Every year College Basketball provides with high drama and
tremendous storylines. This season we have already had a great
deal of both, but one story has gone virtually unnoticed.
Smack in the middle of Tobacco Road is a program on the verge
of winning a conference championship and it’s not the
University of North Carolina.
Located in Boiling Springs, NC, Gardner-Webb is a relative
newcomer to the division I ranks, but the program has a
history of winning basketball.
Head coach Rick Scruggs and his staff have done a
tremendous job of bringing the program from DII to the verge
of being the top-seed in the upcoming Atlantic Sun Conference
Tournament.
If you spend most of your time getting your basketball
information from the tube, chances are that you have no idea
what a great story there Runnin’ Bulldogs are. Recently I had
an opportunity to catch up with Coach Scruggs to learn a
little more about his basketball program.
DAVE MAGARITY: There is a very small margin, separating
the top and the bottom in the Atlantic Sun Conference
standings. In all your years of coaching, have you ever been
involved in a race with so many teams involved?
RICK SCRUGGS: No, there is more parity in this league
than any I have ever been associated with. We really have some
excellent coaches and players. The tournament will be very
exciting since everyone is matched up so closely. There will
be little or no difference between the top seed and the 8th
seed. It has really been an exciting year in the conference.
MAGARITY: You have a really good point guard in T.J.
McCullough, an excellent big man from down under in Simon Conn,
a local product in Brian Bender and a nice guard in Tim
Jennings. In addition to all of them being nice players they
are also all juniors. You have to be excited about the present
and the future.
SCRUGGS: This was a plan we discussed three or four
years ago. We wanted an experienced team put together when we
became eligible for the tournament. The new transfers this
year and the returning players have really come together and
that is a credit to them. I also have to give a lot of credit
to my assistants, associate head coach Chris Holtmann,
assistant coach Tim Craft, and assistant coach Mike Netti as
well as my former recruiting coordinator Bruce Evans who is
now the head coach at Lander University.
MAGARITY: When most people hear the name Gardner-Webb
they assume that this is a brand new program. However your
program has great tradition, which includes the likes of Artis
Gilmore. Talk about Gardner-Webb basketball tradition.
SCRUGGS: Our program is very steeped in our past
history. To have your jersey retired here you have had to have
played in the NBA. Basically, we have had Artis Gilmore, John
Drew, George Adams and Eddie Lee Wilkins play here. The school
has been a power at every level. We started as a Junior
college, then became an NAIA power and then a NCAA D-II power.
At every level our school has played on a National level. The
people have grown to expect a winner and while the challenges
of competing at a Division I level and in a very solid
conference are more significant than we have faced, we have
worked very hard to continue to try and be successful.
MAGARITY: The Runnin' Bulldogs play a very exciting
brand of basketball. Offensively your teams going back to your
days at North Greenville College have always been very
prolific. Since we are all sponges, which coaches have had the
biggest impact on your approach to offense?
SCRUGGS: I felt that when the 3-point shot was
introduced that the coaches that adjusted would be successful.
I first thought about the offense we run by watching European
teams and how they run their offense. The big guys could step
out and shoot and handle it and it seems like all five players
could shoot the three. It also seemed like all the perimeter
players could shoot and they really know how to use screens to
get open and everyone was a good screener. I have also found
that good shooters are a great equalizer's when you play
superior teams. The European style has and continues to show
me that.
MAGARITY: You are on the verge of winning a conference
title and a couple of years ago your team cracked the
Mid-Major Top 25. Do you believe you have gotten the program
to the level of consistency you had envisioned when you took
over in 1995?
SCRUGGS: The program has truly moved forward from
finishing tenth out of eleven teams in the A-Sun two years
ago, ninth out of eleven teams last year and now having an
opportunity to win a regular season championship is really
special. However, until we win the conference regular season
and win a conference tournament to advance to the NCAA
tournament, we will not have met our goals. We are on the
right track and I have been very pleased with the direction of
the program.
MAGARITY: On a personal note, my brother, Billy played
his college ball at the University of Georgia. He graduated in
1976. I was just curious if your paths ever crossed?
SCRUGGS: I didn't know Billy but I did hear of him. I
played at Spartanburg Methodist JC and USC Spartanburg until
1977-1978. I had an operation and couldn't play anymore so I
transferred to Georgia to finish my degree.
MAGARITY: Well this was great. I really learned a lot
more about your program. You've done a tremendous job.
SCRUGGS: Thanks Dave, I really enjoyed doing this.
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