This is a great story of how Jeff Hornacek ended up at ISU.
FULL interview (1:40) on YouTube CyCast
FULL interview (1:40) on YouTube CyCast
Short Interview-Ric Wesley (Johnny Orr Assistant) about Jeff Hornacek
- Thread starter qwerty
- Start date
Okay, I attended ISU on the mid 90s, so excuse me if this is common knowledge but why do I never see Hornacek attend any games, visit ISU, etc? Did something happen between him and the administration, or just no interest from him?
Excellent podcast. I have seen post after post over time of people downplaying coach Orr or ripping on his record. People need to understand what they walked into, there wasn't any talent and he didn't have the players to run his high post offense. He had to convince good players to come to a place with essentially zero history, at least in the modern era at the time. It took time to build it so the first 3 years were rough. In the 4th year you could see the thing evolving. And another point he had to build the thing while playing in year in and year out, one of the best coferences in America.
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the other thing is they almost got Glenn Rice. I think had we gotten him, might have had a final 4. The other thing that hurt some of Orr's momentum was the Burger King incident.
Sam Mack was just confused by the “Have it Your Way” motto. Innocent mistake.
Jeff was on my dorm floor (Larch/Cunningham) for 1 year. One of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. Super competitive in whatever games we were playing! His deep game winning shot against Miami Ohio in the NCAA was one I’ll never forget! Got us to the matchup with Michigan (the “too small, too slow, too weak game), where we proceeded to kick their a**!
Always thought he’d get an NBA championship with Stockton & Malone and the Jazz, but some guy named Jordan kept getting in the way!
Always thought he’d get an NBA championship with Stockton & Malone and the Jazz, but some guy named Jordan kept getting in the way!
The whole podcast is over an hour, I haven't listened to it yet but am excited to.
Mack and White charged with first degree robbery
The following is part of a series of historical articles that appeared in Iowa State’s student newspaper. This story, which appeared in the April 3, 1989 issue of the Iowa State Daily, is about Sam Mack, an ISU basketball player, and Levin White, an ISU football player, who were charged with...
iowastatedaily.com
Oh, that’s right. I was confusing him with Sam Hill. My mistake.
And it was a different time. It was a huge deal when Iowa State got picked once for the tournament with a 5-9 conference record. Analytics mattered not one bit. I'm guessing this year's Iowa State team would have been a 7 seed in 1989.
Sam Mack's legal issues and (to a lessor extent) Mark Baugh's academic issues kind of derailed things for a few seasons. Iowa State had scheduled really tough for a few years and then didn't have much of a team left. And his last year was rough because of Loren Meyer's accident.
yeah but that team played a very hard non conference schedule and got some big wins. 7 Big 8 teams got an invite that year and I think 4 or the 5 wins in conference were against ranked teams including #2 Okie State. Beating 8th ranked Missouri in the Big 8 tournament got them in. They were the underdog in the first round and won, then faced Kentucky, close game.
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It was pretty selfless how Johnny decided to retire before Hoiberg, Meyer, Michalik and Beechum’s senior seasons so his successor (Tim Floyd) was left with a really good team.
Wow, what a trip down memory lane. I was in school from 82-87 and would play with the guys during the off season and multiple summers. Never forget one afternoon at Beyer when I had the hot hand against Ronnie Harris’ team and he said enough and I didn’t get another shot off and to add insult to injury Terrance Allen dunked over me. Also, many great pickup games at State gym in the summers, only 8 or 9 guys stayed around so they always needed an extra guy or two and I was long enough to be semi competitive. Always got matched up against Ron Virgil. Doc Rhodes was one of the goofiest guys around and would chuck up so many shots it was crazy. Sam Hill and Gman were both so great to me and still talk to Sam living in Chicago for the last 35 years. Thanks coach Wesley for doing the pod.
Times sure have changed regarding SECond chances and college sports.
Agreed. My point was that was VERY unusual for the time. That team deserved it and now I think that team would easily be invited. But back then it was not a sure thing.
