Road Is Tough, Las Vegas Is Double Tough

The toughest places to play in college basketball? The question was put to coaches around the country and here are some of the answers:

John Leone, Lafayette: “Notre Dame. The Golden Dome, the students, the Digger and the Midwestern refs--not necessarily in that order.”

Paul Evans, Pittsburgh: “Oklahoma. Heat turned up, low ceiling, big crowd, lots of noise and you know Billy Tubbs wants to score 120 points.”

Bob Dukiet, Marquette: “Arkansas. It’s like playing in Russia.”

Jud Heathcote, Michigan State: “UCLA. When I was an assistant at Washington State, John Wooden’s high-low post offense worked so well at Pauley Pavilion because the low post man could stay in the key for 10 seconds without being called. In 7 years there, the officials never called it.”

Bobby Paschal, South Florida: “Nevada Las Vegas. We lost the game and we lost our money.”

Add Coaches: Here’s how the same question was answered by some Division II and Division III coaches:

Mike Pollio, Virginia Commonwealth: “Kentucky Wesleyan. The fans are used to winning and they don’t have a lot of other things to do. They are absolutely rabid. And I think they bite.”

Sal Mentesana, East Stroudsburg, Pa.: “Millersville (Pa.). You have to go through a public bathroom to get to your locker room. I guess they are telling us something.”

Lloyd Winston, Emory: “NYU. The gym is tucked away in Greenwich Village with security guards frisking people at the door. It resembles Kubla Khan’s pleasure dome, five floors down, filled with screaming fans, and the locker room is a sweat box.”

Joe Haklin, Kalamazoo: “Hope (Mich.). They’re called the Flying Dutchmen and they play in Holland Arena. I’d heard it was tough, but I didn’t comprehend until the officials arrived wearing wooden shoes.”

Trivia Time: What two Heisman Trophy winners never played in a losing game in college? (Answer to follow.)

Add Trivia: Geoff Strain of Imperial Beach claims that the 28 home runs Eddie Murray hit last season are the most ever by a player traded the following season to a World Series champion. He says the previous record was 26 homers by Kevin McReynolds of San Diego in 1986. He was traded to the New York Mets.

Wayne Gretzky of the Kings, on rookie goalie Mark Fitzpatrick: “I hate to compare people, but there are only a few guys who have the same kind of talent--Ken Dryden, Ron Hextall, Grant Fuhr--and Fuhr’s the best who ever played the game.”

Bill Musselman, who coached Dave Winfield in basketball at the University of Minnesota, told the Boston Globe: “He’s the best all-around athlete I ever coached. I don’t think it’s close. He’s one of the best rebounders I ever coached and that includes some good ones like Jim Brewer, Bill Laimbeer and Mark Olberding.”

Trivia Answer: Doc Blanchard of Army, 1944-46, and Leon Hart of Notre Dame, 1946-49.

Quotebook

Washington Bullets rookie Harvey Grant, on twin brother Horace Grant of the Chicago Bulls: “Horace was born 10 minutes ahead of me, so he’s always been kind of bossy.”