Why did you take the job? Perry Clark is asked.
He is Tulane`s first-year basketball coach, and here he laughs loudly and says, ”Momentary insanity.” Then he leans forward in his chair, and in evangelical tones adds: ”But if it gets done, what a great story.
”See, I`m one of those guys who still believes in Camelot, who still believes in fairy-tale endings. Here`s something my grandfather always said:
`It`s not how tough the race is. It`s whether or not the race should be run.` This just seemed worth doing.”
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Three months short of five years ago, in the wake of a point-shaving scandal that embarrassed his proud university, Tulane President Eamon Kelly shut down its basketball program. There it remained, in abeyance, until last Oct. 15, when a midnight practice announced the Green Wave`s return to the Metro Conference.
Now, as Super Bowl mania builds around him, Kelly sits comfortably in refurbished Fogelman Arena and watches the baby Wave (nine freshmen, three junior-college transfers) defeat Division II Nicholls State. It is their fourth victory of the season, the first since their monumental upset of then- No. 20 Memphis State 11 days earlier. But here, under these circumstances, that number is of secondary importance.
What is important is the attempt to resurrect a program and reconstruct it properly while competing with Louisville, Memphis State and others in the Metro.
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”Originally,” Kelly says, ”I indicated we would bring basketball back when there was a change in the national environment, a change in the number and types of NCAA violations. But there was a strong demand on campus to bring it back, and it was clear there was not going to be a change in the national environment, so I decided to bring it back.”
Was there any trepidation in doing that? he is asked.
”Whenever you have activities involving human beings,” he says,
”there`s always the risk of someone doing something inappropriate. But I think I`ve made it as clear to the Tulane community as I could that this behavior is unacceptable.”
Do you see yourself as a symbol in your attempt to do it the right way?
”We may be,” he says. ”But I don`t want to lay claim to that.”
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Memories, especially fans` memories, are long, and so the taunts that have greeted the new Tulane team are not surprising. Dollar bills have been waved at them at some road games, and, at others, they have heard the chant,
”Pete Rose graduated from Tulane.”
”It`s pretty funny,” says backup center Joe Passi. He is a graduate of Rolling Meadows High School and Harper Junior College, and now he is asked just how he ended up so far from home.
”I knew Tulane had a great reputation academic-wise. That was a plus. Then the fact that they were starting from rock bottom, I knew I`d be part of building the program back to where it should be. People are coming up to us now and saying congratulations on being part of the group that`s bringing it back. They`re not putting any pressure on us to do anything. They`re just glad to see us doing something right.”
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Coach, president and player, those are the three elements in Tulane`s ambitious attempt. Yet, the man squarely on center stage is 38-year-old Clark. ”I know we`re under a microscope,” he says. ”But I don`t feel any pressure. I don`t feel that microscope.
”I understand, though, that I`m at a private school whose pride has been its academic tradition, and where the basketball program in the past bruised and tarnished that tradition. A lot of people still have scars from that, and part of what I have to do is heal those scars.”
He began accumulating his skills 16 years ago when he assisted the legendary Morgan Wootten at DeMatha Catholic High School outside Washington, D.C. His next stop was Penn State, where he worked under current Charlotte Hornet coach Dick Harter. Then it was on to Georgia Tech, where he was associate head coach.
That background is important, for at none of those schools was the athletic department the dog and the university the tail. Sports, at each, was an integrated part of the whole, not the whole itself. Through his experiences at each, Clark came to embrace this philosophy that too many coaches choose to dispute.
His embrace of that is one quality that made him attractive to Tulane, and the quality, too, that allowed him to accept its daunting challenge. He understood what they sought because he had experienced what they sought. That, he says, ”is why I think I can be a success here.”
But he makes it clear the victories that come this year and in the future will measure only part of his success. See that plaque? he says, pointing to one hanging on his office wall. It was presented by former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young to each member of the 1986 Georgia Tech team that entered the season ranked No. 1 and ended it upset by LSU in the NCAA regional. ”When he gave it to us,” Clark says, ”he said that none of the guys got in trouble, that they were good role models, that that was more important than winning a championship. That`s the direction things should go.”
He is an ebullient man, an accomplished raconteur, and now he is off, randomly pulling more anecdotes from his memory to further build his definition of success.
He remembers former Tech star Tom Hammonds hugging him last summer and saying, ”Coach, if you ever need me to do something, just call. I`ll do it.” ”That made me feel good,” he says.
He remembers the upset of Memphis State and the fans spilling out of their seats and onto the court in wild celebration.
He remembers, finally, the directions he received from Kelly when he was hired. ”He said,” says Clark, ” `Bring in kids who have a good chance of getting their degrees and run a clean program.` Those were the easiest orders for me since that`s what I`d been doing.”
He leans back, thinks for a moment, then continues, ”Now I`m competitive, but I`ve been at an ACC school. I`ve recruited high school All-Americas. I`ve won an ACC championship. I`ve been through those things, so I don`t have any ego involved in them. Now I want the kids to enjoy some success, but my own needs and wants are not what this is all about. It`s getting these kids to a certain point.
”Here, I feel I can help them get all they need to go on and be productive human beings. There are a lot of places where I wouldn`t feel I could do that. But I can do that here, and that`s why I coach.”
Clark says he doesn`t allow himself to think about the significance of what he is trying to do.
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”I tell the kids we`re like the gambler in the song. Let`s not count our winnings until the game`s over.”
”Still, I think having a chance to create your own history, especially in this day when everything is recycled, is special.” But no more special, it must be said, than the goal now sought by Perry Clark and Tulane University.