Viking Mission Under Way : Portland State Launches Program Anew After 15-Year Hiatus

Portland State’s Matt Ambrose powered his way to the basket. No fooling around here, he just put his head down and drove. When he looked up, all he saw were elbows and armpits.

Determination took the 6-foot-6 Ambrose only so far this time. His vision was eclipsed by Pat Femerling and Todd MacCulloch, Washington’s two 7-footers. They blocked the shot and knocked Ambrose to the floor. He got up and sprinted back on defense.

If there has been a defining moment for the revival of the Portland State men’s basketball program this season, that was it.

After 15 seasons without a team, the school that produced Freeman Williams--one of the greatest scorers in NCAA history--has taken the court again. To be sure, determination will get the Vikings only so far. Yet, each time they have been knocked down, they have gotten back up, even if it means they will only be knocked down again.

“We are going to be underdogs every game, we know that,” said Ambrose, who played at Huntington Beach High and Orange Coast College.

“But the way I look at it, the pressure is on the other team,” Ambrose said. “If we beat them, they’ll be going around saying, ‘Oh, my gosh, Portland State? How did we lose to them?’ ”

That question has yet to be asked.

The Vikings, who have one player taller than 6-6, were rated the worst Division I team in the nation by some preseason publications. A 1-7 start hasn’t done much to raise expectations.

Still, they have thrown a scare into a couple of higher-profile teams.

Mississippi needed a last-second three-pointer--one that is still disputed by Portland State--to pull out a 56-54 victory in the opener. A week later, Portland State cut Washington’s 19-point lead to seven. Realizing the danger, the Huskies used their size advantage to pull away.

For most teams, it would be discouraging. For this one, it’s another step forward.

“We haven’t talked about how many wins we would like to get,” Coach Ritchie McKay said. “We’ve talked about building a program so people will remember this as a special group. We want people to think of them as the players who brought basketball back to Portland State.”

Ambrose bought into that pitch. After leading Orange Coast in scoring last season, he had some scholarship offers, including one from Pepperdine. McKay, though, not only captured Ambrose’s enthusiasm but his imagination.

“He told me we would be the team to rebuild Portland State basketball,” Ambrose said. “It sounded pretty exciting.”

People around Portland expected nothing less from a Viking team. After all, it was a thrill--not to mention a shot--a minute the last time, at least when Williams played.

Ambrose and his teammates were still in diapers when Williams was on the loose in the Northwest. Yet it was his legend that greeted them.

Williams scored 3,249 points in his four-year career, second only to LSU’s Pete Maravich in NCAA Division I history. In 1978, Williams scored 81 points against Rocky Mountain College, the second-highest single-game performance in Division I.

The program was cut as a cost-saving measure after the 1980-81 season, but the Williams folklore grew. Who could forget a player who once took 62 shots in a game?

“Whenever I told someone I was on the Portland State basketball team, they would say, ‘Oh, that’s where Freeman Williams played,’ ” Ambrose said. “The only other thing I heard was the joke about us not losing a game in 15 years. That one got old. Now people have stopped making jokes about us. I think we’ve proved ourselves.”

Proved might be a bit strong. However, they looked like anything but a doormat after their opener.

Ambrose was about to celebrate that night, even after Mississippi’s Chris Oney’s desperation 30-foot shot went in. But officials ruled Oney had shot before the buzzer and the basket counted. Mississippi was saved from an embarrassment on its home court, and McKay and Athletic Director Jim Sterk went hoarse arguing at the scorer’s table.

“On the tape, you can see the red light go on and the guy still has the ball in at his hip,” Viking guard Brian Towne said.

Said Ambrose: “We won the game. That’s what was frustrating. But it taught us that we’re a new team and nobody is going to give us anything.”

Still, there was an up side. Ticket sales jumped the next week. More than 5,000 attended the home opener Dec. 4 against Oregon and most were rooting for the Vikings.

“It should be a zoo from now on,” Ambrose said.

Portland State, whose football team was Division II, joined the Big Sky, a Division I-AA conference, this season.

McKay, 31, a former Seattle Pacific player, was looking for such an opportunity. “The uniqueness of the situation appealed to me,” McKay said. “How often do you get to start a college program from scratch?”

Well, almost from scratch. There were six pairs of shorts--none droopy enough by today’s standards--left from the previous program.

“No player in the 1990s would be caught dead in those things,” McKay said. “We’d be laughed off the court.

“What this program did have was an administration that was committed to me and to the cause of building the program.”

What it didn’t have was players. Only Towne, a walk-on at Washington, and guard Jamie Snook were in school last season. McKay had a year to recruit.

“We beat the bushes for players,” McKay said.

He had help. McKay said nearly 50 people called wanting a tryout.

“One guy was 32 years old and said he had finished college but wanted to try out anyway,” McKay said.

One call did pay off. Orange Coast College assistant coach Herb Livsey contacted McKay to sell him on Ambrose.

“I thought, ‘Oh, brother, here’s another coach who has a guy for me,’ ” McKay said. “But I knew Herb, so it did carry some weight. Then he started talking about Matt and how hard he worked and how he would be a foundation for our program. By the time Herb was finished, I had to see this kid play.”

McKay learned it wasn’t hype.

“The first time I saw Matt, I knew he would be my team captain,” McKay said.

Ambrose had been the Division I route before. He had signed with San Diego State while at Huntington Beach High but found being a thin, 6-6 inside player was a little more difficult in college.

He transferred to Orange Coast, where he expanded his game. He led the Pirates in scoring last season. Still, it wasn’t Ambrose’s offensive prowess that impressed McKay.

“He was relentless on the court,” McKay said. “I wanted my team to play that way.”

That wish has come true. For what the Vikings lack in talent and size, they nearly compensate for with tenacity. They all play like Ambrose, which can be dangerous.

“The first thing you do playing against Matt’s team in practice is to be aware of where he is,” Towne said. “He sets the most vicious screens I’ve ever seen. After a few minutes, everyone is calling out picks and talking on defense. It’s good for us, as long as no one gets clobbered.”