Tried to run,Tried to hide,Break on through to the other side!Break on through to the other side!
The Doors’ lead singer Jim Morrison was not referring to Northwestern basketball when he wrote these lyrics back in 1968. But as is the case with most musical masterpieces, the subject of such inspiring words is a open to interpretation. Granted, many well-read music critics have said that this piece may speak to reaching another dimension (or dementia) of a drug-crazed world, the words are nonetheless a fitting imperative for a school that has never seen a Dance floor. “The Dance,” of course, being the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. The last time the Wildcats had anything significant to celebrate in terms of basketball was back in 1904, when the school inaugurated its program. To give you an idea of how long ago that was, Teddy Roosevelt was president.
But according to coach Bill Carmody, the long period of suffering for NU students, alumni and fans alike may soon be coming to an end.
“You eventually bust through at some time,” he said. “I wouldn’t stay here if I didn’t think it was possible and if I didn’t think I could do it.”
Northwestern President Henry Bienen also thinks that – with a simple twist of fate – the Cats could have the kind of success NU football has experienced.
“We seem to never be able to turn the corner in basketball. However, I’m still hopeful,” Bienen said. “Turning that corner, though, is a mysterious process.”
So does ESPN analyst and former UCLA coach Steve Lavin.
“They’ve had a history of bad luck,” he said. “It’s hard to put a Band-Aid on something at that school because of the small margin for error. But they can turn the corner.”
What about Carmody’s players? Do they believe that once they help their team “turn the corner,” “bust through” or “make that jump,” they’ll find themselves celebrating mid-court with thousands of euphoric fans surrounding them? Just ask junior guard Sterling Williams.
“As far the tournament goes, it would mean a lot to me if we made it. And I think we can,” he said. “(It would mean) a lot to our program and our fans from around the area. We just need all the pieces to come together at the right time.”
Carmody spoke to three areas of improvement that presented distinct challenges to him and his program. The first being a winning tradition (or lack thereof). NU, since Carmody took over, has struggled immensely in conference play – going 35-77 in its past seven years, the best NU has ever done in conference play over a seven-year span.
The second challenge is finding and implementing the right players for the Carmody’s offensive system. Never short of its complexities, Carmody’s complicated schemes and intricate workings within the Princeton Offense is no surprise at a school with such high academic standards. However, recruiting players that fit the system and also maintain a skill set worthy of Big Ten basketball has been a very difficult task. But with three freshman pegged to start the team’s first exhibition game, Carmody has already made it clear that the future is now.
The third and final challenge for NU doesn’t have much to do with luring in stud prospects or starting a winning tradition. It’s all about luck.
And for Carmody, these challenges are ones he’s all too familiar with.
TRADITION (OR LACK THEREOF)
After spending four years as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Union College (located in Schenectady, N.Y., “It was called ‘The Electric City.’ But that was a century ago,” Carmody deadpanned.), Carmody’s interest in a coaching career blossomed. And in 1982, respected innovator and revered idol Pete Carril interviewed Carmody for a position at Princeton. Carmody worked as an assistant under Carril and his landmark Princeton system for 14 years.
Carril’s age caught up with him and he felt the need to step down, ironically, right before his program was about to reach new heights. But he knew his protege, Carmody, was a man ready to succeed him. Carril had groomed him as a coach and cared for him as a person during his 14 years. When Carmody was at the peak of his career at Princeton, in the 1997-98 season, his team achieved a ranking as high as a No. 7 in the AP poll and finished the season with a 27-2 record. Carmody quickly became a legend amongst coaching circles, having accomplished a .786 winning percentage at Princeton in only four years and a 50-6 record in the Ivy League. Respected as a prodigy in his profession (“He’s a genius as far as I’m concerned,” Michigan coach John Beilein said.) and beloved by his players, Carmody abruptly left the institution that had given him so much. But it wasn’t easy.
“Having Pete (Carril) was a big help early on in my career,” Carmody said. “And after Pete left, I took over and we had some good teams. I was happy there.”
Carmody left a winning institution, a proud and victorious program that he had contributed to and had helped make into a perennial contender not only in the conference but also out of conference and in the NCAA tournament.
Then he decided to join a losing one, a program that had not smelled even a whiff of success. Since the tournament began in 1948, the only school from a major conference to not make it was the beleaguered squad from Evanston.
But why? Why would such a premier coach on the verge of taking his program to the levels of success that Duke and Stanford had already accomplished leave such a comfortable position?
“I wanted a challenge. The challenge coming here was whether or not we could ‘do it’ here: Could we get it done?” Carmody said. “It’s a terrific school and a beautiful campus, but the tradition of basketball here has not been good.”
So far for Carmody, successes have been few and far-between. Arriving on campus in 2000 after the departure of previous coach Kevin O’Neill to the New York Knicks as an assistant, expectations for Carmody were sky-high. Many people thought that if the big-time leader could incorporate the same philosophy here as he had imparted on his players at Princeton. However, due to a variety of factors, Carmody has not been able to sit on the same lofty perch he had been resting on in Princeton, N.J. Even though the school was paying Carmody a $642,279 base salary and $104,391 in benefit plans and deferred compensation in 2005-06, according to the school’s tax return, his prestige has taken a hit after one winning season in seven years at NU.
But Carmody is not a man to rest on his laurels and leisurely enjoy his status in life. He, just like most of his colleagues and peers, wants to be the best at what he does. And in the same breath, wants the best for his school.
“The difference between Princeton and Northwestern is that Princeton has had a great tradition of basketball for 60 years. And a lot of good players wanted to go to Princeton to play,” Carmody said. “We have to get good guys up and down the roster. That’s why recruiting in so important. And we do have a limited pool. But it’s still available.”
FINDING PIECES TO THE SYSTEM’S PUZZLE
A limited pool is right. With high academic standards, no winning tradition and a devastating dearth of professional athletes from NU, the attraction for the state’s, or even more broadly the nation’s, best athletes is mixed. Sure, there is the beautiful campus. And a fairly active Greek life. But outside of the Emersonian and Animal House influences, there are not an abundant amount of legal sources the coaching staff has at their disposal in terms of leverage when recruiting the finest hoop stars in the country.
Yet Carmody still feels that he and his staff can unearth diamonds in the rough. Or guys who fit and consequently buy into his system.
“We’ve been getting some good recruits. We’ve been getting some Chicago guys,” Carmody. “We are going to have another good recruiting class this year. We need to legitimize the fact that this is a place where a basketball player can go.”
Carmody and his staff
have re-dedicated themselves to finding Illinois-based talent from Chicagoland. So much so that they’ve chosen to start two true freshman for the team’s first game against Stanford on Nov. 15. Freshman Michael Thompson, from Lincoln Park High School in Chicago, is a 5-foot-10, 185-pound guard that was the 13th-ranked prospect in Illinois according to Chicagohoops.com. Fellow frosh Mike Capocci hails from Lombard, Ill., and was ranked among the top 20 prospects in Illinois by Rivals.com. The old ball coach has found himself some talent. But don’t call him an optimist just yet.
“I think we can have a decent year. I know it’s going to be a struggle to break through this year,” Carmody said. “With Kevin (Coble) gone, a good portion of the scoring is going to be missing. Sometimes the best laid plans don’t work. And what I thought I’d see three years ago I’m seeing now. I think there is definitely a commitment from the school and the administration. We got new lockers. How much of a difference does that make? A lot. Kids appreciate those kind of things. They see nice lockers and they start picturing themselves here.”
As evidence from Carmody’s own words, the administration’s commitment can not be questioned when it comes to its loyalty in making the basketball program a legitimate one. But this is, of course, nothing new when it comes to President Henry Bienen and NU sports. Since being sworn in during the beginning of the 1994 academic year, Bienen has contributed to the resurrection of the Cats. Having made the Rose Bowl in 1995 after not making it to a bowl in 47 years, the football team is just one example. Women’s lacrosse and men’s soccer are two more. But Bienen’s love – his heart and soul – is in basketball.
Having lived across the street from Carril when he was Dean of the Woodrow Wilson School of International Studies at Princeton, Bienen has had affinity for the bouncy, orange ball and the swoosh of the net since he started playing the game in his early adolescence. The love for the game led to the start of Bienen’s and Carmody’s relationship.
“I was always a big fan of the basketball team, so I travelled on the bus and eventually that’s how I got to meet (Carmody),” Bienen said. “I thought he was a smart game coach – a smart basketball coach in general – and a great teacher. I knew he always wanted to be at major program where academics were a priority.”
After taking over a fair amount of the administrative duties at NU, one of Bienen’s goals was to improve not only the school’s standings in the academic rankings but also its spot in the Big Ten across all sports. And when Carmody began garnering national attention, Bienen knew that, with O’Neill gone, there was a void that only one person could fill. That being said, Bienen isn’t devoid of his disappointments.
“I think people are disappointed with the numbers so far. And I think there is some room for him to improve,” Bienen said. “I would like for us to be more successful. There are places like Stanford and Duke that recruit well so I don’t think it’s the high academic standards per se. I don’t think many players have been turned away due to their academics.”
So, if the team can put together one truly admirable winning season and utilize the newly formed recruiting strategies, what aspect of college basketball is left for it to exploit?
THE LUCK OF THE … WILDCATS?
The highlights of college basketball miracles have been replayed millions of times. Bryce Drew of Valparaiso’s 3-pointer. Tyus Edney of UCLA’s lay-up. Even Christian Laettner of Duke’s fade-away. There have been bigger surprises in The Dance than a team from the Big Ten finally making the Tournament after more than a century of ineptitude. That’s not to downplay the accomplishment, but if the Cats were to transform into Cinderella, the amount of gasps you would hear may be deafening.
Many have said luck has nothing to do with it. But don’t tell that to longtime fan Ross Kooperman, who owns The Locker Room on Sherman Avenue.
“Well, gee if Duke can do it, why can’t we? Sometimes you just need to get lucky.”
But to paraphrase Thomas Jefferson, the harder you work, the more luck you have.
This is something Williams knows all too well. He, and the rest of the Cats.
“With the Princeton offense, you have five guys working as one,” he said. “And that is a kind of offense that can speak volumes to you as a player when you want to win in a system. And when you want to win as an individual.”
Williams wants to win. He wants the glory that comes with being the first team to make the NCAA tournament in school history. He wants to see him and his teammates on ESPN, surrounded by hundreds of the happiest fans in the world. He wants a bid to the Dance.
And so does his coach.
“It’s a goal for our team year in and year out,” Carmody said. “We don’t ignore it and we don’t stop thinking about it.”
Carmody may like to hear the song “The End” by The Doors playing over the PA as his team puts on its dancing shoes and does a celebratory jig. Not because it would signal to him the end of 103 years of tormenting losses and close calls.
No, it would signal the beginning of a new era in NU basketball. With just one win, the whole program could change. Or at least Lavin seems to think so.
“A win for a team that has never been to the tournament would mean so much for a school that has struggled for so long. The tradition speaks for itself. If you look at teams like Air Force or Vanderbilt, Northwestern has an equivalent upset potential.”
NU fans hope to hear that the end of their suffering is near. They also hope that Carmody mouths these words soon, when the Cats clinch a spot in the tournament and end over a century of futility. A spot in history. Cue the music:
This is the end, Beautiful friend, The end.
