Stephen Todd Alford (born November 23, 1964) is an American basketball coach, former player, and head coach of the UCLA Bruins basketball team today.
Alford helped lead Indiana University to the national championship at the 1987 NCAA tournament, when Keith Smart hit a winning leap against Syracuse. In Indiana, he earned the first team All-Big Ten with three awards and became the all-time leading scorer in Indiana at the time.
Alford played four years in the NBA for the Dallas Mavericks and Golden State Warriors. After retiring in 1991, he became a college basketball coach. She trains at the University of Manchester, Missouri State University of the Southwest, University of Iowa and University of New Mexico before arriving at UCLA.
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Early life and preparation care
Alford was born in Franklin, Indiana and grew up in New Castle.
Alford studied counting at the age of three by noticing the number that marked the scoreboard in Monroe City, where his father, Sam Alford, trained a high school team. Sam often moves for various training jobs. Steve only missed two of his father's matches, once when he had chicken pox and once when he made a free throwing competition Elks Club throw. When Alford was nine years old, he attended a basketball camp occupied by Coach Bob Knight. Eventually Alfords settled in New Castle, Indiana, where Steve played on the New Castle Chrysler High School basketball team with his father as coach. Alford is known to practice shooting so much that he will spend six or seven summer nets and often sacrifice his social activities.
As a new high school student, Alford scarcely averaged a game point, but then averaged 18.7 the following season. In his senior year in 1983, before the three-point line was applied, Alford averaged 37.7 points per game and won Indiana's "Mr. Basketball" award. His team advanced to the country's quarter-finals but lost to Connersville in the 1983 state tournament. Then, shortly after Alford won a gold medal as a member of the US Olympic team Bob Knight, he gave his father a medal to a tearful ceremony at high school's respect for the loss.
Indiana University
Alford decided to play basketball for Bob Knight and the men's basketball team Indiana Hoosiers. In Indiana, he became the all-time leading scorer of the university with 2,438 points (the record was then lost in grip by Calbert Cheaney, who became the top scorer of all time Ten Big). Alford was the first player to be named MVP team four times. During his last three seasons, Alford earned the first team award - the Big Ten. In Legends of College Basketball by The Sporting News Alford is # 35 on the list of 100 greatest Division I-basketball players. When The Sporting News named its top ten NCAA basketball players in the 1980s in December 1989, Alford was listed at number ten.
As a freshman, Alford quickly gained the help of Coach Knight. And Dakich, a former teammate of Alford and then temporary Indiana coach, said: "Steve is very mature as a freshman and he's thrown out of the exercise.If Coaches respect you and know you can handle it, he'll do it.When I'm a freshman, Randy Wittman and Ted Kitchel, the seniors, are discarded. "That year, Alford helped lead Indiana to upset because Michael Jordan led North Carolina Tar Heels in the 1984 NCAA tournament. As Alford sophomore was named to the 1985 NIT All-Tournament Tournament team after Hoosiers finished second behind UCLA.
As a junior, Alford and the 1985-86 Hoosiers are profiled in a bestselling book A Season on the Brink. Author John Feinstein granted unprecedented access to the Indiana basketball program and his insight into Knight's style of coaching. The book tells how Knight once criticized Alford's work habits and leadership abilities, telling him that he could not "lead a whore into bed." Knight later admitted Alford was in fact an outstanding worker and leader and the comment was merely Knight's method to motivate players. Hoosiers went 21-8 that year and finished second in the Big Ten, with Alford earning All-America and Big Ten Player of the Year.
In his senior year, the Hoosfer 1986-87 led by Alford won Indiana's fifth national championship, when the team beat Syracuse in a tournament title. The game was decided by a leap that won the match by Keith Smart with five seconds left. Alford shot 7-10 from the three-point line, scoring 23 points, including a buzzer-beating three-pointer late in the first half which put Hoosiers forward by one point to start the second half.
Olympics
For the 1984 Summer Olympics Alford, only 19 years old and a second year student, was selected to play on the US basketball team, coached by Bob Knight. Alford averaged 10.3 points per game, second in assists, and shot.644 from the field. He and his colleagues went on to win a gold medal at the 1984 Olympics. In this game Alford played alongside Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, Sam Perkins, Chris Mullin, and Wayman Tisdale. Alford has recounted that during the Olympic training camp, Jordan bets him $ 100 that he will not last for four years on the Indiana Knight team.
Professional career
Alford was drafted in the NBA's 1987 draft. Many fans in Indiana expect Alford to be drawn up by the Indiana Pacers, but Pacers pick Reggie Miller and Alford to the Dallas Mavericks. Originally an angry choice of Indiana fans but in the end they and even Alford accepted the decision. Years later, Alford said "not only is the design choice so much better than making me... Reggie is not a good choice, she's good for the state of Indiana." Alford played in the NBA for four seasons, mostly with the Dallas Mavericks, although he spent a season with the Golden State Warriors. During his career, he started three games, scored 744 points, 176 assists and fired free throws with an accuracy of 87 percent.
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Alford quickly became the face of Indiana basketball and fan favorites across the state. And Dakich, a former Alford teammate and then temporary Indiana coach, said of him, "Basically, he has all of Indiana." Alford's wife, Tanya, said, "Everybody is talking about her hair, her all-American image, how she wants her to marry their daughter, Everyone thinks she's perfect, that's a very accurate picture.
Alford embodies a picture of "David versus Goliath" from an Indiana basketball that was popularized in the Hoosiers hit movie (released in 1986 when Alford was in Indiana). She's small to college keepers, slow without compensating and strong speed just because she eats and flexs herself up to 185 pounds out of 150 as a freshman. According to the commentator, Alford owes its success to repetition and work. In his practice he will choose a place on the floor and take ten shots. If he does not make eight, he will punish himself with push-ups or wind sprints. At the end of his colleagues career, Coach Knight said, "He gets more out of his ability offensively than anyone I've ever seen in college basketball.He is a good scorer for being a jump shooter like I've ever seen. scored over 2,400 points that way, and that's amazing, considering he did not get tip-ins, drives or dunks. "
Alford is considered one of the best free throw shooters in the history of the game. Alford's free throw percentage of 0.897 (535-596) is the ninth in NCAA history. His form in the line of offense is so routine that it inspires the famous spell of an Indiana fan: "Socks, shorts, 1-2-3 swish". Before releasing the free throw, Alford said to himself, "Gently on the rim's front edge," and some believe they can see his lips move.
Train a career
Manchester University Spartan
Alford began his coaching career at his campus in North Manchester, Indiana in 1991 as head coach of Manchester University's Third Division basketball program. For four seasons with the team, Alford has a 78-29 record. When Alford started coaching the team, the team had lost its first eight games. During his first season there, Alford won four of the 20 games. In his first full season as coach the team recorded a record of 20-8. In the following season Manchester set a 23-4 record, and in the fourth and final season his team finished 31-1.
In 1994 and 1995 Manchester won the conference title, and in the last three seasons of Alford, the team competed in the NCAA Division III Tournament. Under Alford, the team won three straight conference tournament titles (1993, 1994, 1995). The team advanced to the third Division championship in 1995, placing second in the country after suffering their first defeat in 32 matches. The loss of Bo Ryan's Wisconsin-Platteville University team marks the only game in NCAA history that matches two unbeatable squads.
In 1993, 1994, and 1995 Alford was named Indiana University College Coach of the Year. In the 1994-95 season the Manchester team was inducted into the School Hall of Fame. In 1999 Alford was also inducted into the Manchester Hall of Fame.
Missouri State Bears
After his time in Manchester, Alford was appointed head coach at Southwest Missouri State University. He started his position there in the 1995-96 season, and will remain there until 1999. During his time at Missouri State, his team booked a 78-48 record. In 1999, the Bears advanced to Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament before losing to Duke.
Iowa Hawkeyes
Steve Alford was named head coach of the University of Iowa Hawkeyes basketball program on March 22, 1999.
Although Alford's first match as coach was a 70-68 victory against the Connecticut Huskies national defending champion at Madison Square Garden, his team went 14-16 during his first season in Iowa. During the second year (2000-01) the Hawkeyes went 23-12 in the regular season and 7-9 in the regular season of the Big Ten Conference, but they won the Great Weaving Men's Basketball Tournament with four consecutive wins against Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State and Indiana. This earned them the # 7 seed in the 2001 men's 2001 Division NCAA Basketball Tournament, where they beat Creighton in the first round but lost to Kentucky in the second round.
The Hawkeyes conference record dropped to 5-11 during the 2001-02 season, but they beat Purdue, Wisconsin, and Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament before losing to Ohio State in the final. The Hawkeyes played in the National Invite Tournament that season, but lost to LSU in the first half to finish with a 19-16 record. This is the first of three straight seasons played by Hawkeye at NIT under Alford. They won the first two rounds of the 2003 tournament against Valparaiso and Iowa State before losing to Georgia Tech, ending with a 17-14 record. That season, top scorer Pierre Pierce was charged with raping a female Iowa athlete. Alford insisted on Pierce's innocence. Bargaining was achieved where Pierce pleaded guilty to lower charges. He was suspended from the team and forged. In 2004, Iowa lost to St. Louis in the first round of NIT to complete 16-13 despite a 9-7 conference record (the first Big Ten Conference record under Alford).
The Hawkeyes finished 21-12 with a 7-9 conference record in the 2004-2005 regular season, but they won their first two Big Ten Tournament matches against Purdue and Michigan State before losing the third game to Wisconsin, 59-56. They got a big invitation to the 2005 NCAA Tournament as # 10 seed, where they lost 76-64 to Cincinnati in the first round. In 2005, Pierce was charged with a sexual assault on his girlfriend, and he was fired from the team before the allegations were filed. However, Alford's reputation among Iowa fans suffered. Pierce then served 11 months in a correctional facility.
During the 2005-06 season, Hawkeyes were unbeaten at Carver-Hawkeye Arena and ended in second place with Illinois with a record 11-5 conference, one game behind Ohio State. However, Hawkeyes defeated Minnesota, Michigan State, and Ohio State to win the Big Ten Tournament and complete 25-8 entry into the third NCAA Tournament under Alford. They were seeded # 3 at the Atlanta Regional 2006 NCAA Tournament but lost in the first round upset at No. 14 Northwestern State 64-63, leaving Alford with just one NCAA Tournament win since taking over at Iowa.
During the 2006-2007 season, Alford led the Hawkeyes to a non-conference record of 8-6 (losing to rivals in Drake and Northern Iowa states) and a 9-7 record in the Big Ten Conference (17-14 overall). Iowa failed to make NCAA or NIT tournaments. It marked the first time since the 1976-1977 season that the Iowa team with a winning record had failed to make the NCAA or NIT tournaments.
At the end of the 2006-2007 season, Alford resigned from the University of Iowa to receive a coaching position at the University of New Mexico.
New Mexico Lobos
Alford was appointed head coach at New Mexico University on March 23, 2007 to replace the sacked Ritchie McKay. In his first year as Lobos coach, Alford scored a record of 24-9, 11-5 in the league. Twenty-four victories are the most for New Mexico head coaches in their first year. Lobos led by the 1st round of the Boston Celtics take on J. R. Giddens. Lobos was eliminated in the first round of NIT by Cal.
In his second season, led by senior Daniel Faris, Tony Danridge and Chad Toppert, Alford led Lobos to their first conference championship in 15 years. He earned the MWC Coach of the Year Award for his team performance. Alford also recorded the highest winning record in the first two seasons for UNM head coach. Alford and the New Mexico squad fell only from the NCAA tournament and ended with a second successive NIT bid. They won their first round home game against Nebraska and lost on the last-minute bell on the road to Notre Dame.
In his third year, coaching a mostly young, untested team, Lobos Alford still won the regular season MWC title for the second year in a row, ranked 15th in the majority for the year, and won # 3 on the NCAA Tournament, the team's first since 2005. In the first half, they survived a tough game against Montana 62-57, but despite 28 points from Dairese Gary, falling in the second round to the newly-established Washington side. At the end of the season, Coach Alford receives a ten-year contract extension through the 2019-2020 season.
The 2010-2011 season started with the Alford group on 12-4 after a non-conference play, but the team struggled for the regular season record of the 8-8 conference. Drew Gordon and Dairese Gary lead a talented team that grabs many things throughout the year in conference tournaments. The team seems poised to make a run at the MWC conference tournament, but the tragic ACL injury to Gary in the semi-final against BYU proved too much to overcome for this young squad of UNM. Their 2010-2011 season ended with a loss of NIT to Alabama 74-67. However, with everyone back (with the exception of Gary), the next season seemed promising.
The 2011-2012 season begins with rough patches. UNM was selected to win the league for the first time in five years at the helm of Alford, but the team began to be questioned 2-2 with losses for competitors of NMSU origin and feeder team under WCC in Santa Clara. UNM then ran into a twelve-match winning streak and finished a non-conference season on 14-2. UNM then went on to have a regular season record of 10-4 conferences and part of the conference title with rival San Diego State. It is just fitting that the regular season co-champions will be square off in the tournament title of the MWC tournament. With Drew Gordon and Demetrius Walker leading the battle that tested the UNM team in the championship, Alford and Lobosnya won the 69-58 conference tournament. UNM received the fifth seed in the West NCAA region, and they defeated Casper Ware and the Long Beach State 49ers in their first game at the NCAA Tournament. The Lobos lost to Louisville Cardinals in the next game.
In the 2012-2013 season, with a fierce defensive team, Alford leads Lobo's squad to a regular-season record of 26-5, winning the title of the Western Mountain Regular Season conference. Alford won his third MWC coach of the year honors, and New Mexico garnered another Player of the Year award at Kendall Williams. New Mexico are ready to run in at the NCAA tournament after winning the MWC conference tournament for the second year in a row. At 29-5 entering the tournament, New Mexico was an early favorite as a Final Four contestant by some analysts and publications, but Alford and Lobos were disappointed by unseeded Harvard teams, who won their first NCAA tournament in school history.
UCLA Bruins
On March 30, 2013, Alford signed a seven-year, $ 18.2 million contract to become head coach of UCLA Bruins, replacing the sacked Ben Howland. Ironically, Alford's decision to take on UCLA's work came just three days after he signed a 10-year extension in New Mexico. At an UCLA introductory press conference, Alford was asked about Pierce's handling in Iowa, and he stated that he did "everything [he] was ordered to do." Critics grew over his recruitment, especially over his handling of Pierce. Two weeks after his recruitment, Alford apologized for declaring Alex's innocence "before the legal system went in. This is inappropriate, insensitive and painful, especially the young female victim involved, and I'm sorry for that."
As soon as he hired, Alford filled the position of his assistant counselor with a good friend and former assistant John Calipari, Ed Schilling. Also employed are David Grace, a rising assistant who spent 2008-2013 at Oregon State staff, and Duane Broussard, who spent 2008-2013 as an Alford assistant in New Mexico. Tyus Edney, who starred in the UCLA national championship team in 1995, continued as operations director. In his first season, Alford steered the Bruins to the title in the 2014 Pac-12 Tournament, the first tournament tournament conference in six years. They advanced to Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament 2014 - their first regional semi-final appearance since 2008 - before falling to Florida, which increased to 4-0 all-time against UCLA in the NCAA tournament.
The Bruins started the 2014-15 season at 4-0 and No. 1. 22 before losing two of the three matches in the Atlantis Battle 4 tournament. Starting with their December loss at home to Gonzaga, the Bruins lost five games in a row, their longest streak since 2009-10. Losses included a whopping 39-point to No. 1 Kentucky - they trailed 24-0 and trailed 41-7 at half time - and with 32 points against Utah. UCLA closed its regular season with three straight home victories to complete unbeaten (9-0) at home in the conference for the first time since 2006-07. The Bruins went 1-1 in the 2015 Pac-12 Tournament, but proved most of the wrong projection by accepting an invitation to the 2015 NCAA tournament, earning No. No. 11. They advanced to Sweet 16, when they lost again to Gonzaga. The squad became the lowest-ranked UCLA team ever to reach the regional semifinals.
Due to this success in court, on 9 June 2015, Alford was honored as the New Year's Big Ten Club of the Southern California People of the Year at Tournament House, home of the Roses Tournament in Pasadena.
Incident
- During the 2010 season, during the post-match handshake line, Alford made a confrontation with the Brigham Young player in which Alford called it a "very vulgar" name, according to Wall Street Journal.
- In 2011, before the NIT Tournament at home games against UTEP, arch-rivals Alher and his staff fought fiercely with UTEP coach Tim Floyd and his staff, in disputes over training time. After this incident, Alford canceled a historic and old basketball series between New Mexico and UTEP.
Personal life
Alford has three children, Kory, Bryce, and Kayla. Kory plays for old Alford in New Mexico and is transferred with him to UCLA. Bryce also played under Alford at UCLA, and ended his career as a school career leader in three shots. He became a professional basketball player.
Alford is a Christian. He has spoken openly about his faith, saying, "I am a Christian I am a second family man, as much as I like basketball, it's third, fourth, or fifth under the line."
Head coaching record
References
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Basketball-Reference.com
- Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame Profile
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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