Air Force coach Joe Scott's voice is gone, a casualty of success. On Monday the Falcons completed a two-game home sweep of Mountain West powers Brigham Young and Utah. At Clune Arena, it sounded like one of the academy's jet runways.
And that was during timeouts.
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| Air Force's D complements the offense well, forcing 18 turnovers a game and allowing an NCAA-low 47 points per contest. (AP) |
Air Force's ascension is as unlikely as anything college basketball has seen.
To appreciate how good the Falcons (14-2, 4-0 MWC) have become, you have to understand how bad they have always been.
Air Force's last winning record was in 1978. Its best record in league play is 6-10 in 1989. In 47 years of college basketball, the Falcons have had two players selected in the NBA Draft, neither before the ninth round. They have never won an NCAA Tournament game. They have never appeared in the NIT.
Just last season, Air Force had four home crowds of less than 1,000.
Now Clune Arena is rocking, because Scott has the Falcons rolling.
Their next victory will tie the school's season record, set during that magical 15-10 campaign of 1978. Air Force has won its past 12 games, a school record (duh) capped by back-to-back blowouts of BYU (74-52) and Utah (62-49).
Those victories improved the Falcons' record against 2003 NCAA Tournament teams to 5-1, including a 49-44 win Dec. 28 at Cal. That came in the Golden Bear Classic, where Air Force was supposed to be cannon fodder for the Bears -- not win the darn thing.
Before Scott, Air Force had employed three coaches in 44 years. That shows integrity, patience and compassion, but zero commitment to basketball excellence, or even mediocrity.
An eight-year assistant at Princeton under Pete Carril and Bill Carmody, Scott arrived four years ago with the intricate "Princeton offense" and found himself with a luxury not even Princeton enjoys -- a built-in feeder system.
It's called the U.S. Air Force Academy Prep School. Army and Navy also have prep schools to give future students a one-year buffer between high school and the military academy.
The USAFA Prep School basketball team plays a junior-college schedule and runs the Princeton offense. By the time the players reach college, they understand the system. Smart guy, Joe Scott.
Not every recruit spends a year at the prep school -- Scott leaves that decision to the player -- but eight current Falcons did, including the top three scorers. The only starters who didn't were seniors Joel Gerlach and A.J. Kuhle, who arrived at Air Force for Scott's first season.
"The prep school prepares them for life when they get here, so these kids are ready academically, and ready to be leaders," Scott says. "It's hard for any (basketball player) anywhere in America to compete as a freshman. Throw in the demands at an academic school like this one, and what we have here (militarily), and it's even tougher. The prep school prepares them ... so when we have practice in the afternoon, their head is clear. Now they can come down and compete."
One prep school product is Air Force's centerpiece, sophomore center Nick Welch.
At 6-feet-8, he is a matchup nightmare for opposing big men because he shoots 55.2 percent on 3-pointers but can drive from the arc to the basket. Welch is third on the team at 9.7 points per game, but is averaging 15.8 in conference play.
"Welch is fearless, a competitor," Scott says. "He's a difference-maker -- strong, athletic, fast. My other freshman, (6-6 forward Jacob) Burtschi, he's also a different kid. So they can't touch the top of the (backboard) square. Who cares? Touching it doesn't make you win basketball games. Being able to dribble, pass and shoot makes you win."
The Falcons can do that. They shoot 50.2 percent from the field, assist on 70 percent of their field goals and turn it over just 11 times per game. More than half their shots are 3-pointers, but Air Force also converts 63.6 percent of its 2-pointers.
The Falcons also play a little defense; they lead the country, allowing 47 points per game.
"That says no matter what the style of play, you're guarding," says Scott. "We're forcing almost 18 turnovers a game, and we don't press. We're out there guarding."
Scott, a three-year starting point guard at Princeton in the mid-1980s, was Carmody's top assistant, destined to become his alma mater's next coach when Air Force hired him in April 2000.
Four months later Carmody left Princeton for Northwestern. John Thompson III replaced Carmody, but Air Force has become a better basketball situation thanks to the Mountain West's stature, the Falcons' feeder school and Scott's recruiting pitch.
"In the end, this place is one of the best educations in America, and then you have a career when you're done," he says. "Our guys are officers of the U.S. Air Force, and they're paid very well to do a job they wanted to do. You study (something like) engineering, economics, like any other college, and when you graduate you have a job in the field. You're 22 or 23 years old, and you don't have a debt to your name. It's a very good deal."
The deal sounds a lot better than Scott's voice, which is hoarse the morning after another blowout victory at Clune Arena. Pretty soon he'll be whispering, but that's no problem. His basketball team is making enough noise.
