport with a 114-year history.

 

No NCAA tournament victories. At 0-6, Nebraska is one of just three power conference schools in that category, joining Northwestern (never qualified) and South Florida (0-2).

 

No NCAA appearance in 12 years.

 

No ranking in the Top 25 in 15 years, and only two in the Top 10 ever (1991, 1966).

 

No share of a conference championship in 60 years.

 

No outright conference championship in 94 years.

 

Only four winning records in league play in the past 24 years.

 

Why? What's missing in men's basketball that has kept it from the success that has spread through nearly every other of Nebraska's 23 sports?

 

Two weeks of reporting found about as many questions as answers.

 

'EASIER SAID THAN DONE'

 

Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne said the mission statement for men's basketball is no different from any other Husker sport. Last year, he established two goals for every program:

 

• A top-half-of-the-conference finish on average over a five-year period.

 

• A conference title or something comparable at the national level, such as a Sweet 16 in basketball, once in five years.

 

"But if somebody doesn't do that,'' he said, "it doesn't mean we're in real bad shape.''

 

Osborne, who played basketball at Hastings College, arrived at Nebraska in 1962. In that 48-year span, he has seen NU teams under Jerry Bush, Joe Cipriano, Moe Iba, Danny Nee, Barry Collier and Doc Sadler.

 

So does he have an opinion why men's basketball hasn't succeeded like other NU sports?

 

"I really don't,'' Osborne said. "I don't buy the idea that this is a football school, therefore you can't be good in basketball. Once we upgrade our facilities, I think we can be competitive with anybody.

 

"But you've got to establish some areas of excellence and tradition. Do that two or three or four years in a row and you begin to crack some of the top recruits. But that's easier said than done.''

 

The Nebraska Board of Regents is a group that handles policy and general oversight for the university's four campuses, not Husker basketball details. But that doesn't mean the members aren't sports fans.

 

Chairman Bob Phares of North Platte, Neb., said regents often discuss athletics around other board business.

 

Phares, noting that athletic decisions are made at the campus level, said Osborne has briefed the board on Nebraska's aging or absent basketball facilities.

 

"You wonder a bit why we can't seem to pull it all together in men's basketball,'' Phares said, speaking personally, not for the board.

 

"I'm not sure what's been the philosophy or attitude. Looking at it from the outside as a citizen, you have to wonder if there has been the emphasis and the commitment in some areas.''

 

Phares quickly added that "you can't do everything at once.''

 

"They have tried to bring things on their radar screen as they have the time and resources to focus on them,'' he said. "It would be my hope we could be more competitive in men's basketball.''

 

Osborne said he has never sensed any "conscious lack of commitment'' from NU administration for men's basketball.

 

"But we are the last school in the Big 12 to get a practice facility started,'' he said. "That has been a factor recently. Still, you've got to figure out a way to get going.''

 

THE MONEY TRAIL

 

The money Nebraska spends on men's basketball in relation to other Big 12 schools reflects NU's recent average position in the standings — the bottom third.

 

Doc Sadler, completing his fourth season, is 10th among Big 12 coaches in salary at $829,000.

 

He'll soon drop to 11th because Kansas State's Frank Martin, currently at $760,000, is expected to get a new deal at more than double his pay after leading the Wildcats to the Top 5.

 

Colorado's Jeff Bzdelik, last at $750,000 annually, also could get a new deal after the Buffs' surprise move out of the Big 12 basement. Kansas' Bill Self is first at $3 million a year.

 

Nebraska also was 10th in the Big 12 in men's basketball expenses in the 2008-09 fiscal year, according to paperwork filed with the U.S. Department of Education.

 

The bottom three: NU at $3.96 million, Colorado at $3.95 million and Texas Tech at $3.83 million.

 

First and second were Kansas at $8.22 million and Texas at $7.89 million.

 

Osborne said seeing other schools spend double what NU does won't affect his plans.

 

"I've never really been high on wanting to lead the pack on having the highest-paid coach in the country,'' he said. "I want them paid fairly and competitively.

 

"Once in awhile, you'll see somebody offer money that you're not sure where it's going to come from.''

 

Osborne wouldn't give an example, but basketball people nationally still buzz about the $420,000 salary to an assistant coach at Kansas State.

 

Dalonte Hill, who recruited All-American Michael Beasley to K-State, makes more annually than Nebraska's three full-time assistants combined. NU's total is $379,000 (Walter Roese $134,000; Phil Mathews $130,000; David Anwar $115,000).

 

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

 

The history of Nebraska basketball might best be described as peculiar.

 

Jerry Bush coached for nine years in the 1950s and '60s without a winning season. But a group of boosters liked "the Big Bear of the Coliseum'' so much that after a 1959 win over Missouri, according to research by historian Mike Babcock, they bought Bush two TVs, a stereo and a dehumidifier.

 

Moe Iba, son of Hall of Famer Henry Iba, led Nebraska to its first NCAA bid in 1985-86.

 

On his way off the floor after a first-round loss to Western Kentucky, Iba handed his resignation to Nebraska Assistant Athletic Director Don Bryant.

 

A.D. Bob Devaney already was out looking for a new coach to replace Iba, who was under fire for his "Slow-Moe'' offensive style and failures to sign what then were several national-caliber in-state players.

 

Nebraska attracted national attention in 1990-91 by going from 10-18 the season before to a school-record 26-8. Eight players on that roster eventually played professionally, three in the NBA (Eric Piatkowski, Tony Farmer, Rich King).

 

Though that team was upset in the first round of the NCAA tournament as a No. 3 seed, it started an eight-year run of five NCAA trips and three to the NIT.

 

The 1995-96 season brought more attention, this time unwanted.

 

Eleven of 13 players boycotted practice for two days, and nine met with Athletic Director Bill Byrne to complain about 10-year coach Danny Nee in the midst of a nine-game losing skid. Among the players' complaints: Nee swearing and belittling them.

 

Nee's reply? "If they don't want to play basketball, they can get the hell out of here.''

 

But that didn't mean the season was lost. Nebraska regrouped to win the NIT.

 

In 1997-98, point guard Tyronn Lue led NU to the NCAA tournament, then entered the NBA draft as a junior and was picked in the first round. A year later, forward Venson Hamilton was voted Big 12 player of the year. But not much of note has happened since.

 

WAITING TO BLOSSOM

 

Three Big 12 schools — Baylor, Kansas State and Texas A&M — have undergone basketball rebirths recently after years of struggle.

 

Baylor nearly had its program shut down after one player was convicted of killing a teammate, and NCAA rules violations were meted out in 2005. Since then, the Bears have posted three 20-win seasons and reached the NCAA for the first time since 1988.

 

Kansas State, after a 10-year NCAA drought, has gone to the NIT twice and is about to get a second NCAA bid in the four years since first Bob Huggins and then Martin were hired.

 

Texas A&M was 0-16 in the Big 12 in 2003-04. Since then, the Aggies have put together six straight 20-win seasons — equaling the total from the school's previous 88 years.

 

Has Osborne studied those schools for clues on a turnaround?

 

"Not particularly, no,'' he said. "It's more about what we're doing here.''

 

Overall, Osborne has paid close attention to the influence of AAU coaches on recruiting.

 

"There's nothing illegal about that,'' he said. "But most everybody in basketball today decries that the high school coach is not nearly as influential as the AAU coach.''

 

Kansas State's Hill is a former coach of the D.C. Assault of Washington.

 

Among the staff members at Baylor is Dwon Clifton. The BU coordinator of operations is far better known as the former AAU coach of John Wall, considered the consensus No. 1 pick in this June's NBA draft who is now at Kentucky.

 

Osborne said some AAU coaches demand payment for their "recruiting service,'' which he said "may just be a mimeographed piece of paper with phone numbers.''

 

Other AAU coaches, he said, want invitations for high-paid speaking engagements at university clinics, or they demand fees to participate in certain tournaments.

 

Said Osborne: "The question is, 'Do you want to go down that road or not?' Doc has not done that. We have not paid the large speaking fees, and I admire him for that.

 

"I'm not saying that's why we've never had a national championship in basketball. But it's a very difficult landscape to navigate for any coach.''

 

What if Sadler wanted to get into the AAU recruiting game?

 

"I certainly wouldn't be encouraging that,'' Osborne said.

 

FINDING PLAYERS

 

Jon Sundvold was an All-America basketball player at Missouri, a first-round NBA draft pick, a nine-year pro and now is among the nation's most respected TV analysts.

 

He also spent some growing-up years in Seward, Neb., and says "there is still a little bit of Nebraska in me.''

 

So does Sundvold see a reason why NU men's basketball has been lackluster?

 

"Almost all sports have been good at Nebraska,'' he said. "And to most of us who observe it, basketball should be, too, and I've observed it for 40 years.''

 

Any significant turnaround, Sundvold said, has to be based on recruiting.

 

"The coaching staff has to understand which players you 'must' have in the Big 12,'' he said. "Not 'maybe' have, but 'must' have because this league is too good.''

 

Players who give great effort and good coaching are important, Sundvold said.

 

"But coaches can draw up all the plays they want and it doesn't make much difference,'' he said. "Remember, Bob Knight coached in this league, and he didn't win anything.''

 

Recruiting contacts and niches are especially important at a school like Nebraska.

 

"At Nebraska or Missouri or even Kansas, you're not going to build a program around local guys,'' Sundvold said. "You don't want to load yourself up with five or six kids who can't play in the Big 12.

 

"But if there is a Big 12-caliber guy every so often, you've got to figure out a way to keep him.''

BUILDING A WINNER?

 

Osborne paused slightly when asked if the men's basketball program has moved up any on his list of priorities.

 

"When I came over here a couple of years ago, I wanted all sports to do well,'' he said. "We're working hard in facilities to give everybody a decent chance.''

 

Lincoln voters will decide in May on a new arena that the Husker men's and women's basketball teams would use.

 

If that fails, an overhaul of the Devaney Center is planned. And construction will begin in May on a practice facility attached to the southwest corner of the Devaney complex, due for completion in October 2011.

 

"People talk a lot about the arena, and that's important,'' Osborne said. "But even more important is the practice facility.

 

"If you have a real attractive venue there, that helps recruiting a lot. A new arena with a lot of people in it would be helpful, too.''

 

As would some repeatable success, especially after this season's last-place Big 12 finish.

 

"We haven't, for whatever reason, had things align themselves to where we could win consistently,'' Osborne said. "I do believe the new facilities in the works will help.''

 

Osborne also said he believes in Sadler, whose Big 12 record was 6-10, 7-9 and 8-8 before dropping to 2-14 this season after Saturday's loss at Oklahoma State.

 

"Doc, if you look at his overall record, has done well,'' Osborne said. "And he has gotten his players to play so hard. Somehow, though, we need to find a way to get over the hump.''

The part in bold italics is the most important point made in this article. It looks like Sadler's job is safe for the time being. So here's a few unanswered questions which should have been posed.

 

Can Doc lure and keep a Beasely type impact player here? Are we physical enough as a team to be able to contend in the Big 12?

 

With a new practice facility and arena around the corner, excuses won't pay the bills on those new amenities. Doc is going to have to lure a big player(s) to put butts in the seats because relying on preseason hype just won't cut it. People are going to have a wait-see attitude with their entertainment dollars, and Doc will have to show results rather than relying on the latter.

[Vince from ShamWOW]

Earlier today I read the article you posted and came away with the same feelings and thoughts as what you posted.

 

Next preseason we'll hear more hype. Once the season gets underway I'm pretty sure we'll see another sub par team with no hope or plans for improvement.

[LifetimeHusker]

Earlier today I read the article you posted and came away with the same feelings and thoughts as what you posted.

 

Next preseason we'll hear more hype. Once the season gets underway I'm pretty sure we'll see another sub par team with no hope or plans for improvement.

 

I agree. After Doc's first few seasons, there was a lot of hope given the effort he got out of the players he had. But he's been here long enough to get "his own" players in here and the results are getting worse. I was really hoping Doc was the guy to move us forward, but after this year, I am just not thinking he can get it done in the recruiting area.

[bball_backer]

i don't know if you just over-looked it, or if you ignored it because you want to blame doc for everything and completely leave tom out of it. about your bolded paragraph, tom admitted that aau coaches play a huge role in recruiting top-talent guys, and then he said he would not encourage doc getting involved with aau coaches. if you are going to place all the blame on recruiting, than you have to also acknowledge that it's not just doc's problem, but also his boss saying "we want to take the high road, but it's going to put you at a disadvantage."