Favorite Ekwall Memories: Development of TV, Beating UCLA?s Wooden

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Willie Campbell helped us remember Nebraska basketball in the 1960s, and Jerry Fort, Dave Hoppen, Erick Strickland and Brian Conklin made sure we got the right picture of Big Red basketball in the 1970s, '80s, '90s and the first decade of the 21st century.

Let's not forget, though, that the conference the Huskers are leaving started calling itself the Big Eight in 1958, and we've found the ideal spokesman to review Nebraska basketball in the 1950s - Rex Ekwall,a Hall-Fame player, current season ticket holder and generous donor. He lettered here in 1955-56-57.

In fact, we learned an interesting piece of history in examining Ekwall's career. During his junior season, for instance, when Nebraska was still in the Big Seven Conference, the Huskers beat preseason No. 4-ranked UCLA, 71-65, in the old NU Coliseum. That Bruin team was coached by a young John Wooden.

As a friend of Doc Sadler's, Ekwall, of course, would have joined more than 30 ex-Huskers at Tuesday night's Big Eight, Big 12 Conference swan song at home, but the owner/operator of a regionally-based chain of convenience stores and gas stations had a prior commitment. He was in the cockpit of his own six-passenger Piper Malibu this week, closing in on the 8,000-hour milestone as a pilot.

As much as he flies, Ekwall is still so down-to-earth that you would never know he played on a team that beat the late John Wooden, the most legendary collegiate basketball coach in American history and a man who was a mentor to Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne.

Even though he helped beat a Bruin team that finished 22-6, you have to dig to discover the role Ekwall played in that victory.

Ekwall Fought Off a Cold and Scored 22 Points

Fortunately, Mike Babcock's book, "Huskers on the Hardwood", explains the performance of the 6-foot-4 center from Holmesville, Neb. Babcock's research shows that Ekwall had a severe cold that night and played much of the second half with four personal fouls. Still, he scored 22 points and made 10 of 11 free throws.

He must not have been bad on defense that night either. Even though UCLA's 6-foot-6 All-America forward/center, Willie Naulls, went into the game with a 23.8-points-per-game scoring average, he did not make a field goal against the Huskers. We also should point out that Naulls spent the next 10 seasons in the NBA - the first seven with the New York Knicks and the last three with the world champion Boston Celtics.

If you ever wonder how important competition is, Ekwall learned quickly. "The next year, we played UCLA in LA the first two games, and they beat us both times," he recalled last week. "Right after those two losses, we came back to Lincoln and won five straight - against Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, Purdue and Texas Tech."

That same December in 1958, Nebraska lost to Michigan State in Kansas City. The Big Seven always invited one at-large team to its holiday tournament to make eight, and that's why Nebraska also played Princeton and Cornell in Kansas City during Ekwall's three years as a varsity letterman.

"It was fun getting to play five Big Ten teams in one month (December) my senior year," Ekwall said.

With that kind of a schedule, you can't help but wonder how popular a Big Ten Network would have been a half century ago.

"When I played in the 1950s, we were right in the midst of the development of television," Ekwall said, admitting that no one really knew how dramatically that technology would change people's lives.

Huskers Avenged a 42-Point Loss to Colorado

Ekwall learned how unpredictable basketball can be, too. "The most memorable team moment I ever experienced was beating Colorado (84-77) in the Coliseum my sophomore year (1954-55)," he said. "It was memorable because five weeks earlier, they beat us by 42 (89-47) in Kansas City."

In 1958, the year after Ekwall graduated, Nebraska produced its biggest basketball upset in school history with a 43-41 win over Kansas and Wilt "The Stilt" Chamberlain. The win came just two weeks after KU crushed the Huskers, 102-46, in Lawrence. Two weeks after that, the Huskers avenged earlier 31-point and 15-point losses to Kansas State and upset the Bob Boozer-led, nationally No. 1-ranked Wildcats, 55-48.

The 1950s, no doubt, became an important chapter in the Nebraska basketball history book. The Huskers had built up some great rivalries, and Ekwall says he will miss playing Kansas, K-State and Missouri, in that order. But he's excited to see Nebraska play new teams in the Big Ten. "It's important for our players to enjoy the memories," Ekwall said, "but it's also important to get ready for some new memories. I'm really looking forward to next year and playing some new teams."

Ekwall is pragmatic about change. "Things never stay the same," he said. "I'm looking forward not only to seeing new teams, but getting the opportunity to watch them in a new arena."

A new conference and a new arena mean a new era - an era that will yield its share of ups and downs, recruiting-wise and otherwise, not to mention funny stories.

"The funniest thing I ever experienced at Nebraska was listening to Jerry Bush, our head coach," Ekwall said. "I remember Coach Bush having a friend who highly recommended a recruit that really didn't work out very well, so Jerry sent pictures of the guy to his friend just to make sure it was the same guy he recommended."

As Player and Fan, He Misses 'Stormin' Norman'

Ekwall also qualifies as a progressive-minded traditionalist. "I hate not seeing Norm Stewart," he said. "I played against Norm in the old Big Seven."

Knowing Stewart, playing against him and rooting against him as a fan, Ekwall saw the Nebraska basketball equivalent of what Barry Switzer might be to countless Husker football fans - a talented coach who was a great recruiter and could rile Big Red fans' blood at the same time he commanded their highest respect. Osborne and Switzer were great rivals and good friends. The same could be said of Cipriano and Stewart.

Norm Stewart is the only person in Mizzou history to be inducted into the University of Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Hall of Fame both as a student-athlete and a coach. Stormin' Norman originally committed to be part of this week's celebration in Lincoln before realizing the NU-Mizzou game conflicted with a family date.

A perennial designated villain whenever he came to Nebraska with that mischievous grin and tenacious team of his, Stewart relished his role as captain of Nebraska's all-opponent team, both as a player (who averaged 24.1 points his senior season) and as a coach.

Members of the Nebraska events staff still talk about Stewart sliding under the popcorn machine in the south end of the Coliseum while diving out-of-bounds for a loose ball.

In the 1,127 basketball games Stewart experienced as a Mizzou player, assistant coach or head coach, the respect he had for Nebraska - and the respect that Nebraska had for him - never wavered. Husker fans loved chanting "Sit Down Norm!" during a long stretch of home games.

The son of a gas station owner in rural Missouri, Stewart identified with Husker fans, and they identified with him. Personally, I think humble beginnings and hard work had a lot to do with that shared identity.

Cipriano and Stewart: Great Rivals, Good Friends

I was in Joe Cipriano's office once when Stormin' Norman gave the late Nebraska head coach a telephone call to cheer him up. Cip was in his latest stages of cancer at the time, but still in the office. During an emotional conversation, they both broke down, and so did I, sitting silently in a chair as two head coaches who pretended to despise each other on game day expressed their love for each other.

Cipriano died of cancer in 1980 at age 49. In 1989, Stewart was diagnosed with colon cancer. He missed the final 14 games of the '89-'90 season, but came back to coach until 1999. Interestingly, Nebraska upset Stewart's unbeaten '94 Big Eight regular-season championship team, 98-91, in the semifinals of the postseason tournament in Kansas City. Mizzou, however, went on to make the NCAA Elite Eight that year.

At age 75, Stewart shows no signs of slowing down, especially since his main cause goes way beyond winning basketball games.

The Coaches vs. Cancer initiative that both Sadler and Nebraska Women's Head Coach Connie Yori support evolved from a concept championed by Stewart, a cancer survivor and member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). A nationwide collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the NABC empowers basketball coaches and their teams to make a difference in the fight against cancer in their local communities. Today, more than 2,000 college coaches and more than 100 high school coaches are involved in the program launched by Stormin' Norman.

Norm Stewart was a great athlete and a terrific coach. He still storms through a life that includes countless meetings, speaking engagements and travel, not to mention color commentary on Mizzou basketball broadcasts. Less than four years after successful open-heart surgery to install a pacemaker, Norm's still diving after loose ends. The only difference is, now he's putting a full-court press on a deadly disease.

Make no mistake. Stormin' Norman fully accepted his role as Nebraska's designated villain, and he enjoyed playing the irascible character that Husker fans implored to sit down whenever he questioned what was happening on the floor.

He Always Used His Personality to Win Favor

Sometimes, even during timeouts, Norm was so doggone ornery, he would look up at the crowd, and choreograph his own dramatic sit down. He milked every ounce from that very simple act.

During some timeouts, Husker fans needing relief wouldn't break for the rest rooms, or even head to the concession stands, until Norm would sit down. No wonder "Sit Down Norm" became the Huskers' favorite mantra for their favorite visiting head coach. That sellout chant may have been stoked by competitive fire, but it was interlaced with good, old-fashioned humor.

I will never forget Norm taking his team - and every available folding chair - far onto the court and away from the madding crowd, just so - in my opinion - he could make a point.

Yes, Norm Stewart would have been the perfect honored guest in Tuesday night's historic Husker farewell. His presence would have created an ironic twist that you never would have forgotten.

You have to admit, it would have been fun to see Norm get a standing ovation simply for "not"sitting down.

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