Lucas: Badgers’ 1989 NIT team start of hoops renaissance
January 17, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Mike Lucas
Saturday’s game to honor 30-year anniversary of ‘aggressive and gritty’ squad at Kohl Center
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BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — Three decades ago, Indiana's Bob Knight, of all people, was among the first to bring attention to a budding renaissance in Wisconsin basketball. A program that had long been dormant and had not fielded a postseason team in 42 years, the 1947 NCAA Tournament.
Knight? Of all people?
In 1968, the UW had a coaching vacancy after John Erickson left to be the Milwaukee Bucks general manager. The athletics board offered the job to Knight, who was then at Army. But his impending hiring was leaked much to the dismay of Knight who rejected the offer.
Now, fast-forward to 1989 — two seasons removed from Knight's third national championship with the Hoosiers — when the Badgers got 27 points from Danny Jones, 12 from Trent Jackson and 10 from Willie Simms to push Indiana into overtime before losing, 61-58, at the UW Field House.
After the near upset, Knight said, "They're awfully close to being a good basketball team."
That qualified as a ringing endorsement from the irascible Knight, a Hall of Fame coach.
Two days later, true to Knight's words, the Badgers stunned No. 6 Michigan, 71-68, in Madison. Jackson had 21 points, Jones had 19 and Kurt Portmann had 12 to go along with nine rebounds. Trailing 69-68, the Wolverines had Rumeal Robinson on the foul line with nine seconds remaining.
(This is the same Robinson whose two free throws with three seconds left in overtime lifted Michigan to an 80-79 win over Seton Hall in the national championship game two months later.)
To the delight of a hungry Field House crowd (11,174), the normally reliable Robinson missed both free throws. Tim Locum, a 175-pound guard, pulled the rebound away from 6-foot-10 Terry Mills and was fouled by Robinson. Locum, an 82 percent shooter from the line, made both tosses to seal the win.
As the fans spilled onto the floor, Simms jumped on the scorer's table and waved a towel. It was a stepping stone moment for a team and a long-suffering program that began slowly inching its way to prosperity.
That '89 NIT team and its coach, Steve Yoder, will be recognized Saturday at the Kohl Center.
"It's hard to believe that it has been 30 years — that says a lot about us being old," snickered the 52-year-old Jackson, the seventh-leading scorer in school history with 1,545 points (15.6 per game). "Everyone feels that we had a big part in laying the foundation for where we are now."
That sentiment was seconded by UW assistant Howard Moore, a member of the 1994 team that ended the 47-year drought from the Big Dance. "The significance of the 1989 team," he said, "was to show we were on the verge of winning and becoming a program that was relevant in the Big Ten."
Not only did the '89 Badgers upend eventual NCAA champ Michigan, but in mid-February they pulled another upset at the Field House by routing No. 5 Illinois, 72-52, snapping a 16-game losing streak in the series. Jackson led the way with 27 points followed by Jones with 17 and Locum with 12.
"We had played the late game on Thursday night and came back at noon Saturday in Madison," recalled Illinois guard Stephen Bardo, now an analyst with the Big Ten Network. "We weren't ready to play. We overlooked the Badgers and got our (bleep) kicked. It cost us the Big Ten title that year."
Although the "Flyin' Illini" finished second to Indiana in the conference race, they joined Michigan in the Final Four — losing to the Wolverines in the semifinals. Bardo was part of a star-studded rotation that included Kenny Battle, Kendall Gill, Nick Anderson, Lowell Hamilton and Marcus Liberty.
"I always remember trying to guard Trent Jackson," said Bardo, the 1989 Defensive Player of the Year in the Big Ten. "He had the highest jump on his jump shot. I'm 6-6 and Trent was maybe 6-1. But he was athletic and once he got going, there was nothing that I could do."
The Badgers had a dynamic one-two scoring punch in Jackson, a senior from Bolingbrook, Ill.; and Jones, a 6-6, 240-pound junior from Rockford, Ill. Both earned second-team All-Big Ten recognition. Jackson, Jones and Tom Molaski, a 6-6 senior from Grafton, Wisconsin, were tri-captains.
Nothing was left to chance in developing the Jackson/Jones partnership/friendship.
"Coach Yoder was brilliant in rooming us together," said Jackson, who had been named the team MVP the year before. "We became very close and talked about who's team this was going to be. I said to Danny, 'This is your team. I'm abdicating as the leader.' We go as Danny goes.'"
Your suggested schedule Saturday: 🕤 9:30 a.m. Kohl Center opens 🕙 10 a.m. Badger Brunch Club 🕚 11 a.m. Beat Michigan! We've got a big-time game vs. #2 Michigan on Saturday and some big-time food options at the Kohl Center for your appetite
— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) January 17, 2019
Jones and Jackson got to know each other better during a two-week August tour of Denmark, Finland and Sweden. The Badgers went 8-0 and Jones scored 53 points in the final exhibition game. "The trip was important to us jelling," Jackson said, "and believing we do have some good pieces."
Wisconsin carried the momentum into the season by winning nine of its first 10 games. That included a win over in-state-rival Marquette in the First Bank Classic championship game in Milwaukee. The Badgers also won the regular-season meeting over the Warriors in February at the Field House.
Moore, a Chicago native, was in the early stages of the recruiting process and was drawn to the Badgers because of their Illinois flavor on the roster. He remembered watching an "aggressive and gritty team on both ends of the floor." Reflecting Yoder's personality, it was a blue-collar team.
Despite impressive wins over three Top-10 opponents (Michigan, Illinois and No. 8 Iowa), the Badgers were hurt by a brutal late-season schedule — four of the final five games on the road. As a result, they finished in sixth place with an 8-10 Big Ten record, 17-11 overall, a bubble team.
Fifth-place Minnesota (16-11, 9-9 in the Big Ten) made the NCAA field. The Badgers didn't. Instead, they accepted an NIT bid. They played two games at the Field House, winning the first over New Orleans (63-61) before losing to Saint Louis (73-68), the eventual NIT runner-up.
The fans returned (crowds of more than 11,000 for six Big Ten games) and so did home-court advantage (14-3 at the Field House). The 18 wins were the most since the '41 team went 20-3 and won the NCAA title. In addition, the Badgers led the Big Ten and ranked No. 12 nationally in scoring defense.
That was a testimonial to Yoder's match-up zone.
"It could be 10 minutes to go in the game and teams were so confused, they still didn't know if we were in a man-to-man defense or a zone," Jackson said of a tenacious defensive system that frustrated league opponents (68.4 points per game). "It made us all work as one."
Jones led the Badgers in scoring with a 20.4 average. He shot 75 percent from the line (149-of-199). "I called him, 'The Massive Assassin,'" said Jackson, who averaged 19.1 points and was the MVP for a second consecutive year. "Danny was a quiet guy. He just went about his business of scoring."
Jackson, who had 101 assists and 50 steals, was businesslike, too. "We had an array of personalities beginning with me," he said, laughing. "I was a feisty, no-nonsense sort of guy. Kind of a Jekyll and Hyde. I'd be nice, friendly and smiley off the court. I became someone else on the court."
The '89 team had a lot of character and characters. Like the towel-waving Simms, a 6-5, 185-pound sophomore from Pontiac, Michigan. He had 27 points at Purdue. "Ice Simms was cool, calm and collected," Jackson said. "He was a slasher — he could slash through the lane and score at will."
Locum, a sophomore from Flora, Ill., was the third-leading scorer (8.8) in '89 and a dead-eye from distance. During his 118-game career, he scored 1,077 points on the strength of 227 3-pointers, the third most in school history behind Bronson Koenig and Ben Brust. "He was a sniper," Jackson said.
Molaski, a 22-game starter, was a valuable "glue" player. "He was the true general on the team," said Jackson. "He did all the dirty work that perhaps no one else wanted to do but it needed to be done. He ran the offense and took a lot of pressure off me from the ball-handling."
The 6-11, 225-pound Portmann, a junior from Sheboygan, had been a Mr. Basketball in Wisconsin. During the '89 season, he had 24 starts and led the team in blocked shots. "He was so athletic," Jackson said. "He was quiet but a fierce competitor."
Nobody competed harder than 6-10, 240-pound Darin Schubring, a senior from Baraboo, Wis. "He was the enforcer," said Jackson. "He was the guy who set a ton of picks to get me open. I like to say, without Darin Schubring, there is no Trent Jackson. Schubee made my life easier."
Pollis Robertson (Wayne, Mich.) and Rob Willey (Neenah, Wis.) rounded out the senior class with Jackson, Molaski and Schubring. Looking back on that '89 season, the missing link was Patrick Tompkins, a powerful 6-6, 245-pound sophomore from Waukegan, Ill.
Tompkins appeared in only 12 games before losing his eligibility. "If we have him, we make the NCAA Tournament," Jackson said. "If we could have gotten those two or three defensive rebounds, it could have changed the outlook. The very next season, Patrick led the Big Ten in rebounding."
Jackson, the senior director of development for the division of diversity on the UW campus, keeps in touch with many former teammates. And he's looking forward to seeing them again Saturday. A video tribute will accompany their introductions at halftime of the Michigan-Wisconsin game.
"It was a great group of guys that came together at the right time and righted the ship," said Jackson, who scored in double-figures in 69 of his final 72 games with the Badgers. "The '89 team broke the curse. That 42-year curse of no postseason tournaments."
We know what's happened since.
"LET'S PLAY FIVE MORE MINUTES IN MADISON!" 🗣 @MattLepay Where were you when @BenBrust hit a game-tying 3 from half-court at the buzzer to send Wisconsin to overtime vs. #3 Michigan?
— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) January 16, 2019
