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Alford recalls Waltman as vital to '87 title run
Asked about the late Royce Waltman during a Wednesday talk at Greencastle Christian Church, Steve Alford likely could have gone a number of places.
He could have started on the hallowed hardwood of Indiana University Assembly Hall, where Waltman served as an assistant to coach Bob Knight all four years Alford wore the Cream and Crimson.
There must have been stories from DePauw and Manchester, where Waltman and Alford spent time as coaching rivals in the old Indiana Collegiate Athletic Conference.
Instead, when Greencastle High School basketball coach Troy Greenlee asked about his old DePauw coach, Alford led his central Indiana audience further afield -- to Hong Kong, to be exact.
For it was in the Asian city, following the Hoosiers' 1984-85 campaign, that Alford said Waltman planted some of the seeds that led to the Hoosiers' run to their fifth national title two years later.
"We were on a boat in the middle of Hong Kong," Alford began, explaining the Hoosiers were on an international exhibition tour.
The passengers on the boat were the players and coaching staff, but no Coach Knight.
Acutely aware of tension between the young men and their taskmaster of a coach, Waltman seized the opportunity to ask the players, "What can we do for you?"
The answer, Alford said, was obvious: The players needed an advocate, someone they could take their problems to in confidence, before it got to the head coach.
"We didn't need someone running to Coach Knight," Alford said.
While elaborating no further, Alford seemed to indicate that Waltman did just that, serving as a more approachable alternative and buffer to Knight as the Hoosiers went from NIT runners-up in 1985, to an NCAA berth in 1986 to NCAA champions in 1987.
Alford spoke fondly of Waltman, saying former players were shocked and saddened when the coach passed away on April 7 at age 72.
"His passing hit us very hard as players," Alford said.
Alford shared a few reflections on other Putnam County connections:
* Troy Burgess: Greenlee also asked about Burgess, former football and basketball coach at South Putnam and a high school teammate of Alford's at New Castle High School. Greenlee asked if Burgess was the "awesome player," as he tells other coaches.
"'Awesome player' may be a little strong for Troy," Alford said with a big laugh, before quickly giving credit to Burgess.
"He was a very athletic player," Alford said, adding he was a credit to the football and basketball teams of New Castle. "I was fortunate to have had him as a teammate."
He also praised Burgess' work as a coach in both sports over the years.
"He has done a great job as a coach in this state."
* Chad Tucker: Alford and Tucker will be forever linked as fellow members of the 1983 Indiana All-Star team, with Alford representing New Castle and Tucker representing Cloverdale.
They went on to lead two of college basketball flagships in the state at Indiana and Butler, and both are now Indiana Baskeball Hall of Fame members.
However, their friendship goes back to the 1970s when both were third-graders
"He was a dear friend of mine," Alford said of Tucker, who passed away in 1996. "He was one of my first friends in basketball because we got to go a year early to Coach Knight's camp."
With fathers Sam Alford and Al Tucker serving as coaches at the camp, the two boys had the privilege of attending as third-graders.
Alford said he was told by his dad to stay quiet and do what he was told during the week, since they were there to work.
He surmised Al Tucker said the same thing to Chad "because I don't think we said a word to each other all week, even though we were roommates."