It was 41 years ago I first stepped into McGaw Hall. The 1975-76 season was drawing to a close and my sports editor asked me if I wanted to cover a game for him. Little did I know at the time, my editor was planning an exit to another paper and this one game would lead to hundreds over the course of 40 years.
All I knew was this was a dream come true for a young man who spent his teen and college years in South Central Ohio. I watched college basketball regularly, especially the Ohio State Buckeyes, and the Fred Taylor Show each Sunday morning on TV. I was dazzled by the likes of Cazzie Russell, Bill Hosket and Alan Hornyak. I would try to imitate Rick Mount’s deep jumper from the baseline, when he always seemed to drift out of bounds.
I didn’t know anything about Northwestern’s futility in Big Ten athletics. All I knew is this was the Big Ten and this is where I wanted to be.
I took my seat along press row, which was located on the railing of the upper balcony on the south side of McGaw. There I would meet journalists like Bill Jauss, Bill Gleason and Joe Mooshil, listen to their stories and try to absorb as much knowledge as possible.
Around the court, before the remodeling in 1982-83, was a dirt track, which would create a nightmare for the floor crew during games. As people headed out to concession stands, the dust would fly and the floor would have to be constantly mopped.
On the court, Billy McKinney was brilliant. Would John Shurna be the career scoring leader if McKinney had the three-point arc?
As I would soon find out, Northwestern would always have one or two strong players, but the options in the supporting cast were limited. Sure, one of them would have a big game every now and then, but consistency was never there.
And then there were the injuries. Somewhere buried in my new house is a list I compiled, two pages at the time. I showed it to Bill Carmody and he just brushed it off, saying it showed no reflection on what they were trying to do. I think this was right before the mysterious disappearance of Michael Thompson II.
Injuries always seemed to stand in the Wildcats’ way in cracking that NCAA bubble. Only twice did I see an injury helping Northwestern — freshman Jim Stack tearing his ACL early in the 1978-79 season against North Carolina and eventual All-American center Evan Eschmeyer missing two years with foot problems.
As Welsh-Ryan Arena was being constructed during the 1982-83 season, the Cats were forced to play their home games in DePaul’s Alumni Hall. Perhaps my favorite team, Stack led a formidable group to one victory after another in this small gym.
But only 52 teams were selected for the NCAA tournament at this time and Northwestern was headed for the National Invitation Tournament.
Although many people have told me NIT stands for Nobody’s Important Tournament, this was important for Northwestern, which was making its first postseason trip in school history. The Cats shocked Digger Phelps and the Fighting Irish on St. Patrick’s Day and took on heavily-favored DePaul in the next round on its home court in the Rosemont Horizon. The Wildcats built a nice lead, but the Blue Demons kept chipping away down the stretch, fouling anyone not named Stack and Michael Jenkins. Rich Falk had a solid starting five, but he had no bench. Finally, a Kenny Patterson prayer from 35 feet was answered and Northwestern’s season ended in what I thought would be a run to Madison Square Garden.
As for Eschmeyer, I thought his comeback was going to put Northwestern over the NCAA hump. But top gun Geno Carlisle, who would keep the middle open for Eschmeyer, had other ideas. Carlisle bolted for California after two seasons and head coach Ricky Byrdsong would lose his job the following year and promising freshman Carvell Ammons went to Champaign.
As the NCAA Tournament expanded (64 teams in 1985, 65 teams in 2001 and 68 in 2011), I thought the odds had to be in Northwestern’s favor. But if it wasn’t injuries, there was always another twist of fate.
Bill Foster had four promising underclassmen in the 1989-90 campaign. I thought this group would surely play in the NCAA Tournament. I was right — but they all played for other teams. I guess back-to-back 9-19 seasons can do that to you. Suddenly, I’m in a conference room with Lucius Reece and Don Brotz as co-captains for the ’90-91 season.
Byrdsong was replaced by carpetbagger Kevin O’Neill, who was touted both for his recruiting and his acid tongue. We never really got a chance to assess his recruiting, but you certainly could hear him during games and in practices. He would challenge his players to swear right back at him. I think I heard words I had never hear before as adverbs.
With Eschmeyer leading the way, the Cats made their third NIT appearance in 1999, but a 5-25 record the following year and many “encouraging words’’ from O’Neill had promising sophomores David Newman and Steve Lepore headed out of town. By the end of the summer, O’Neill also made a swift exit, but not before emptying all of his available scholarships.
Not only did he inherit six freshmen, but Carmody had to sell his only two upperclassmen, juniors Tavaras Hardy and Collier Drayton, on the Princeton offense. Four of the freshmen, including two involved in an off-campus incident, were gone after that first year. Jitim Young was the lone survivor of that class.
Carmody was able to expand Northwestern’s recruiting overseas. But for every two steps forward he took the Cats, it seemed like they took one step back. Injuries and different ailments continued to plague the team. Leading scorer Vedran Vukusic missed his sophomore year with a shoulder injury. But through it all, Carmody persevered and took Northwestern to four straight NIT appearances (2009-12).
It was an interesting 40 years with Northwestern basketball. I’ve seen three players involved in a gambling scandal, a key player missing a game because his girlfriend was giving birth, finding out one player played his entire career while blind in one eye and another player losing his fight to suit up with a defibrillator.
Shon Morris kept reminding me, “This place (McGaw Hall) was built on an Indian burial ground.’’
The Chicago Sun-Times would go through writers covering Northwestern like it was a revolving door, but I can say I never lost my desire. My son grew up a big Northwestern fan and served as a ball boy for six years. I hosted his bachelor party in the West Lot over three years ago. He texts me constantly during games now.
It was too easy to write negative about a team through troubling times. My goal was to try and find something positive to write and that could be a challenge at times, especially when I think back to some of those Iowa football games and the basketball team struggling to hit double figures before halftime against Illinois. Call me a homer if you want, but I have met some incredible athletes (not just football and basketball), coaches, administrators and fans who bleed purple through the years.
When I left last year, I knew it was time to move so I could spend more time with my grandchildren and provide a better home for my wife. My family had taken a backseat to Northwestern on too many occasions in my career, so it was time to change priorities.
When Northwestern’s name was announced Sunday, I can’t help admit I had a big smile on my face. I couldn’t help but think, through all these injuries and weird events the past 40 years, I had been the Cubs’ goat for Northwestern. All it took was for me to leave for the Wildcats to finally make the Big Dance.
Larry Watts covered Northwestern for the Pioneer Press and, at the end of his career, WildcatReport.
