Feb. 17, 2003

By Chuck Mistovich
Basketball Times

Number-one ranking in the NAIA polls is really hazardous to one's health. Georgetown (Ky.) found that out two weeks ago when its long reign on top of NAIA I tumbled with three straight losses, and then the same thing happened to Oregon Tech in NAIA II. In late January, it was Azusa Pacific (Calif.) losing its No. 1 perch and suffering three straight losses.

The latest teams with "targets" on their backs are Concordia (Calif.) in NAIA I and Northwestern (Iowa) in NAIA II. And Concordia has already been "bitten" in its first week as king of the poll.

The season has been nothing short of amazing for coach Ken Ammann and his Concordia team. They rolled up a 23-1 record and rocketed to No. 1 in the Feb. 11 poll, until soon losing to Westmont (Calif.), 74-68. Ammann is a rookie head coach after assisting coach Bill Odell at Azusa Pacific the last two seasons. So, with that loss, we're guessing that coach Ron Cottrell and his Houston Baptist team (22-2) will take over the "forbidden" top spot in the upcoming poll.

For Ammann and his Concordia team, the run has been spectacular. His pre-season comments have come true, when he said, "I look forward to fulfilling my vision of leading Concordia to the top of the Golden State Athletic Conference and to national prominence."

The mid-February loss dropped his club to 11-2 in the league, one game behind 12-1/20-3 Azusa Pacific. Right on their heels is coach John Moore of Westmont with a 10-3/17-6 record. Coming into the week, long-time No. 1 Azusa was ranked sixth in the NAIA national and Westmont 17th.

Makes Transition Look Easy
For NAIA II top gun Northwestern (Iowa), the rapid success of coach Kris Korver continues to grow. The coach left a high school coaching career to take his first collegiate job at Northwestern three years ago and won the national championship. Then last year he guided his club to the NAIA tourney Final Four. Fifth-nine wins in two seasons!

This season the team has rocketed to a 24-1 record and looks like the team to beat as the NAIA tournament nears. Korver's only loss of the season was to NCAA III powerhouse Hope College (Mich.), coached by Glenn Van Wieren, in an 82-79 battle in late November. Northwestern has gone on to win 21 straight.

And the New Challengers Are...
It is probably Houston Baptist's turn at No. 1 in NAIA I. The club has racked up a 22-2 record, including huge winning streaks of 16 in a row since it last loss in early December and 53 straight at home.

Coach Cottrell has a veteran team, but no one is better than Rod Nealy, an NCAA Division I transfer, who leads the NAIA with 30.4 points a game, and also has flashy numbers of 10.8 rebounds a game, 57 percent field shooting and 77 percent shooting from the line. He's probably the best player in NAIA basketball this winter.

In NAIA II, two unfamiliar faces to the top of the ratings are breathing down the back of Northwestern of Iowa. Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) has racked up a 27-2 record to tie with 22-1 Saint Vincent (Pa.) for the No. 2 ranking in the latest NAIA poll.

The high-octane Stritch program is guided by Dennis Fox, who has eclipsed the 400-victory hallmark during this brilliant season. The club is pouring in 90.3 ppg in an offense which really spreads around the ball. St. Vincent takes defense to the highest level for coach Bernie Matthews. His Bearcats allow only 68.0 ppg. Matthews, in this 33rd season at Saint V, has racked up a 503-393 record, hopes to improve upon its Elite Eight finish in the nationals last year.

It was quite a special week at Saint Vincent in early February when Matthews claimed his 500th career win...and women's head coach Kristen Zawacki won her career 400th victory in her 220d season as the first and only coach of the Lady Bearcats.

Short Shots
St. Vincent is atop its division in the American Mideast Conference but coach Matthews' club will have a real battle in the league playoffs. Cedarville is ranked 11th nationally with a 22-7 overall record and Geneva (Pa.) is rated 22nd with a 17-10 mark. Those teams were picked fourth and third, respectively, in the coaches' pre-season poll. Coach Ray Slagle, in his third year at Cedarville, has really turned up the excitement in the program as it averages over 3,000 fans in its weekend home games during the brilliant run starting in January. Coach Jeff Santarsiero has piled up a 112-78 mark in his seventh season as head coach, taking the head job in 1996 after assisting the legendary Jerry Slocum who moved his magical winning ways to NCAA II Gannon (Pa.). The other challenger in the conference is rookie coach Jeff Hamilton's Shawnee State (O.) club which is 17-11 this year...

Getting that 700th career victory was quite elusive for coach Dan Miles of Oregon Tech. His club was riding a 22-game winning streak with just one more win needed for number-700...and then came three straight losses and a drop out of its NAIA II No. 1 ranking. Making the 700th extra special was that it came at Southern Oregon, where the 57-year-old Miles had been a three-sport star as a student...

Georgetown (Ky.) fell from No. 1 in the NAIA I rankings and, even worse for coach Happy Osborne is that his Tigers are only 1-3 in the tough Mid-South Conference. Georgetown, now ranked 12th in the NAIA I poll, had lost three straight after a 21-game winning streak. The Tigers have to contend with three Kentucky teams tied for first in the Mid-South: 21-5 Pikeville coached by Randy McCoy; 19-5 Cumberland College guided by Don Butcher; and 19-5 Lindsey Wilson coached by Paul Beck. The conference is one of the finest in NAIA. Just look at the national rankings of these teams: Pikeville 10th, Georgetown 12th, Cumberland 13th and Lindsey Wilson 15th...

Vanguard University, formerly known as Southern California College, had a coaching change in late January when Stephen French left the university and was replaced by Bob Wilson, also the athletic director. In three and a half seasons, the V team had won 38 games and was struggling to compete in the rugged Golden State Conference, which has three teams ranked in the NAIA I top 20 poll. Vanguard is 5-19 on the season and 1-12 in the league...

No. 4-ranked McKendree (Ill.), coached by Harry Statham with over 800 career victories, is 23-3 overall and 4-0 in the American Midwest Conference but the club has its hands full with Columbia (Mo.) in the league race. Coach Bob Burchard's Columbia club is ranked 10th nationally with an overall mark of 18-5 and 3-1 in the AMC. Pushing both of those teams in the league is coach Tony Tompkins' Missouri Baptist club with a 17-6 overall mark.