Today Briar Cliff University honored the four senior men's basketball players who's careers will end following this season. It is always an emotional time when you finally realize that the four years are just about over and that it's almost time to move on. In honor of these seniors, I would like to take this opportunity to talk about each one of our seniors from this season. While their careers can't truly be measured in statistics over the past four years due to the talented classes that came before them, they have each contributed to the legacy of Briar Cliff Charger Basketball in their own unique ways.
Tim Loan (55) is a great example of what patience and persistence will earn you. Tim spent 3 years on the Briar Cliff JV team, including his sophomore year which was cut short by injury. During those three years we were able to see Tim steadily improve as a post player and eventually earn the right to play significant varsity time during his final season here at Briar Cliff. I'm sure there were times during those JV years that Tim probably thought to himself "What am I doing here?" or "Will I ever get a chance to really show what I could do?" but he stuck with it and has shown his talents well during this season.
Brenton "Ziggy" Brown (15) is a JUCO transfer who only played two seasons in the blue and gold. Last season he saw more action and there were many times where he dazzled the crowd with his abilities. Although he hasn't seen the playing time that he wanted this season, he has come up big in some key situations to help the Chargers pull out victories, including some key shots during the upset wins over Dordt and Nebraska-Omaha.
When I think about Ben Sitzmann (23) the first thing that I thought was "Wasn't it just yesterday I saw him playing for Heelan in the Substate game over at Tyson Event Center? Where have these four years gone?"
Ben of course is the Hometown Hero of this class. Born and raised in Sioux City, he grew up where many of us were able to see him mature and improve his game during his time at Heelan. Those of us that were that lucky knew that if the improvement continued he would be a special player for Briar Cliff, and we were right. Ben has been a great player no matter what role the coaches needed him to play. Whether it was coming off the bench during his sophomore season or being a starter during his junior and senior seasons, Ben has always given the same blue collar effort that is a calling card for Siouxland basketball players over the years.
And then there's Eric Rohe (13). Eric's story is unique to this class because he is the only one who came to BCU with a family legacy to continue. For those of you who don't know, Eric's older brother Neil was one of Coach Barry's first recruits to come to BCU. During his career, which ended in 2008 (the spring before Eric enrolled at Briar Cliff), Neil amazed over 1,000 points for his career, was named an honorable mention All-American in his senior year, and helped lay the foundation for the success that the Charger program has experienced in recent years. More importantly than that is that Neil was known around BCU as one of the friendliest and active students on campus. It didn't matter whether you were a freshman or a grad student, Neil would treat you with the same respect and dignity that he treated everyone.
While Eric was not able to match Neil's basketball achievements, mainly due to the upperclassmen that were ahead of him for three years, he is a great example of never complaining, doing the jobs that he was asked to do, and for being an even better person off the floor to everyone around him, whether it was his best friend or someone he just met.
So what is the final legacy for the Class of 2012? In many ways it's too soon to tell since the postseason hasn't been played and we haven't been able to look back. In many ways, it's a question of "What might have been?" due to these guys having to sit behind the likes of Chase Vander Feen, Kyle Semprini, Matt Geelan, and James Larson for their first three years, but it's also a legacy of guys who took advantage of the opportunities that were given to them over the years and doing their best to make the most of them.
I'm DK and that's the 411.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Ray Nacke Day
Hey everyone,
Yesterday Briar Cliff University did something that they should've done a long time ago. The school officially dedicated the floor of the Newman Flanagan Center in honor of former head coach Ray Nacke.
By now most of you already have heard a lot about Coach Nacke's career, especially if you read the article in Saturday's Sioux City Journal [great job by BCU alum Michael (Mikey) Brauer] so I'll just state the basics.
When Coach Nacke got to BCU (BCC at the time), the school had only been coeducational for 5 years (1966) and the athletic programs were also that old. The basketball team had to practice in what is now the Briar Cliff theater, and those of you who have seen the theater (including the area behind the stage) know just how small that gym was. The team played their home games down at the Sioux City Auditorium (now the Long Lines Rec Center at the Tyson Events Center), not the worst facility in the world, but many people wished that BCU could play in an on-campus facility.
Coach Nacke took a mediocre program and eventually built it to a program that had 22 winning seasons, numerous District and National Tournament appearances, and of course his crowning achievement, the ability (and in his words luck) of being able to start the Panama Pipeline which brought great student-athletes to Briar Cliff.
Probably the best thing about the Nacke Era is that it has been used by coaches that have followed as a standard for what the expectations are for each BCU team that has followed. When Todd Barry took over the BCU program in 2004, Briar Cliff had fallen on hard times in men's basketball. One of the first calls Coach Barry made after taking the job was to the man he had coached against many times during his reign at Northwestern, and his good friend, Ray Nacke. Coach Barry used the Nacke Era to show the players that he brought in as an example of what Briar Cliff had accomplished and also set the tone for all the teams that played for him were to follow. This included hanging various pictures and newspaper/magazine articles (including one Sports Illustrated article which can be found here: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1124160/index.htm), and putting the names of many of Nacke's best players' (Galvez, Malcolm, Butler, and of course Rolando Frazer) names in the lockers of the current players, with each new varsity player having his name added to that locker.
The honoring of the Nacke Era continues with the "somewhat" new coaching staff. As soon as he was hired last March, Coach Nelson used the Nacke Era in just about every interview that he gave in those first few days. If that wasn't evidence enough of what Coach Nacke means to the current BCU team and fans, you just had to be at the Flanagan Center yesterday, as the whole Charger team formed a tunnel with the former Charger players as Coach Nacke and his family walked onto the floor for the dedication, and as members of the Briar Cliff student body wore throwback uniforms (many of which were actually worn during the Nacke Era) and chanting his name at the end of the game.
Many times in this country, people tend to look at the present and the future and leave the past for dead. We tear down old buildings to make room for new ones. But one thing is for certain, as long as they play basketball at Briar Cliff and as long as the Newman Flanagan Center is the home of Briar Cliff basketball, the name of Ray Nacke will live on in the hearts and the minds of all the members of the Briar Cliff family.
I'm DK and that's the 411.
Yesterday Briar Cliff University did something that they should've done a long time ago. The school officially dedicated the floor of the Newman Flanagan Center in honor of former head coach Ray Nacke.
By now most of you already have heard a lot about Coach Nacke's career, especially if you read the article in Saturday's Sioux City Journal [great job by BCU alum Michael (Mikey) Brauer] so I'll just state the basics.
When Coach Nacke got to BCU (BCC at the time), the school had only been coeducational for 5 years (1966) and the athletic programs were also that old. The basketball team had to practice in what is now the Briar Cliff theater, and those of you who have seen the theater (including the area behind the stage) know just how small that gym was. The team played their home games down at the Sioux City Auditorium (now the Long Lines Rec Center at the Tyson Events Center), not the worst facility in the world, but many people wished that BCU could play in an on-campus facility.
Coach Nacke took a mediocre program and eventually built it to a program that had 22 winning seasons, numerous District and National Tournament appearances, and of course his crowning achievement, the ability (and in his words luck) of being able to start the Panama Pipeline which brought great student-athletes to Briar Cliff.
Probably the best thing about the Nacke Era is that it has been used by coaches that have followed as a standard for what the expectations are for each BCU team that has followed. When Todd Barry took over the BCU program in 2004, Briar Cliff had fallen on hard times in men's basketball. One of the first calls Coach Barry made after taking the job was to the man he had coached against many times during his reign at Northwestern, and his good friend, Ray Nacke. Coach Barry used the Nacke Era to show the players that he brought in as an example of what Briar Cliff had accomplished and also set the tone for all the teams that played for him were to follow. This included hanging various pictures and newspaper/magazine articles (including one Sports Illustrated article which can be found here: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1124160/index.htm), and putting the names of many of Nacke's best players' (Galvez, Malcolm, Butler, and of course Rolando Frazer) names in the lockers of the current players, with each new varsity player having his name added to that locker.
The honoring of the Nacke Era continues with the "somewhat" new coaching staff. As soon as he was hired last March, Coach Nelson used the Nacke Era in just about every interview that he gave in those first few days. If that wasn't evidence enough of what Coach Nacke means to the current BCU team and fans, you just had to be at the Flanagan Center yesterday, as the whole Charger team formed a tunnel with the former Charger players as Coach Nacke and his family walked onto the floor for the dedication, and as members of the Briar Cliff student body wore throwback uniforms (many of which were actually worn during the Nacke Era) and chanting his name at the end of the game.
Many times in this country, people tend to look at the present and the future and leave the past for dead. We tear down old buildings to make room for new ones. But one thing is for certain, as long as they play basketball at Briar Cliff and as long as the Newman Flanagan Center is the home of Briar Cliff basketball, the name of Ray Nacke will live on in the hearts and the minds of all the members of the Briar Cliff family.
I'm DK and that's the 411.
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