Duquesne comes back strong

Duquesne Coach Ron Everhart can only imagine what a sight he must have been.

“A guy in a hospital gown, hooked up to an IV, high-fiving and chest-bumping,” he said. “What a sight to behold.”

Everhart had cause to celebrate Thursday , even if was in a Pittsburgh hospital, where he spent five days with a serious gastrointestinal ailment.

Duquesne -- the team that was sent reeling in September when five players were injured in an on-campus shooting after a school dance -- had just upset Boston College on the road in overtime, 98-93.

Nevermind that Boston College -- a team that started the season in the Top 25 -- was missing some key players, including leading scorer Jared Dudley, out with a foot injury.

Duquesne had its fourth victory of the season and won despite a triple-double by Boston College’s Sean Williams.

“I think what they showed all of us is what strength and unity and pride and guys coming together and sacrificing for each other can do,” said Everhart, whose Dukes are 4-7 and have won consecutive road games for the first time since 1994.

One of the players who helped Duquesne upset Boston College was starting guard Aaron Jackson, whose left hand was grazed by a bullet in the shooting. Jackson had 19 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two assists in the win.

The most seriously injured player, Sam Ashaolu, is back in Toronto with his family, continuing his rehabilitation after being critically injured when parts of two bullets lodged in his brain.

“He’s pretty much a walking miracle,” Everhart said. “He’s back on his feet, walking and talking. He’s still in therapy to rehabilitate his memory, and a little bit of his motor skills, but he’s shooting a basketball.

“For a kid a lot of medical professionals didn’t think would make it through that first night, he’s not only an inspiration, but it points out how strong the power of prayer really is.”

Whether Ashaolu will play at the college level again is uncertain.

“The basketball part has been a great motivator for him and something that’s really inspired him to get out and rehabilitate hard and give it a great effort,” Everhart said. “I think a lot of people are counting it out, but a lot of people were saying he wouldn’t live.”

Two other players injured in the shooting, Shawn James, a formidable shot-blocker, and Kojo Mensah are back practicing with the team but are sitting out under transfer rules.

A fifth, Stuard Baldonado, who took a bullet in the arm and torso that narrowly missed his spinal cord, was cleared to begin rehabilitation eight weeks after the shooting but decided to take a medical redshirt year and concentrate on academics.

Everhart’s hospital stay began Christmas Day because of severe abdominal pain caused by diverticulitis, a painful and potentially dangerous infection of one of the pouches that sometimes form in the intestinal tract.

“Apparently I had this quite a while, and it ruptured, but it walled itself off and didn’t leak into my abdominal cavity,” said Everhart, adding that doctors told him his condition could have been life-threatening.

Because the Boston College game wasn’t on TV, Everhart went to the hospital computer room and managed to get delayed statistics and a delayed online broadcast to go with radio commentary as he watched with a group that included athletic department officials, his wife, and for a time, Pittsburgh Coach Jamie Dixon.

“For a guy like that to come by, that meant a lot,” Everhart said of Dixon, who endured his own difficult year with the death of his sister Maggie, the women’s basketball coach at Army. “With what he’s been through, you just admire and respect him to no end. He’s lived through all the tough times.”

Everhart is back with his team for a game at St. Joseph’s today, and hopes the new year won’t include any time spent in hospital rooms or waiting areas.

“I remember that night, thinking, God, I hope this isn’t as bad as it looks like it could be,” Everhart said.

“I’m very proud of the way these kids have responded.”

Still pining

The days when Bob Knight roamed the sideline at Assembly Hall seem far away, but some Indiana fans still cling to the memory.

Jeff Skomp of Lyons, Ind., a town of about 700 not far from Bloomington, was in the sixth row at Texas Tech’s United Spirit Arena last week in hopes of seeing Knight break Dean Smith’s record of 879 victories. He turned out to be one game early, and saw Texas Tech lose to Nevada Las Vegas.

“We drove 17 hours,” said Skomp, who made the trip to Lubbock, Texas, with two brothers and a friend. “And we paid too much for tickets -- $81 with shipping and handling.

“If he’d have been at Indiana, he’d already have had the record, and he’d have won the national championship the year after he left.”

Olson not interested

With 772 victories, Arizona Coach Lute Olson is the closest active coach to Knight. But although Olson, 72, doesn’t have any particular plans for retirement, he doesn’t have Knight in his sights.

“The record is not something I have any interest in,” Olson said. “That record is going to be short-lived with some of the coaches coming up. With [Mike] Krzyzewski and his situation at Duke, he’s going to blow by those record-holders in a hurry, I think.”

It’s easy to forget after all of Olson’s years at Arizona that he used to butt heads with Knight as Iowa’s coach. Though Olson was gracious in his remarks about Knight as the record approached, there was a time when the two didn’t speak for several years, and there are some good tales about Knight in Olson’s new book, “Lute! The Seasons of My Life.”

“I’ve always felt his reputation worked to his advantage when he was recruiting a player,” Olson wrote of Knight. “He’d go into their home and the parents would be uptight, wondering if he was going to get angry and throw a lamp, and the kid would be nervous, wondering if he was going to grab him by the shirt and start shaking him. Then he ends up being this really nice guy.

“He is a nice guy, at least until you beat him. Then he’s not so good.”

When Gene Keady was hired at Purdue, Olson recalled Keady’s wife, Pat, telling Olson’s late wife, Bobbi, how delighted she was by the roses Knight sent her.

“That Bobby Knight is so nice,” Pat told Bobbi.

Bobbi’s response: “Wait.”

Kudos to Wazzou

Coaches in the Pacific 10 Conference are saying good things about Washington State and first-year Coach Tony Bennett after its Southern California split -- a three-point loss to No. 1 UCLA and a victory over USC.

Washington State (12-2) also has defeated Gonzaga.

“They’re a very nice team and they’re going to be a problem for everybody, whether it be at home or on the road, in my opinion,” said Olson, whose No. 7 Wildcats play at Pullman on Saturday.

Said USC Coach Tim Floyd: “They’re just exceptionally well coached, and I think they’re a legitimate Top 25 team.”

robyn.norwood@latimes.com

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

The Times’ rankings

*--* Rk. Team (Rec.) Comment 1 UCLA (13-0) Bruins in possible battle of unbeatens at Oregon on Saturday. 2 NORTH CAROLINA (12-1) Brandan Wright already a four-time ACC rookie of the week. 3 FLORIDA (13-2) Twelve victories by 15 points or more. 4 WISCONSIN (14-1) Badgers, Buckeyes meet for first time Tuesday. 5 OHIO STATE (12-2) One-point game vs. Indiana with a little more than five minuets left. 6 DUKE (13-1) Blue Devils’ non-conference home winning streak is 51. 7 ARIZONA (11-1) Washington, Washington State trip no cinch. 8 ALABAMA (13-1) Two players -- Davidson, Hendrix -- average nine rebounds a game. 9 KANSAS (12-2) Wright move: Julian Wright didn’t start, scored 23 vs. Rhode Island. 10 OKLAHOMA STATE (14-1) Nepotism isn’t fair, but second- generation coaches are doing great. 11 PITTSBURGH (12-2) Pitt is 10-33 all-time at Syracuse. 12 TEXAS A&M; (12-2) When in doubt, go with defense. 13 MARQUETTE (13-2) Measuring-stick game Jan. 10 at Connecticut. 14 CONNECTICUT (12-1) Huskies shot 48% from the line (13 for 27) at West Virginia. 15 OREGON (13-0) Malik Hairston uncertain for USC, UCLA with foot injury. 16 WASHINGTON (10-3) Huskies took two Ls home from L.A. 17 BUTLER (13-1) Bulldogs have 67 fewer turnovers than their opponents. 18 LOUISIANA STATE (10-3) Connecticut visits Baton Rouge on Saturday. 19 AIR FORCE (13-1) Dan Nwaelele makes 56% from three-point range. 20 NEVADA (12-1) Fazekas averaging almost 21 points, 12 rebounds. 21 CLEMSON (14-0) Easy prediction: Clemson will lose a game in January. 22 NOTRE DAME (12-1) Starting guard Kyle McAlarney suspended on marijuana offense. 23 TENNESSEE (12-2) Vols averaging almost 102 points over last three games. 24 WEST VIRGINIA (11-1) Mountaineers showed Connecticut the road. 25 WASHINGTON STATE (12-2) Team of the week after solid L.A. trip.

*--*