Harry Statham’s wife bought him a 12-inch ‘ferocious’ stone bearcat for being named basketball coach at NAIA McKendree College (Ill.) in 1966. She had no idea it would still be growling in the same office today.

Reglued together and repainted purple many times during the last 38 years, it has survived long enough to see Statham try to do the unthinkable: become the all-time NCAA coaching victory leader tonight when McKendree hosts Maryville College (Mo.). He is currently tied with North Carolina legend Dean Smith at 879 wins.

Statham, though, wishes as little attention as possible will be paid to him and the record.

‘He’s embarrassed by it,’ said James Dennis, president of McKendree, a school with 1,500 students located 20 miles east of St. Louis in Lebanon, Ill. ‘He wishes it will all go away because he is worried that it will distract from the team.’

‘We’ve all got it on our minds,’ junior guard Brad Fischer said. ‘But he hasn’t mentioned it to us once all year.’

‘The kids know what’s going on,’ Statham said. ‘We just talk about the upcoming opponent and what it’s going to take to win that game.’It’s that one-game-at-a-time strategy that has produced 29 20-win seasons, 10 NAIA tournament berths and one Final Four appearance for the Bearcats during his tenure.

Statham, 66, has never changed the coaching style – a fast-break offense and man-to-man defense – that he took from former Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp, his idol ever since growing up on the Illinois-Kentucky border. Statham recently passed Rupp’s 876 career wins.

Statham always constructs his team with role players instead of superstars. But even basketball is not at the top of his recruiting list.

‘We look for good citizenship, good solid people that are going to graduate and good team players – in that order,’ Statham said.

Statham looks for players similar to himself in attitude and persona. Dennis said his basketball coach is a college president’s dream. Dennis also said Statham is a gentleman in every sense of the word and a terrific role model for all students at the university because of his ability to remain calm under pressure.

‘A lot of the great coaches, like Dean Smith, are not ones to get in your face and yell, but rather just talk to the players,’ said Eric Echelbarger, who is in his second year as an assistant coach after playing under Statham from 2001 to 2003.

Statham is capable of the rare outburst, though. Larry Baldwin, who played at McKendree from 1970-74 and is currently the basketball coach at nearby Cairo High School, said he will never forget one of the few times Statham lost his cool.

‘We were getting our butts whipped pretty good,’ Baldwin said of a 1973 game in which the other team’s point guard was schooling him. ‘I had never been chewed out like that in my life. But it was the best chewing out I ever got. He even said, ‘As a matter of fact, you’re embarrassing me.’ I had no choice but to do what I had to do or quit, and I wasn’t quitting.’

Baldwin helped McKendree come back to win that game in the second half.

The coach also helped Baldwin get out of the projects in a part of southern Illinois.

‘I don’t know that I would have made it anywhere else,’ Baldwin said.

He’s not the only one.

‘He’s contributed to the lives of hundreds of people,’ Dennis said. ‘The regard that his former players hold him in is very impressive.’

Born just five hours after his father’s funeral, Statham played basketball at McKendree for two years before leaving the school in 1957 because of financial reasons. Over the next nine years, he coached at various junior high schools and small high schools.

A friend had to convince Statham to interview for the job at McKendree in 1966. Once he got the position, Statham viewed it as a stepping stone to a coaching job at a major high school or an assistant’s job at a D-I school. But he fell in love with McKendree and never left.

In addition to basketball coach, Statham has served as McKendree’s athletic director since 1966. When he took over, the college had three sports teams. Now there are 20.

And his stone bearcat has only moved a couple of feet from his desk to a shelf for safe keeping.

Statham said he has not thought about retirement. After all, his best season was 2002-03. This year, win number 880 has motivated his team to exceed expectations with a surprising 8-2 mark entering tonight’s game.

‘I want to get it for him,’ Fischer said. ‘I love the guy to death.’

NO. 8 KENTUCKY (+4) AT NO. 9 NORTH CAROLINA

SATURDAY, NOON, CBS

While Kentucky head coach Tubby Smith may have his best team since his 1998 championship squad, his two talented starting freshmen are not ready to win their first major road test.

PICK: UNC 79, UK 71

NO. 20 NOTRE DAME (-6) AT MICHIGAN

SATURDAY, NOON, ESPN

In a matchup of two teams that should make the step from the National Invitational Tournament last year to the NCAAs this year, Notre Dame senior guard Chris Thomas shouldn’t have to do it all himself for a change.

PICK: ND 80, MICH 78

INDIANA (+13) AT NO. 7 CONNECTICUT

SATURDAY, NOON, CBS

Even though defending national champion UConn lost Emeka Okafor and Ben Gordon to the NBA, the Huskies don’t figure to miss a beat with a strong starting five.

PICK: UCONN 83, IU 67

DUQUESNE (+22) AT NO. 13 PITTSBURGH

SATURDAY, 4:00 P.M., NO TV

The Panthers will feast on their local rivals in preparation for next Wednesday’s Jimmy V Classic.

PICK: PITT 72, DU 52

COLGATE (+35) AT NO. 3 SYRACUSE

SATURDAY, 7:00 P.M., ESPN REGIONAL

Can you say, ‘the ultimate trap game?’ If Syracuse wins, it’s expected. If the Orange loses, it’s vilified. The real ‘battle’ should be when the ‘We Want Walk-Ons’ chant begins. The over-under is at the six-minute mark.

PICK: SU 87, CU 55

Published on November 30, 2004 at 12:00 pm