This could be the start of something big-really big.
Although Northern Illinois dropped its second straight Mid-Continent Conference game 71-66 Saturday night at Western Illinois, it might have signaled the coming-out party for 7-foot-1-inch sophomore Steve Oldendorf.
The former St. Laurence standout enjoyed a career night for NIU (5-11, 3-4) with 16 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks.
”It just shows how good a basketball player he can be,” coach Brian Hammel said.
Now Hammel would like to see it on a consistent basis. It marked the second straight double-figure scoring performance by Oldendorf. But before scoring 13 points against Wright State last Monday, he had games of eight, four, two and four. ”I try to work on his self-esteem,” Hammel said. ”Big guys always try to be smaller than they are.”
Oldendorf, who took only 12 shots as a freshman, hitting nine, has shown flashes of promise. He scored 12 points against De Paul in December, clicked for 13 points against Chicago State, had 14 points and seven boards against Akron and contributed eight points and nine rebounds in a win over Cleveland State.
”That`s the game in which he had two successive plays where he helped, recovered and blocked a shot,” said Hammel. ”That`s tremendous growth. Now he needs to get mentally tougher.”
No time would be better than the present for Hammel. The Huskies play Eastern Illinois on Monday in Charleston, then bus to the Horizon to meet Loyola on Wednesday.