Kresse Has Built Quite a Name for Himself

John Kresse has a team that is 25-2, ranked No. 17 and has won 22 games in a row.

But he has a little etiquette problem at work.

What do you call the arena your team plays in when it is already named after you?

Kresse, 55, the coach at the College of Charleston for the last 20 years, laughs at that one.

“Some people call it ‘the John,’ ” he said.

But it is John Kresse Arena, and rightfully so. Kresse usually calls it the Johnson Center, the name of the complex the arena is in.

At North Carolina, they named the building after Dean Smith before he retired. Don Haskins is playing out the final years of his history-making career at Texas El Paso in the Don Haskins Center.

Kresse? His name might be just familiar enough to make you wonder if he is the heir to a dime-store fortune, or maybe the athletic director at Cal.

But what you should remember is he is the best little-known coach in America.

“People always think of the big schools. I think he’s right up there with the top coaches in this country,” said Lou Carnesecca, the former St. John’s coach who was Kresse’s mentor. “I don’t have to say a word. Just look at his record.”

That record is 490-120, with a winning percentage of .803, all at Charleston, a program he has brought from NAIA status to perennial NCAA tournament team.

If you count all the NAIA games Kresse won, only Roy Williams at Kansas (.811) and Jerry Tarkanian at Fresno State (.808) have better winning percentages among active coaches.

He has had 20 consecutive winning seasons, 12 teams that have won at least 25 games, and since Charleston moved up to Division I in 1991, he is 188-41, and you can bet Maryland and Arizona haven’t forgotten running into him in the 1997 NCAA tournament.

This season’s team, anchored by a well-oiled offense and eight seniors, is preparing for the Southern Conference tournament this week in Greensboro, N.C., although Kresse has been away in New York for several days to be with his mother, who is dying of liver cancer. He is expected to return in time for Charleston’s opening game Friday.

“Continued success is not luck, it’s skill,” Carnesecca said. “He’s always been a fine craftsman and technician. You play ‘em, you better be ready. Very sound.”

A Brooklyn native, Kresse played for Joe Lapchick at St. John’s, and was an assistant to Carnesecca for 11 years at St. John’s, and when Carnesecca coached the New York Nets in the old ABA, Kresse was assistant coach, director of player personnel and chief scout.

But Charleston is the last stop.

In 1982, Kresse took the job at Davidson College. He quit after six days.

“It was the most embarrassing deal in my life,” he said. “It was NCAA Division I and they’d had great success with Lefty Driesell. But soon after arriving, I knew I’d left my heart in Charleston, and especially with the players. I was fortunate to be allowed to come back.”

The last two times St. John’s needed a coach, the Johnnies called Kresse.

“Yes, we did. But he’s found a home. He’s put his roots down,” Carnesecca said.

St. John’s had to settle for Mike Jarvis, a pretty good backup, and gave him an eye-popping contract worth up to $800,000 a year for seven years.

“Yeah, money, moola, it’s certainly big at the marquee schools,” Kresse said. “You know, I’ll be a little poorer, but much happier here in the Port City.”

Everybody is happy in the Port City these days, where the Cougars packed a record 3,857 into John Kresse Arena for the final home game to honor a team that beat North Carolina earlier this season and completed a 16-0 sweep in its first year in the Southern Conference.

The school president, Judge Alex Sanders, admits he is a convert who used not to care a bit about basketball.

“I once said they ought to start all basketball games 58-58 with three minutes to go. Now basketball is my highest priority in life,” he said.

Bob Fulton, a radio announcer in the Southeastern and Atlantic Coast conferences for more than 50 years, the last 43 as the voice of the Gamecocks at South Carolina, was courtside as well.

It’s not just that he likes basketball. Fulton’s grandson, Danny Johnson, is a starting forward on a team led by forward Sedric Webber, guard Jermel President and center Jody Lumpkin.

“I think John Kresse is unbelievable,” Fulton said. “I’ve always considered maybe the two best coaches in the country at doing the most with whatever talent they had were Pete Carril, who used to be at Princeton, and John Kresse here.

“I’d just like to see them get to the Sweet 16 this year. I think they can do it.”

IT’S TIME

The Stanford juggernaut never materialized in the Pacific 10 Conference race, and Arizona is headed to the Bay Area for a showdown Saturday after beating the Cardinal in Tucson.

Stanford, 12-2 in the Pac-10, must keep its eye on Arizona State tonight first, and Arizona (11-3) has to play at Cal before traveling to Maples Pavilion.

“I think the kids are excited about the challenge, and rather than spend too much time worrying about what might happen, I think we’re just going to enjoy ourselves and play good basketball,” Stanford Coach Mike Montgomery said, more than hinting that the pressure has weighed on his team.

“I think we relaxed a little at Washington,” he said. “It seems like we’ve put an awful lot of pressure on ourselves and I think it started to wear on us a little bit. I kind of tried to take a little different approach and say, ‘Look, it’s OK. Let’s go play, let’s go have fun, go play with some enthusiasm.’ ”

Stanford finishes on the road at Oregon and Oregon State, while Arizona goes home to face USC and UCLA.

VANILLA’S A FLAVOR TOO

Montgomery is smart, likable and cooperative, but he doesn’t do any coaches’ razzle-dazzle or much storytelling.

That can be a bit of a problem with Montgomery on the verge of becoming Stanford’s winningest coach, because many of the questions are about him.

“I’m really boring. I apologize,” he said at his weekly news conference. “I mean, my daughter’s doing a story on me for her class. She has to do it. She said, ‘Dad, you’re really boring. I need an anecdote.’ I said, ‘Annie, I’m sorry. I don’t have anything that’s really going to do you any good.’ ”

REYNOLDS WRAP

Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium gets all the attention, but North Carolina State’s less-glamorous Reynolds Coliseum played a considerable role in the development of Atlantic Coast Conference basketball.

Fans said goodbye after 50 seasons Wednesday night at N.C. State’s final regular-season game against Florida State.

It ain’t over ‘til it’s over, though--N.C. State at 17-11 could end in the National Invitation Tournament, hosting a game.

Most memorable Reynolds moments?

David Thompson falling on his head in the 1974 NCAA East Regional final, a moment so horrific some of his teammates and most of the crowd feared he’d been killed when he was taken to the hospital. Thompson later returned, his head bandaged, to a huge ovation.

The other was in 1993, when Jim Valvano, stricken with cancer, returned for the 10-year anniversary of the 1983 NCAA championship, gave an emotional address to the crowd, and then stayed to work the television broadcast. Less than three months later, he was dead.

QUICK SHOTS

The field for the Wooden Classic is outstanding next season, with Stanford versus Auburn and Duke versus USC. The Trojans and Cardinal can’t meet each other because they’re both from the Pac-10, so the marquee matchup between veteran teams--Duke vs. Auburn-- won’t happen. . . . St. Mary’s Brad Millard, expected to be out all season because of foot problems, made an appearance in the Gaels’ last game and has been cleared to play about 15 minutes a game in the West Coast Conference tournament. He’s out of shape and the sore foot limits him, but at 7 feet 3 and almost 350 pounds, he can have an effect on the game by merely standing there. . . . After losses to Harvard and Yale, Princeton needs to beat Pennsylvania on Wednesday in the rematch of their wild game if the Tigers want to go to the NCAA tournament. . . . What’s Oregon State’s problem, at 12-12? The Beavers are 1-11 away from home.