A night at the Palestra with UR men’s basketball
Nate Novosel is all dressed up with no place to go.
It’s 6:30 on a frigid Friday night, and a modest crowd is watching the University of Rochester women’s basketball team trounce national power Washington University of St. Louis at the UR Palestra.
Novosel, a sophomore forward for the UR men’s team, already is dressed in his white home uniform while teammates sit around him in street clothes. But it will be nearly an hour before the Yellowjackets meet in the locker room and 90 minutes before UR tips off against University Athletic Association rival Washington, two-time defending NCAA Division III champion and ranked No. 3 in the national polls.
“Wash. U.” is 14-2. UR is 12-4 and coming off two losses.
“We need to mess up their timing and get them out of their comfort zone,” Novosel says. “They’re smooth.”
Novosel is eager to play. His mom, Jaine (pronounced Janey), has made the trip from Lexington, Ky., for what promises to be a special weekend. Nate’s twin sister, Natalie, plays for third-ranked Notre Dame. The Irish are at Syracuse on the following afternoon, so Mom will watch Nate on Friday, Natalie on Saturday and Nate again on Sunday.
“I’m super pumped,” Nate says with a smile.
At Novosel’s request, UR coach Mike Neer has rescheduled Saturday’s practice from noon to 9:30 a.m., allowing Novosel and three teammates time to drive to SU.
“He’s great about things like that,” Novosel says. “School and family always come first with him.”
Freshman point guard John DiBartolomeo is still in his street clothes. This is the first time he’ll see powerful Washington in person.
“We need to play tough,” he says. “We can’t be intimidated.”
Second in command
Neer, 60, is one of the top coaches in Division III. He’s in his 34th season, has won a school-record 561 games and led UR to a national title in 1990. The Yellowjackets have reached the Final Four three other times and lost in two title games. Like any good general, Neer relies on his lieutenants. “I lean on the assistants,” Neer says. “It’s one of the reasons so many have done well when they leave here.”
That list includes Jay Wright, the standout Villanova coach; Rhode Island coach Jim Baron; and former Yellowjackets guard Tim Sweeney, an assistant at Elon University.
All conference games are downloaded online into a universal bank. Third-year assistant Jim Driggs and first-year assistant Ryan Mee burn opponents’ games onto DVDs, or make highlight reels called “cuts.”
The young coaches make the most of their time. That Tuesday, the Yellowjackets had practiced from 6:30-8:30 in the morning. Mee and Driggs then hit the road for Princeton, N.J., to check out a high school recruit. While one drove, the other cut highlights of Washington on the laptop.
“We recharged (the laptop) at a Chinese buffet,” says Driggs, whose wife Colleen is expecting their first child in May.
The two assistants returned to Rochester at 1 a.m. and were back on campus five hours later for morning practice.
The new technology is a marvel for old-school coaches like Neer.
“In the old days, I’d leave practice at 4:30 and drive three hours down the Thruway to watch Union,” says Neer, who believes 90 percent of games are won in practice. “Then I’d drive three hours back.”
UR plays its UAA games on Fridays and Sundays, in places such as St. Louis, New York, Boston, Chicago and Atlanta. The travel can present challenges for these true student-athletes, who have a team GPA of 3.24 and majors such as chemical engineering, biology, financial economics, and, in the case of freshman Jonathan DeLao, American Sign Language.
Two weeks ago, Neer gave backup guard and economics major Matt Murphy permission to miss Thursday practice so that he could drive to New York City for three job interviews. He then took an Amtrak train and met the team in Boston for Friday’s game against Brandeis, then drove back to New York with the Yellowjackets for a Sunday game against NYU.
Game time nears
On this Friday night, coaches from both teams are wearing sneakers with their suits as part of a nationwide Coaches vs. Cancer promotion.
One night earlier, the Yellowjackets had assembled for their final practice before the game. Neer knows he must schedule practice around his players’ challenging courses. So UR hits the court at 6:30 a.m. each Tuesday and Wednesday and 6:30 Thursday nights.
Thursday’s practice ran two hours. The first 90 minutes were spent at the Palestra, but the team moved to the adjacent Zornow Center so that the UR women’s team could practice. Then it was upstairs to the film room, where Driggs narrated a 30-minute crash course on Washington.
Neer lists the daily practice itinerary on a white sheet of paper. At the bottom, he leaves his “quote of the day.” Thursday’s was from Albert Einstein: “A lot of what can be counted doesn’t count, and a lot of what does count can’t be counted.”
Driggs, 30, is a former Hamilton guard in his third year at UR.
Mee, 26, played for Neer before embarking on his coaching career. The Hilton graduate coached at Skidmore last season.
Adrian Smalls, 44, completes Neer’s staff. Smalls played for UR in the late 1980s and became a volunteer assistant in 1992. The former Rochester police officer has never received a salary for his endless hours of work.
“I just love the game and the program,” he says.
Now it’s 6:45 Friday night, and the Yellowjackets are scattered. Some are in the weight room getting taped. Some are watching the women’s game. A few are at Zornow shooting baskets. Three hours earlier, they had assembled in street clothes for a final walk-through before walking to “The Pit,” an on-campus restaurant.
Zero hour
Finally, it is 7:25. Driggs has filled the whiteboard in the locker room with mini-scouting reports on each Washington player and quizzes the Yellowjackets packed in front of him. “Gay, Nate,” he says, asking Novosel to break down dangerous forward Spencer Gay.
“Real good faceup guy, likes to push you apart,” Novosel answers quickly.
The locker room sits above the Palestra court, giving players a dramatic entrance down a flight of stairs, behind the bleachers and then onto the court. The locker room is small: an L-shaped collection of lockers, a bathroom with one stall and one urinal, a dressing area and a shower room. Three shower heads, 17 players.
“Sometimes the freshmen who don’t play will just shower in their dorms,” Novosel says.
Neer tells the players to return to the locker room with 10:15 left in warmups. The veteran coach is alone. He’ll stay there until about five minutes before player introductions.
“Much of it is because I can’t stand that damn music,” he says, as Eminem’s “Till I Collapse” fills the air.
The UR players return at 7:52. Neer reveals Washington’s starting lineup and gives out man-to-man assignments.
“Stronger for longer,” he says, his voice booming. “We’re gonna make some mistakes, and they’re gonna make some mistakes. Body up on the cutters. Let them know they can’t run their stuff when they want. Box out and go eat glass.”
Neer holds his closed fist out, and the players quickly add theirs.
“One, two, three, team!”
Game time
The Midnight Ramblers, 12 male UR students dressed in baseball jerseys, perform an impressive a capella version of the national anthem. The UR pep band, wearing yellow-and-blue striped rugby shirts, sits across from the team. The crowd of 1,500 is revved up.
UR grabs an early 9-6 lead, and Neer is pleased.
“Good work! Good work!” he yells, clapping.
The coach had begun the game sitting with Driggs to his left and Mee to his right.
Now, he’s at the far right end of the bench, arms folded, pacing, watching intently. At the 11:56 mark, Washington All-American Sean Wallis drills a 3-pointer in front of the UR bench to put the Bears up 13-11. Driggs slams his hand on Neer’s empty seat.
Then, surprisingly, Driggs and Mee make substitutions without asking Neer. The head coach is fine with it.
“I trust them,” Neer says. “We’re all on the same page. Now, if they suddenly go with a four-guard offense, I have the power of veto.”
It’s an emotional rollercoaster. Novosel misses a shot and Washington quickly scores to go up 24-19. The UR coaches groan in unison. Seconds later, Novosel beats the shot clock with a layup and Washington turns the ball over. The Yellowjacket coaches stand and clap.
A layup by DiBartolomeo cuts the lead to 24-23 with 3:29 left, but Washington responds and leads 33-29 at intermission.
At the half
The Yellowjackets head to the locker room for the 20-minute break, but Neer and his assistants remain on the bench. They review the first-half stats, then join the team. “It’s a two-possession game,” Neer tells them. “There was a scrum underneath, they got it and put it in. And we had a turnover and Wallis hit a three. When you dribble too much, they press up and force the turnover.”
Neer and his coaches then huddle in the shower changing room.
“We’re not being patient,” junior David Gould tells his teammates. “We’re forcing it, guys.”
Neer returns.
“All right, let’s go. One, two, three, team!”
Down to the wire
UR ties it at 36, but Wallis drills a 3-pointer. Neer calls timeout three minutes into the half and tell his players: “Have a seat.”
“They’re scoring off transition,” he says, then stares at DiBartolomeo. “C’mon John, accept the challenge!”
Washington leads 54-51 with 9:45 left when Novosel goes to the line for a 1-and-1.
He misses his free throw, and Neer leans back in anguish, pressing both of his large hands on his assistants’ backs — human stress relievers.
UR ties it at 54, but this time Washington reserve Dylan Richter swishes a ‘3’ from the left wing. The Bears eventually go up 10.
Game over? Not yet. DiBartolomeo answers with a ‘3,’ and when Novosel makes two free throws, UR trails by four with 2:12 left. It’s 76-73 when DiBartolomeo, who has accepted the challenge, feeds Novosel with 22 seconds remaining.
“Listen up,” Neer shouts over the pep band during a timeout. “We’re not letting them get the ball in. If they do, we foul immediately.”
The Bears get the ball in, and UR fouls. Again and again. The super-cool Wallis sinks six free throws over the final 21 seconds, giving him 27 points, to ice it.
Washington wins, 82-78.
After further review
The teams shake hands, and the UR players immediately trek upstairs. “We made a lot of plays, and they made a lot of extra plays,” Neer tells his team in a quiet locker room.
“Not to belabor the obvious. They’re seniors. They’ve been around. I’m not going to belabor this.”
Just like that, the focus switches to Sunday’s 11 a.m. home game against UAA rival Chicago.
“We have to get over this disappointment so that you understand, win or lose, we’re going to be playing a game at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
“We’ve got to have focus. You won’t have this kind of atmosphere Sunday. There aren’t going to be too many students Sunday morning who are going to be vertical. We’ll have to make our own atmosphere.”
Pizza party
Twenty minutes after the final buzzer, Neer is in UR’s Alumni Lounge, motioning the Bears to the pizza and wings line.
The UAA used to mandate that teams break bread together after every game, a way to show good sportsmanship while also saving visiting teams the cost of paying for 20 meals. That policy ended six years ago, but Neer and Washington coach Mark Edwards have kept the tradition going in Rochester and St. Louis.
“It’s important to us,” says Edwards, in his 29th year coaching his alma mater. “Mike’s so classy and has a great program.”
The two coaches have a long history and a deep respect for each other. They competed against each other in track and basketball in the early 1970s, when Edwards was at Washington and Neer was at Washington & Lee.
“I set the CAC (College Athletic Conference) high jump record my senior year,” Edwards says, “and 25 minutes later, Mike Neer broke it.”
The coaches mingle at the postgame spread, but the teams sit in roundtables at opposite sides of the lounge. Finally, Novosel breaks the ice by chatting up Washington’s Zach Kelly, a player he guarded that night.
At 10:30, Neer finally heads to the food line, but by now only empty boxes and a few bottles of Diet Coke remain.
“We came up short on the pizza, too,” he says, managing a smile.
Postscript
The Yellowjackets would salvage the weekend 36 hours later, outlasting Chicago 76-75 in overtime.
Friday night they’ll get a second shot at Washington in St. Louis. Then, another postgame dinner.
It turned out to be a good weekend for the Novosels. Notre Dame edged Syracuse 74-73 on Saturday, and Nate was named UAA Men’s Basketball Player of the Week, averaging 18.5 points.
