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Pag* 4A-K1NCS MOUNTAIN HCRALD-Thunday. luly 31. 1980
BASKETBALL CAMP - Duke basketball stan
dout Bob Bender is pictured here lecturing to
a group of azoa youngsters attending the
Kings Mountain Basketball Camp oi the Stars
Photo by Gory Stewort
this week at the Community Center gym.
Bender coached the youngsters on the fun
damentals oi passing, dribbling and shooting.
Duke’s Bobby Bender
Likes ACC Tournament
By GARY STEWART
Co-Editor
Last winter, after four Atlan
tic Coast Conference basketball
teams were eliminated from the
NCAA playoffs in regional play,
former Marquette Coach A1
McGuire blamed their lack of
success on the ACC tournament.
The tourney, he pointed out,
emotionally drained the players.
Any of the four, he said, could
have won the national cham
pionship had it not been for the
ACC tournament.
But, maybe some of the so-
called experts aren’t the experts
they’d like the nation’s basket
ball fans to think they are.
Bob Bender, Duke guard who
helped lead the Blue Devils into
three national tournaments, says
he’s read and heard such
statements as the one McGuire
made, and he disagrees.
“1 don’t think the tournament
drains you,” Bender said Mon
day while taking a break from
working with the Kings Moun
tain Basketball Camp of the
Stars at the Community Center.
“Anytime near the end of the
season, the players are going to
be so excited about playing one
game at a time, the ACC tourna
ment is not going to mean that
much,” he said.
The ACC tournament, in fact,
was a stepping stone for the Blue
Devils last winter. The pre
season pick to win the ACC,
they faltered in mid-season and
finished fourth in the final
league standings. Their third
straight trip to the NCAAs
under Coach Bill Foster wasn’t
assured until they won the ACC
tournament.
They went on to the Mideast
finals before losing to Purdue,
which went on to finish third in
the land under former UNC-
Charlotte Coach Lee Rose.
“We had our goal set before
the beginning of the season to go
back to the final four,” noted
Bender, who played on a na
tional championship team at In
diana before transferring to
Duke his sophomore year. “Win
ning the ACC tournament in
creased our momentum. It was a
positive factor for us, not a
negative one as many people are
saying.”
Bender, though never the in
dividual star like a Mike Gmin-
ski or Gene Banks, reached some
goals in college basketball that
few attain. During all four years
of his eligibility, he played on a
team that made the NCAA tour
nament field, and, as previously
mentioned, was a member of the
national championship Indiana
team four years ago.
Naturally, fans in this part of
the country assume the reason
for Bender’s coming to Duke was
a dislike for Indiana’s fiery head
coach, Bobby Knight. But,
nothing could be farther from
the truth.
‘That wasn’t the case at all,”
says Bender. “Indiana was just
not the place for me. 1 was for
tunate 1 went there for a year.
The things 1 learned under
Coach Knight, I’ll always benefit
from.
“Although 1 didn’t get in that
much playing time at Indiana, 1
felt as much a part of the na
tional championship as anyone
else. There were some very great
players on that team and it was a
challenge just to practice with
them.”
As for his three years at Duke,
Bender says he’ll remember the
last one best.
‘The biggest thing at Duke is
that I was a part of a winner,” he
said. “1 was not a star, and was
never on an All-American or All-
ACC team.
“But 1 was fortunate enough
to play with good ballplayers.
And Coach (Bill) Foster blended
the talent into a winning tradi
tion which 1 feel like will con
tinue.”
Bender served as a co-captain
his senior year, along with
Gminski.
“All in all, it was a great year,”
he said. “We had a period of time
where we had a lot of guys hurt
and lost five games in a row. A
lot of people counted our season
as over at that point. But we had
enough character to come back
and win the ACC tournament
and go to the Mideast finals.”
Duke came within an eyelash
of winning the national title
Bender’s sophomore year, and
had the Blue Devils defeated
Kentucky for that crown, it
would have made him a member
of a national champion two
years in a row.
The Devils played under little
pressure that year, since they
had been picked to finish as low
as sixth in the regular season
ACC race.
‘That was the big difference
our junior year,” said Bender.
“itfter going to St. Louis our
sophomore year, the pressure got
to us that next year.
“We had never faced the at
tention we got after going to the
final game,” he said. ‘The next
year, we were picked number
one in the nation in pre-season
and we started thinking about
how we were going to devy up
our time to talk and meet
everyone that wanted a part of
us. We tried to take some short
cuts and it caught up with us.
But we learned from it.”
The future of Duke is bright,
he says, even though players like
Gminski and Bender, and Coach
Foster, are gone.
‘There will be a lot of basic
changes next year,” he said.
“Duke will be a small team.
They didn’t recruit a big man to
take Gminski’s place. They
won’t put anyone on the floor
under 6-3 but they won’t have
the dominant big man. They’ll
match up well against most
teams but when they face Sampi-
son (Ralph Sampson of Virginia)
and Clemson with all their big
men, it will be the telling point.
But with Kenny Denard and
Gene Banks and Vince Taylor
back, they 11 have a good nucleus
for a good team.”
Bender looks for Maryland to
win the ACC and everyone else
to be well-matched.
“With their change in at
titude, Maryland literally ran
away with the conference last
year,” he said. ‘They came back
to the tournament with the idea
of winning it, even though they
had an NCAA bid wrapped up.
They almost won the tourna
ment too, but by not winning it
last year, theyll have something
to prove this year.”
As for Bender and Gminski,
itll be on to the NBA. Bender
was drafted in the sixth round by
San Diego and Gminski in the
first round by New Jersey.
“Gminski will be an instant
factor for New Jersey,” he said.
“With his shooting ability, he
can’t do anything but help. 1
won’t say hell be All-Pro his
rookie year, but he will be a big
help to the New Jersey team.”
As for Bender, well, it’s not
easy to predict success for
oneself. But, he has the good
guard size, is a good ballhandler,
shooter and defensive player.
And, he’s a believer in hard
work. Look for him in the NBA.
Football Drills Begin
Kings Mountain High football
praaice will begin Friday at
John Gamble Stadium.
Mountaineer hopefuls for
1980 will undergo physical ex
aminations at 5 p.m., and will
have a light workout afterward.
Head Coach and Athletic
Director Dan Brooks said all
candidates should bring a pair of
tennis shoes for the first
workout.
The Mountaineers, as re-
BOOSTERS CLUB
The Kings Mountain High
Mountaineer Club will hold an
important meeting Monday
ni^t at 7:30 at B.N. Barnes
Auditorium. President Bill
Grissom urges all members who
are selling ads for the football
program to turn them in at the
meeting.
quired by state football regula-
DAN BROOKS
tions, will undergo a week of
conditioning drills before putting
on pads. Theyll begin heavy
workouts on Fri., Aug. 8.
Coach Brooks and his staff,
which includes Steve Foster,
David Brinkley and Bob Jones,
will be trying to rebuild the pro
gram after enjoying one of their
better years last fall. The Moun
taineers finished 8-2 and second
in the tough Southwestern 3-A
Conference but lost 26 seniors to
graduation.
The Mountaineers will work
out next week at 7:30 a.m.
Theyll have a month to get
ready for their SWC opener on
Fri., Sept. S against Burns, one
of the two teams to defeat the
Mountaineers a year ago.
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