@NWMSportswww.nwmissourinews.com Northwest Missourian
THURSDAY |JANUARY 29, 2015
MISSOURIANSPORTS
COMPLETE COVERAGE OF BEARCATS AND SPOOFHOUNDS ATHLETICS
Smith molding Bearcats identity
Womens basketball head coach Michael Smith talks over the
gameplan with the players during a time out Nov. 25. SHAWNA
KINGSTON | NW MISSOURIAN
Super Bowl matchup one for the ages
Seniors lead new-look mens team
JACOB BLANDChief Sports Reporter
Seniors Matt Wallace and Grant Cozad share a moment before
practice Jan. 27. BRIA CREEDEN | NW MISSOURIAN
themissourian
PREDICTIONS
Super Bowl XLIX
Patriots Vs. Seahawks
Ryan Edwards Chief Sports Reporter
NE 34-17Too much Gronk.
Tyler MartinChief Sports Reporter
NE 28-17Tom Brady.
Austin HeinenChief Sports Reporter
NE 24-20Love me some
Gronk.
Tyler BrownSports Editor
NE 24-21Russell doesnt have
Elis luck.
Brandon ZennerEditor in Chief
NE 27-24Im just writing this so
I dont get fined.
Chris RoushNews Editor
NE 27-17Tom does Tom
things.
BRANDON ZENNEREditor in Chief | @brandonzenner
In 1996, Michael Smith was 22 and fresh out of college at
Central Methodist, contemplating what his next step would be. After
spending a summer working basketball camps to make some quick cash,
a stranger of-fered him an opportunity that stuck with him for
nearly 20 years.
Michael Smith was offered the chance to begin his coaching
career as a graduate assistant to Wayne Win-stead, the all-time
winningest coach in Northwest womens basketball his-tory. After two
years with the program, Michael Smith packed up and landed a
position as an assistant coach at An-gelo State (Texas) until
2002.
After a successful first head coaching gig at Moberly Area
Com-munity College, Michael Smith took over the reigns at Truman
State, where he earned a name for his ability to recruit and
improve teams during his five years heading the program.
Michael Smith was brought home to Maryville, May 10, 2013, where
his career began and where he always hoped to end up.
Its always been a dream of mine to come back, Michael Smith
said. Pride is the word that comes to mind when I think of
Northwest. Before I came back here, every time North-west would
come up, I would think of my experiences here and the amount of
pride that people who walk across campus ... To be able to come
back was a humbling opportunity because this is where it all
started for me.
Coach Winstead gave me an op-portunity. I didnt know him and he
took a chance on me and I want to be able to repay him and this is
a good way to do that.
After junior guard Samantha Hurst went down with an injury
fol-lowing her time at Kansas City Kan-sas Community College,
Michael Smith extended an option similar to what he had. Left
without many op-tions, Hurst was offered the opportu-nity of
playing at Northwest.
He was the main reason I came here, Hurst said. After I got
injured,
my options kind of fell off a little bit, but he was steady with
it and kept talking to me. He was willing to give me a second
chance to prove myself. From the start, he made it clear how he was
going to run practices and he wasnt gonna go easy on us, and he
wanted us to be successful.
Michael Smith wanted to be a part of the Northwest community to
the extent that he emailed Athletic Director Mel Tjeerdsma within
15 minutes of the position opening. Af-ter first coming to
Northwest when Central Methodist played an exhibi-tion against the
Northwest womens team in 1995, he fell in love with the idea of
moving to Maryville. He was introduced to Winstead, and the idea of
becoming a graduate assistant, af-ter working a series of summer
bas-ketball camps, where he was offered a position and accepted it
on the spot.
Nineteen years later, Michael Smith has been through the
coach-ing ranks in Division I, Division II and Junior College, and
has gathered les-sons about coaching and recruiting that stick with
him to this day.
Everywhere you go, you take bits and pieces, Michael Smith said.
The thing with coach Winstead that I learned was how to incorporate
fam-ily in your career and how you can incorporate that within your
players.
Following former womens coach Gene Steinmeyer leaving Northwest
in 2012 after a 29-5 season, Michael Smith became the programs
third coach in as many seasons. A late hire just prior to summer
beginning, he was unable to get much of a grasp for his players
until the following trimes-ter began in the fall.
Unfortunately, it was the third coach in three years, Michael
Smith said. (The girls) were kinda run-ning in circles, I was
running in cir-cles trying to figure out who do we have, where do
we need to go, what are the next steps we need to be, be-cause I
wanted it right then and there, just because of what Northwest had
meant to me.
Forget about Deflate-Gate and move on to football, because this
is, indeed, Super Bowl week.
This Super Bowl XLIX matchup might not win a popularity contest,
but it features two teams who match up well together. Both teams
have well-rounded defenses and are led by quarterbacks who have
overcome in-surmountable odds to get where they are today.
Tom Brady has gone from an af-ter-thought to elite since
entering the league in 2000. When Tom Brady was selected in the 6th
round by the Patri-ots, little was known about him and hardly
anyone saw his potential. Rob-ert Kraft, the current owner of the
New England Patriots, did not even know who Tom Brady was when he
saw him at practice during his rookie year.
Little did Kraft and the rest of the New England Patriots
organization know that the low-risk pick and un-known commodity
would soon lead the team to three Super Bowl champi-onships
(possibly four) and six Super Bowl appearances.
Like Brady, not much was expect-ed of Russell Wilson when he
entered into the league. In the 2012 draft, the quarterback class
was highlighted by the names of Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin and
Ryan Tannehill.
Four quarterbacks were selected before Wilson. After waiting the
first two rounds, and part of the third round, Wilson was finally
selected 75th overall by the Seattle Seahawks.
After Wilson was drafted, NFL experts still had doubt that
Wilson would be able to compete on the NFL landscape. Experts were
impressed with his intangibles, but they were concerned about his
height.
With Wilson standing at just
TYLER BROWNSports Editor | @tyman4_
Last years mens basketball team played a total of 33 games when
its season came to an abrupt end in the national tournaments Sweet
16 to the eventual nation-al champion, Central Missouri. Of those
33 games, the teams two ju-niors totaled three starts.
Two of those starts came from now-senior Grant Cozad and one
from senior Matt Wallace. That, in a nutshell, describes the teams
ex-pectations coming into the season. Cozad admits that he and
Wallace had a brief moment of doubt.
I think immediately after the season, I think we realized, yeah,
five seniors carried the load during the season, Cozad said. I
mean, you gotta move on. You cant just dwell on being negative and
being like oh yeah, we lost five seniors. No, I mean, we kind of
wanted to step up
and move forward.Wallace averaged 18 minutes
per game last season and put up just more than two points per
game. This season he has taken on a prominent role, averaging 30
minutes and tally-ing up almost eight points per game, but where he
has really stepped up is on the defensive end. Wallace has 28
steals and 56 defensive boards through 18 games.
Hes an extremely tough de-fender, head coach Ben McCollum said.
Hes always in the right spots defensively. He executes exactly what
we want. (He) always knows whats going on as far as that stuff goes
and then, obviously, makes big plays down the stretch defensively
as well.
Not only has Wallaces effort on the court helped the Bearcats,
he has also become a true leader on an un-derclassmen-heavy team.
If you fol-low him on Twitter, he is a fun fol-
low and he brings that light attitude to the team camaraderie.
However, when he is on the court, it is all about the game.
Its good because he is very good at executing schemes and game
plans, McCollum said. If we say take away this defensively, its
com-pletely taken away. Hes very focused in that aspect. Off the
floor hes dras-tically matured from his freshman and sophomore
year. Where hes been a lot more reliable academi-cally, been a lot
more reliable off the court. Hes grown immensely since his time at
Northwest.
Cozad, on the other hand has always known what it would take to
step up and be a leader. If you pay at-tention in pre-games or in
practice, he is always breaking the team out of the huddle and has
been the rock of this years teams success.
Jacob BlandChief Sports Reporter
SEA 20-13Seattles D is too much for Tom.
SEE SUPER BOWL | A9 SEE SENIORS | A9
SEE SMITH | A9
EXTRA POINT A9Thursday | January 29, 2015nwmissourinews.com
MHS GIRLS BASKETBALLMHS BOYS BASKETBALL
NW MENS BASKETBALL
Lafayette..............................Smithville.............................Chillicothe............................MARYVILLE...........................Benton................................Bishop
LeBlond.....................Cameron..............................Savannah.............................
Lindenwood........................13-6
8-2Nebraska-Kearney................12-5 7-3Missouri
Southern................13-6 7-3Pittsburg
St.........................11-7 7-3Central
Missouri...................16-4
7-4NORTHWEST........................13-5 6-4Central
Oklahoma.................13-7 6-5Fort Hays
St........................12-7
5-5Washburn...........................10-11 5-5Missouri
Western..................8-9 4-6Southwest
Baptist.................9-11 4-7Northeastern
St....................5-13 3-8Emporia
St..........................9-10
2-8Lincoln................................4-15 1-9
SPON
SORE
D BY
NOR
THWE
ST M
ISSOU
RI ST
ATE A
THLE
TIC D
EPAR
TMEN
T
NW WOMENS BASKETBALL
Cameron.............................12-3
1-0Chillicothe...........................16-1
5-1Benton...............................15-2
3-1Lafayette............................12-5 1-1Bishop
LeBlond....................11-6
2-2Savannah.............................8-4
1-3Smithville............................12-3
0-1MARYVILLE..........................0-14 0-5
Fort Hays St.........................18-1 10-0Emporia
St...........................16-1 9-1Pittsburg
St..........................17-3 7-2Missouri
Southern.................12-5 6-4Central
Oklahoma.................13-7 6-5Central
Missouri....................12-7
6-5Washburn............................13-5
5-5Nebraska-Kearney..................11-8 5-5Northeastern
St......................9-9 5-6Missouri
Western....................8-8 3-7Southwest
Baptist................. 7-10
3-7Lindenwood...........................9-8
2-8Lincoln..................................7-9
2-8NORTHWEST.........................6-13 2-8
MEC STANDINGSOverall MEC
MIAA STANDINGSOverall MIAA
MEC STANDINGSOverall MEC
MIAA STANDINGSOverall MIAA
Jan. 26-31Cameron Tournament Feb. 3MARYVILLE at Bishop
LeBlond
Jan. 31 NORTHWEST at LincolnMissouri Western at LindenwoodFeb.
4NORTHWEST at Missouri Western Lincoln at Lindenwood
Jan. 26-31Cameron TournamentFeb. 2Lathrop at MARYVILLE
Jan. 31NORTHWEST at LincolnCentral Missouri at Missouri
SouthernFeb. 4 NORTHWEST at Missouri WesternWashburn at Emporia
St
12-4 3-0 .8-8 2-0 11-5 3-1 .9-7 4-4 ..8-7 2-2 ..8-7 2-3 6-10 1-2
2-10 0-4
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Now, youve taken a step back a year through and you understand
that it is a process. Every coach thats taken over a program thats
kinda been on shaky ground, youve had to really take your time, do
things right and recruit the right type of players. I feel like
were heading in the right di-rection now to build a foundation for
a solid program.
Throughout the 2013-14 season, the Bearcats were unable to find
much of a groove, despite a four-game winning streak in February.
The womens team finished with an overall record of 10-17.
The Bearcats showed bright spots in Michael Smiths first season,
however. The womens team was only outscored by just more than two
points per game, outshot its opponents on the season in all
categories and tallied more assists.
Its always difficult for the first year for all of us, Michael
Smith said. Just getting familiar with their names, with their
families and who they are as people, we didnt really get a whole
lot of time. That first year was a big transitional phase.
The struggles continued amidst the start of the 2014-15 season,
with the womens team dropping four of its first five games.
Following a Nov. 22 loss to Minnesota-Duluth, Michael Smith spoke
about his frustration and the lengths he will go to turn the team
around.
We need some people to step up, Michael Smith said following the
loss. Thats just all when it comes down to it. I told our kids that
my door is open and if we need to play some dodgeball Monday and to
break a little ice and relieve a bit of tension, Ill stand in the
middle. Im willing to do whatever to help these kids have
success.
The Bearcats won their next two games and have worked their way
to an underachieving 6-13 record, though the team seems to have
turned a corner
since a home loss to then-No. 13 Wash-burn where Northwest lead
for more than 20 minutes and going into the final 8 minutes of
play. Michael Smith said his players seemed to buy into his sys-tem
following winter break and it has changed the whole attitude of the
team.
Theres no doubt its night and day from last year, and thats just
with any coach whenever they start over, as far as trying to get
familiar with their players, Michael Smith said. We started having
a few kids buy in and I think that carries over into our locker
room. From a locker room standpoint, this may be one of the best
teams Ive ever had get along.
Part of the new found life of the team has been the re-emergence
of junior guard Tember Schechinger, who went from starting every
game as a freshmen to only starting seven in Michael Smiths first
season.
I was a new guy and with me you pretty much got to earn
every-thing. This year, we started her be-cause, from a talent
standpoint, she was pretty good, Michael Smith said. It kinda got
to her head a little bit so we brought her off the bench again.
Finally, her and I just sat down and hashed it out. Its like Hey,
youre a good enough player. I think youre an all-conference player.
Its time to start showing it. Im gonna start you. If you dont play
well, its on your shoulders and youre gonna have to explain that to
your teammates.
Because of his experience at mul-tiple levels, Michael Smith has
kept in touch with coaches from around the country, and has brought
in talented recruits during his time at North-west and during his
tenure at Tru-man State. Though his recruits have worked out for
him, he sticks to the mantra he has always believed in.
The best thing thats been for me is that Ive known the MIAA,
Michael Smith said. I know the type of player that it takes to
compete because of where I came from I try to fit a certain
player
that fits my system. I tell our girls all the time Im not
recruiting the best player, Im looking for the right player.
Ive always felt that if you recruit quality kids in the
classroom that it carries over to the court. It doesnt come easy
for hardly anybody. They have to work to do well in the class-room
and if theyve worked to do that then they would work for me.
For freshman guard Bailey Smith, meeting the coaching staff and
hearing the goals Michael Smith had set were a big reason she chose
to play at Northwest.
He just talked about how excited he was, Bailey Smith said. When
I was deciding to come here, he already had a lot of recruits
committed and he was just talking about how he thought it would be
a big difference (this) year with all of us. I was just completely
excited and I wanted to come here, no doubt.
The success has not come instant-ly for Northwest, but the
reason for re-turn extends past basketball for Smith.
I want to give back to North-west, he said. I want to be here as
long as I can. More importantly, I want to be consistently known as
a good team and hard-working, good players in the classroom and
com-munity. I just want them to be good ambassadors for Northwest
Missouri State while theyre here and when their career is over
with.
While Michael Smith hopes to bring the womens team further than
last season, he says the ultimate goal is not yearly conference
champion-ships but consistent competitiveness and improvement.
Weve used the word urgency in practice a lot more these days as
far as everything we do They understand that, Michael Smith said.
Were ma-turing, were growing as a team. Id like to see us grow a
little faster, a little more, but you gotta crawl before you can
walk is the way I look at things. Were definitely walking right
now, almost to a jog.
SMITHCONTINUED FROM A12
Hes fighting, McCollum said. Hes trying as hard as he possibly
can to get these guys to compete at a higher level. He knows what
it takes. Its just a matter of getting those guys to follow him.
Hes been as good as a person can be this season with lead-ership,
consistency and just a want to win. I think when you have that
added pressure to be a leader, it becomes a little bit more
difficult offensively be-cause you put more pressure on your-self
to do those other things.
Despite the added pressure, Cozad has averaged 11 points per
game and more than five rebounds. He averages 23 minutes per game
which is five more than he did last season but thats due to his
foul trouble. That is due to the lack of big men the Bearcats
possess.
Northwest finds itself at the crossroads of its season, losing
two games in a row for the first time. With star freshman guard
Justin Pitts out for the foreseeable future, the Bearcats need its
seniors to rise above and get them back on track.
I think its more of the culture things in practice, McCollum
said. Its more showing these guys how to
compete and stick with things when things dont go your way. If
they can do that down the stretch run, then we can have some
success.
Pitts was averaging 33 minutes per game, 16 points and totaled
57 as-sists before going down with a high ankle sprain. McCollum
said he can run but making a cut on a high ankle sprain is tricky.
Northwest has lost the last two games since the injury, but junior
guard Lyle Harris put up a career high 14 points during the 77-65
loss to Missouri Southern Jan. 21. The Bearcats sit at 13-5 on the
season.
It is the next man up, and you cant just think everyone is going
to be healthy or everyone is going to be on, Wallace said. You
always gotta be ready for it to be your turn to play. I think Lyle
(Harris) and An (Anthony Woods) are doing a good job of that right
now, but now we need to go into games knowing they can perform and
come off the bench and do well and expect to win.
It felt kind of like Pitts went down, Xavs (Xavier Kurth) down,
its like oh maybe, I dont know if we can do this. We played OK at
Southern. Lyle really proved that he can be good for us. Now we see
that we can win without these guys. Even though wed like to have
them, obviously.
SENIORSCONTINUED FROM A12
With Wilson standing at just 5-foot-11, he doesnt exactly reach
the ideal height NFL teams look for in a quarterback. Wilson,
however, proved the doubters wrong and has already won a Super
Bowl. (something the four quarterbacks selected before him cannot
say.)
Regardless of what the experts thought, Wilson and Brady will
lead their respective teams on to the field to square off in the
most important game in football.
Another similarity these teams share is their struggle at the
beginning of the season. However, both teams seemed to turn their
season around only after they lost to the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Kansas City Chiefs ripped the
Patriots apart piece-by-piece as they easily won 42-14. The loss
dropped the Patriots to 2-2. After that, they would go on to win
the next 10 out of their next 12 regular season games, finishing
with a record of 12-4.
Later in the season, the Seahawks would also lose to the Chiefs
at Ar-rowhead Stadium. Like the Patriots, the Seahawks would
rebound after their loss to the Chiefs and they would go on to win
eight games in a row, in route to the Super Bowl.
Both teams will try to neutral-ize each others passing attacks
with some of the most elite defensive-backs in the game.
The Seahawks defensive back-field will be led by three-time
All-Pro Richard Sherman and four-time All-Pro Earl Thomas. Experts
believe that both Thomas and Sherman are among the smartest players
in the league.
The Patriots defensive-backs will be
led by Darrelle Revis and a former Se-attle Seahawks player
Brandon Browner.
Coming into the game, the Se-ahawks rank ninth in total offense
and first in total defense. The Patriots will enter the game with
the 11th ranked of-fense and the 13th ranked defense.
Ultimately, this game will come down to the level of focus the
New England Patriots have going into the game. Distractions, such
as Deflate-Gate is never good for a team to have, especially before
the Super Bowl. Dis-tractions can sometimes be the differ-ence
between a win or a loss.
If the Patriots win, Deflate-Gate should be an after thought.
Although, if history tells us anything, gate-like situation will
follow New England into the offseason. If the daunting Seattle
defense prevails for its second year in a row, look for New England
to be forced to answer a lot of unwanted questions this coming
offseason.
SUPER BOWLCONTINUED FROM A12
Seniors Matt Wallace and Grant Cozad have brought new
personality and leader-ship styles to the 2014-15 mens basketball
team.
SHAWNA KINGSTON | NW MISSOURIAN
A12.Jan.29A9.Jan29
