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Posted Nov. 29, 2002

A little assistance
It is a luxury at the Division III level to have a full time assistant coach. It is a rarity for a successful Division III program to have an assistant for more than a season or two, since job turnover is so frequent.

Part of the success of the No. 1 ranked Washington University men's and women's teams is that they have managed to have both. Kevin O'Connell and Steve Cochran took different paths to reach their positions as assistants for the Bears men's and women's teams respectively, but both squads will tell you that they have played almost as important a role as anyone in the success of those programs

A native of Fayetteville, Ark., O'Connell was a point guard for the Bears from 1985 to 1989, playing under current coach Mark Edwards. He went to the NCAA tournament as a player three times and was basically a coach on the floor, who still stands third on the team's all-time list in career assists. After spending time as a graduate assistant at Southern Cal and then an assistant coach at Chicago, O'Connell returned to the fold as an assistant in 1992. O'Connell has remained loyal to the program for the past 11 years.

"He's kind of the quarterback of the program,'' said Edwards, who can recall half a dozen times that O'Connell won a game as a player with a last-second basket, including one that clinched a UAA title in 1988. "He's evolved into the consummate assistant. He'll watch film on teams that we're playing six weeks from now. He'll leave messages on my voicemail late at night with an idea he has. He's earned the respect of all the players, which is a tribute to him.''

The Bears women's team is 142-5 with four national titles since the 40-year-old Cochran came aboard six years ago. Despite never playing collegiate basketball ("I was a below the rim player- the kind you loved to play against in high school,'' Cochran joked.), he moved up the coaching ladder quickly. He became head coach at Division I St Louis when he was 27 and had two very difficult seasons there, as he only had four scholarships when opposing teams had plenty more. There are no scholarships at this level, but the resources and responsibilities are plentiful.

"You have to make sure that your assistant coaches have the freedom to make an impact,'' said Fahey, who relies heavily on Cochran for scouting and working with post players. "Otherwise, they won't stay."

Though the temptation to depart is there from time to time, neither feels the need to depart for a job at which they won't have the same freedoms and support.
"I don't consider myself to be on the fast track,'' said the 35-year-old
O'Connell. "A lot of coaches are always looking to go somewhere. I'd love to
be a head coach someday, but I'm not in any rush to get there.''

"I was too young to be a head coach,'' Cochran said. "Initially I thought
I wanted to go back to the Division I level someday. Now, I don't. It would
be awfully hard to leave here."

Both staffs have other part-time assistant coaches as well (Dianna
Pasley, Ron Roberts, and Annitre Edison round out the women's staff and David
Cerven completes the mens), but there's plenty that needs to get done, more
then enough for everyone.

"Sure we're full-time,'' Cochran said of himself and O'Connell, "but we
still wish that we had 30 hours in a day to get all the things we want done."

PREDICTING THE FUTURE? In each of the last two seasons, the team picked to finish sixth in the Ohio Athletic Conference has surpassed everyone's expectations and then some. Two seasons ago, Ohio Northern, tabbed in that spot, reached the Final 4 and last season Otterbein topped that with a national championship. This season, the coaches tabbed Capital to win, but more importantly had Mount Union in the No. 6 position.

The Purple Raiders return only one starter from last season's 18-9 team, one that handed Otterbein its worst loss of that campaign, 106-59, albeit one without D3hoops.com and D3football.com All-American Jeff Gibbs. Mount Union defeated Thiel in their opener, 72-67.

DAZZLING DEBUT: It was a nice start to the career for freshman Leigh Sulkowski who scored 20 points on 9-for-15 shooting to help Washington & Jefferson defeat host Wooster 69-46 last Sunday afternoon in the championship game of the Seventh Annual Nan Nichols Women's Basketball Classic. Sulkowski, who also grabbed seven rebounds and four steals, was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player after averaging 23.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.5 steals per game. W&J won its first two games for the first time since 1993.

MORE ON THE RECORD: You may have read the note on Julie Christensen breaking the Division III women's basketball record for most free throws made in a game with 26 in a win over Carthage. What astounded us was how she could do so in a game in which she only made one basket. Her performance earned her Lake Michigan Conference player of the week honors.

"The reason we were on the foul line was that they were playing such aggressive defense on her as she brought the ball up the floor,'' said WLC coach Wayne Smith. "She handled the ball very well that day. Carthage fouled out three players and had two more with four fouls. She's a great ballplayer and she plays with such intensity and focus. There's no one you'd want on the foul line more than her.''

WLC shot 51 free throws in the game and made 41, taking advantage of 34 Carthage fouls. Christensen's previous best from the line was 12 free throws against Carroll last season. Amazingly, WLC finished with only four assists and 26 turnovers, yet still came away with the win.

Notes for Around the Nation are compiled with the help of sports information directors across the country. If you have suggestions or information for this column, please send it to mark@d3hoops.com.

2002-03 Columns
March 27 Spirit's the thing
March 19 Not the team to beat
March 13 End to SCIAC exile
March 13 Break time over
March 5 Who let you in?
Feb. 25 Roll must go on
Feb. 20 Eau Claire can go all the way
Feb. 13 Doctors can't stop Kolmodin
Feb. 6 Instant respectability
Jan. 30 Fab frosh revisited
Jan. 23 Carleton survives MIAC battles
Jan. 16 From the NBA to the bottom
Jan. 9 Eagles' ride hasn't landed
Dec. 18 DeSales set to shine
Dec. 11 Rhoades lead to success
Nov. 29 A little assistance

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