Recker Steals the Show in a Transfer of Power

For all that Luke Recker had been through the last two years, he was justified to feel vindication Saturday. But that only helped to ease, not erase, painful memories.

Recker, having to overcome his emotions as well as a bothersome right knee that was heavily bandaged, scored 27 points to lead No. 21-ranked Iowa to a 71-66 victory over Indiana at Iowa City, Iowa.

For Recker, the game was the continuation of a journey filled with emotional and physical trauma. He was a highly recruited Indiana prep star who followed his heart and stayed home to play for the Hoosiers. But, after two seasons, he could no longer play head games with domineering Indiana Coach Bob Knight, who laid down his iron fist to keep the sweet-stroking Recker at forward rather than move him to the player’s preferred position, shooting guard.

Recker transferred to Arizona, but never played there. While traveling to Tucson, he was involved in a car crash with a drunk driver in which a friend was killed. The crash also left Recker’s girlfriend paralyzed and her brother in a coma for nine months.

While rehabilitating from injuries he received in the accident, Recker decided to transfer closer to home. His father had since moved to Washington, Iowa, 45 miles south of Iowa City. Hence Recker chose Iowa, where former Indiana point guard Steve Alford had become coach. Alford had taken all that Knight could dish out in a four-year career that included an NCAA championship season on the brink in 1986-87, then drew the wrath of the Hoosier Daddy over a personal issue well before the first game that the student would coach against the master.

Alford understood what Recker felt about his first game against Indiana--and playing against two old friends, Dane Fife and Kirk Haston.

‘Obviously, we want [Recker] to treat it as another game,” Alford said earlier in the week. “But realistically, these are kids he was recruited with. Haston and Fife are good friends of his.

“There’s going to be a lot of high intensity.”

Not to mention high drama.

Indiana led by as many as 19 points in the first half as a jittery Recker was mostly off-target and no other Iowa player was on his game.

The second half, however, was pure “Hoosiers” for Recker.

He started the half with a driving layup around former roommate Fife, then knocked down consecutive three-point shots--the second one from the top of the key as he was knocked to the floor.

No foul was called, but the crowd of 15,500 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena was whipped into a frenzy. Iowa continued to score at a dizzying pace, taking the lead at 48-46 after only 4:50 had elapsed.

After the Hawkeyes built the lead to 61-54 with eight minutes left, the Hoosiers clawed back, getting within 69-66 inside the final 20 seconds. But cool-hand Luke made two free throws to secure the victory.

“I took a lot of heat and criticism when I left Indiana. That hurt,” Recker said. “If we would have lost this one, I don’t feel I would have been able to show my face in Indiana.”

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His Dean Dome for a coach: Apparently it’s hard to hold a grudge against sweet old former North Carolina coach Dean Smith--even if he tried to snatch the coach from right under your school’s hardwood floor.

Last summer, Smith tried to persuade one of his former assistants, Kansas Coach Roy Williams, to come back to North Carolina after Bill Guthridge’s sudden retirement. Williams agonized for a week before telling Smith he would remain at Kansas.

Well, Smith’s recruitment of Williams didn’t prevent him from receiving the Kansan of the Year Award Friday and getting a standing ovation from Jayhawk fans Saturday when he was introduced before the Kansas-Kansas State game at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan.

Smith, an Emporia, Kan., native and 1952 Kansas graduate, then saw why Williams decided to stay at Kansas--the Jayhawks increased their record to 17-1 with a 92-66 victory.

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Still going: It appears that Smith won’t have his NCAA record for coaching victories (879) snatched from him any time soon, but two of his contemporaries--Jerry Tarkanian and Lefty Driesell--haven’t given up the chase. Tarkanian, 70, reached 750 victories Thursday when Fresno State rode roughshod over Texas El Paso, 108-56, and Driesell, 69, checked in at the same number Saturday when Georgia State took mercy on Mercer, 86-77.

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Shorts and pads only: “It’s war. You have to come in ready to play with your mouthpiece in and your helmet on.” This is not a quote from a Baltimore Raven or New York Giant on Super Bowl XXXV, rather Mississippi State guard Derrick Zimmerman on his team’s rough-and-tumble 79-69 victory over No. 19 Mississippi at Starkville, Miss.

There were 57 fouls called, with Zimmerman taking a nasty fall in the second half when he was undercut going to the basket by a teammate who was pushed underneath him by an Ole Miss player.

“With the hard fouls and everything, you just have to accept it and get back up and play,” Zimmerman said.

Sounds like something Trent Dilfer might say after today’s game.

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No wake-up call?: The enthusiasm from a 12-0 start for Wake Forest has been subdued by five losses--all on the road.

After the No. 9 Demon Deacons took their latest detour on the road--a 78-72 loss at Cincinnati--guard Broderick Hicks put his spin on the situation: “Both teams played with urgency. They played with heart and showed emotion. So did we. Maybe it’s easier to play with heart at home.”