For some reason, most college basketball coaches feel compelled to dress sharply. Coat and tie, blazers, suits.
They all must have read ”Dress for Success.” And Northern Illinois`
first-year coach, Brian Hammel, is no different.
So imagine the surprise on some faces Saturday night when Hammel showed up at Northern`s home game against Illinois-Chicago wearing a blue sportcoat with a red ”Dog Pound” T-shirt covering his dress shirt and tie.
Talk about dressing for success. NIU, playing its 14th game but its first at Evans Field House with students on campus, defeated Illinois-Chicago 85-81 to stay in the thick of the Mid-Continent Conference race at 5-9, 3-2.
”I had heard a lot about the Dog Pound, and on my first interview here I saw a highlight tape that scanned the crowd,” said Hammel. ”I asked
(Athletic Director) Gerald O`Dell `Who are those guys?` (seated in Section F, behind the opposing team`s basket in the second half). He said that`s the Dog Pound. Those guys really pick it up.”
With his squad down to nine players, Hammel was looking for a spark. He met with the Dog Pound leaders Saturday afternoon, and before game time, Hammel marched over to Section F to greet his new 10th man.
”I wanted them to know Hammel wasn`t giving them lip service in the afternoon,” he said. ”I might be seated 80 feet away, but my heart was up there with them.”
Will Hammel have his T-shirt on again Monday at 8:08 p.m., when the Huskies play host to Wright State?
”I don`t know,” he said with a laugh. ”I wanted to start it off. We`ll play it by ear. If the Dog Pound wants Brian Hammel to wear it, I`ll wear it.”