Albeck Back Where It All Began--at Bradley

PEORIA, Ill. â€”  Stan Albeck walked the campus of Bradley University several weeks ago wondering if he should return as a coach to the school where he was an “awfulâ€� basketball player more than 30 years ago.

“I couldn’t honestly believe that Bradley was thinking about me,� Albeck said at a recent news conference called to announce he was replacing Dick Versace, who quit after an NCAA investigation resulted in one-year penalties for the team.

But in fact, Albeck was the first, and some believe only, choice of Bradley officials.

“Stan’s the Man� buttons soon appeared on campus and calls from alumni and from interested parties, not only in central Illinois, but from throughout the country, flooded Albeck’s San Antonio, Texas, home. “All of a sudden it dawned on me that (coaching Bradley) was a possibility.�

With his wife, Phyllis, Albeck toured the campus not far from his birthplace of Chenoa, Ill., pondering whether he wanted to return to the college ranks after seven years coaching National Basketball Association teams.

“There’s a special aura about being able to return to your alma mater. You have withdrawal pains, you really do, when all of a sudden people are calling you and they want you to come back,� Albeck said.

“To be perfectly frank, I had a very nervous stomach for two or three days thinking the situation over.�

Albeck’s nervous stomach may return as he tries to control the damage done this summer to the Missouri Valley Conference team.

Bradley, 32-3 and ranked No. 13 last season, is banned from postseason play in 1987 and the coaches are restricted for one year to on-campus recruiting visits because of NCAA violations that occurred under Versace. Because of the violations and charges that Versace misled NCAA investigators, Bradley said Versace would be fired after the 1986-87 season. Versace then resigned.

Several players, including star guard Hersey Hawkins, hinted shortly after the penalties they might transfer, but Albeck says he believes the team will stay intact.

“I get the feeling that they’re a very unique and special group and that they have a common bond, and that is to continue to make Bradley basketball better,� Albeck said.

Albeck spent seven years in the NBA -- with Cleveland, San Antonio, New Jersey and Chicago -- and 14 years coaching college teams. But he assured Bradley officials he planned to stay at the school for a long time.

“I can’t think of a better place than Bradley University, where I started 31 years ago, to wind up my career. I have made a commitment to the university. I’m not interested in an NBA job,� he said.