Episode 4 - Expectations & Disappointment

Episode 4 of The Dream Season Podcast details the expectations of the team following the NIT Championship in 1988, the results of the 1988-89 season and some new recruits.

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Transcript

Hi and welcome to The Dream Season Podcast, an oral history of the 1989-90 UConn men’s basketball season, also known as, The Dream Season.

This Episode 4, Expectations and Disappointment

Entering the 1988-89 season, expectations were high for the UConn Men’s Basketball team.

They were fresh off an incredible post-season run, winning the 1988 NIT Championship.

Gone were seniors Jeff King, Spider Ursery and Greg Economou, but the starting five from that NIT Championship game were all returning.

Cliff Robinson, Phil Gamble and Willie McCloud were the senior leaders. Tate George was now a junior with two full seasons as the team’s primary point guard under his belt. Murray Williams and Lyman DePriest blossomed during the NIT run and were poised to build on their freshman seasons. 

Steve Pikiell, who has battled shoulder injuries since his freshman year, had shoulder surgery on April 13th and will redshirt the 88-89 season.

Added to the mix were the two sophomores who were ineligible their freshman seasons, the 7 footer from Cologne, Germany, Marc Suhr and 6 foot sharp-shooting guard from Hyattsville Maryland, John Gwynn.

There were also three freshmen joining the team.

Rod Sellers, a 6’ 9” center from Florence, South Carolina, chose UConn over South Carolina, UMass and Clemson.

Here’s Rod talking about his decision-making process:

UConn managed to infiltrate prime Syracuse recruiting territory and landed 6’ 11” center Dan Cyrulik from Williamsville, NY, which is just outside Buffalo. The only other school Dan visited was George Washington after he had canceled a scheduled visit to Syracuse.

The final incoming freshman for the 1988-89 season may be the most impactful recruit in the entire history of the men’s basketball program at UConn. 

Chris Smith, a 6’ 2” guard from Kolbe Cathedral HS in Bridgeport, CT, was Jim Calhoun’s top recruiting priority. Smith was considered the top player in Connecticut, an overall top 50 recruit nationally and one of the top 10 point guards in the US.

Before Smith committed to UConn, Calhoun was quoted as saying [QUOTE] “Chris would be the best recruit for us to sign, for about 600 different reasons.” [END QUOTE]

Recruiting expert Tom Konchalski described Smith as such: [QUOTE] “His handle and jump shot are smooth as silk. He can get off a jump shot any time he wants. He has three point range, can stop on a dime and really elevate. He’s not a pure point guard and he’s not a pure two guard. He’s just an old-fashioned guard. He’s just a guard and a guard should be able to handle, pass and shoot. He can do all of those.” [END QUOTE]

In October of 1987, Smith was quoted as saying that he will not be announcing his decision before the spring of his senior year. [QUOTE] “There would have to be a miracle for me to sign early.”[END QUOTE]

Less than a month later, Smith announced that he had committed to UConn over Syracuse, Villanova and Boston College and signed his letter of intent. 

The miracle that changed his mind? Jim Calhoun.

Smith’s signing marked a significant moment for the Huskies. The top high school player in Connecticut each of the past three seasons has chosen to attend UConn. Steve Pikiell, Murray Williams and now Smith. 

Here’s UConn’s former longtime Senior Associate Director of Athletics Communication Mike Enright on the impact that Chris Smith’s decision to attend UConn had on the program and the University:

Said Calhoun, [QUOTE], “Smith is the most important recruit I’ve signed. The best player in the state and one of the best players in the East, if not the country, is coming to Connecticut. He’s a tremendous, tremendous basketball player.” [END QUOTE]

The Huskies were picked 4th in the preseason Big East Coaches poll and were ranked 12th by the Sporting News and 20th by Sports Illustrated in their season preview editions. The Associated Press also ranked them 21st in their preseason poll.

Calhoun did his best to temper expectations. [QUOTE] “Our record in the league over the last three years is 10-38. Syracuse is 38-10 and they had the best recruiting year in the country. The Sporting News has us ahead of Syracuse. Tell me how. I think your expectations have to be realistic. We have a good team that could be better than last year’s team. It is flattering to your program to be picked 4th, but it isn’t logical yet. Maybe now the kids really feel they can legitimately compete in the league.” [END QUOTE]

The key player for UConn was preseason All-Big East selection Cliff Robinson, who before the season began, summed up the expectations of the players, which was also in line with the fan base’s expectations. [QUOTE] “We’ve won the NIT already. We don’t want to go back there.” [END QUOTE]

Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned.

The 1988-89 season started off well for the Huskies. They opened the season with three non-conference wins, earning a Top 20 AP ranking (#18) before traveling to West Lafayette, Indiana to take on the Big 10’s Purdue Boilermakers. The Huskies trailed by as many as 28 points in the second half, before losing 88 to 73. Said Tate George after the game, [QUOTE], “We’re not as good as we think we are.’ [END QUOTE]

They followed that game with a trip to ACC country to face the Virginia Cavaliers. The Huskies ended the game on a 9-0 run after trailing by two with 2 minutes and 30 seconds left in the game, to earn a 68-61 road victory.

The win at Virginia started a six game winning streak, which included another Connecticut Mutual Classic championship and their first Big East game of the season, a home matchup with Villanova. Murray Williams dribbled the ball the length of the court and finished with an uncontested layup at the buzzer to give UConn a 57-55 win, ending a 14 game losing streak to the Wildcats.

Despite winning their opening Big East game of the season for the first time since 1981-82, it was not a harbinger of things to come for the Huskies. They struggled in the conference regular season, finishing with a 6-10 Big East record. They won both matchups against Boston College (get used to hearing that), split both games with Nova, St. John’s, Syracuse and Pittsburgh, and were swept by Providence, Georgetown, as well as Seton Hall,  the surprise team of the conference.

UConn did manage to avoid the 8-9 game in the Big East Tournament, but just barely, earning the #7 seed and a matchup with the #2 seed Pirates of Seton Hall in the quarterfinals. Despite only turning the ball over five times and attempting 27 more shots than the Pirates, UConn fell short, 74-66. The Huskies shot 28 percent from the floor, the lowest in Calhoun’s three seasons as head coach. 

The loss left UConn’s record at 16-12 and on the outside looking in at an NCAA Tournament bid. 5 Big East teams made the Tournament (Georgetown, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Providence and Seton Hall, who would advance to the NCAA Championship game before falling to Michigan in an all-time classic game.)

The Huskies did receive an NIT bid and despite the disappointment of falling short of their goal of making the NCAA Tournament, embraced the chance to repeat as NIT champions.

Just like the previous season, UConn won their opening game of the tournament on the road, this time at UNC Charlotte, 67-62. They followed that with a home game at the Hartford Civic Center, against the University of California. Like the West Virginia game in the NIT the year before, Tate George was once again the hero, sinking two free throws with five seconds left to lift the Huskies to a 73-72 victory.

Next up was a showdown with UAB at the Field House, where UConn had a 26 game winning streak. A win here would send the Huskies back to Madison Square Garden and the NIT Final Four.

UConn could not recapture the magic of the 1988 season and there would be no return trip to The Garden. UAB won, 85 to 79, ending the UConn careers of Cliff Robinson, Phil Gamble and Willie McCloud.

Here’s McCloud talking about his senior season:

Over the course of the 1988-89 season, UConn used 15 different starting lineups. Injuries played a role in that, but additionally, a lack of chemistry and cohesion was also a significant factor.

Cliff Robinson and Phil Gamble finished their UConn careers as the 4th and 8th all-time leading scorers in school history respectively.

Robinson and Gamble were the top two scorers for the team, averaging a combined 32.5 points per game. Freshman Chris Smith, who averaged 9.9 points per game, would be the top returning scorer for the 1989-90 season.

Here’s head coach Jim Calhoun on what he learned from that season:

Tate George, who will be the lone senior on the 1989-90 team, summed up the challenge that lay ahead for him and his teammates: [QUOTE] “We’re going to have to believe in each other, on and off the court. Just believing in the system will be a lot more important. A lot of people are not going to believe or expect too much from us.” [END QUOTE]

One major change to the program prior to the 1989-90 season came behind the scenes.

Prior to the 1988-89 season, Jay Hoffman, a UConn graduate assistant studying exercise physiology, approached Coach Calhoun with the idea of incorporating a conditioning and strength training program with the team. Hoffman worked with the Huskies throughout September but as soon as practice officially began in October, he was done training, as the team solely focused on basketball.

Here’s Hoffman on what occurred during that 88-89 season and what changes were implemented after the season:

After working with Hoffman throughout the summer, several Huskies were significantly stronger headed into the 1989-90 season. The team’s average bench press was up 20% over the previous season and squats increased by 25%. 

The Huskies were also making progress on the recruiting front, thanks to the influence of Jim Calhoun and the on-court success the previous two seasons.

The most notable newcomer was Scott Burrell, a 6’ 6” forward from Hamden High School in Connecticut. Burrell signed a letter of intent to attend UConn in November 1988, choosing the Huskies over the University of Miami. However, Miami wasn’t offering Burrell a basketball scholarship.

Burrell was not only the Gatorade Player of the Year in Connecticut for basketball, but he also claimed that title for baseball as well.

Until the Major League Baseball draft was held in June of 1989, UConn couldn’t assume that Burrell would be a part of the team later that fall.

USA Today ranked Burrell as one of the Top 25 high school baseball players in the country and the #2 high school pitcher in the country. Baseball America rated him as the 9th best overall high school prospect in the country. 

The risk for the Huskies is that a Major League Baseball team will select Burrell in the first round and offer him a six figure signing bonus. 

Was Calhoun worried that Burrell might not ever wear a UConn jersey? Kind of. [QUOTE] “We fully expect Scott to be here. Do I think there’s a chance he won’t be here? Sure, I’ve seen him pitch too.” [END QUOTE]

On June 5, 1989, the Seattle Mariners selected Burrell with the last pick in the first round, number 26 overall. This was good news to Calhoun. He knew that Burrell wanted to stay close to his family and with a west coast team selecting him rather than a local team, he thought that might tip the scales in UConn’s favor.

Calhoun’s instincts were right. Three weeks after being drafted by the Mariners, Burrell made it official. He was coming to UConn to play basketball, as well as baseball. 

Said Calhoun about Burrell, [QUOTE] “There aren’t many guys who can be almost bigger than life sometimes. I think Scott can be a terrific basketball player. I mean a really, really special player.” [END QUOTE]

Here’s ESPN’s John Saunders, narrating a feature on Burrell from early in the 1989-90 season:

Burrell wasn’t the only newcomer that was generating excitement among the coaching staff.

Toraino Walker, a 6’ 7” forward from Oak Hill Academy in Virginia committed in April 1989. Recruiting expert Tom Konchalski described Walker’s game:  [QUOTE] “He’s not a prolific scorer but he does a lot of the blue-collar things that other players don’t do. He’s quick, he’s got good quick hands and is very active on the boards, especially the offensive boards and is a good front-court defender.”

Another big forward joining the team was 6’ 8’ Marte Smith from Grand Rapids, Michigan. He chose UConn over Xavier University and the University of Minnesota.

There were also two walk-ons with local ties on the squad. Oliver Macklin, a 6’ 2” guard from Notre Dame-Fairfield and Tim Pikiell, Steve’s younger brother, a 6’ 4’ guard from St. Paul’s in Bristol.

The Huskies stepped outside the US borders for what Calhoun described as the QUOTE “sleeper” in the 1989-90 recruiting class.

Phil Dixon, a 6’ 5” swingman from Toronto, who averaged 40 points per game in his senior year of high school, signed his letter of intent in May of 1989. He had been considering Seton Hall and Florida State before choosing the Huskies.

Dixon had been called the best player to ever come out of Canada. Recruiting expert Bob Gibbons said [QUOTE], “Phil Dixon could have as much of an impact for Connecticut as Andrew Gaze had at Seton Hall. Dixon is a much better athlete and the thing he can do is hit the three-point shot.” [END QUOTE]

UConn assistant coach Howie Dickenman was also impressed. Said Dickenman at the time, [QUOTE] “There’s something special about Phil Dixon and I can’t quite put my finger on it. I saw him score 29 and I was impressed. Then I saw him score 10 and I drove 100 miles an hour in Canada to call Jim after midnight and told him “You’ve got to call this kid tonight.” He laughs at the three point line. He can fill it from 24 feet.” [END QUOTE]

Recruiting expert Bob Gibbons again. [QUOTE] “The competition in Canada isn’t up to par with New York City or New Jersey or Connecticut, so I think Dixon will have a period of adjustment similar to the one Gaze had early on at Seton Hall. But all that aside, Phil Dixon rates as the Number 1 foreign player coming into the collegiate ranks this year. Connecticut got quite a prize in Dixon.” [END QUOTE]

As it turns out, UConn did end up with the Number 1 foreign player in the collegiate ranks for the 1989-90 season, but it wasn’t Phil Dixon and he wasn’t from Canada. 

Coming up on the next episode of The Dream Season Podcast, we’ll travel from Tel Aviv to Anchorage. 

The Dream Season Podcast is researched, written & produced by me, Matt Edwards. 

Written sources for this episode are the Hartford Courant archives.

If you have any memories to share about anything I just mentioned, want to correct me on something I screwed up or just have general feedback to give, send me an email at dreamseasonpodATgmail.com or call and leave me a message at (903) 884 - EIGHTY NINE NINETY. 

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