The Michigan Daily - Monday, January 30, 1995 - 3 Higgins Former Michigan NCAA champion 0 talks about his return to the NBA BRETT FORREST Forrest Fires Banner team eeps fans waiting for banner year Sean Higgins is back in the NBA with the New Jersey Nets after a year overseas playing in Greece. In a career that has been a series of peaks and valleys, Higgins hopes his return to the NBA will be the first step on the path to the success thathe felt as * memberofMichigan.'s 1989 Champi- onship team. Higgins, who was one of the start- ing members of the 1989 Champion- ship team that beat Seton Hall 80-79 in overtime, has had an inconsistent ca- reer since leaving school after his jun- ior year. Although he was selected by the San Antonio Spurs with the last pick of the econd round, Higgins was unable to stick with a team for an extended pe- riod, and has had stints with the Or- lando Magic, the Los Angeles Lakers, and in Greece. Recently Daily Sports Writer Tim Smith talked to Higgins about his re- turn to NBA, his memories of the 1989 Championship, andhisdecision to leave school early. Daily: How do you like playing *ith the Nets so far? Higgins: I like it pretty much. We have a talented teamand I fit in well here because one thing they needed was an extra scorer, someone who could knock down the outside jump shot. That's what I do, so I like it here. D: Why did yoU decide to come to the Nets after playing in Greece for a year? H: The main reason was that (Nets 4eneral Manager) Willis Reed showed a lot of interest in me. When I was over in Greece he showed a lot of interest in me and kept on top of me. He kept up with my progress when I was over in Greece for one season, so it made it easier and I came in and it worked out forhim, so that's oneofthereasons why I came to New Jersey. D: What did you think of the com- *etition in Greece after spending a couple of seasons in the NBA? H: To tell you the truth, they sur- prised me over there. The competition is a lot better then I expected. There are a lot of guys over there who can score, so I had achance to work on my defense a little bit. The experience culturally was great for me, to get away from America and eally get into myself a little bit. D: Doyou think youhave thepoten- tial to be more than a role player in this league? H: If my minutes were greater, and I had the opportunity to do that, no question, because I have had big games in this league before. D: What role do you see yourself playing with the Nets this season? H: Right now I'm just trying to do What the team wants me to do, what coach (Butch) Beard wants me to do, and just try to take pressure off our big men when they get double-teamed down low they can reverse the ball. D: After not being able to establish yourselfas well as you might haveliked so far in the NBA, do you regret leaving Michigan after your junior year? H: In a way I regret it, but I'm the *ypeof person where Idon't really look back on lost time. You never know what could have happened my senior year at Michigan. That's not anything I'm concerned with now. I've fulfilled my dream- I'm in the NBA. I'm making a comfortable living. I don't really regret it. It's not really about the money right now, it's just basically doing what I always wanted to do and that is to play basket- ball at this level. D: What was your initial reaction being drafted so low after being pro- jected as a possible first rounder? H: I went down to a Chicago pre- draft camp and a lot of people were telling me that I was going to go in the top 20.Iplayed well down there. I came out rated as one of the best guards down you can go back to school which they didn't have when I came out. That was a little unfair for my years, but like I've said, you can't look back on time. D: Since you were the last pick in the second round in 1990, would you have used this new rule had it been in effect at the time? H: No question I would have come back to school if they had that rule then. D: What were your fondest memo- ries of the 1989 Championship season? H: I think my fondest memories are just playing with all the great players we had on our team. That's what I Glen Rice was on fire too, you can't forget about that. He was like a fire- cracker. - D: What were you thinking when Rumeal Robinson went to the line trail- ing by one withonly a few seconds togo in the game and the championship on the line? H: He shot like 56% from the line, so I was crossing my fingers when he went up there. But he went up there like he should have and hit the two free throws. D: Did anybody say anything to him before he went to the line? H: No, no, that's the worst thing you could do. I had confidence in him, but we didn't want to do anything to break his concentration, so we just left him alone. D: What were some of your best memories from the game other than the game-winning foul shots? H: Just the intensity of it. It was one of the most intense games that I've ever been involved in. D: What was your opinion of Seton Hall going into the game? H: We had respect for Seton Hall. I mean, they were in the championship just like we were. They won five games just like we had so we had to respect them. They were able to take us into overtime and wehadagreatteam, so we respected them a lot. D: Are you still close with the guys from the 1989 team? H: No question. Just like tonight I played against Terry Mills. We have probably the most guys from the Uni- versity in the NBA right now. I run into guys from the team just about every night. D: Have you followed the team this year with the new group of acclaimed freshmen? H: Yeah, I watch them. They're young. They have a lot of high school All-Americans on the team, but they're young. D: Do you think Fisher will be able to get these guys ready by the NCAA tournament? H: If he doesn't get them ready by the end of the year, they'll be good next year. Coach Fisher is a good coach. He just needs time to work with them. D: Do you think the 1989 team could take on one of the most highly touted freshmen classes ever, the Fab Five, if you were ever to go head to head? H: No question. I think if we got together in the summer time with no spectators, no referees, and just tossed the ball up it would be a good game, but I think we would get them. Too much experience. D: Have you worked at all to finish your degree requirements? H:I went back after my rookie year, but I still have some more hours to go. I'm going to go back. The NBA is going to setup some things for me to do it through correspondence. I'm doing sports marketing, because I want to get involved with an NBA club after I retire, maybe do some man- agement work. T alk about a paradox. Michigan has won the most national titles of any college hockey program, yet has not raised a banner in 30 years. However, over the past four-plus seasons, Michigan has reestablished itself as a top-level team. The Wolverines made it to the NCAA semifinals in 1992 and 1993, and were ranked No. I nationally most of last year. Coach Red Berenson has clearly placed his team in a position to end the interminable drought. Could this be the year? "We're going to win one," Berenson says. "It's just a matter of when." But the task is not an easy one. The Wolverines never should have beaten Wisconsin in the 1992 NCAA tournament. Maine lost just one game in 1992-93, the season it beat Michigan in the national semifinals. Last year Michigan beat Lake Superior State four times before succumbing in the NCAA quarterfinals to the eventual titlists. And all of those Michigan squads had talent-laden rosters, with no fewer than nine players from the past three teams currently playing pro hockey. Still, after gathering what seemed like all the right pieces, the Wolverines couldn't fit them together. "There was always something missing," senior forward Mike Knuble says. "We'd get one thing on one night and not get it another night." If not for a couple bounces, Michigan should have beaten Maine. And as Wolverine alum David Oliver says, "We played well enough to win the game against Lake State." But the Wolverines' desired outcome eluded them and now the pressure to win a national title continues to mount, as evinced in the team's dressing room. Michigan hangs a collection of priorities in its lockerroom and all the commonplace, mundane goals are always listed: win the Great Lakes Invitational, win the CCHA regular season title, win the CCHA tournament. This year, though, the seniors put their hopes for an NCAA title in writing. "When you see it every day, it reminds you what you're working for," Michigan captain Rick Willis says. But are they hurting themselves? Hockey players have been known to lean on superstition and ritual and this would seem to go against their nature. Perhaps this set of Wolverines is different, having the perspective gained from big-game experience and heart-wrenching loss. "We're careful about getting ahead of ourselves," Knuble says. "I daydreamed (of winning the NCAAs) in the past - especially last year when we ripped through the league. But I learned not to set myself up for that." Berenson sees nothing wrong with a little dreaming. "It could happen this year with a younger team than last year," he says. "It could happen three years in a row." If it does, don't expect Knuble's mother to be there. She has a time- share in Florida the first two weeks in April. Last year she canceled a trip to see the team in the final four in St. Paul, Minn. After Michigan's quarterfinal loss to the Lakers, though, she was stuck in the cold. This year, Knuble says, Mom is headed for Florida. If Michigan does make it to Providence, R.I., the site for this year's championship, look for her to change the itinerary. Such superstition. But in this weekend's home games, a 2-2 tie with Western Michigan and a 5-4 overtime win against Illinois-Chicago, Michigan hardly looked worthy of that eastern tour. These mid-season contests against unranked opponents are the kind the Wolverines must plainly endure. When it comes time for the NCAAs, they'll be prepared. But relax. Even if they don't win it all in 1995, there's always next year. FOR YOU R EYE EXAMS & EYEGLASSES 1 COURTESY OF THE NEW JERSEY NETS there, so I don't know what happened. I do know what happened, actually, but I prefer not to talk about it. ' D: So what did you think when you were finally drafted by the Spurs with the 54th pick? H: It was a big disappointment for me. You can't dwell on those things. You have to go on and live your life and keep on moving. I'm a survivor. D: Do you think you have been able to survive the rigors of the NBA so far? H: Well, to be honest, it hasn't really been that tough. That's part of the business. You see guys who went in the first round and they bounce around the league. I've been on three different teams, but I think that's been an advantage for me financially be- cause I've had a guaranteed contract with all the teams I've played for, so it's been an advantage for me. D: What do you think of the con- tinuing trend of college players leaving earlier and earlier for the NBA? H: One thing I have to say to guys who leave early is to make sure they get good advice. I got some good and some bad advice. Now they have arule where remember most, and what I always remember about being at Michigan, and then the shot I hit against Illinois in the Final Four to put us in the Champi- onship game. D: What were you thinking when you took that shot? H: It was just like a rush of electric- ity went through my body after I hit it I was like gone. I can' t even explain. D: What was the team's initial reac- tion when coach Bill Frieder was fired and assistant Steve Fisher was hired right before the start of the tournament? H: It was basically a situation where we had to stick together. That's basically what won us the champion- ship, because we were a family dur- ing those six games of the tourna- ment. D: Did Fisher say or do anything special to motivate you before the tour- nament? H: Coach Fisher did exactly what he should have done. He put us all in a position to succeed and said, 'Hey, don't stop doing what you're doing,' and we went out there and played free. or'gio Armani STUDENT DISCOUNTS c iardsrn $ 320 S. 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