It’s the Final Four weekend, and here’s a story from the past about a person who is inextricably tied to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. He’s Steve Alford, who left Indiana University with a national championship and as the school’s all-time leading scorer.
Steve Alford, the son of a high school basketball coach, claims he learned to count on a basketball scoreboard. At age nine, he began attending the summer basketball camp run by Indiana University coach Bob Knight. He dreamed of playing for the Hoosiers, and he worked for countless hours on his shooting and other basic skills.
Alford as a New Castle Trojan in 1983 (photo courtesy IndyStar)
At New Castle High, Alford played for his dad’s team. As a senior, he averaged 38 points a game and won Indiana’s Mr. Basketball Award as the best high school player in the state. When Bob Knight called to say he wanted Alford to play at IU, it was the first of many dreams come true. He became a starter at Indiana as a freshman and led the team in scoring. In the NCAA tournament that year, Alford scored 27 points in one of the biggest upsets in tournament history, a 72-68 win over top-ranked North Carolina, a team featuring Michael Jordan and Sam Perkins.
After that season, Alford was selected for the United States Olympic Team. Playing alongside Jordan, Perkins, Patrick Ewing, Chris Mullin, and other college stars, he averaged more than 10 points a game, shot 64 percent from the field, and helped lead the U.S. to a gold medal.
In the following years at Indiana, Alford became the target of special defensive tactics. Opposing coaches assigned bigger, stronger players to guard Alford, who was on the small side at 6′ 1.” But with the help of Coach Knight’s system, he still found ways to get open and score.
The sharpshooting guard won Indiana University’s Most Valuable Player award four years in a row, and the team had a 92-35 record during his college career. In his senior year, Alford was named a first-team All-American. Indiana finished with a 30-4 record that season, capped by a dramatic 74-73 win over Syracuse for the NCAA title.
“We worked hard for four years as a team,” says Alford, “and Coach Knight tried very hard to get us to that level of championship play. To end my career at Indiana like that was a great thrill.”
Alford with Knight at IU (photo courtesy IndyStar)
Playing for Bob Knight was no picnic. The great college coach has a volatile temper and often uses criticism to motivate his players. But Alford remained cool under Knight’s fire. He used his coach’s comments as a springboard for improvement. “He brought out more abilities than I thought I had,” Alford says of his coach. ”He made me a better player and person and ensured that I graduated on time.”
Alford earned a degree in business at Indiana. He was married shortly after graduation and was drafted in the second round by Dallas in 1987. Alford made the team but found himself in a position he was not accustomed to—on the bench–and the Maverick’s 12th man, and he was getting very little playing time. “Even though it was a blessing just to be in the NBA,” says Alford, ”not being able to play or do things that I’d done in the past was very frustrating.” He thought it was an inauspicious way to end his basketball playing career.
The 1988-89 season didn’t start much better. Although Alford was one of just six 1987 second-round college picks remaining in the NBA, he still wasn’t getting much playing time. He credits his wife, Tanya, and his parents for helping him through that time.
Then the next shock wave hit. On December 13, 1988, Dallas released him. The Golden State Warriors signed him as a free agent three days later. “It was a blessing in disguise,” he says. That’s the funny thing. God works in mysterious ways.”
The primary difference was playing time. Warrior coach Don Nelson utilized Alford’s shooting ability and hustle in Golden State’s free-wheeling offense, and the young guard responded, averaging 6.4 points in about 15 minutes of action per game. Alford’s belief in a loving God goes back to his childhood.
Alford says being a Christian influenced his approach as a basketball player: “I didn’t pray before each game for points or big plays or wins because I don’t think God really cares about that,” he explained. “I think he’s more concerned about the way you conduct yourself. I try to play in a sportsmanlike manner, and I work hard at the game.”
He continued: “My brother and I were raised in a home where my parents always took us to church on Sundays and taught us the proper morals and values. So when I came of age and could make that independent decision, that’s when I accepted the Lord. That time was his junior year in high school.
Alford describes the experience of asking Jesus Christ to come into his life: “There wasn’t any thunder and lightning,” he recalls. What changed was my outlook on life. The things that I took for granted, now I appreciated more—the abilities I had to play basketball. But more than that, I appreciated my parents and friends more, being more appreciative of things around me that God had been so gracious in giving me.
___________
Note: I interviewed Steve Alford years ago when he played for the Warriors. Since 1991, he has devoted his career to college coaching, serving as head coach at six schools, including high-profile UCLA and Iowa. Today, Alford is the head men’s coach of the University of Nevada, Reno. Alford has won over 65% of 1,000+ games during his head coaching career.
____________
This article first appeared in Venture in September/October 1989.
