By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season
I'm not sure how Morgantown reacted when Bob Huggins vowed to bring a national championship to the great state of West Virginia, but when he left Akron for Cincinnati two decades ago, a similar claim left Bearcats' fans at least a little bit skeptical.
At his introductory press conference in 1989, Huggins told local reporters he intended to dust off UC's rich basketball tradition and put the program back on the map with a Final Four appearance within three years. And sure enough, the Bearcats had earned that elusive trip to Minneapolis to play Michigan and the Fab Five in the 1992 national semifinals.
Guard Anthony Buford was a huge factor in Cincinnati's success, and while he was able to happily recall that incredible Clifton winter, its culmination at college basketball's most high-profile venue left Buford entirely dissatisfied with far more than returning to campus without a national championship trophy.
Buford, who's been calling UC games on local television and sometimes for ESPN's regional coverage, and also is a financial planner, was kind enough to spend some time on the phone with OGS on Wednesday to cover a range of topics. Here's a portion of the conversation:
OGS: What was that Final Four experience like for you? What do you think about most when you recall that trip to Minneapolis?
Buford: I don't really think about the Final Four because I don't think we were treated with any respect or class when we were there. I think it was the beginning of Bob's sour relationship with the media. Yeah, there were some good stories here and there, but overall the treatment we got was terrible. All we did was beat the teams in front of us. It wasn't our fault that Kansas lost to UTEP, or that USC lost to Georgia Tech. But all of a sudden, you've got people asking how Bob could have done it with all these transfers. He had to have cheated. But we had just as much of a right to be in the Final Four as Michigan and Duke and Indiana did.
I remember reading an article that called us a team of misfits back then. In Minneapolis, we were getting ready to take the floor for a practice right after Michigan got done. There were lots of media people and cameras all over the place during Michigan's practice. But when we came out on the floor, they all left.
After we lost and we got a chance to enjoy the city and the atmosphere and the accoutrements of the Final Four, that was nice. I didn't take anything away from the Final Four, from an experience standpoint, that was cool. We won two rings that season, one for winning the conference and one for getting to the Final Four. I only kept the ring I got from the school for winning the conference. I tossed the other ring from the bus.
OGS: When Huggins took the Cincinnati job, you played at Akron for another season before deciding to transfer. Why did you ultimately come to Cincinnati?
Buford: First off, I signed with the University of Akron because of Bob Huggins. I had been recruited by Missouri, DePaul, Stanford, and then Connecticut came in late, as well as a lot of MAC schools. The main thing that struck me with Bob was that he seemed to be the one guy who came across immediately who was genuine and truthful, and that was important to me. I would like to say every player in college basketball would like to play for a guy like that. I was raised like that by my dad and that was incredibly important to me and Bob exhibited that from day one.
I was happy playing for Bob. He was a straight-up guy. And this many years later, that's what his players still love about him, and that's why they'll go to battle for him. It makes it really easy for you mentally. He can coach you to be a player, just as long as you go out there and give everything you have in practice and in games. Playing under him certainly teaches you incredible mental toughness.
OGS: When you got to Cincinnati, did you think you had a Final Four team?
Buford: The year I sat out, we probably would have been a tournament team had I played that year. But the next summer, when I saw the guys who were coming in, I had a feeling we were going to have a lot of talent. I met Erik Martin at the Five Star camp and told him I was transferring to Cincinnati and said he should come there, too. And one of his teammates at Five Star, Corie Blount, was interested, too. So once we all got to Cincinnati, I took the time to teach them all of our offenses and defenses so we'd be able to hit the ground running once the season started. With the talent we had on our team, it was evident that we would be good. We started the season pretty good and then we go to Michigan State. We were unranked and they were ranked seventh or eighth or something, and even though we ended up losing a 19-point lead and losing that game, that's when we realized we could play with anybody in the country.
OGS: Were you afraid there'd be too much talent and not enough basketballs?
Buford: I knew we had some competitive guys on the team and I wanted to make sure they realized how important it was to listen to just the messages from Bob, but not the vehicle through which they were delivered. He can play some psychological games and I was hoping guys would understand that and not get rattled when Bob would try to tempt us.
OGS: What's your relationship with Huggins like now? Do you stay in touch?
Buford: He and I don't talk a whole lot. I appreciate everything he's done for me when it comes to basketball. I understand and know what he's meant to my college basketball career. But a couple years ago when I was in town for a Pittsburgh-West Virginia game, he wouldn't give me anything good to promote his program on television. He was his usual self, saying, "We're not that good" and stuff like that. Pittsburgh won the game and later when a group of us went somewhere after the game, I saw him. I told him it was too bad (West Virginia) couldn't get that fourth foul on (then-Pitt star) Sam Young. That's when he disagreed and kind of ripped some of his guys. And when Bob gets upset, he'll go after you. But I'm not a kid anymore. I'm not playing for him anymore, so I'm not going to let him berate me in public like that. I said something back to him and let's just put it this way; the night ended shortly after that.
OGS: Was that conversation light-hearted?
Buford: No, it was mean-spirited.
OGS: Now moving on to the teams in this year's Final Four, Michigan State is making yet another appearance. Being a native of Flint, once a huge hoops hotbed, do you ever root for Sparty?
Buford: Never. I have unabashed hatred for Michigan State. When I was coming up in Flint, Jud Heathcote was the coach at Michigan State and Bill Frieder was the coach at Michigan. I was probably the top player coming out of Flint when I was a senior. But Jud Heathcote didn't recruit me because he thought I was too small to play in the Big Ten. And Bill Frieder said in the papers that (Flint North star and Michigan signee) Demetrius Calip was the best player in Flint. But when (Buford's Flint Central team) played at Flint North I think I went for 39. And Frieder was there, and that quote was in the paper just that day. I was playing on pure anger.
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The year I was sitting out after I transferred to UC, Michigan State played at Cincinnati and (future NBA star) Steve Smith, who was a close friend of mine, was talking trash to me while I sat on the bench: "Buf, you better tell these fools who I am."
Now the next year when we played at their place, you know I was yapping at Jud Heathcote the whole time. I was giving him the business. And then when we played them again in the tournament, before the game, Jud said something to me like, "Take it easy on us today" or something like that. I gave them 29 at their place and 21 in the tournament. I felt pretty good about what I did to Michigan State.
OGS: Butler appears as though it's trying to give the "it's-just-another-game" approach, but we know differently. How will the Final Four, in the mid-major's own backyard, be different from anything those kids have experienced?
Buford: The distractions are going to be incredible for them. You cannot get away from it. And you've got every relative you've never known calling up asking for tickets. That's what Butler is dealing with right now, and it's worse for them because the Final Four is right in their backyard.
When we beat Memphis (in the 1992 Elite Eight) and we arrived back in town, the airport was loaded up. We were looking out of the airplane windows like, "This is crazy." And during the week, you're trying to go to class and you can't concentrate. Everyone wants to talk basketball with you. In fact, I just tried to duck in to the bookstore for a minute to get a blue book -- because you have exams, which was another huge distraction -- and one guy asked me to sign something. All of a sudden, they've got a table set up and I'm sitting down signing autographs. You leave for a couple hours to go to classes and when you get back, your voice mail is loaded up and all this.
We were having a tough time. We'd be sitting in the locker room getting ready for practice and talking about how maddening everything was when what we were supposed to be doing was enjoying it all. So finally, we told Coach we had to get out of there, so he arranged for us to fly up to Minneapolis a day earlier than we had originally planned.
OGS: Who is your pick this weekend?
Buford: I had picked West Virginia to play in the championship game. I think this team finds a way. People talk about Duke's size. But they talked about Kentucky's size. Duke's big guys are going to have to come away from the basket to guard West Virginia's perimeter people in that open-post offense. And that will open up penetrating lanes and cutting lanes. I see West Virginia playing a very similar game to the one they played against Kentucky and I think they'll win it. I think Michigan State wins because Butler will have a whole lot more pressure than if they were able to go to a neutral site away from home and I don't know how well they'll handle it. This is Huggs' best chance to win a national championship. West Virginia will beat Michigan State for the championship.
Make sure to check back Friday for a few more questions with Buford, including his take on the current state of the Cincinnati program.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 10:58AM 
