COLLEGE BASKETBALL / GENE WOJCIECHOWSKI : Oregon State Tries to Help Iowa Cope With Street’s Death

The letter arrived shortly after the funeral of Iowa star forward Chris Street, who died Jan. 19 in a three-vehicle accident as he made his way back to campus after a team dinner.

Addressed to Hawkeye Coach Tom Davis, the envelope featured a Corvallis, Ore., postmark and contained a brief, but heartfelt, message from a friend who knew all too well about the emotional pain and confusion caused by the death of someone so young.

The letter said only time will help ease the heartache of Street’s loss, and even then, there would be bouts of sadness and emptiness. Cherish Street’s memory, it said, but don’t dwell exclusively on the past. And use Street’s remarkable spirit and work ethic as a positive influence for his team.

Near letter’s end came a simple declaration: “Our thoughts are with you and your team.”

It was signed by Oregon State Coach Jim Anderson.

Anderson learned firsthand about coping with tragedy when popular Beaver guard Earnest Killum suffered a stroke and died during the team’s trip to Los Angeles last season. Time stood still. Reality overwhelmed a game.

“Nothing seems important,” Anderson said. “Games don’t seem important at the time. Everything seems very trivial in regards to winning and losing at the time.”

So when Anderson heard of Street’s death, which came a year and two days after the loss of Killum, he was moved to write to Davis and the Iowa team.

“My first thought was, ‘I know what a lost feeling it is,’ ” Anderson said.

His letter included words of encouragement, but there were also hard truths. They will never see Street again, but, as was the case with Oregon State and Killum, they can honor his memory.

“We wanted to do the things that Earnest would have wanted us to do,” Anderson said, “It was, ‘Hey, what would he want us to do?’ We concentrated on how Earnest would have wanted us to go on as a team, how he would like us to react, how he would have reacted to adversity. We told (the team) to try to do your very best, work hard and support each other.”

The advice wasn’t wasted on Davis, who took each word to heart. He emphasized the importance of family, of grieving, of healing. Then, after two Iowa games were postponed because of the tragedy, the Hawkeyes returned to the court. Davis had no idea what to expect.

With 3 1/2 minutes to play in its game against Michigan State at East Lansing, the Hawkeyes trailed by 15 points. They ended up forcing the game into overtime and winning, 96-90.

In last Sunday’s game against then-No. 5 Michigan, Davis watched as his team won, 88-80, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Just before game’s end, Davis reminded his players that Street’s parents and two sisters were there that day. No need to say more.

As the buzzer sounded, the Hawkeyes rushed over to Street’s family and escorted it inside the Iowa locker room for an emotional postgame meeting.

“I’ve been kind of speechless about the whole thing,” Davis said. “It’s just one of those things you’re part of, but you’re not sure about because you have so many mixed emotions. There are so many things you’re concerned about. But the one thread that has come through during all of this is the tremendous pride I have in this team.”

The two unlikely victories have helped push Iowa to top 10 rankings in both polls, the first time that has happened since 1989. The Hawkeyes face Illinois tonight and Indiana on Saturday--as if it really matters.

What Davis will remember most are the gestures made by fans, players and his peers.

At Michigan State, a Spartan booster helped raise $4,700 to be donated to a Chris Street Memorial Fund, the proceeds of which will help pay for a recreational facility in the player’s hometown of Indianola, Iowa.

At Indiana, Coach Bob Knight and his staff wore black and gold ribbons in honor of Street. At other arenas around the Big Ten Conference, there were pregame moments of silence in Street’s memory.

And during the upset of Michigan, Iowa fans shook the building with so much noise that Davis called it the loudest home crowd he had heard during his seven-year stay at the school.

“This is a good, tough league, but it is a league with a lot of caring and concern,” he said.

Most of all, Davis will remember Street. Years after copying UCLA’s pressure defense from John Wooden, Davis knew he had found the perfect player to execute the system in Street.

“He was it,” Davis said. “He will be hard to replace from a technical standpoint, from a basketball standpoint, but most of all, for everything else he was.

“In this state, he’s become a legend.”

Say a little prayer for the Big East Conference, which continues to generate all the excitement of a late night infomercial.

The NCAA tournament selection committee should give the Big East only four invitations--to Seton Hall, St. John’s, Georgetown and Pittsburgh. If not for surprising St. John’s, which was picked by the league’s coaches to finish ninth in the 10-team Big East, the bid list would be three schools long.

The highest ranked team in the conference is No. 14--and fading fast--Seton Hall. Pittsburgh is rated 15th and Georgetown 25th. And what does it say about a league where the leader, St. John’s, is a poll no-show?

For only the second time in the last five seasons, a Big East team can’t be found in the top 10. For the fourth consecutive year it looks as if no team in the league is good enough to reach the Final Four. A final eight appearance is no lock, either.

Seton Hall was an early-season favorite, but that was before star guard Terry Dehere began to struggle and Jerry Walker never quite made the transition from small center to power forward. And as always, there are the curses of the Capital Centre, where Seton Hall is 1-11 against Georgetown, and the Carrier Dome, where the Pirates are 0-13 against Syracuse.

St. John’s is a nice story, but name one player in the starting lineup. For that matter, name the coach. (It’s Brian Mahoney.)

Pittsburgh, the great underachiever, features sophomore guard Jerry McCullough, a star in the making. McCullough has improved his scoring average nearly 12 points from a season ago, but will it really matter come NCAA tournament time? Doubtful.

Syracuse is on probation, which is too bad, considering this is a team with the league’s best player, Lawrence Moten, and freshman John Wallace.

Georgetown has freshman Othella Harrington, but he isn’t good enough--yet--to take the Hoyas far. Nor should he be expected to do so.

Connecticut is a mess, especially with swingman Scott Burrell banged up. He missed last Saturday’s game against St. John’s and Tuesday’s game against Syracuse. His 15.9-point scoring average is respectable, but not exactly what Coach Jim Calhoun had in mind. And Calhoun didn’t expect senior forward Toraino Walker, apparently fed up with the coach’s heavy-handed methods, to quit.

Boston College has done well enough, thanks mostly to unexpected performances from point guard Howard Eisley, who is averaging about 15 points and six assists. That said, no one is reserving hotel rooms for the Eagles in New Orleans, site of this season’s Final Four.

Miami? Two years away from being a factor. Providence? Not exactly the surprise team everyone expected. Villanova? The up-tempo offense installed by first-year Coach Steve Lappas has the Wildcats going nowhere fast. Lance Miller, Villanova’s best player, has struggled in the new system.

All in all, this probably isn’t going to be a Big East season worth framing. Of the league’s 50 starters, only 14 are seniors. Only two seniors, Dehere and Burrell, can be found in the conference’s top 10 scoring leaders.

In time, the Big East will recover. But for now, it is best to borrow one of Georgetown Coach John Thompson’s white towels and cover up. A conference in transition is never a pretty sight.

Kansas Coach Roy Williams, whose then-No. 1 Jayhawks were beaten by Cal State Long Beach, said college basketball has reached a competitive point of no return. “The times you’re going to see people go undefeated, those days are gone,” he said. . . . Williams has better things to worry about than unbeaten seasons. Point guard Adonis Jordan is suffering from an ankle stress fracture, but apparently isn’t in any danger of being forced out of the lineup because of the injury. However, he does wear a rehabilitative device on the ankle about 10 hours a day. Forward Darrin Hancock, perhaps the most prized junior college recruit of a year ago, underwent laser surgery to repair torn retinas and could return to action soon, depending on the results of a doctor’s examination this week. Whatever the timetable, he has been told that he should wear goggles the rest of his playing career. . . . The surprise team of the Southeastern Conference? It isn’t Vanderbilt, said Georgia Coach Hugh Durham, who finds the 11th-ranked Commodores less surprising than a team that began the week with more losses than victories. His choice: South Carolina, which is led by lame duck Coach Steve Newton. Despite the distractions caused by Newton’s forced resignation at season’s end, the Gamecocks have won eight games--about double of what anyone thought they would, given the circumstances. And two of their four SEC victories have come on the road. Said a diplomatic Newton of the awkward situation: “I think our team has done an extremely fine job focusing on what they have to do.”

Kentucky’s Rick Pitino won’t name names, but he swears there is one prominent post player in the country who violates the three-second rule every chance he gets. “He’s averaging five, six seconds in the paint each time down the floor,” he said. Last year, the choice would have been easy: Louisiana State center Shaquille O’Neal. As for the famed three-second rule, forget it, Vanderbilt Coach Eddie Fogler said, adding, “I would tell you the three-second violation is basically out of the game.” . . . With Monday night’s victory over Missouri, Kansas’ Williams has a winning record against every Big Eight Conference team. He did it before the end of his fifth season. . . . Quick, name the independent team with the most victories this season. Wrong, it’s Wisconsin Milwaukee.

Top 10

As selected by staff writer Gene Wojciechowski

No. Team Record 1. Kentucky 16-1 2. Indiana 19-2 3. Kansas 18-2 4. Duke 16-3 5. Cincinnati 17-1 6. Arizona 13-2 7. North Carolina 17-3 8. Iowa 14-3 9. UNLV 13-1 10. Michigan 17-3

Waiting list: Vanderbilt (17-3); Florida State (15-6); Utah (15-3); Arkansas (14-4); Wake Forest (13-3).