THE NORTH CENTRAL CONFERENCE:
BASKETBALL DOMINANCE
by
R. J. SCOTT
THESIS DIRECTOR
BALL STATE UNIVERSITY
!'llJNCIE
t
INDIANA
NAY 13, 1 ~88
SPRING QUARTER, 1988
,'-
'-'·:.1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTJ ON . . . . . • • • . . • • • • • . • • • • • • . • • • • • • • • • • • • • . . • . • . . • • • 1
CO~f\CHES
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to
..
to
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
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3
MEDIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Fi\NS ........................................
t
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11
SUMMARY • • . • . . . • . • • . • • . . • • . . . • . . • . • • • . • • • • • . . • • . . . . . • • • • • • 14
BASKETBALL.
It
102!
to
is a Imos t. s
h'ord
~vnonymOllS
Tt :is a major source of excitement for
Hoosier.
2
The
teams
th~
Over
especially high school.
successful
have
to
pertaining
people
at.
all levels,
but
years some of the best and most
years.
recen1
Tn
this
the "'0 rd
people from age
frum the North Central
come
This h8.s become even more true
question
to
appealing
1S
,-Ii th
"Why
1 S
has
Conference.
The important
Nce become so
the
dominant ov(,r the years?"
Bu t
only to
if one ques t ions the pOh'er
look at
the st.ate
record books.
four in the last
the final
1970
remember thp
havt~
there
been
the four'
)l;CC
regional
titles
won,
that whpn,
the finRIs.
most
most
semi-stt1.te
final
in 1985,
That
consecutive
state titles.
titlE'S
sectional titles,
16 etre all NCC teams.
teams
teams
fe-llr.
The
they had
too.
records:
most
\,;on, most state
most consecutl\p
for most
and most
timps :i n
The top t.eams for most times
the final
eight are
~CC
teams.
The top thrpe
the final
four are
Nce
tpams.
,-\nd,
1
in
is the most evpr
semi-state titles,
ThE' top fivE'
most
three times since
t.hE'
In
Nce
The records go much further,
most consecutive
titles,
consecutj~e
the final
Only
teams
lip for
memory,
of
teams ho 1<1 the fo 1 1 old ng stet t e l ournalllen t
titles won,
regional
Nce
tpRmsin
from the same conference.
appearance
thTO decades.
no
conference more than made
three of
continua]
one need s
Records of all sorts
In receni-
point to the success of the conference.
everyone can
NCe, then
of the
for most
the top three teams
times
In
In
for mos t
tim e s i n the fin a
It
is
1 gam e
not
just
indiyjduals from
boa s t
h'
j
0
f
11 r
e,
the
the confer(·tH'('
Individuals have
highest four game totals,
points In a
firwl
best
c~nd
were
have s] so
TTl
most
fared
just
Nce
slot the
dominance every
home games are played in five
New Ca s tIe
Nce
and mos t
,
16".
1~
dur in!?:
during
the
he
and
~,ta
t.e
the hreeJ,;ly
'3
'.:,as on;:.:, .
This \,as
of the
top five
Richmond
entire season.
weekend during
of the
The
Basketball
at the
teams,
but
categories of
.~ame
in the 87-88 season \,hen three
cons i s ten t,l ,'I
disp18yed i t ' s
tht~
one
dominant
po J 1 s
s ports\,;r i te r'S
well.
18 Mr.
.in
In
in the "Sheet
not
lS
points
Nee.
the
eione well.
also fared "'ell
all
Central occupied the #1
gyms.
hayp
that
The teams are frequently
i1Ju~d.r8ted.
te8ms
game,
t-;ce
the
tournament.
coaches
teams
f r' 0
it.
17m e n tal at tit u d e a ~v a r d win n e r s. and
nners .
But
you g u e sse d
e,'en boas ts of "The For lds
hi
Nce
the
.\ 1so
the
top seven
and I"Iuncjy
i n t e r,
\"r hen
state's largest
la.rg(~s
t
and fines t
high school gymnasium."
Kith all
of the
easy to see that th.,
state.
this,
from
aforementioned
Nce
Ncr
records 1n
\.,,'i
survey
thlI1.
~"ras
it
lS
really is the dominant conference ]n the
But the question th<1.t still remains is,
a
mind,
jni! i<1.ted that
"Why,?"
To snsIVer
,,,rould try to ne\p]op an <1.nswer
Att.empts were made to rontact t.he coach,
a fan,
and
a media representative from each North Central Conference school.
They all were asked,
city?",
and
"Why
through the years'?".
"Why has
do
you
These
basl\etba] 1 been
think
the
questions
2
dominant
in your
NCC has been so domin8nt
were
open
ended
in 8n
attempt to
question.
respondent to go in any direction with the
a1101" the
What follm"s are the responses from tho:,,!." surveys.
COACHES
Anderson coach
Tndians for a
with the
He is sepn by many as one of the best coaches
years.
number of
has been
Norm Held
Yea r a f
in the conference.
y (~a r
i, e r
his tea ms are
0
n e s t hat mus t
be reckoned ",ith, and have made thejr mark :in the state fi.nals in
the ]980's.
big 1n
When
Anderson,
asked why
his
he thought
first response
that the hopes from generation
through the
community.
to
basketball has
",as,
tradition.
generation
He also feels that,
in Anderson is a way of
life.
has kept up the enthus.iasm.
Also,
the
have
He noted
been passed
to many, basketball
pride of
being a fan
Probably more important, he says,
the entertainment 'value of the games on the weekend.
it,
"It is thp place to
As for
to
1s
As he puts
he~"
the dominance of the conference, he contributes that
tradit~on
many of
been so
agajn. HeJd notes that basketball
those areas
as Jong
as anyone
notes that most of the ('it it's
in
industry,
good
""h 10.h
provi des
Coach Held's comments are
!'1
very
the
has
"bpen Id ng
can remember,"
conference
deal
similar
are
ill
He also
heavy in
of bJup-c?ollar support.
to
the
rest
of those
surveyed and will be apparent in the responses that follow.
The coach of Kokomo is Basil Mawbey.
-,
four years,
from
the
but comes
1983
sta
b~
there with
a championship
cham pi 0 n s hip
3
He has only been there
wit h
under his belt
C () nne r s ,: i 1 J e .
tIl the conferencf:',
already made his presence felt
long stay
with the ,n:'arWhen ashed
top five of the polls last season.
in the
about basketball's prominence in his communjty, he l'esponded that
really corning
it is
But he al so at t.r'i but.ed the
city merged.
through
the two
around since
the
to
years
fan
the
mp<lrt.ance of baskptball
Although there was a
suppor~..
there
drought ",hen the schools split.,
j
ma.Jor schools in the
enough
waH
to
keep its
prominence high.
the
Coneprning
pDinted to the fact
Add to that,
ones.
conference's
th!-~
that most of
he notes,
one schooJ, Rne'! they h<1\'e a
power
through
conference cities
thRt most of these
guod
ihp years, he
f'
base
are large
i tie;.:'. have only
their playerH.
Coach Ma ,..;bey, agreed wi t.h coach He Id that. the enterta i
nillell t-
val ue
of the gane in these cities has kept the fan support high.
In Lafayette,
III
heritage
in
the coach
1S
hasketbalJ
James Hammel.
His school
is rich
many years past. Hp was able to
in
bring sectional and regional titles to the school this past year.
He fplt
1.hat basketball
was
so
for many It was a way of life.
to b8sketballs
key faetol's
dominant in the community beeaus!-,
Tradition and heritage
importance.
were also
Adding to this was the
fact that their kids played ball all year long.
As for the conference,
key
to
what
made
the
he again
conference
Also, kids in these Breas knoF
-
basketbaLl
season
expectations.
rolls
Fan support
what
around
and
is another
4
said that
t rad j t. i on Fas
a
superior through the years.
is
expected
try
to
reason.
of
them when
1 L \'e up to t.hose
Along these same
lines, coach
Hammel felt
that larger Slze gyms cOIltribute to the
success of the conference teams.
As for
They ha VP
Logansport,
s(~en
not
the
basketbaU
Hershberger, notes
their
size,
is muoh different.
much success in basketball
Thp current coach, Phil
schools
situation there
athletes
can
110t
th r'ough the yea rs .
that because
specializp
of the
in
like many of the athletes in othpl' Sdlools can.
ju~;t
-'\,80,
he says the aciminist,ration has not put the emphasis on this sport
like other schools have.
Nee,
Because he is a member of the
opinions on
l"hy the
he does however have some
conference over all has been so successful.
First, most of the schools are quite large.
in
tradition.
Great
the
~ithin
competition
are also rich
llame coaches, exc 1 ud Lng hi msel f he says,
just make the conference even more powerful.
and
They
the
With the
gym sizes
conference, the entertainment
value of Lhe games keep the fans coming.
Dan Gunn is the coach at
first year
therp as
legendary, Bill
in t he
to
the
pa~,
t .
so big
He
just
is quite
is where
of
familiar' \,ith the
he spent
From a coaches perspective,
his days as a
he reallzps that
in Marion because of the success it has had
He also feels the Police Athletic
success
completed his
following the footsteps of the
roach Gunn
because :-1ar ion
high 2chool player.
basket baLL is
head coach,
Green.
area. hc,wever,
Marion.
the
program.
League has added
Community support and theil'
emphasis on the sport have also aided the program.
As for the dominance of the
conference, he
5
attributes this
to the
1., ill
fact that
find hard
afraid
to
\';0
these are industrial communities.
In them you
rkers whose kids here n(.t pam pi'.' red and
work.
here not
success is also derived from the
Conference
tradition and the fart that most of the schools are ",'ery similar'.
The teams
must play
each other too,
among t.hemsel ves even greRtpr,
N ()
tvlunc i e Cen t ra 1.
the
S
Thrpe
Rearcats.
current coach,
c h0
thus the nped t>o ach ieve more.
()
1 has
thrd r
of
\,0 n
m0 r e
state titles than
ha \'e come under the it,
tilles
Thp
Rill Harrell
just last season.
h'hich makes the competit]on
scboo 1 \,jon
According to tbe cORcb,
lot of tbejr succ,ess
a
can be attributed to tbe tradition.
part
of
the
program,
adds
that much more importance to
their winning.
Tbe reason
coach Harrell,
in.
Also,
tbe
New
ccach~ng
lot
conferen~e.
Thus
emplwsis on the support of the fans.
(if
Castle,
of a
according to
due to the large gyms the schools play
the
Mr.
j
coach
is
tIe s H j t h t h p
Basketball
Sam
Alford.
s c h 0 a 1 Co>
, his
coach feels that the ,"eason basketball
is tbe
dominance,
fans like the styles of play in the
sec t ion a I and reg ion a 1 t
his
cnnferences'
is partly
he is put.ting a
In
for
LS
SOrl,
so
heritage associated Hith the program.
He has many
tog 0
,
Steve
big In
a Ion g
A]
l"r
i th
f(H'd.
New Castle,
He also feels
that.
it is a good quality program that helps drRw suppopt.
The conference is dominant,
size of
the cities.
fcpcier programs
he feels,
Tbe fact that
have also
partly because
mRny of the cities have great
helped tremendously.
6
of the
These programs
include community leagues like the YrvICA and Boys Club.
George Griffith
has guided
titles.
the only
history.
many
teams
Ho~-ever,
Nee
is the
a
reasons
from their tradition.
to
Richmond High School
sectional,
state title
team not
He
to
coach of
have
regional
has eluded
a
state
and semi-state
him as Richmond is
championship
in their
that Richmond's overall success has come
He also feels thcct
rt~('ent
success has come
from the number of students in the school, and even more recently
the addition of their new gym, The Tiernan Center.
Concerning 1he dominance of the conference, he suggests that
this
-
is
accomplished
because
all
Nee
sectional and most have their own regional.
are
only
one
or
two
teams
have
The fact
their own
that there
schools in uities that large have helped
considerably.
7
MEDIA
In Anderson, Dave Allen,
through
seasons.
their
has follo\,red
of WHBV,
feels
He
that
local
year
throughout the
For the
Tn
round.
addition,
grade levels.
fans,
games
at The
tj
ckets
for
over
tho s e t i c !;: e t s i n t
(J
40
Tradition
Wigwam are
years,
of
school has g()(ld progr:lms
the
weekends during basketball season.
dominance
playprs there play
basketball can be attributed to the
all
the Indians
plays a
to be on the
the place
FaIlS
boast of
havinp; season
and ha ,,-e even been k JHHJT) to
hTi
te
the i c wi] 1 .
For t,he conference
j
tspl f,
Dave Allen
feels that regardless
of whether' the conference was a part of those cities or not, most
of these places would still be major basketball
reason is
that the
C1 ties do
not offer
A big
centers.
entl:rtainrnpnt that can
surpass that of basketball.
For a vi ew from the media of Kokomo , Dave K i tc>lle 11,
Kol{ omc T r =. bune ,
has foJ IOh'ed
communities love of basketball
love hjth
jt from
day one.
the Wildkats.
He accounts for the
by noting that
the
promlnpnce
of
Wildkats play in the
also been
able to
basketball
b~st
people fell
S incf> t,hpn the comrnllO:i t
has been a major facior in the schools
the
1n
conference,
dr-aH good
from the
success.
Kokomo
IS
commi t Illf>nt
Also aiding in
the fact that the
he adds.
players and
y
in
The
coachc~~
school has
througbout the
years.
-
Ji~pp)ying
\~by
to the question of
Kitchell notes that the
Nee
is the
~cc
so dominA.nt,
Dave
is the only confE'rence t.hat has thrpp
8
different
to
avenues
conference has
to
attracted the
to thei r !",uccesses,
teams plaJ
get
t~ollgher
too.
the
the
Thp facilitips acid
best coaches.
Additionally,
Also
finals.
state
the fact that
most of the
schedules and they host sectional and regional
games make the conference even better.
Tn Logansport,
Schoo1
Hess of WSAL, notes thnt Logansport High
not representative
is
conference.
schools
~1ilt
The
of the
a,rf
Berries
rest of the schools in the
actually
opposite
He notes that
emphasis is not put on basketbal].
bt~causp
there is no real
support
the
from
t.he rest
of
the athletjc
fans.
Also
the
con ff' r'pn<'e
director is not very aggressive.
He
agree,
does
that
dominant :n the state.
He attributes this
schools are large and rich with tradition.
to play each other,
Morr;e Nannies
,,,i th
WLBC .
He
fact
quite
that the
Becallse' they a 11 havf:
they are able to get evell stronger.
is thp voice of
the Nuncie
accounts for t-1uncie' s success
tradition and early succeShes before the
through the
to the
is
:vear's have
a Iso been
11
Centred Bearcals
b~:
rioting the rich
sixties.
Good coaches
major fac'tor,
along Hi th
tb~~
p 1 a;;>ers pI ayi ng a 11 year round.
As fur t.be conferencp, superior
schools being
schools were
tremendous
in
]argr~r
also
amounts
rich
of
cities.
Hl
play
is
result
a
He again noted that most
bask e t ball
community
important. however is the exposure
tradition
support.
schoo]s
of the
and received
Probably
get
their location in relation to the major media markets.
9
of the
more
because of
According to
Tim George, of WCTW in l'eh' Cas tl e,
have been able to maintain emphasis on basketball
that of Mr'. Basketball.
tradition, especially
the Troj:-uIS
because of the
The fact that the
school has the largest high school gymnasium in the world adds to
the continual
support.
Because the
conference
IS
so powerful,
the teams are a good drat,;', he adds.
Tim George reasons that the
so big
schools are
play.
i1
is easier
Because the
their corner,
is so successful because the
and can draH off a large number of students.
He also feels that since most
themsel VPS,
Nce
programs have
for them
coaches are
he again
already established
to continue
so good
and ha\e
~,;j
th thei.r fine
experience in
feels that this is a major factor.
many others, he too, states
that
they host playa key role.
10
the
sectionals
ani! regionals
FANS
Bill Hecht has been an Indian fan for a number of years.
points to the support of thp faithful
the
of
prominence
basketba']l
in
fans
as a
Anderson.
He
major factor in
Additionally,
emphasis has been put (In the sport and the rivalry
the
that has been
t rad it ionEt 1 h'i th the other conference schoo 1 s.
The
conft~rence
success, he
most of the schools
come from
that
ci1ies
most
of
the
feels,
good size
only
have
offer a
thrill of a
Nce
great deal
cities.
Add to that
These cities,
though big,
of entertainment that can compare to
basketball game.
l\ol\:omo fan Hi he R.ohe rt s has been a pa l' t of the commun i ty
his life
I
one high school, and the
potential for succpss is even greater.
do not
comes from the fact that
and from
,q
11
that view he has seen the players and fans as
the keys to maintaining basketball's importance in the community.
Trad:ition has
been another
kpy to
the importance of the cjty's
passion.
As for the
to the
Nee
confer(~nce,
caliber of
games,
He
11.1i he Roberts
play that
also feels
attributes its success
is seen "leek in und h'eeh out in the
tha t
the
confer(;nce is
home to the
better coaches in the state.
In
Lafayette,
Dick
Robinson
OHns
a sporting goods store
which has allowed him to get a good view of what is
on
-
in
his
basketball
communit.y.
He
feels
really going
that support for
basketball has fallen off in recent years because of the
support or spi r i t
from the s t
\ldf~nt
11
body.
lack of
He also fee 1 s t ha t
man~,.
of the people in the
HOHevPf', he
the
~ommunity
program
for granted.
does state thH.t some Sf'I1se of triHlitjon still exists
to sort of save the program.
On the other hand, Dick Robinson does feel
is st.ill
and support
there for
a number of
the they
success stems largely from the fact
and have
a rich
that the surcess
Nee
schools.
Their
are larger schools
The schools also puL an emphasis on
tradition.
on whirh
basketball and have a good nucleus
to build successful
programs.
Bill Platt,
a fan
from Logansport, echoes much of the same
things that the coach and
recogni7-es
that
the
bashetball
media
ranks
representatjve
said.
He
third among the sports there
and doesn't receive much support.
He
does, hOl"ceve r ,
attributes this
that there is
Another bg
rec~ogni
to the
only
the
large Slze
one
part of
ze
high
conferencp's
of the
school
ln
success and
schools and the fact
most
of
t.he cities.
the sllccess :is the feeder systems that hplp
huild the players at a young age.
According
t.o
basketball there
also come
Again,
from
tradition
the Marion teams.
Kerr.\"
Clevenger
has dpveloped
the
general
of
Marion,
prominence
t.hrough the fan support.
"HOOSIER
HYSTER.TA"
felt
of
It has
by all.
plays a major role in the ()ontinuing success of
As
for
the
confprence,
he
attributes
its
success to the size of t.he schools involverl.
In f'luncie,
Ann Tyler has only been a Bearcat. for six years,
but has been able to acquire much information
12
on the
history of
Muncie Central's success over the years has come from
the team.
traditjon and history
has
basketball
entertainment
big
fa
low in
15
thai
the fact
a
of
the
the
program.
llo~"i
ng
Muncie.
fans have
She
also
notes that
bec:ause the amount
More importantly,
of qual i t.y
hOI"ever,
is
a true respect for the players and
all that t.hey accomplish through their hard work.
She ;:,ees the can ferences Bueces ses comi ng from the fae t
the schoo] s are qui
good
team~:
tf~
] ar'ge.
t ha t,
is also made up of predominantly
It
and the competition·" Rmong
themsl~l\'Ps
makes
better, she notes.
For John
Lee,
from New Castle, basketball has gotten so big
because that is
all
community pride
over the
has been
through
able
the
to
there
l\eep
system
to
is.
;.'ea rs .
just
has
It
become
source of
a
Also, he says that New Castle
enough
continue
excellpnt
fan
support
players ('oming
and the hope of
winning.
John Lee sees
realizatjon
coaches.
that
thE-~
the
can ferences
schools
dom j nanrp
are
bjg
More importantly, he states,
have great hi stories in basketbal],
and
is that
c~om
most
i ng
from the
have better
because the teams
they are bound to he l..Jinners;
in essence, Sllccess breeds success.
Also
contributing
to the
con fe renc~~ 's domi nance is the super i or gym s j zes and the a th 1 e tes
living up to what
is expected of them.
13
SUMMARY
Looking back over the responses from
those surveyed,
people were able to recogniz0 their differences with
they too
were a b 1 p
IS
Thuugh Logansport
easy to see some remarks appear over and over.
the conference,
it
the rest of
to reason l'lhy the conferen('e
was so sucoessful.
The ITlajor reason given by practically
schools
I,' ere
system.
Tradition also seemed
almost as
ve r
and
1 a J' g e
y
f~veryonf',
,,;as that the
were part of a one high school
to
be
very
important.
if the Nce got off on the right foot when the game was
introducpc[ and have just f0110"e<1 through ever since
-
It is
success.
their early
Coaches, fan support, and gym s:ize Here also important
in helping to secure donlinance by the Nee.
\\hat does the future hold?
what
history
schools
go
accolades are
already
t.h rough
holds
their
not there
IS
in
lean
for a
its'
Thus,
record books.
timps.
"hen
the
more of
Of course
success and
fe\,; years, but Hhenever one team
seems to fall from the spotlight for a
take their place.
probably
I"hile. another
team I'ill
the roots of "HOOSTER HYSTERIA" run deep
and firmly secure themselves in the grounds of
Conference.
14
the North Central