Title | Division I Men's Basketball Championship First & Second Rounds |
Creator (LCNAF) |
|
Publisher | National Collegiate Athletic Association |
Date | March 15, 1990 - March 17, 1990 |
Subject.Topical (LCSH) |
|
Subject.Name (LCNAF) |
|
Subject.Geographic (TGN) |
|
Genre (AAT) |
|
Language | English |
Type (DCMI) |
|
Original Item Location | ID 2009-006, Box 7, Folder 7 |
Original Collection | Athletics Department Records |
Digital Collection | University of Houston Sports Championship Publications |
Digital Collection URL | http://digital.lib.uh.edu/collection/champ |
Repository | Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries |
Repository URL | http://info.lib.uh.edu/about/campus-libraries-collections/special-collections |
Use and Reproduction | Educational use only, no other permissions given. Copyright to this resource is held by the content creator, author, artist or other entity, and is provided here for educational purposes only. It may not be reproduced or distributed in any format without written permission of the copyright owner. For more information please see UH Digital Library Fair Use policy on the UH Digital Library About page. |
File Name | index.cpd |
Title | Page 99 |
Format (IMT) |
|
File Name | champ_201306_035_094.jpg |
Transcript | out crowd of 5,000 watched Arizona play the French club champions in Limoges. The Wildcats lost, 89-86. From one game to the next, the players were never sure what might happen. In pregame warmups before Arizona was going to play the German National Team at Frankfurt, 6-8 forward Wayne Womack shattered a glass backboard with a routine dunk. The start of the game was delayed 20 minutes. Maybe that was an omen of things to come. Guard Harvey Mason suffered a nasty cut over his right eye from a German elbow. Both benches emptied for a mid- Land Down Under." No doubt the beautiful beaches, not to mention the ladies, played a part in the team's losing record. The players stayed at the beach town of Surfer's Paradise. It was the third consecutive year the Big Eight has sent a group of players overseas. In 1987, a select team traveled to the Orient and played in China. In 1988, a Big Eight team played in Czechoslovakia. Bill Hancock, a former assistant commissioner of the Big Eight, traveled to Australia with the team and kept a diary of the daily events. "It was fun to watch the development of Big Eight Conference all-stars Nathan Buntin of Missouri (left) and John Rettiger of Kansas State enjoy an excursion in the Sydney, Australia harbor. court brawl. "That was not a friendly game," Olson said. But Arizona won it, 91-89, when Womack hit a short jumper with 12 seconds left. The team moved on to Spain to face a tough pro team in Madrid, led by former University of Houston star Ricky Winslow. Arizona held on to win, 99-95, and weathered a 46-point effort by Winslow. While the other three teams headed to Europe, the Big Eight Select Team was flying in the opposite direction to "The 10 guys who didn't know each other into a team," Hancock said. Hancock had to spend part of the tour on crutches after he stepped on a sliced-off piece of a bleacher and suffered a deep cut on his foot. From Kansas City to Brisbane, it took 25 hours, but they crossed the International Date Line in flight, which made Friday a four-hour day. The group was ready to head for the hotel and rest, only to find out their bags were in Sydney, not Brisbane. Jet lag may have been a problem consid ering the Big Eight boys lost the first thrc 2 games they played. Ball State had only a six-hour fligl t from Chicago to Amsterdam, but Huns; ker's players still needed time to rest. "It would be very difficult to play th : day you arrived, or even one day later, Hunsaker said. "To be smart, you nee two days to adjust." The Atlantic 10's games included on with the Finnish National Team and on with a Russian club team from Estonia which the Americans defeated, 86-80. It was the second foreign trip for the At lantic 10 Conference. The first was in 198 when an all-star group was taken to Spain Each team encountered a few surprise along the way. Most of the foreign teams the American faced, except for the national teams, had a least one American on the roster. Forme NBA center Swen Nater started for on< team Ball State played. "I was amazed at how big basketbal was over there," Hunsaker said. "The^ have three NBA games a week on televi sion. Everywhere you go there are Larn Bird or Michael Jordan or Magic Johnsoi T-shirts. "As a coach, we all want what's best for our players. I can yt imagine a better way to further their education than the experience we had." Dick Hunsaker Ball State "I also was surprised at the level of coaching in The Netherlands and the level of play. These teams played excellent defense. I would say the teams were equivalent to mid-level to high-level Division I teams." Tom Duddleston, the assistant sports information director at Arizona, was surprised at how many people in Europe spoke English. "Almost everyone in West Germany speaks English," Duddleston said. "It's the second language there." All in all, it was a learning experience these Americans never will forget. "As a coach, we all want what's best for our players," Hunsaker said. "I can't imagine a better way to further their education than the experience we had." $) 96 |