Looking back on Sherron Collins

Life after KU hasn’t been easy for Sherron Collins. After being snubbed in the 2010 NBA Draft, Collins made the Charlotte Bobcats as a rookie free agent. But his stay in Charlotte didn’t last long, and even gained national attention when, after being released, Collins missed two flights out of Chicago to return to Charlotte.

“That was kind of it,” then-Charlotte head coach Paul Silas said about withdrawing the offer.

Collins, who played in 20 games with Charlotte and averaged just 0.8 points in 3.3 minutes per contest, has never found his way back to the NBA. He has bounced around since leaving KU, playing also for the Maine Red Claws in the NBDL and last seen competing professionally in Turkey in 2011. Now, he’s reportedly living in Chicago with hopes of returning to the NBA someday appear quite slim as this undersized point guard (5-11) constantly fights weight issues and the stigma of what happened with Charlotte.

It all seemed like yesterday when Collins was the toast of the college basketball world. He left KU as the winningest player in school history (now Tyrel Reed holds that honor) and was a consensus first-team All-American his senior season. While he lost some explosiveness he had in high school, not many guards in college had Collins’ skills, a fearless competitor who could take it to the hole at will or rain three-pointers on you all night.

KU coach Bill Self simply called him the best guard he’s ever coached at Kansas — “by far.”

Back during the good times at KU, before he played his final home game at K-State, I wrote this piece on Sherron on how he had found true success, peace and happiness in Lawrence after overcoming so much adversity growing up in the West Side of Chicago.

At this time two years ago, Sherron Collins was living the basketball dream, loved by all and everybody’s All-American. He seemed destined for success after KU with a future so bright with endless possibilities.

Senior Class 

By David Garfield

Phog.net Senior Writer

Posted Mar 3, 2010

Sherron Collins doesn’t really want to let go. Not after the best four years of his life at Kansas, not after becoming the winningest player in Jayhawk history, not after maturing as much off the court as any player who’s ever donned the crimson and blue.

But on Senior Night against K-State this evening, one of the greatest players in KU annals will say goodbye in his final home game at Allen Fieldhouse.

Sherron Collins knows he can’t fight back the tears.

"I try not to think about it, but it is hard not to,” he said. “I wish I could run from it, but I can't. I wish I had more time to play here. I am trying to figure out if I am going to cry like a baby after the game, but I try to joke a lot and to stay happy."

There will be roses and cheers, tears and enduring memories. And there will be love. 

Lots of love.

“You can go anywhere and everyone treats you well and everyone shows so much support for KU basketball (regardless) if we win or lose,” the 5-11 senior guard said of his experience at KU. “Lawrence is my second home and I don't get homesick at all. 

“I love being here."

The fans, his teammates, and the KU coaching staff have loved having Collins here the last four years.

KU coach Bill Self said Collins has made a lasting impact on his life.

“He’s meant as much to me as any player I’ve ever coached,” Self said. “I think that’s a pretty bold statement because I’ve had some pretty good ones. I don’t know if you can say he means more than (Kirk) Hinrich or (Nick) Collison or Raef (LaFrentz) or Paul (Pierce) or Jacque (Vaughn). But to me personally, I can say that without any hesitation.”

From the mean streets of Chicago’s West Side, where he grew up in the gang and crime infested neighborhood, Collins came to Kansas nearly four years ago and found a new home, a salvation of sorts, an inner peace he longed for his entire life.

He was a guarded individual when he arrived in Lawrence in 2006, but evolved into a personable, trusting person who’s embraced the community and been a role model to children back home in Chicago and throughout the Jayhawk Nation.

Just listen to him speak. Just look at his smile.

“I have broken out of my shell and opened up by being around town and on campus,” Collins said. “Now, it just comes natural to me. At home in Chicago you have to keep to yourself in certain places and I think that stuck with me when I came here, but I realized I had to break that."

Growing up in Chicago with great adversity and seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Collins could have bowed to the peer pressure as a youth and turned the wrong way and mixed with the wrong crowd.

But he didn’t.

“I had good people in my corner like my mother and my big brother,” Collins said. “My uncle was my father figure and they all helped keep me out of trouble.”

Self has great admiration for his senior leader. He calls Collins’ rise out of Chicago and maturation at Kansas a “pretty remarkable story.”

“I think all coaches have a soft spot in their heart for kids that do it against all odds,” Self said. “He came into this situation really needing a place to change his thought process and to mold him into what he could potentially become. And he embraced that.”

But like many young men, Collins fought that adjustment for a while when first coming to KU.

Self points at a breakthrough in their relationship.

“The first time I ever had Sherron over to my house,” Self said, “it was such a big deal to him because he had never been in an environment like that. And that won me and my wife over immediately. For him to to feel that something so trivial was so important to him, that was something I realized right then that we had something special if he could just stay the course.”

While the road has been bumpy at times fighting weight issues and injuries, Collins has stayed the course and flourished both on and off the court. He’ll graduate after this semester and become the first male in his family to receive a college degree, silencing some doubters back home in Chicago who told him, “you weren't going to make it or that you weren't good enough.”

Donning graduation cap and gown, Collins will walk down the Hill in May with great pride. And Self will be beaming with joy as well.

“I’ll be just as proud of him on that day as I will be if we were to play great Wednesday night and for him to have the most memorable night of his life,” Self said.

Collins said he’s learned many lessons at KU that will last him a lifetime. He “takes things more seriously now and knows how to take care of my responsibilities.” Becoming a father has made the most profound impact on his life.

“I think that’s what really woke me up,” Collins said.

Collins has a son Sherr’mari, who will be 3 in April. And his daughter Sharee’ was born in February.

Soon after his first son was born, Collins and Self had a heart-to-heart talk.

“Coach Self told me that everything you do for yourself doesn't matter anymore; it is for your mom and your son now,” Collins said. “I really took that to heart. My mother had a tough life working two jobs to support my brother and me. She wanted us to have everything all the other kids had. I owe everything to her. I think it is time for her to rest and I want to be there for my son because my dad wasn't there for me. I talk to my dad a lot now, but he always reminds me to do everything I can to be there for my son and not to make mistakes like he did."

Being a father, student, and basketball player has been a huge balancing act for Collins. He’s done all this while being under the microscope at powerhouse Kansas, where Collins faced pressure to live up to his press clippings and hype coming out of Crane High School. Self has constantly pushed him to be the true leader,  player, and student he envisioned when Collins was a high school standout and one of the two best point guards (along with Ty Lawson) in his Class of 2006.

Self and Collins clashed at times. But through their trials has come a mutual respect and love. Self points to one situation where he rode Collins particularly hard.

“I realized then, dear gosh, this kid does care because I was on his butt and I thought there was a chance he may go home and not come back,” Self said. “Just to see how he responded to that. I said, ‘hey, we got him because he cares so much more than what we ever dreamed he would care. He’s a fighter and he likes it when it’s the most challenging. I always respect that about guys. I think all coaches do.”

Self said Collins has “been an absolute joy to coach.”

“I love everything about him,” Self said. “I love the stubbornness. I love the competitive spirit. We’ve definitely had our moments, but I definitely know at the end of the day, he’s going to fight as hard as he can. He’s certainly matured himself into quite a young man that will be very successful, regardless if basketball takes him there or not.”

He has certainly been a great success on the hardwood. Collins is one of only three Jayhawks (along with Hinrich and Darnell Valentine) to have recorded 1,700 career points and 500 career assists. He ranks as the school’s No. 7 all-time leading scorer, just 26 points shy of 1,800  points. Collins is also fourth on KU’s career three-point field goals list, seventh in assists, and 20th in steals.

But beyond all the statistics, Collins is the winningest player in school history who does all the intangibles, a true extension of Self on the floor.

“He’s the best guard by far that I’ve coached since I’ve been here,” Self said.

Collins’ teammates are also true believers. Just listen to junior center Cole Aldrich.

“He’s everything for us,” Aldrich said. “He’s the pulse of our team, the kind of general that runs everybody. He’s just the guy that you want to be that because he’s so competitive. He’s got a great head on his shoulders. He’s a humble kid, but he loves competing.”

And Wednesday night, Collins will be competing in Allen Fieldhouse for the final time in his storied career. 

You can bet one thing. Just as he’s played with great heart the last four years, his senior speech after the game will be straight from the heart.

Collins could do it no other way.

He knows how he’d like the fans to remember him.

“Just winning,” Collins said. “A player that tried to win every game, a player that was a fan favorite (who) interacted with the fans, let them know we appreciate them. 

“A winning player that left it all out there.”

Rick Suttle: My First KU Basketball Hero

Rick Suttle was my first KU basketball hero, the first player to give me chills and truly capture my imagination. My first memories of him center around the 1972-73 team or the 1973-74 Final Four team. To this day, I cannot completely remember the exact moment he entered my consciousness as wonder-eyed 6 or 7-year-old growing up in Lawrence about five minutes from Allen Fieldhouse.

But make no mistake, he left an impression on me that has lasted a lifetime.

Suttle, a 6-10 high school All-American from East St. Louis, Ill., made an immediate mark on the freshman team in 1971-72, averaging 22.3 points and 12.5 rebounds per game while shooting a scorching 54.5 percent from the field.

Then, in his first year of eligibility as a sophomore, he led KU with 16.3 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. He was one of the bright spots on that team, which struggled mightily with an 8-18 record. Suttle scored a career-high 28 points against Iowa, tying Dale Greenlee’s 28 against Oklahoma State for the best single-game mark for KU that season. He also grabbed a career-high 19 boards against Notre Dame.

Suttle was awarded for his accomplishments by being named Second-Team All-Big Eight by the Associated Press.

The following year in 1973-74, Suttle was relegated to sixth man as he became one of the top Super Subs in KU history and helped lead KU to the Final Four. If I remembered Suttle from the previous season, there’s no doubt he truly emerged on my radar this year, the Final Four dream team which gave me pure joy and excitement seeing my heroes like Suttle, Danny Knight, Roger Morningstar, Norm Cook, Dale Greenlee and Tom Kivisto displaying their magic in Allen Fieldhouse.

With their remarkable turnaround from the previous season en route to the Final Four, and just how they made a dramatic comeback in the final minutes against Oral Roberts in the Midwest Regional Final, that team made me believe in miracles, that anything in life was possible.

Above all, they made my childhood a whole lot sweeter and brighter.

While all those Jayhawks were my heroes, Suttle stood out the most. At 6-10 with a huge 70s style afro, Suttle was hard to miss. He was regal looking, like a Greek God on the basketball court, long, lean, agile and sinewy, one of the best big man shooters (along with Cook) in the country. I fondly recall watching him swish jumpers from the free-throw line, or just inside the charity stripe.

It was one of the prettiest sights I had ever seen to that point, and I wanted to hold on to Suttle and that Final Four team forever.

As I learned over the years interviewing his former teammates, Suttle was also a very unselfish player. While he came off the bench in 1973-74 and his scoring average dipped from 16.3 points to 11.3 (KU had five players average in double figures that season with Knight top scorer at 12.4 ppg), that didn’t matter to Suttle.

KU was winning games, and he was enjoying the ride.

“Rick Suttle might have been our best player, but he came off the bench,” Morningstar once told me. “He did that willingly. He just said, ‘Hey, if I’m more effective coming off the bench, that’s what we’ll do.’ It was that kind of (unselfish) attitude that everybody had.”

Despite coming off the pine, Suttle still played plenty of minutes.

“Danny Knight would start, but Rick would actually play more minutes during the game, and sometimes, coach (Ted Owens) would play both at the same time,” Greenlee said in a 2000 interview. “We’d run our double low post. Back in the 70s, it was a pretty nice luxury to have two 6-10, 6-11 people in at the same time.”

On and off the court, Suttle kept everybody loose with his joking and eccentric nature.

“I roomed with Rick. He was funny,” Greenlee said. “I can still see Rick. He was late for a practice. To punish him, we had a pre-game meal and Rick was supposed to sing his school song as the punishment. He didn’t know his school song. I remember him going, ‘I don’t know it.’ We said, ‘So pick a song.’ He leaves the room and came in singing “Hello Dolly.” Here’s Rick, 6-11. He actually left the room, came in waving a handkerchief like Louis Armstrong. He had us roaring. Probably every one in the room remembers that. Things like that, he was always good for something. He always kept you loose.” 

Morningstar agrees. He loved being around Suttle.

“Rick was goofy, real eccentric,” Morningstar recalled. “In those days, we had a dress code. We had the same ties, the same shirts, the same coats, same pants, all that stuff that everyone wore. As a team, you walked around. I think it was on our way to Oral Roberts, Rick comes down. We had the option of wearing a tie or wearing those blue turtlenecks with a Jayhawk on them. We all chose for that game and that trip to wear the turtlenecks. Rick comes out with his turtleneck, one of those clip-on bow ties that you slit a spot and put it in.  He was always doing goofy stuff like that.  

“Our last couple of games, I believe it was our senior year, in the introductions, everybody was on the bench and you just ran out from the bench all by yourself and the crowd was going crazy.  Rick stopped and did this goofy dance, he stopped about half way out and put his hands in the air, running in place and spinning around. The crowd went nuts. Coach was just rolling his eyes, shaking his head, ‘What are you doing Rick?’” 

Maybe that dance was something Suttle learned in his fraternity.

“Him and Tommie Smith and a couple of other guys were all in this fraternity (Kappa Alpha Psi),” Morningstar said. “They had all kind of trinkets around their room. Tommy actually was one of my other roommates. He had more (Kappa Alpha Psi) paraphernalia in our room, and Rick had a table full of it.

“... (Suttle) was a legendary Illinois basketball player,” Morningstar added of his former teammate who averaged 26.6 points and 15 rebounds his senior year at Assumption High School. “He was down just across the river from St. Louis. Those players, northern Illinois and southern Illinois were two different worlds from a basketball standpoint. They’d usually meet somewhere for a state tournament. I knew of Rick, how great he was, but I hadn’t watched him play.”

Morningstar was elated to play with Suttle for two years at KU. In their last year together in 1974-75, that team suffered some growing pains early dealing with the loss of their floor general and leader, Kivisto. Still, KU went 19-8 and won the Big Eight championship before falling to Notre Dame in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Suttle became a starter again that season, pacing the squad with 14.6 points per game and earning All-Big Eight honors. He currently ranks No. 37 in school history in career points (1,166), and is tied with Greg Ostertag for fourth all time on the single-game blocked shots chart (eight against K-State in 1975). Suttle is also tied for No. 20 on the school’s all-time double-doubles chart with 11.

After concluding his KU career, he was drafted in the seventh round of the NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers before embarking on an extremely long and successful pro basketball career in Argentina. 

It was 2005 I believe when Suttle came back for the 1974 Final Four team’s 30-year reunion. After the team was introduced at halftime, I walked over to the south end zone behind the goal where Suttle stood (I saw him taking video during the game) and introduced myself to him.

“Hi Rick, I’m David Garfield. You were my childhood hero.”

“Thank you,” he said politely with a deep voice.

I then asked him what he was doing these days, and he said he was coaching ball in Argentina.

It was a very brief conversation, but a very fulfilling one for me. He was gracious, and I know he was reveling in his first time back in the fieldhouse since he left KU and catching up with his former teammates so I didn’t want to overstay my welcome. But I felt at peace talking to him and knowing I had introduced myself to my first KU basketball hero, someone who meant so much to me during childhood.

I walked back to my seat on press row, smiled and took a deep breath.

And whenever I want to see Rick Suttle swishing buckets, grabbing rebounds, or blocking shots like he did in the 1970s, I can pop in the DVD Dale Greenlee (as classy and positive a guy as you’ll ever meet) sent me a few years ago on KU’s 1974 and ‘75 teams and relive part of my childhood, when I was innocent and young and believed everything was attainable.

It was a simpler and carefree time then as I could forget about any problems in school, and cheer for Suttle and his teammates and get lost in the moment in my own KU hoop dreams.

For that, Rick Suttle and the entire 1974 Final Four team, I thank you for those magical memories. You are in my heart, spirit and soul forever.

KU Flashback: Jayhawks post first-ever win over Kentucky in 1973

With Kentucky’s victory over Kansas in the national championship game on April 2, the Wildcats now hold a 21-6 all-time series lead. However, before UK's last two wins over KU (the Wildcats also beat KU early this season in November), Kansas had won three straight with five of its six wins coming in the last eight meetings.

In the aftermath of the national title game, I began thinking of KU’s six wins over Kentucky, the players that made the plays and the specifics of each game. In this blog entry, I travel back in time to Dec. 3, 1973 when KU beat the mighty Wildcats for the first time in school history.

***

With KU still winless in the overall series to Kentucky (0-5), the Jayhawks looked to get their first victory over the Wildcats in Allen Fieldhouse on Dec. 3, 1973, three days after crushing Murray State, 103-79, in the season opener. KU hit its first 12 shots after halftime in that game and finished the contest with 49 field goals, a school and fieldhouse record.

Now, KU was looking to keep the hot shooting cooking against the Wildcats, who won their opening game against Miami of Ohio, 81-68.

Even though it was just the second game this season, after going just 8-18 last year, this was a game KU needed to win to get its confidence boosted for the long season ahead.

And they did.

Behind 20 points from junior college transfer Roger Morningstar and strong inside play (KU’s frontline scored 62 points), the Jayhawks notched their first-ever win against UK, 72-61. Kentucky forward Kevin Grevey was game-high scorer with 23 points, though the Lawrence Journal-World reported that Morningstar “did a sticky first-half defensive job” on the Wildcats’ star player.

KU led just 31-28 at halftime, but hit 19 of 31 shots in the second half to build its lead. Meanwhile, the Jayhawks held the Wildcats to just 39 percent shooting for the game.

Morningstar was the star — “This is the biggest game I’ve ever played in my life,” he told the Lawrence Journal-World — but he had help this night from post players Danny Knight (17 points) and Rick Suttle (12 points), who hit shots and also put the clamps on Kentucky’s 6-8 big man Bob Guyotte (1 of 7 shots for just four points), UK’s sixth man last year who was pressed into pivot duty this season.

Coach Ted Owens’ game plan was to get the ball inside to test Guyotte.

“Inside was the place we felt we could hurt them,” Owens said.

KU was now 2-0 and riding high after beating the nationally ranked and defending SEC champs.

"I think we beat a good team Saturday in Murray State, but I think it was important for us to beat a ranked basketball team,” Owens said. “I’m very pleased. We were doing the things necessary to win. This team is more and more beginning to understand the things necessary to succeed. Some of the guys have had all the losing they need. We don’t have to lose anymore to learn lessons. They’ve worked awfully hard to become a team so they don’t want to let it slip away.”

KU marched to the Final Four that season with a 23-7 record, the best turnaround in school history and one of the best comebacks in NCAA history after finishing just 8-18 in 1972-73.