THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 2, 1997 TAG: 9701020146
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO LENGTH: 79 lines
Bryce Alford won't turn 2 until Jan. 18, but already he shoots baskets every day. Keeps his shoulders squared and elbow in, too, which means his form may be better than Shaquille O'Neal's.
Could it be in the genes? Bryce is the son of former Indiana University star Steve Alford and the grandson of Indiana high school coaching legend Sam Alford.
They are the Alfords of Indiana, basketball royalty in the hoop-crazy Hoosier State.
But now the Alfords are making their mark in another state. Steve, 31, is head coach at Southwest Missouri State. Sam, 55, is his top assistant. Together they've made the Bears a team to watch, and the surprise of the San Juan Holiday Classic.
The Indians opened the tournament by knocking off a high-flying Fresno State team. In a game that looked like something out of the film ``Hoosiers,'' the buzz-cut (a couple of them, anyway) Bears ran their motion offense to perfection, took care of the ball and, of course, hit their free throws.
The Bears went on to beat Bowling Green before falling to No. 6 Cincinnati in the tournament final. With an 10-1 record, they may receive top 25 votes this week.
All this in just the Alfords' second year at the school tucked in the Ozark Mountains.
``I always thought he'd be a very good coach because he knows the game,'' Sam Alford said. ``The more I work with him, the more I know it's true.''
Steve Alford was the quintessential Indiana schoolboy star, a former Mr. Basketball who played in front of 10,000 fans in the world's largest high school gym, located next to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.
Sam was his high school coach, a 30-year veteran who won more titles than any coach in the North Central Conference - the state's toughest - even though his school had the smallest enrollment.
Steve went to play for Bobby Knight at Indiana, where he was a four-year starter, a three-year All-Big Ten pick and a two-time All-American. He led the nation in free-throw shooting as a freshman, something Sam did as a senior at Franklin College in the 1960s. He also played on the 1984 Olympic team and for four years in the NBA despite being small (6-foot-1) and a step slow.
After he finished playing, Steve took what he learned from Knight, from his dad and from his NBA playing days and applied it at Division III Manchester College, where he became head coach in 1991, at age 26.
Manchester went 4-16 in Steve's first year. Three years later, his team finished 31-1 and reached the Division III championship game.
Southwest Missouri snatched him the next year. His first hire was Sam, who had turned down coaching jobs over the years because he wanted to coach Steve and younger brother Sean.
``I was beginning to think it had passed me by because at my age, I didn't want to go somewhere and be an assistant,'' Sam said. ``This was different.''
It's a family affair. On Monday, Steve walked into the gym holding the hand of his older son, 4-year-old Kyle, who is the team's ballboy, and took a seat on the bench next to his father.
``It's a lot of fun,'' he said. ``There aren't a lot of workplaces where you can involve your family.
``I've been very fortunate. I had great playing experiences. When I interviewed for the job, I told them that although I was only 30, there aren't a lot of 50-year-olds who had the type of experiences I had. I've got a lot of people I can look to for help, but I've also tried to be my own person, because you can't fool kids today.''
One of the people Steve looks to is his father, who jokes about having to ask his son for time off to get a haircut.
``They get along great,'' guard Ryan Bettenhausen said. ``Around Christmas (Sam) was like, `Well, son, what should I do? Can I get some time off?''
Bettenhausen had the distinction of being Steve Alford's first recruit. Like most of Steve's recruits, he's from Indiana, and grew up with an awareness of Steve's reputation as a self-made player - a guy who shot hundreds of free throws daily and dribbled two balls around chairs set up on gym floors.
``The players respect him,'' he said. ``Since we respect him, we feel we should play hard for him.''
It's the Alford way. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Steve Alford is the head coach. His dad is his assistant; his
4-year-old son is the ballboy.