Then & Now: Chris Cresswell

Then & Now:

Chris Cresswell

Compiled By Dave Brandon (Photo Courtesy NU

Media Relations)

Chris Cresswell was a three year

letter-winner at

w:st="on">Nebraska

 While at

w:st="on">Nebraska

tournament two seasons.  Individually, Cresswell

broke into the top ten in several

w:st="on">Nebraska

recently took the time to join HHC after we hunted him

down somewhere out on the left coast.

HHC: Chris, we

appreciate you taking a few minutes and joining us on

HHC.

CC: No problem. A new

audience is a good thing. My mother is tired of me

making her watch my highlight tape!!

HHC: (laughs) A lot

of people forget that you started your college career at

Cal-Irvine in 1987.  What made you choose Cal-Irvine,

and was

w:st="on">Nebraska

recruited you in high school?

CC: Who wouldn’t jump

at the chance to be an Anteater! I took trips to

w:st="on">Montana

UCI. I guess

w:st="on">Irvine

being mauled by bears on campus or living campus life

like scenes from the “OC.” 

w:st="on">Nebraska

school.

HHC: Inevitably, the

next question is going to be what made you decide to

transfer away from UC Irvine, and how did a

California boy end up in

Nebraska?

CC: I remember

watching a Saturday football game between Texas and

Oklahoma while in the dorms at UCI. I caught glimpses of

those schools’ campus life during outtakes from the

game. Those schools seemed more like college then the

commuter school that was UCI. I wanted to be part of

that type of environment. When I decided to leave, I

called every good football program that had an average

basketball team, as that was more in line with my skill

level. I got lucky that

w:st="on">Nebraska

HHC: Prior to coming

to

w:st="on">Nebraska

w:st="on">Nebraska

lies!

CC: I knew that they

were known as the Cornhuskers!

HHC: Upon arriving in

w:st="on">Lincoln

in 3-point percentage as a sophomore, were second on the

team in 3-pointers made, and poured in 17 points in a

game at

w:st="on">Michigan

w:st="on">State

system so quickly?

CC: When you’re a 1

tool player it’s pretty easy.

1) Square up to basket

2) Close eyes

3) Pray

4) Shoot

HHC: Our apologies if

we bring back bad memories, but just as quickly as

things seemed to be going great your sophomore year, you

saw your playing time cut back significantly as a

junior, as you only appeared in ten games.  That had to

be character building - how did you accept this and make

it a positive experience?

CC: We were very deep

my junior year at every position. I was the odd man out.

 On the character, the jury is still out. It was easy to

enjoy the success of the team. We went from the worst

team in school history to the best in one year. The

dynamic created by the success played out in many

interesting ways that year.  Some painfully true colors

came out in people behind the scenes.

HHC: Things improved

your senior season, and before the 1991 campaign, Danny

Nee was quoted as saying about you "I believe he's going

to bring that 3-point shot to the table and will be a

very effective player coming off the bench at

w:st="on">Nebraska

he gets the ball, just shoot it."  What did that kind of

confidence from your coach do for you?

CC: Pretty funny

quote considering he asked me to leave the team after

every season! In retrospect perhaps it was an attempt to

test my character, or maybe he really did want me off

the team. Danny Nee never made an even passing attempt

to understand who I or any of his players were as

people. He made assumptions about us and stuck with

those as gospel. As for the dribbling, he was right on!

HHC: (laughs) By the

way, would you believe us if we told you we are

remembering all of this and don't own any media guides?

CC: In a word…Scary

HHC: That’s what our

girl friends and wives all say, too!  Anyway, perhaps

one of the biggest games of your career was in the 1992

home game against

w:st="on">Kansas

dramatic buzzer beating three-pointer.  However, prior

to that, Bruce Chubick had the "forgotten block," and

you hit the "forgotten three-pointer" late in the game -

walk us through that game and the play we're talking

about - was it the biggest shot of your career?

CC: No question it

was the biggest shot. I’ll never forget Jamar hitting

that shot and the crowd rushing the floor. I was out in

a sea of students when the sea parted to let Roy

Williams through. He was coming up to congratulate us on

a great game. During all that madness he took the time

to find as many of us as he could to shake our hands. I

was so moved that after the season I wrote him a letter

thanking him for that moment and his contribution to the

Big 8. I assured him I did not intend to get into

coaching incase he mistook my motivation for writing. He

took the time to write a letter back, which I’ll be able

to show my grandkids with pride. I took

w:st="on">Kansas

of course they were playing the Huskers!

HHC: From your times

at

w:st="on">Nebraska

court, and when were you last in

w:st="on">Lincoln

CC: The competition,

the friends, last call at the Rail, drunken sledding

behind our house after beating Oklahoma.  Last time I

was in Lincoln was when I

moved my girlfriend (now wife) out from

New York to

San Francisco in ‘99.

HHC: We asked Derrick

Chandler last week and have to ask you as well -

everyone seems to have at least one funny Danny Nee

story.  Any classic ones that stand out in your mind?

CC: I remember

walking down a street in Paris after my senior

season. Nee, Owens, Chubick, Piatkowski and I had just

closed down a Parisian bar. We’d each stuffed our

pockets with glasses from the bar, including Nee, to

take home as souvenirs. He showed us his lighter side

for about thirty seconds that night.

HHC: (laughs)

Nice! Finally, what is Chris Cresswell up to these days,

both personally and professionally? Can you still shoot

the rock like you used to?

CC: I way

overachieved in the personal category.  I married the

most incredible women I’ve ever met three years ago. We

live in San

Francisco with our 4-month-old

twin boys.  Quinn and Cooper were born on April 18 of

this year and spent 10 weeks in the hospital, as they

were 3 month premature. During this interview I had to

pause to feed them both, which is a fun juggling act.

Professionally I worked for a

sports marketing firm in

Denver (after a very brief, non-lucrative

professional hoop career in

w:st="on">Portugal

got free fish!)

Now I own a sales agency with two

good friends. We’ve represented brands like Nike, And 1,

Adidas, Starter, Kangaroos and Tommy Bahama over the

past 9 years. Our job is to get their lines placed in

accounts from

w:st="on">Denver

w:st="on">California

HHC: We're hoping to

go three for three on this - would you be willing to

take reader e-mails if we set you up an account at

chris@huskerhoopscentral?

CC: Sure!

HHC: Great - thanks a

lot for your time, Chris, and we have to tell you one

last thing - we think you have the coolest name of any

basketball player in

w:st="on">Nebraska

Ffriend.

CC: Ironically, I’ve

legally taken back my birth name; I’m now Chris

Carmichael.  Fortunately, I will not have to change any

of my monogram gear!

Editors Note: We love

this guy! <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript">