HOMESCHOOLING
GLE GLEN BROOK NORTH’ S COLLINS PLANS TO BEAT NU FOR LONG HAUL
You might’ve heard the big news Monday: Northwestern’s men’s basketball team barged into the AP Top 25, the program’s first appearance in the weekly poll in seven years and only its second in nearly five decades.
OK, maybe ‘‘ barged’’ is the wrong word. Like the last commuter to board a Purple Line train, theWildcats squeezed in at No. 25. Which raises the question: Doesn’t an 18- 4 team that’s a game out of the Big Ten lead and on a six- game winning streak in conference play deserve better? If NU had the same résumé yet wore Spartan green or Hoosier red rather thanWildcat purple, would it be five spots higher? Ten?
Ah, well. It doesn’t much matter in late January, especially with theWildcats’ visitWednesday to No. 23 Purdue ( 7: 30 p. m., BTN) looming.
‘‘ To go through this season has been really fun, and to get to do it with this group of [ players] who kind of started everything for me,’’ fourth- year coach Chris Collins said. ‘‘ But right now we’re in the middle of the conference season, and we’re staying focused. I know how quickly things can go from good to not so good in sports.’’
True. That was the case with theWildcats’ 2009- 10 team, which got off to a 10- 1 start ( good for one week at No. 25) yet finished the season with 14 losses and a forgettable appearance in the National Invitation Tournament. And then there was the 1968- 69 team, which fell so short of the promise of its early ranking that its coach, Larry Glass, resigned with six games left.
It’s somewhat understandable if voters are skeptical about this NU team, too, considering the whole never- been- to- the- NCAA tournament thing. Most years at Welsh- Ryan Arena, ‘‘ not so good’’ would’ve been just about the nicest way to put it.
Yet many voters haven’t watched theseWildcats play more than a handful of times, if at all. Lord knows their games can be hard to find for those outside of Big Ten country; it’s pretty much BTN or bust.
What everyone eventually will find out: These aren’t your daddy’s Wildcats— or your big sister’s. This is a team that will play very meaningful games inMarch. This is a team that will barge— not squeeze— into the Big Dance at long last.
‘‘ Obviously, we all have had
those dreams,’’ sophomore Vic Law said.
Meanwhile, Collins is fast becoming a star. If he wins a game or two in the tournament, he just might surge to the top of the list of sought- after coaches. The rumor mill will churn like it did for NU’s football coach, Pat Fitzgerald, after his first 10- victory season in 2012.
A phone call Tuesday seemed as good a time as any to sneakattack the 42- year- old Glenbrook North alum on this front.
‘‘ My intention is to be at Northwestern for the long haul,’’ Collins said. ‘‘ I never viewed this as a stopgap or a stepping- stone job. I viewed this as home. It’s a great school. It’s the Big Ten. We’re in themidst of a facilities project— new arena, practice center, offices — that will give us everything other Big Ten schools have.
‘‘ I feel like everything is here for me. I’m very happy here. I don’t even think about this other stuff.’’
We believe him, don’t we?
Groce, point blank
‘‘ Fire John Groce.’’ It only feels like half of Illini Nation is hashtagging those words on a dailyy basis.
Illinois’’ coach is up against it, though, with two- anothersteps- back one- kind steptwostepforward, of season gripping his program. Unless the e Illini become a different team down the stretch of f the regular season, they’ll miss the NCAA tourney for the fourth year in a row.
One former rmer player who has thehe coach’s back, for whatever it’s worth: : Marcus Liberty. The former No. 1 recruit uit in the country out ut of King was a member mber of the 1989 Final Four team and played four- plus seasons in the NBA A before embarking ng on a long career er overseas.
‘‘ I actually ally like Groce,’’ Liberty, iberty, now a high schoolhool coach in Sarasota, Florida, told the Sun- Times. ‘‘ Illinois people aren’t used to losing. I can understand the feelings the fans have. I want to win, too. I want to see my university win Big Ten championships and get back to the tournament. But I like John Groce as a person, and I think he’s a pretty good coach, too.’’
His first head- coaching job has given Liberty a tremendous appreciation of what patience can provide. His first team at Out- ofDoor Academy won one game. His next team won eight and his next 11. Liberty’s fourth team is crushing it to the tune of 15- 3.
Groce doesn’t have any such progress on which to hang his hat, but he does have a breakthrough recruiting class pledged for 2017.
‘‘ Give him an opportunity to coach those guys and seewhat comes out of it then,’’ Liberty said. ‘‘ If it doesn’t work out, then you have to make a decision on where
you’re headed after that.’’