Aug. 12, 2010
RUSTON, La. - There is no doubt that Karl Malone had an immediate impact when he stepped foot on the Louisiana Tech campus 28 years ago, but even after he left to enjoy a decorated 19-year NBA career, his presence had a lasting effect.
Prior to Malone's first collegiate season, the Louisiana Tech men's basketball program had just six 20-win seasons in its program's history. Head coach Andy Russo had produced two winning seasons in his three years prior to the Malone era, but didn't exactly smother the 6-9, 230 pound Summerfield product with recruiting talk. Instead, he spent time recruiting a supporting cast for what would be a very fun ride.
"There was no question in my mind that he came to Louisiana Tech because his mother made him come here," Russo said. "If anybody says any different, they are lying. His mother told us to go out and recruit other players because he's coming to Louisiana Tech. We would always read in the paper that he's gong to Arkansas and we knew Karl wanted to go to Arkansas so we would call her back and say `Are you sure he's coming to Louisiana Tech?' She assured us that he was coming."
One day, Russo was down because they lost a recruiting battle with McNeese State for Shreveport's Joe Dumars. Then Russo got a call from Malone's mother saying that Arkansas was coming to sign Karl and that he better sign her son quick. After Malone signed the appropriate papers in Summerfield, he and Russo headed to Ruston for a quick tour of the campus.
"We saw (Arkansas head coach) Eddie Sutton coming from the opposite direction on a two-lane road and that was that," Russo said.
With the prized recruit in Russo's grasp and with the supporting cast in place, the setting was right to start a new era of Louisiana Tech Bulldog basketball.
"It wasn't like instant magic with any of us," Russo said. "We had to get over some hurdles like any team. We did, and it was like a magic carpet ride after that."
Malone fit in at Louisiana Tech just fine, but some things at the University just weren't ready for The Mailman's physical nature.
"He was the fastest and the strongest guy we had," Russo said. "During the first practice he broke a backboard and when we worked out, he broke a machine in the weight room. Those are the things that impressed you. He was an uncut diamond."
As a freshman, Malone averaged 20.9 points and led the Bulldogs to a 19-9 record.
During his sophomore campaign, Malone continued his assault on backboards as he broke a second one in Memorial Gym.
"I sent the pieces of glass out all over the country, and we got a plug in Sports Illustrated about that," said former long-time Louisiana Tech Sports Information Director Keith Prince. "It was kind of a `You need to know who Karl Malone is'. So we started getting some early attention and that helped generate notoriety about him. From then on, it was the numbers that he put up and the wins that generated interest."
As a sophomore, Malone averaged 18.7 points while leading Tech to a 26-7 record and a Southland Conference Tournament title which led to the first ever NCAA Division I tournament birth for the Bulldogs.
Malone's reputation continued to grow on the national stage. He led Tech to a win over Fresno State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, which included an ESPN highlight reel one-handed alley-oop dunk by Malone that was shown over and over on national outlets everywhere.
Despite the never before seen heights of the program, Malone worked harder than ever to bring out the best in himself. Even though he was 20 pounds heavier than his freshman campaign, the backboards at Tech held up and he led the program to its greatest season ever. With Malone's reputation and a 10-0 start, the Bulldogs cracked the top 25 polls and later, the top 10.
"His last year was the most sustained amount of media coverage over a period that I had in my 25 years here," Prince said. "That whole season we were dealing with the national press."
The Bulldogs enjoyed a fantastic ride with a school best 29-3 record, a conference title and wins over Pittsburgh and Ohio State to advance to the NCAA Sweet 16. Malone averaged 16.5 points that season before foregoing his final year of college to enter the 1985 NBA Draft.
"He played hard; he always played hard," said long time voice of the Bulldogs Dave Nitz "You could never say that Karl Malone didn't give you 100 percent every time on the floor. He made himself the player that he is. No one was about to tell him that he wasn't going to succeed."
That large, physical frame that he used to tear down backboards and become a three-time All-American at Tech fit perfectly in the NBA. So perfectly that from 1986 through 2003, Malone missed just eight games.
While Malone, the 13th overall pick in the NBA Draft, was enjoying his professional career, Louisiana Tech enjoyed arguably its greatest 10-year span of success on the hardwood in the program's history. The success came despite a head coaching change as Russo became the head coach at the University of Washington while assistant Tommy Joe Eagles took over the reigns. Starting with Malone's final two seasons, Tech achieved nine-straight 20-win seasons and nine-straight postseason births under two different coaches in Eagles and Jerry Lloyd.
"The 1980's certainly had an effect of what we were trying to do from then on," Prince said. "It was a combination of Malone, his teammates, the coaches and the recruiting job they did. When you start winning, it breeds winning. All the student-athletes began to feel that we should win."
As Malone continues to call Ruston home, it's no surprise that he stayed close to his roots when he chose Hico native and Grambling State alum Willis Reed, a 10-year hall of famer with the New York Knicks, as his presenter at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
"He knows in his heart and mind the kind of people he wants to be around," Russo said. "If there was ever a pre-Karl Malone it was Willis Reed."
On Friday in Springfield, Mass., Malone will join Reed as a Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer. He will also join Leon Barmore as Louisiana Tech's only two representatives in the illustrious group.
