January 1, 2005 at 2:57 pm
Filed under Basketball, Catching up with..., Princeton
princetonbasketball.com list member Phil Pallette interviewed Princeton recruit Mike Stephens and his high school coach, Denny Lewis in June 2001. Thanks to Phil for his work.
Napa High School - Napa, California. Tuesday, June 5, 2001.
It's baseball weather in the wine country; hot, sunny and a high blue sky. I arrive at the school shortly before mid-day. Final exams are taking place this week each day until noon, Thursday. Then it's graduation. There is ongoing remodeling taking place at this single-level school. I guess if you're going to have an earthquake, what's the fun of being on the second or third floor? Besides, real estate is relatively cheap out here; that is to say, relative to Manhattan, or San Francisco. With the exception of the tiny sandstone relic set back from the corner, the place looks like ultra modern 1970. An unemployed aroma of oak or jasmine forces exotic inhalations as I make my way to an administration office. All those hopeful trees that were planted thirty years ago now belong to high and shady rows. I ask an administrator what that wonderful scent from the trees might be. She is not sure, but she interprets it as the announcement of allergy season. When I mention my purpose in being there, I am told what a fine young man Mike Stephens is.
I meet with Coach Denny Lewis at his office, which is being remodeled. Coach Lewis played at San Francisco's Lincoln High School and is a San Francisco Hall of Fame guard. He could really play and was recruited to go to Cal by Pete Newell, who had recently won an NCAA Championship. So, no matter how modest Coach Lewis might be, Michael Stephens is lucky to have had a coach with big time playing experience that has been through the Pac 10 wars (even if it wasn't the Pac 10 back then - it fluctuated between being a five and eight team league in those days).
Coach Lewis states that his Napa High teams were not blessed with a lot of big players over the years and that he as a coach could not pass on the experience of working with a lot of big players to Mike. But I look at it a different way. Lewis has taught Mike how to play defense, team defense all over the court, and has seen Mike pick up the concepts of help defense when an opponent penetrates into the scoring area. Lewis is also an excellent teacher of shooting. In sum, Mike may be 6-10, but he has picked up small man skills like long-range shooting, a passing game and a defensive floor game that most big guys don't have. Coach Lewis now feels that it is time for Mike to start growing into his body and pick up some of the big man skills he will use in college.
While I am chatting with Coach Lewis, a 6-10 clean-cut lad quietly comes into the room. We shake hands and he sits down. This kid is blonder and taller than Wally Szerbiak, but somehow, this is who comes to mind. His facial features are not as severe. Maybe Gonzaga's Casey Calvary is a better comparison. Somewhere between a youthful version of those two guys. He weighs probably 220 plus. I forget to ask.
How much do you know about the Princeton offense?
How much do I know... They like to run the back door. It's something we do here sometimes. It's a very sophisticated offense. I've seen it first hand. They like to set screens and help their centers step out and take shots and things like that.
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January 1, 2005 at 2:03 pm
Filed under Basketball, Catching up with..., Princeton
Sean Jackson came to Princeton in 1989 as a transfer from Ohio University. He played three seasons for the Tigers. Sean was named All-Ivy in 1990-1991 and was voted the 1991-1992 Ivy League Player of the Year.
Princeton won the Ivy League title all three years Sean was on the team. When he graduated, Sean was Princeton's all-time leading three-point shooter, connecting on 235 of 501 attempts (.469) in his three seasons.
Jackson also held/holds the Ivy (56) and school (95) records for most treys in a season. A decade later, many of Sean's records still stand, including most consecutive games with a three-point field goal (56) and most three-point field goals made per game (3.1). Sean ranks behind only Brian Earl '99 for most three-point field goals in a career at Princeton, despite only playing three years for the orange and black. Sean recently took the time to answer your questions about his time at Princeton. Here are his responses.
This interview originally ran in September 2002.
After your freshman year at Ohio University, how did you end up transferring to Princeton?
My thought process during my freshman year at Ohio U. was not so much "Man, I got to get out of here" as much as it was "I wonder what it would be like to be involved in a setting that prioritized academics." Coming out high school, my only thought process was to go to a school that paid for college. I applied for transfer to Princeton shortly after the season ended and found out I was accepted in August - one month before classes started. I entered Princeton as a freshman because the school didn't accept any OU credits. Princeton was the only school I inquired about.
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January 1, 2005 at 1:50 pm
Filed under Basketball, Catching up with..., Princeton
Frank Sowinski, also known as "The Polish Rifle," was the 1976-1977 Ivy League Player of the Year and a two time All-Ivy selection. While at Princeton his teams won two Ivy League titles. Sowinski is, as of this interview, 12th on Princeton's all-time points list, despite playing just three seasons and playing without a three point line. For his collegiate career Sowinski averaged 15.3 ppg, shooting .556% from the field. Frank took the time to answer your questions about his time at Princeton. Here are his responses.
This interview originally ran in June 2003.
What have you been doing since you graduated from Princeton?
After graduating with an engineering degree in 1978, I played basketball in Europe after trying out for the New Jersey Nets. In Europe, I played on a touring team of American All-Stars in Italy and later I played in Madrid, Spain. I then came back to the states and received my MBA from the University of Virginia.
After receiving my MBA, I worked at an oil company, Amerada Hess, for three years and then spent 17 years with Dun & Bradstreet, eventually becoming President of the company. Most recently, I joined the Price Waterhouse Coopers consulting business as Chief Financial Officer to take them public, but ultimately helped sell the business to IBM late last year. Currently, I sit on the board of a pipeline company and I'm looking at several business opportunities in addition to coaching a lot of youth athletics.
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April 23, 2004 at 11:13 pm
Filed under Audio, Basketball, Coach Scott Interview
Joe Scott was introduced as the new head coach of the Princeton Tigers on April 23rd, 2004. Listen to Coach Scott's press conference, and an exclusive one-on-one interview recorded for princetonbasketball.com.
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