February 15, 2001

By Chuck Mistovich

Don Lane's "homeless" Transylvania squad climbs to No. 1 ranking

Coach Don Lane's Transylvania (Ky.) team doesn't have the words "Home, Sweet Home" in its vocabulary this winter, not after Transy's old Kentucky home, 71-year-old McAlister Auditorium, was torn down prior to the season.

These road warriors have become accustomed to playing "home" games at local high schools and other local colleges en route to building a brilliant, 22-1 record and romping into the number-one spot in the NAIA I rankings.

"It certainly presents a unique challenge not to have a home floor," said Lane, who has racked up a sensational record of 519-253 as he coaches in his 27th collegiate season. "I feel bad for this group of seniors that they won't have a home floor to play their last season on and that they won't be around to play in the new place."

The "new place" is Beck Athletic and Recreation Center, which is worth the wait, says the coach. In the meantime, he has relied on "rallying around this (situation) and use it to motivate us to be the best we can be."

Well, the Pioneers are the best they have ever been. Said the coach, "We haven't been in the post-season for a couple years and they (the seniors) want to do whatever it takes to get back there...we can be right there in the mix when the tournament starts."

Lane has led Transy to five NAIA tourney appearances, including four in the past seven seasons. His team has won at least 20 games in 10 straight seasons. Prior to joining the NAIA, his Pioneers had reached the NCAA III post-season tourney three times.

The coach, who coached at the Olympic Festival Games in San Antonio, Tex., in 1993, preaches balance and defense, and this team may do it better than any other Lane team...ever. The Pioneers score 83.6 points per game with 50 per cent field shooting. The defense is really something, allowing only 67.0 ppg and 42 per cent field shooting.

The headliner on the team has been 6-8 All-America senior Collier Mills with per-game averages of 21.5 points, 10.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists. Said Lane, "I've never had a player dominate the statistics the way Collier did. He was amazingly consistent."

Mills' key sidekicks are 6-4 senior Eric Liedtke with 18.0 ppg and 6-5 senior Kyle Green with 13.3 ppg. All five starters are seniors, including 5-11 Chris Sparks (7.3 ppg) and 6-8 Jimmy Fox (8.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg).

The balanced team's season highlight was tripping Georgetown (Ky.), 86-82 in January, to avenge its only loss of the season to the state rival by a 70-66 mark in late November.

Lane will have a major rebuilding job next season. His seniors have set the tone for the great season, playing "without a home" and playing at the highest level in NAIA basketball. The coach has been there before - next year will take care of itself.

Oklahoma teams chasing Transy

The Sooner Conference has been the top league in NAIA play for several years, and it clearly earns that title again this year as 18-1 Science & Arts of Oklahoma and 16-2 Oklahoma City are ranked second and third in the NAIA into February.

The USAO program is to be greatly admired. Coach Brisco McPherson came into this season with a three-year, 52-51 record with the Drovers, but then they exploded this season to hop into first place in the Sooner loop.

Two of the truly great wins were the 79-76 and 87-75 victories over City. What's Brisco doing? No one beats Coach Win Case's Oklahoma City team twice in one season!

USAO outscores its opponents by an 88-74 mark each game, and holds foes to only 40 per cent field shooting. Five players score over 12 ppg, led by 6-2 sophomore Michael Williamson (17.3 ppg), 6-4 senior Delvin Washington (16.2 ppg, 7.5 rpg) and 6-4 senior Theron Jackson (15.0 ppg). Then there are two other great talents in 6-1 senior Adrian Anderson (12.3 ppg) and 6-10 junior Randy Hughes (12.8 ppg, 8.2 rpg).

Coach Case has his usual stable of stars, led by 16-ppg scorers 6-0 junior Roy De La Cruz and 7-0 senior Tate Decker. They get plenty of help from 6-7 senior Aaron Eneas (15.2 ppg, 8.8 rpg), 6-1 senior Alonzo Robinson (10.4 ppg), 6-3 junior Alex Spaulding (9.8 ppg) and 6-1 sophomore Jimmy Lawson (8.6 ppg).

The Stars do it on both ends of the court, outscoring foes by an 84-69 average, shooting 51 per cent from the field and holding foes to 42 per cent on action shots.