Then & Now: Fred Hecox

Then & Now: Fred Hecox

Compiled By Dave Brandon

Fred

Hecox played for Nebraska from 1945-1946, and was

coached by both the late A.J. Lewandowski (1941-1945,

24-63) and L.F. Klein (1945-1946 season, 7-13).

Hecox, a

5’10” point guard from Cozad, is our latest guest in

this Sunday's "Then & Now" feature.

HHC: Thanks

for joining us. Did you ever think you'd get an

interview about Nebraska basketball again?

FH: I sure didn’t. It’s been awhile, quite

awhile.

HHC: Well it’s

great to talk to you! What was your high school career

in Cozad like?

FH: Well, we weren’t state champions or

anything, but we won about 50%, I suppose, of our games.

HHC: How much

has basketball changed since back then?

FH: One of the big things is of course the

three-point shot. And they were very strict on us

palming the ball back then, and these guys get away with

murder today with that ball and changing directions.

They used to call us for palming the ball if you ever

rolled your hand over the ball, so that is a big one.

And of course the guys are so much better shooters than

we were.

HHC: What made you choose to play

basketball at Nebraska?

FH: I was going to dental school there at

the time, and I was in the service, but they sent me

back to Nebraska to complete my dentistry, and that’s

when I went out for basketball.

I remember going over and watching them practice, and

decided I could make the team, so I went down and talked

to the coach (A.J. Lewandowski) and he said, “Where were

you when we had tryouts?” And I said, “I was busy in

dentistry, and I’ve been watching you practice and I

think I can make the team.” So he tried me out, and I

ended up playing.

HHC: Your first season at Nebraska was

1944-1945, and the team went 2-17 (1-9, 6th), although

you did beat Kansas (home, 59-45). What do you remember

about that game?

FH:

Well, I guess it made it a successful season to beat the

Jayhawkers. I think they had Charlie Black back then,

but I can’t remember, for sure (Editors Note: They did).

He was the center for KU, and I think that’s right, but

I’m not sure. But Kansas was the best in our conference

back then, them and Oklahoma.

HHC: 1944-1945 was the last year for Coach

A.J. Lewandowski. Did you guys have a good idea that he

would be replaced at the end of the season, or did it

come as a surprise to you?

FH: Gosh, I don’t know what to think about

that. I guess we weren’t too surprised.

HHC: What was he like as a man?

FH: He was a fine fella. I don’t know how

good of a coach he was. You hate to knock anybody, but

we had cooperation with him. No dissention, and he was a

good man.

HHC: As a basketball coach, what did he

believe in?

FH: Well, we had the same stuff as today.

We ran a zone and man-to-man on defense. We did a lot of

rotations back and forth.

HHC: What came of him after he left

Nebraska, and when did he ultimately pass?

FH: He was a business manager, I think. He

became in charge of the tickets at the football stadium.

And I don’t know how long he was there, but at least two

or three years, I know. I don’t know what happened to

him after that.

HHC: 1945-1946

was your last year at Nebraska, and the team went 7-13

(3-7, T-4th) under first year coach L.F. Klein. What do

you remember most about that last year?

FH: I remember mainly after the season. I

had to decide if I was there to play basketball or go to

dental school. And, I knew I could never make a living

playing basketball, so I decided to pursue dentistry,

because I was spending so much time on the road and

missing so much class that it made it difficult to

complete my dentistry.

I was in

the Navy, assigned to Nebraska, and they would only give

me a 48-hour pass. And so sometimes we’d go by train on

our road trips, and I’d only be able to go to one game

before coming back.

HHC: Really?

So you’d miss one of the games and come back alone?

FH: Yeah. Sometimes we’d go down to Kansas

or Oklahoma, and it’d be two games, and I’d only be able

to go to one because of my pass.

HHC: Wow! I never knew that. Do you

remember where L.F. Klein came from, and what his

background with basketball was?

FH: Gosh, we used to call him “Pop Klein”.

I’m not just sure where he was from. Things were pretty

tough with the war on, and you just didn’t have coaches

like you normally had. And they just kind of filled in

for both football and basketball.

Sorry

I’m not much help for you.

HHC: No, you

are doing great!

FH:

One thing I do remember about Klein was that he just

kind of filled in. I think football was his main sport,

and they needed a basketball coach, so they put him in.

He was very well liked.

HHC: What was

the reason for him only serving as Head Coach for one

season?

FH:

I don’t know for sure. I think he was just more or less

filling in for that one year due to the hardships of the

war and us needing a coach.

HHC: What came

of him after he left Nebraska, and when did he

ultimately pass?

FH: I can’t remember. He was at Kearney

for a while, I know. Whether he was at Kearney first or

went afterward, I’m not sure, but I believe he was

there. I believe Nebraska was the only basketball job he

ever had, though.

HHC: Besides

missing some games on road trips, how did the war affect

college basketball for you?

FH: Well, of course you would be drafted,

and actually I enlisted in the reserves so I could

finish out the (second) year.

But

before I was at Nebraska, I went to Miami (Ohio) for my

pre-dental work, and then came back to the university

after I got into dental school.

That was

before basketball. I had a year of pre-dental at

Nebraska, and then I went back to Miami (Ohio) for three

semesters. So I started playing basketball after my

three semesters at Miami (Ohio).

HHC: So when

you decided to quit basketball, you could have played

longer?

FH: Yes. Actually, I had 2 or 3 more years of

eligibility, because they didn’t count the times you

were in the service. But like I said, I knew I couldn’t

make a living playing basketball, and so I just had to

tell coach I had to quit. So much of the work in

dentistry was demonstrations, and it was very difficult

to make it up, and then I had to go to class every

afternoon. So I’d be trotting up on the floor many times

and the coach would say, “Let’s call it a night.”

HHC: Which coach did you like playing for

more?

FH: Klein. I played more under him. I was

a reserve the first year. And the middle of the year, I

came up to the varsity. And the next year, I played

varsity the whole year. So I played more the second year

under Klein.

HHC: Talk about some of your teammates

from back then, and what kind of players they were?

FH: Well, there was Joe Brown, James

Sandstedt, Donald Barry, Gayle Lebsack, Bob Korte, Chuck

Mulvaney, Leo Schneider, and Robert Koenig. We didn’t

have a lot of height back then.

But

down low, Donald Barry was out of Norfolk, and he was

the center. Bob Korte also played center, and I think

Bob went on to Kearney after he played to the

university, and then was a referee in Arizona.

James

Sandstedt was a forward, and Joe Brown played both

forward and guard. Leo Schneider was from Iowa, and went

back and played for Iowa State after the war, and he

also played center. Chuck Mulvaney played power forward,

and he was a Benson Bunny, I can always remember that.

He was quite the character, and a very nice guy.

Gayle

Lebsack was out on the perimeter, and he was a good

shooter. I would say the same thing about Robert Koenig,

just a good shooter.

HHC: Did you stay in touch with any of

them after your times at UNL?

FH: Well, Joe Brown was in Lexington, and

I think he got hit by a train, but I’m not sure. So, I

didn’t have too much contact with most of them, because

most of them were out of state.

HHC: What was the biggest play or shot

that you made while at Nebraska?

FH: Oh gee. The one I remember most of

all, I went in for a lay-up with seconds to play at

Missouri during my first year (1944-1945). The game was

tied, we were in the second overtime, and I drove in for

a bucket, and they knocked me clear off of the floor,

and while I was waiting for them to call a foul, they

went down and scored a basket and I never got a foul

called, so we lost the game (February 17, 1945, Missouri

55-54, 2 OT).

HHC: Wow, that sounds like the officiating

Nebraska basketball still gets today.

FH:

(Laughs) Yeah.

HHC: What was it like playing in the

Coliseum?

FH: Well, that’s all we knew, so we didn’t

think of it as the barn until it got a few years later,

and it just kind of became the barn. It was just open,

and big. The fans were great. The home team always had

an advantage.

HHC: Was

basketball as popular as football back then?

FH:

No, I don’t think we ever were, and I don’t think it

ever will be. Of course that was before (Bob) Devaney,

so I could sit almost anywhere in the stadium, I can

remember that. Football was king, though, and of course

not like now, but it was still king.

HHC: What are

your favorite memories, both on and off the court?

FH:

I think playing basketball was the big thing.

One

funny thing is that I can remember some of the guys on

the team were older than just freshman, since they had

been in the service and were coming back. Some of them

smoked, and they used to get me to go talk to the coach

and keep him busy so they could get a smoke. And I was

supposed to talk to him and keep him busy so he didn’t

know about it (Laughs).

HHC: (Laughs)

Did they ever find out?

FH: No, he never found out (Laughs).

HHC: (Laughs)

That’s hilarious. What else do you remember?

FH:

I can remember playing in four overtime games, and we

didn’t win one. I don’t like to remember that so well

(Laughs).

HHC: (Laughs).

Finally, what have you been up to the last sixty years,

and where will we find you today?

FH: I’m in Cozad, Nebraska, and I’m a

retired dentist. I enjoy watching my grandsons play

ball. One of them plays for Kearney, and I did go to the

finals of the Class A Tournament. They had two wins, but

in the semifinals lost.

But

yeah, I practiced in Cozad, except for an interruption

in the Navy during the Korean War, when I went in as a

dentist, since I was in the reserve and they called me

up. And the rest of the time I’ve been in Cozad.

HHC: Would you

be able to take some e-mails from our readers if we tell

you how to check an e-mail account we’ll set up for you?

FH: Well, I’m illiterate on the computer.

So I wouldn’t be able to, I’m sorry.

HHC: Not a problem at all. Thanks a lot

for your time, and anything else you'd like to say or

add?

FH: Yeah, I

remember something else. There was a little guy from

Iowa who was an All-American, and I can’t think of his

name. But I remember playing against him and I asked

coach (L.F. Klein in 1945-1946) if I could just guard

him. And at the half, we were tied, and he only had 4

points and I had 5, but the problem was I had 4 fouls

(Laughs). So coach took me out, and I didn’t get back in

until there was about 10 seconds to play. And I hate to

say it, but he called my name, and I acted like I didn’t

hear it because I was so disgusted from not playing the

whole second half. We had been tied at halftime, and

then they blew us out the second half.

HHC: (Laughs)

Thanks a lot for the chat, this has been fun.

FH: Yeah.

Thanks for calling.

HHC:

No problem. Take Care.

FH: You too.<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript">