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An in-depth look at
a piece of Division III
Posted Jan. 13, 2004
Notables
Nov 18: Mac ends long losing streakNov 14: Opening with upsets
Nov 9: F&M has greater expectations
Susquehanna's
successful trio
By Mike Ferlazzo
SELINSGROVE, Pa. — While its uniforms say “Susquehanna,” maybe the “S” on the shorts of the Susquehanna men’s basketball team should also stand for Shamokin. That’s because the successful Shamokin High basketball program, located about a half-an-hour from Susquehanna’s Selinsgrove campus, is worth at least the “S” in the success that the Crusaders have experienced this season while starting 10-3.
 Nick Griffiths, Frank Marcinek and Chris Zimmerman have teamed up to help lead Susquehanna to a big early start. |
They’ve all shared one other common bond — producing big things from diminutive frames.
The 5-8 Marcinek, who was also a starting point guard who graduated from Shamokin High in 1977, has gone on to become Susquehanna’s winningest men’s basketball coach — presently at 211-155 (.577) through Jan. 14. He guided last year’s team to the conference regular season title. Only a six-point loss to Elizabethtown in the championship game kept the 18-8 Crusaders from an NCAA Tournament berth.
The 5-10 Griffiths has been a four-year starter for the Crusaders, the last three at his more natural wing position, and holds the school’s career record for three-point field goals with 205. He also became the program’s 28th 1,000-point scorer earlier this season and is one of five Crusaders averaging in double figures this season at 11.3 points per game.
Also 5-10, Zimmerman has been a three-year starter and team captain at point guard since transferring from Division I Bucknell. He was a first-team MAC Commonwealth All-Star last season, after being a second-team pick in 2001-02, and leads the team in scoring at 14.0 points per game, and the conference in assists at 4.8 per game. He ranks fourth in career assists at Susquehanna with 333.
A common denominator of any successful basketball team is chemistry, and Susquehanna got plenty of that when it reunited its Shamokin trio following Zimmerman’s freshman season at Bucknell. Chemistry often comes from knowing someone over time, and these three have known each other since grade school.
“He (Marcinek) was pretty good friends with my dad, so I’ve been going to his basketball camps (at Susquehanna) since the second or third grade,” says Zimmerman, who was an all-state point guard on Shamokin High teams that made the state semifinals in each of his final two seasons. “I’ve always had a pretty good relationship with Coach Marcinek and known him for a pretty long time.”
“I’ve known him (Marcinek) through my mom. She used to baby sit his kids through daycare. So, I’ve probably been to his house since I was 6 or 7 years old,” says Griffiths.
Because he went way back with the players, Marcinek never really recruited them like he does most prospects.
“Chris and Nick were both guys that I’ve probably known since third or fourth grade, and it changes your approach to recruiting because so much of recruiting is selling yourself and the type of coach and person you are to the prospective recruits. That wasn’t necessary in this case,” says Marcinek, who played at Shamokin for legendary Bob Probert, a Susquehanna grad who later became one of Marcinek’s assistants before going back to Shamokin as an assistant, where he coached Griffiths and Zimmerman
“Nick came looking at Susquehanna right away, and looked here for both football and basketball out of high school. Chris went to Bucknell and when things didn’t work out to his liking there, thought Susquehanna would be a natural choice for him. So my knowledge of them since they were young boys certainly helped in their recruitment efforts. They were comfortable with me, I was comfortable with them. I knew them as players. I knew them as people. And, it’s turned out to be a great fit.”
Zimmerman thought Bucknell was going to a great fit, and it seemed to be just that initially as he saw limited playing time as a freshman. But a serious ankle injury at the start of his sophomore season changed all of that. Zimmerman was advised to have bone graft surgery to the ankle, like the unsuccessful procedure done on NBA star Grant Hill. He opted not to have the surgery, but was forced to endure six months of inactivity due to the pain. During that time, his interest in Susquehanna grew as he came to campus to visit many of his Shamokin friends — including Griffiths. He decided he might still be able to play college basketball there, even without the surgery.
But without having a pure point guard that season, Marcinek turned to a freshman Griffiths as his starter at the position. He thought that might make Zimmerman’s decision to transfer difficult on his former teammate, but found that to be false.
“Nick played point guard as a freshman and when Chris was transferring, I had heard rumors that Nick may not have been crazy about that. So, I went and asked Nick ‘What do you think?’ And, the rumors were 100% false and he was delighted to have Chris join him. And he was happy to move to the two spot.”
“I wanted Chris or anybody (at point guard). I didn’t want handle the darn ball,” recalls Griffiths. “I want to be on the wing, running around. And when Chris came over, it was a big help, because I was comfortable with him. We just know so much about each other and the way we play. We know where each other is all the time.”
While they felt comfortable with each other, playing together on the college level with new teammates took some getting used to — particularly having to deal with early losses. While the team made the Commonwealth Conference playoffs in their debut season — nearly pulling the upset at heavily favored and eventual national runner-up Elizabethtown in a semifinal game before falling 80-77 — the team finished just 14-12 during their first year together. Griffiths and Zimmerman believe Shamokin lost just 15 games over the five years that they attended the high school — with Zimmerman being a year older.
But those losses have gradually diminished as they’ve teamed with current senior frontcourt starters Phil Sander (13.3 ppg, 7.1 rpg, .704 FG%), Bubba Mills (12.2 ppg, 6.4 rpg) and Dan Rathmell (12.1 ppg) to go 23-4 since last year at this time. Marcinek believes his guards have certainly had a lot to do with that run.
“As you look at it from a records’ standpoint, the record has improved, but the thing that is behind the scenes is the amount of time and effort they’ve (Griffiths and Zimmerman) put in, and how their work ethic has rubbed off on everybody else,” he says. “There’s nobody that has every worked harder than Chris, and Nick’s a very close second.”
Of course, their relationship with Marcinek has also had a lot to do with that.
“Everybody says that we have such a good relationship with Coach (Marcinek), but when things aren’t going well, he gets on us — like he would his own little kids,” says Zimmerman. “There’s many a time that we might get it a little more than some other people do. But at the same respect, we know we’re on a different kind of level with him.
“You might not always agree with what your coaches have to say on the floor, but as a person, you’re not going to meet a better guy (than Marcinek).”
“He has your interests. He’ll do whatever he can to help you,” says Griffiths.
In return, Marcinek’s starting backcourt is also trying to do whatever it can to achieve the team’s ultimate goal: Win the conference title and make the NCAA Tournament.
“Certainly, two years ago, getting to the playoffs was a good thing. Last year, getting to the conference championship was a good thing. But I don’t think this year anybody will be happy unless we win everything,” says Marcinek. “So I think that’s kind of where our sights are set that might make a difference.”
Shamokin’s impact has sure made a difference at Susquehanna, and it may continue. Marcinek’s oldest son, Frank, Jr., is getting some nice playing time as a freshman for the high school team this season. Zimmerman and Griffiths have played around with him, and Zimmerman even got to coach him at summer camp. Probert is still an assistant coach at the school. And Marcinek believes it is every father’s dream to someday coach his son’s team. His youngest boy, Scott, is also in seventh grade.
Time will tell whether the legacy continues.
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greatly exaggerated
Separated by uniform
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