Short Interview-Ric Wesley (Johnny Orr Assistant) about Jeff Hornacek

[jsb]

Mack the knife.

The nicest person we ever came across when getting player's autographs when I was a kid was Sam Mack.

I'm not sure if he ran into trouble again, but I hope he did OK.

 

[Klubber]

And it was a different time. It was a huge deal when Iowa State got picked once for the tournament with a 5-9 conference record. Analytics mattered not one bit. I'm guessing this year's Iowa State team would have been a 7 seed in 1989.

Sam Mack's legal issues and (to a lessor extent) Mark Baugh's academic issues kind of derailed things for a few seasons. Iowa State had scheduled really tough for a few years and then didn't have much of a team left. And his last year was rough because of Loren Meyer's accident.

And the really frustrating part of the Mack/Baugh issues is before all of that those guys were playing really well together, and that team was starting to really gel and look like the real deal. And then it all went up in smoke.

 

[NodawayRiverClone]

Mack and White charged with first degree robbery

The following is part of a series of historical articles that appeared in Iowa State’s student newspaper. This story, which appeared in the April 3, 1989 issue of the Iowa State Daily, is about Sam Mack, an ISU basketball player, and Levin White, an ISU football player, who were charged with...

iowastatedaily.com

As I recall, Mack (the knife) carried a knife because he was forced to assist in the robbery and wasn't going to be given a gun. Burger King had a nice display of ISU athletic stuff at the entrance, including a basketball team picture with Sam Mack in it. For those who could laugh about it, that was ironically funny.

 

[Big Daddy Kang]

the other thing is they almost got Glenn Rice. I think had we gotten him, might have had a final 4. The other thing that hurt some of Orr's momentum was the Burger King incident.

Too soon!

 

[t-noah]

This is a great story of how Jeff Hornacek ended up at ISU.




FULL interview (1:40) on YouTube CyCast

Great interview with Ric! Nice trip down memory lane. Loved it!

 

[t-noah]

Looking back on things, Tim Floyd had had 4 years, after Johnny. His first year he inherited Johnny's team (Hoiberg, Meyer, Michalik, Beechum). And he did great his 2nd and 3rd years (Cato, Pratt, Willoughby, Bankhead); his 4th year was now great, but he did recruit Fizer.

Question: How did he get the Bulls job again? It was a good but not stellar 4 years at ISU. His last year at ISU was not great at all. As I remember, he had a "in" with the Bulls owner, Jerry Krause? Why did Krause like him so much?

I'm sure he made a lot of money, but boy, being the first coach after the Jordan / Jackson era = tough. And it was pretty tough / bad, as I remember.

 

[David Freshman1982]

G-dm it Elmer!! I can still hear Johnny shouting that from the bench, LOL! Johnny changed everything for ISU, he was so great. Different era for sure. Lots of great kids came here and helped build a program from nothing.

 

[jsb]

Looking back on things, Tim Floyd had had 4 years, after Johnny. His first year he inherited Johnny's team (Hoiberg, Meyer, Michalik, Beechum). And he did great his 2nd and 3rd years (Cato, Pratt, Willoughby, Bankhead); his 4th year was now great, but he did recruit Fizer.

Question: How did he get the Bulls job again? It was a good but not stellar 4 years at ISU. His last year at ISU was not great at all. As I remember, he had a "in" with the Bulls owner, Jerry Krause? Why did Krause like him so much?

I'm sure he made a lot of money, but boy, being the first coach after the Jordan / Jackson era = tough. And it was pretty tough / bad, as I remember.

He was good friends with the owner.

 

[cytor]

It was pretty selfless how Johnny decided to retire before Hoiberg, Meyer, Michalik and Beechum’s senior seasons so his successor (Tim Floyd) was left with a really good team.

I had heard the Orr was "suggested" that he step down so a new coach could come in with some momentum. Not sure Orr really wanted to retire then, but he did. Turns out it was a good move. FWIW I'm not in the know, so my info might not be accurate.

 

[Cyfan1965]

the other thing is they almost got Glenn Rice. I think had we gotten him, might have had a final 4. The other thing that hurt some of Orr's momentum was the Burger King incident.

My dad was playing golf with Johnny when somebody came out from the clubhouse and told him he had a phone call. Johnny came back and said something along the lines of.... "those sons of ******* have paid him a 100,000$ to got to Michigan".

 

[cyclones500]

yeah but that team played a very hard non conference schedule and got some big wins. 7 Big 8 teams got an invite that year and I think 4 or the 5 wins in conference were against ranked teams including #2 Okie State. Beating 8th ranked Missouri in the Big 8 tournament got them in. They were the underdog in the first round and won, then faced Kentucky, close game.

Actually, 6 Big 8 teams got into tournament. But your overall point stands.

 

[jflick1217]

This is absolutely the best CyCast they've ever done, particularly for old heads like me. A lot of times, I'm left wanting more from a 15-minute interview they do with the guy. Mike did a fantastic job, and Ric was a terrific talker. This was awesome, couldn't recommend it any more!