A Season on the Brink by John Feinstein

Author:John Feinstein
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

11.

Will We Ever Catch Another Fish?

This crisis was real. The players hadn’t been given a time to come in the next day. All they could do was wait by the telephone. Knight was still depressed when he came in the next morning but at least he wasn’t wild and screaming. “Maybe,” he said to Kohn Smith, “you and I ought to just go hunting.”

Even though he had the flu, Smith thought that was a terrific idea. He and Knight would hunt while the other assistants met with the players. Then they would all go through tape that night. Knight’s willingness to go hunting showed that he knew he needed to stay in control of the situation. Northwestern and Wisconsin were the league’s two weakest teams. Without Thomas, though, neither game looked like a lock, especially on the road. The team was on the brink of complete chaos. Hunting was the best thing Knight could do for himself and for the players that afternoon.

The players came in shortly after Knight and Smith left. Waltman, Felling, and Wright each spoke to them. What did they think was wrong? Did they understand why Coach was so upset? “It’s not so much this mistake or that mistake,” Waltman said. “It’s competing. You guys have got to understand that if Coach is nothing else, he’s a competitor. And he likes to think that there’s enough of him in you that you’ll be just as competitive as he is. Right now, he doesn’t think you are and that’s killing him.”

They went around the room, asking each player how he felt. Some gave stock answers. Others admitted being uptight, nervous. Maybe even scared to make a mistake.

“How many of you,” Waltman asked, “worry about making a mistake because you’re going to get yelled at by Coach?”

For a moment, no one moved. Finally, Calloway put his hand up. Soon, sixteen hands were up. “Do you feel that way, Steve?” Wright said, turning to Alford, the player least likely to be bothered by yelling.

Alford folded his arms. “Well,” he said. “It’s not a feeling. It’s reality.”

That broke the tension. They all laughed, including the coaches, because it was so true. “Look, I think I know what you’re feeling right now,” Waltman said. “I think we all got to know each other pretty well overseas and we all know what’s facing us. But everyone has got to stick together. Someone makes a mistake, pick him up, help him out. Don’t get down on each other. Everyone in here is trying like hell. Coach may not always know that, but you guys do. So stick together.”

Everyone nodded. Everyone felt better. But what would happen that night?

In the meantime, there was another problem. Delray Brooks’s mother had called Wright that day. Delray, she said, was terribly unhappy. He had played zero minutes against Michigan and four against Michigan State after starting against Mississippi State. What was going on? Would he ever play? Maybe he should transfer.

This didn’t come as a shock to Wright or any of the coaches.

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