The Phenom

[Wayne23]

12/2: 78-67 over Texas Southern. We led all the way, by as many as 21. Sub PF/C Gary Owen led us with 22, 7, 4, and 3 steals. He's going to start beginning with our next game. Lots of balanced scoring and good D from the other guys who played. Only 9 TOs.

6-0. We're really putting it together. BUT, 7 of our next 8 are on the road so that may slow us down some.

Recruiting Coach Ben Flet: I've been around college basketball fo a long time and I've never seen anything like this. KSU had become so used to losing over that past few years that it was kind of an expectation. Coach Nom turned that attitude around almost from the first day he arrived. He started emailing kids in May. When the kids came in for summer school he started bringing them into the office one or two at a time to talk with them, get to know them... He was all positives, all about how we were going to do great things here. He started to get the kids to believe so quickly. I could see it at the first practice. A team that kind of went through the motions in years past was practicing with their heads up, running drills with enthusiasm, practicing plays and sets with their minds and bodies focused. They made LOTS of mistakes at first. Coach would stop and correct a given mistake and tell them to focus on not making the same mistake again. More often than not they didn't. He rarely yelled at kids but instead explained things, taught them how to do better, praised them even when correcting the mistakes. And they responded. They got better every day and they're still getting better every day, and just about every one of these guys would try to run through a brick wall if Coach asked them to.

We're going on the road now, and that means we'll most likely lose some games. We'll have to see how that affects the kids, but I'm guessing we'll get through it and be just fine.

[Wayne23]

12/6: 74-99 at Chicago ST. The bubble got burst in a big way. We gave up 56 1st half points and were never in it. The fact that we lost isn't so bad, but giving up 99 IS. We'll work on the D. Owen led us again with 19 and 5. 15, 8 for Mert. But we let them shoot 50% and they hit 15 threes. Our 1-2-2 was not sharp tonight, but then neither was our m2m or our 2-3. Oh well, good teams bounce back and that's what I'll try to convince my kids that they can do.

[Wayne23]

12/9: 72-73 at Alabama A & M. They scored with .4 seconds left for the win. Hard fought game and I can't fault our effort. They went to the line 29 times and we went 17, and that was the difference. This is really the first game where I've really battled with the officials; not a well officiated game. They were inconsistent and there was no way to know what was or was not going to be called. That makes it tough. Ren Mert led us with 22 and our guards outplayed theirs, but Owen got shut down, 4 pts. He did rebound and he played good D. Their bench was key, 24 and 11, to 11 and 4 for our bench.

We need a win.

[Wayne23]

12/13: 91-90 at Grambling. HELL of a game! 15 lead changes, 9 ties. We were down 8 at the half and battled back throughout the second. There were 4 lead changes in the last minute. Sub guard Joel Dens hit a 16 footer off a screen for the win.

20, 15 for Rick Sage, who was terrific tonight. 17, 4 for Owen, 14, 8 for Mert, 18 for Dens. This was a war.

We're 7-2. 4 more before conference play starts, 3 of them away.

Junior starting PG Reg Hayd: I was really disappointed with me play tonight. The Grambling PG embarrassed me. Coach took me out late, and I can't blame him. Fortunately, the guy he put in, Joel Dens, did a great job and sealed the win for us. After the game Coach was encouraging but he also said that as a junior I needed to be a team leader. I'm really going to work at it.

[Wayne23]

12/16: 78-75 at Florida A & M. They're 1-9 and they almost beat us, but any win on the road is a good win. 18 lead changes and 10 ties and we didn't wrap it up until Ren Mert's three with 4.1 left. He led us with 19 and 11. 6 other guys had between 7 and 13. 19 TOs almost did us in.

We're 8-2 with three more to play before conference games begin. 8 wins! That's more than any KSU team has had in a half dozen years.

At home next game and then 3 on the road including the conference opener.

Reg Hayd: I played better tonight, but the other team's PG wasn't very good. Still, I worked hard all night and I'm happy with the game I played.

[Wayne23]

12/20: 103-93 over Morgan ST here. We trailed by 11 early, by 5 at the half. This game didn't feature much D, if any, by either side. We worked on moving without the ball and finding the open man at the half. I figured we just need to outscore them since we weren't likely to be able to stop them. The guys listened and it worked.

27, 4, 7 for SG Shawn Sand, 21, 14 for Mert, 23, 9 for Sage. +11 RBs, only 6 TOs.

Joe Gunn's Column, Atlanta Star: There's something close to a miracle going on up the road at Kennesaw State U. KSU has been the doormat of the Atlantic Sun Conference for the past decade, and they've won a total of 27 games in their past 5 seasons.

This year is a whole new ballgame. A. D. Tank Perkins fired the coach last spring and took a real chance by hiring a barely 23 year old kid named Dunphy Nomakowski as the new head coach. Coach Nom, one of the three names he'll answer to, hails from up North in Massachusetts, where he was a big fish in the little pond of Boston University. He then went one to assist there for only one year. As it happens the coach at BU was Perkins' college roommate and he put in a word with Perkins.

I guess the interview and the visit here went well because lo and behold, Perkins hired Coach Nom.

I have to admit that I was among the majority who seriously questioned this hire, but I have to say I was wrong; we all were.

Coach Nom came in here like an explosion, and the explosion worked. His kids bought what he worked so hard to sell, have obviously learned the things they needed to learn and done the work they needed to do. Right now they stand at 9-2. Nine wins is the most this team has racked up in 12 years, and conference play hasn't even started yet.

I have to admit that the coach can be a little hard to take. He does things like walking into a post game presser shouting, "I am a PHE-E-E-E-E NOM!!!" You see, "Phee Nom" is his self-created nickname, derived from his birth name, Dunphy (Phee) Nomakowski (Nom). He has promised everyone here that his team would do great things, right from day one, and so far they certainly have. But the Muhammed Ali bit is a little annoying. It does play well with the KSU students though. They are all in, and all but the first two home games have been sellouts, and the banners are really singing Coach Nom's praises.

It remains to be seen what will happen when Atlantic Sun play begins, but no matter what, this confident young coach has certainly brought some sunshine to KSU and to this entire part of the state of Georgia.

[Wayne23]

12/23: 84-74 at Dixie State. They were 8-1 coming in and I thought we were facing a real challenge. We were, but we rose to face it. It went back and forth for about the first ten minutes then we went on an 11-2 run and never looked back. We led by as many as 20.

Huge game for Mert, 22 and 19. The next 6 guys scored between 8 and 14. +19 RBs.

One more pre-conf. game.

Junior Forward Ren Mert: I came to KSU because I wanted to play a lot of minutes and knew that it would happen here. I was kinda resigned to losing a lot of games, and during my first two years we lost almost all of them.

This year has been an incredibly happy surprise. I can't believe how many games we're winning (10-2), and I can't believe how much fun I'm having. I lead the team in scoring, blocks, and steals, and I'm 2nd in RBs, but that's not nearly as big a deal to me as winning is. I couldn't be happier.

[Wayne23]

12/27: 87-83 at Tarleton ST. HELL of a game! 25 lead changes, 8 ties, never more than 8 point separation. My guys just gutted it out, played the hard, tough, focused ball they play almost every night.

29, 9 for C Gary Owen, his best game in awhile, but he's been a positive, steady player for us. 20, 4, 4, 3 for SG Shawn Sand. +10 RBs. We had a season high 21 TOs, which is NOT good, but they had 19; it was that kind of game.

Post Game Press Conference:

Q: Coach, you just beat a pretty good team on the road. The road is never easy and you're 5-2 away from home. How do you account for that.

Coach: I tell the kids just before we leave the locker room before the start of the game that the court is the same size, the ball is the same size, the hoop is the same size, both home and away. I tell them to tune out the crowd and just play. We lost 2 games back to back awhile ago, the second by only one point. We're not afraid of the road.

Q: Coach, talk about your players for a minute. Mert had a great game the other night, and Owen had a really good game tonight. Is your strength inside?

Coach: Hey, Shawn Sand had 20 tonight! But yes, I think we are stronger inside than outside. But my top 3 guards, Sand, Hayd, and Dens, all play hard and play well. I have great confidence in all 3 of them. Still, Ren Mert is our most experienced in playing time player, and he's our leader. We have no seniors, so he needs to be our leader. He Hayd, and Dens, our Captains, have been great leaders.

Q: How about Gary Owen?

Coach: He worked his butt off to get into the starting lineup and he's been solid every night. He's a great example of what I'm all about- hard work and believing in yourself.

Q: Coach, you're 11-2 going into Conference play. Did you ever imagine that might happen?

Coach: Absolutely! I am a PHE-E-E-E-E NOM!!! (laughter) Seriously, we didn't set any specific goals at the start of the season. We stressed working hard in every game, on every possession, on both O and D, working hard in practice, paying attention and learning all the things we do, and believing in ourselves. I told the kids if all of that happened then good things would follow. And they have. Thanks everybody.

[Wayne23]

1/3: 96-76 at North Alabama to start conference play. We led all the way, by as many as 25. We really played well, especially inside.

Gary Owen led us with 33 and 6. 33 is the most points any KSU player has scored this year. 15, 8, 4 for Mert, 12, 8 for Sage.

We just don't have the players to be a great, or maybe even a good defensive team, but we're 3rd in the nation in PPG, so that makes up for it.

[Wayne23]

1/6: 79-61 over Jacksonville here. Another game where we led all the way, by as many as 21.

29, 9 for Owen, who is on fire right now. 12 TOs, which is the goal. I want 12 or less every game. Doesn't always happen.

13-2, 2-0. We are playing so consistently well. There's bound to be a drop off at some point but no sign of that yet.