Tuesday, January 12, 1982
Page 10
Daily Nebraskan
Husker cagers snare Omaha Benson's Hoppen
By Mark Krause
A highly-recruited Nebraska basketball player has
decided to stay at home and play basketball for the Uni
versity of Nebraska next year.
Coach Moe Iba's prized catch is Omaha Benson senior
Dave Hoppen, a member of most all-state lists last year.
Hoppen verbally committed himself to Nebraska over the
holidays, although a letter of intent cannot be signed until
April.
With lack of height being an obvious problem in the
Huskers' past few seasons, Hoppen, a 6-1 1 center, may fit
into Coach Moe Iba's plans quickly.
"I think he has tremendous mobility and agility for a
player 6-11," said Omaha Benson Coach Terry Shelsta.
Hoppen can shoot from 18 feet as well as anyone on the
Benson team and is becoming a dominant reboundcr,
Shelsta said.
Shelsta said the best part of Hoppcn's game is the tran
sition game.
"He is as quick as most 64 players," said Shelsta.
Hoppen has led his No. 2 ranked team in Class A to a
9-1 record, the only loss coming at the hands of top-ranked
Crcighton Prep. He has averaged 25 points and 17 re
bounds a game.
Although he said he once liked baseball and football
better than basketball, Hoppen was contacted by more
than 300 schools for his talents on the court and not on
the gridiron or diamond.
Hoppen narrowed his choices to Nebraska, Missouri
and Notre Dame. With the rich basketball tradition at
Missouri and Notre Dame, it would seem ironic that he
Photo by Ty Acton
Cornhusker I-back Roger Craig (21 ) runs in a touchdown in the Orange Bowl game against Ciemson. Crai also ran
in a two-point conversion after the touchdown, hut that was ail Nebraska could score in the fourth quarter" and the
Tigers won 22-15.
Nebraska football season successful
despite Orange Bowl loss to Ciemson
It's too bad the 1981 Nebraska football team will be
remembered by some as the team that blew its chance at a
national championship, not as the team which overcame
great odds to play for the championship.
No, the 22-15 Orange Bowl loss to Ciemson can't be
blamed on the officials, as some fans and local media
members have done. Husker turnovers and other mistakes
contributed far more to the loss than penalties called by
the flag-happy Southeast Conference officials.
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Still, it is hard to pin the tag of loser on this team just
because of a below-par performance in Miami. Maybe now
is a good time to remember the Huskers were once 1-2 for
the season and didn't appear to be headed anywhere,
especially to the Orange Bowl to play for No. 1 .
Although Nebraska's bid for the top spot came up
eight points short, too many memorable things came out
of this season to consider it a loss. Things like:
-Coach Tom Osborne's first undisputed Big Eight title.
-A 27-14 thrashing of the Oklahoma Sooners in Nor
man, Okla. The Sooners were the pre-season pick to win
the Big Eight championship.
-Anthony Steels' performance of the national athem,
which brought the crowd to its feet at the final home
game against Iowa State. Steels capped the performance
by catching a touchdown pass later that afternoon.
-The Outland Trophy and numerous other awards
garnered by center Dave Rimington.
-The emergence of sophomore quarterback Turner
Gill, who helped lead the Huskers to the Big Eight crown.
The list could go on and on, but the point has been
made: No team that finishes 9-3 and attends a major bowl
game can be considered a loser.
If a look back at the season highlights isn't consolation
for the loss, perhaps a look ahead to next season is.
Make no mistake about it, the coaching staff has some
important players to replace, but one can't help but look
forward to the 1982 season with the returning crop of
players Nebraska will have. Only 244 more days and it all
starts again.
Bowl Notes: It was probably fitting that Penn State,
Washington, Texas, Pittsburgh and Ciemson were the
winners of the New Year's Day games. Each of these
teams entered their game as the underdog. What a way to
finish a year full of upsets.
Fans w ho are ready to count Oklahoma out of the nat
ional spotlight had better take another look at the Sun
Bowl. The Sooners showed some of their fourth-quarter
magic en route to their win against the Houston Cougars.
Although Ciemson finished 12-0 and is deserving of the
national title it was awarded, you can't help but wonder if
Penn State wasn't really the best team in the country by
the end of the season.
The Nittany Lions' impressive wins against Pittsburgh
and USC looked more like the Penn State team that play
ed Nebraska than the one that played Miami, Fla. and Alabama.
chose to be a Husker.
"I wanted to play where my mom could come to the
games," Hoppen said. He said recruiting pressure by Notre
Dame and the possibility of contributing during his early
years at Nebraska were other factors.
Iba's offensive plan also attracted Hoppen.
"They have always used their centers a lot," he said.
The tough defense that has become characteristic of
Nebraska basketball teams should also suit Hoppen.
"He is an excellent defensive player," Shelsta said,
whose team is defense-oriented.
Hoppen said stories that people in Nebraska do not
support basketball and support only football are not true.
"I received a lot of letters of support from Nebraska
basketball followers," he said.
Hoppen, who has been a Nebraska basketball fan for
some time, said he hoped for a national ranking for the
Husker team.
"That would really bring the fans out," he said.
Hoppen says he plans to study business at UNL. Al
though he says thoughts of professional basketball after
college are a little premature, Hoppen said he hopes to
someday play in the pros.
Scoring, not shooting,
important to Johnson
By Bob Asmussen
Throughout his basketball career, Handy Johnson has
been a high scorer.
"I've been labeled a shooter and 1 don't reallv care for
it," Johnson said. "I want to be thought of as a scorer."
During each of his three seasons at Orr High School in
Chicago, Johnson led the team in scoring. In his one year
at Southeastern Community College, he led the team with
19 points a game. After 12 games as a Husker starter,
Johnson is averaging 10.1 points a game. To Johnson,
there is a world of difference between a "scorer" and a
"shooter."
"A scorer is a person who can score at any opportuni
ty." Johnson said. "A shooter is someone who scores
from the outside. If you're limited to being just a shooter
you can be shut down."
A proficient scorer like Johnson needs one thing to be
effective confidence. After starting the season hitting
only two of ten shots against Wyoming, it was very impor
tant for Johnson to remain confident.
"The beginning of the season didn't bother me," John
son said. "I just had to keep shooting the ball. A good
shooter has to have the attitude that if you miss a couple
of shots, so what. You have to have confidence the ball is
going in every time you put it up."
No surprise
Starting is no surprise to Johnson.
"The coaches told me I had a chance lo start,' he said.
"It a!! depended on how hard I worked. It wasn't guaran
teed to me I had to earn it."
Out of high school, Johnson was recruited by several
major colleges. Purdue, Iowa and Arkansas all offered him
scholarships. But since his grade average was one-tenth oi
a point below the required 2.00. he was directed to South
eastern to improve his grades.
"If I hadn't gone to junior college, I'd be at the Univer
sity of Iowa," Johnson said. "Once i got into junior col
lege. I decided to go somewhere else."
One factor helping his decision to come to Nebraska
was that his coach at Southeastern, Charles Spoonhour.
came to UNL as an assistant coach.
"Having Coach Spoonhour come here was a helper,"
Johnson said. "I knew wliat he was like. As coaches.
Coach (Moe) Iba and Coach Spoonhour are similar. Coach
Spoonhour is the calm type. He takes everything in
stride."
Iba impressive
Jolmson said he is impressed with Iba.
"Coach Iba is one of the best I've seen." he said. "He
wants us to play aggressively on both ends of the court."
Johnson said the slower pace of life in Lincoln doesn't
bother him. He said die social life in Nebraska is nice and
he's met many interesting people.
"I'm not here to be a great sociable person," Johnson
said. Tm here to try and become a great basketball play
Johnson said he has only one goal for the season -
winning basketball games.
"I don't have any personal goals other than to help the
team," he said. "If you win. you're going to achieve per
sonal goals."
Having three seniors on the team is added incentive for
Johnson.
"The seniors want to go out on a good note," he said.
"Ve want to help them do that. We're going to a tourna
ment, whether it be NCAA or NIT."
When looking at this week's games against Kansas and
Missouri, Jolmson sees good things.
"I think if we play like we can play, we can beat both
teams, he said.
