Then & Now: Larry Cox

Then & Now: Larry Cox

Compiled By Dave Brandon

(Photo Courtesy NU Media Relations)

Nebraska

Basketball Hall of Famer Larry Cox played for the

Huskers from 1974-1976, and is the all-time leader in

field goal percentage at Nebraska (.672). Cox also was

the Big 8's all-time leader in the same category.

Cox, who is 44th on the all-time

Husker scoring list (757 points), is a former Academic

All-Big 8 in addition to his accomplishments on the

court under the late Joe Cipriano. 

The 6'6" Cox, who played center at

Nebraska, is our latest guest in this Sunday's edition

of "Then & Now".

HHC: Welcome aboard.

When was the last time you talked some Nebraska

basketball?

LC: Oh golly, a longtime. I think its been

years. Every once in awhile, it comes up around here

(Indiana) because Jack Moore is from Muncie, and Brian

Carr coaches around here in the high school ranks.

Actually, just this morning, a guy came up to me while I

was working out and said, “You know Jack Moore is from

around here and Brian Carr is still in town.” So, it

does come up from time to time, but not much.

HHC: You came to Nebraska in 1972, and

arrived from Thomas Jefferson High School in Denver

(Colorado) where you were an All-City performer. What

made you choose Nebraska, and who else recruited you?

LC: I was recruited by the University of

Missouri and Colorado. But, some place in the middle of

the recruitment process, both of them decided I wasn’t

big enough and quick enough, so they dropped off

somewhere in my senior year, and Nebraska was really the

only one that stuck with me all the way through.

HHC: Phil Chambers, Rickey Harris, and

yourself were all from Denver and played at the same

time. Was that pure coincidence, or was there some sort

of connection from one of the coaches?

LC: Well, Lonnie Porter was one of the

assistants, along with Moe (Iba), and he was from a high

school (Manual High School) in Denver. He didn’t have

anything to do with me, but definitely Phil Chambers and

Rickey Harris were his connections.

HHC: What was the perception of Nebraska

basketball back then to a high school kid from Denver?

LC: (Laughs) I was really naïve. I knew

nothing outside of my own city. I didn’t even know that

Nebraska had been #1 in football the year before, so I

had no perception of anything anywhere. I actually

thought Nebraska was somewhere around Arkansas, and I

thought I was going someplace warm. And I showed up on

campus my first winter and said, “What did I do to

myself here?” (Laughs) 

But as it turned out, it was a

great choice for me, but I had no perceptions before.

HHC: Talk about the late Joe Cipriano,

both as a man and basketball coach.

LC: I really liked

Joe. Joe was funny and always doing extravagant things.

He was just kind of a dandy… Sort of always thinking

about stuff. He always seemed to buy new shoes, and I

got along with him real well. He was good at recruiting

and good at public relations, and just a nice man. I was

sorry to see him pass.

And, I had a pretty good

relationship with his son, Randy.

As far as on the court, I think he

was influenced quite a bit by Moe Iba’s style. Moe

brought the theory to the basketball team and made sure

we played tough defense. Joe, I think, emulated Bobby

Knight somewhat with that style of play. Of course we

never had the talent or size of Indiana schools, but he

was a good coach and very flamboyant, and fun, to play

for.

HHC: What are your favorite memories of

him?

LC: One of my favorite memories was one

time he got real upset and things weren’t going our way,

and he went on the court and was circling in this

pinkish/purple sports coat, and he swinging it over his

head and got a technical foul, which I think was at

Kansas, who he especially hated.

Actually, he’d made us go out

during the “Rock Chalk Jayhawk” chant and have us go

around the Jayhawk during that and dribble just to get

them to boo, and he’d go talk to them and egg them on

more.

HHC: (Laughs) Classic. You were a little

bit undersized to be a center at 6'6", but led the

Huskers in rebounding in 1976 and led the Big 8 in field

goal percentage in 1975. What made you play bigger than

you were?

LC: Hmm… That’s a great question. I think

I was really a role player and our offense was a very

set offense. So, as long as you told me where to go or

whom I was supposed to pass to, I was okay.

I was never really a good one on

one or individual player, like Marsh or any of those

guys. I was a role player, and I tried to do what the

coaches said. And, Coach Iba had us playing good defense

and in good position for rebounds, and so I just tried

to follow the plan.

HHC: Your first year at Nebraska was

1972-1973, and it was spent on the JV team, where you

averaged 19.4 PPG and 16.5 RPG. At that time, were you

forced to play on the JV team one year before you could

play varsity, or what was the reason for you not being

on varsity?

LC: What happened was they had some really

talented guys ahead of me. They had Ron Taylor, he was

6’10”. Mark… from Iowa… I think it was Enright, and he

was there that year. And then I think Brendy Lee was

still there, and Don Jackson.

So, they had some people ahead of

me, and I was like the fourth center. Playing on the JV

was a way of keeping me active and playing.

HHC: 1973-1974 was your first year on the

varsity team, and you guys went 14-12 (7-7). You

averaged 7.0 PPG and 4.4 RPG, and the team got to travel

to Italy following the season for three weeks, where you

guys went 2-5. What was that experience like?

LC: You know, I didn’t even make the trip.

I opted out and missed out, and heard it was quite a

trip. Lots of Bob Siegel stories about monks and

monasteries, lots of things, but I wasn’t there

(Laughs).

HHC: (Laughs) In 1974-1975, you guys again

went 14-12 (7-7), and lost three Big 8 games by a

combined four points. Individually, you led the Big 8 in

field goal percentage, and the team in free throws. What

do you remember about that year?

LC: They all blend

together now, all those years… Boy.

(Long Pause) I guess I remember the

sense at the end of the year that we were improving and

getting better, and that we were close. And I enjoyed

that year especially because Kent Reckewey and Steve

Erwin were older, and just being around them and having

those friendships.

HHC: 1975-1976 was

your last year at Nebraska, and the team went 15-14

(7-7), while you led the team in field goal percentage,

rebounds, and free throw shooting. Your team also led

the Big 8 in scoring defense and finished eighth

nationally. What made that team so good defensively, and

how big of a role did Assistant Coach Moe Iba play in

that?

LC: I think we played

a very tough, aggressive defense, and we slowed the ball

down. We played hard-nosed, man-to-man defense, and

especially for a post on the inside, we worked a lot at

not getting caught or pinned by the big man. I was

always moving around and trying not to get touched or

pinned with an elbow so we could steal the ball and keep

them from it, so we spent a lot of time on defense.

HHC: You finished

your career as the Big 8's all-time leader in field goal

percentage. What made you such a good finisher, and how

big of an honor was that?

LC: It was a tremendous honor. And the

funny thing is people think of the percentage that I

made, but if you think about where I was shooting from,

the question is how could I have missed 33% of those?

(Laughs) They were all put backs and dump offs, and I

was trying to tell my son that I don’t remember a single

move I ever put on somebody. All my scoring was

offensive rebounds and put backs.

HHC: (Laughs) You are

way too modest.

LC: It’s the truth

(Laughs). The question is, how did I miss 33% of those

shots?!?

HHC: After fifty

years, the Coliseum also saw its last year of basketball

in 1975-1976. Talk about what it was like playing there.

LC: Oh, it was a

wonderful place to play because it was awful. You go

into the new stadiums and they are so comfortable, and

it’s almost like watching a movie. At the barn, it was

uncomfortable to sit, and so people stood, and they were

so tightly packed into the bleachers. And I remember

they used to put the big bass drum behind the opposing

teams so that the band made the opposing team not hear.

And, you had to move the fans on

the side when they’d pass the ball in, and fans would

pinch the players and pull on their shorts, it was

great.

When the place was full, it just

rocked, and you just don’t get the sense from the new

stadiums. There’s just something about playing in an old

place that is great.

HHC: What are your

favorite memories of Nebraska, both on and off the

court?

LC: The one I get the

most mileage out of is when we played the University of

Indiana in the Indiana Classic in 1975. And, at the end

of the game at Indiana, if you lose by 20 points, fans

can take their ticket to McDonald’s and get a hamburger.

And, if you lose by 30, they get a hamburger and fries.

And with 5 minutes let, the fans were chanting “burgers,

fries, and shake, to go,” “burgers, fries, and shake, to

go”.

And the funny thing was that at the

end of the game, Joe wouldn’t give as much as money to

eat if we lost. Usually we’d get $7.00, but we’d only

get $3.00 if we lost. So, we got $3.00 that night, and

we were trying to figure out what to eat, when somebody

said, “I wonder if we go to McDonalds, if they would

give us a burger, shake, and fries, to go” since we

don’t have money.

So we go, and you’ve got 6’5”,

6’6”, and 6’7” kids standing there, so obviously we’re a

basketball team, and the kid behind the counter cracked

up because he knew that we were trading in for our

burger, shake, and fries.  

So anytime my kid asks me if we

were any good, I say “yes, we held the opposing team to

less than a Happy Meal.”

HHC: (Laughs) That is

priceless.

LC: (Laughs) Off the court, my favorite

memories were that I was very involved with the Campus

Christian group at the time (the Navigators), and that

was a highlight. I learned a lot about myself and my

relationship with God, and it was a very meaningful time

for me.

HHC: When was the

last time you were back in Lincoln, and do you still

keep in touch with anyone you met while in college?

LC: I do keep in touch with people, mostly

my Navigator friends. Last time I was there was the Hall

of Fame Induction in 2000, and I brought my family, as

we were living in Kansas City at the time.

I read a lot of your articles and

actually just e-mailed Jerry yesterday, but I hadn’t

talked to him in probably ten years, and I think he was

being inducted into the Hall of Fame last time I saw

him, and I came down for that and talked to him.

HHC: And what has Larry Cox been up to the

past thirty years, and where will we find him today?

LC: After graduation,

I joined a non-denominational Christian organization

called “The Navigators”, taking campus ministry

positions at Iowa State University and then Drake

University. After eight years in the ministry, my wife

and I moved to Denver to start a business selling

industrial oils, greases and filtration products along

Colorado’s front range. We

moved back to Lincoln in 1987 where I started graduate

school in 1989. I completed my PhD at Nebraska in 1995,

and have essentially been a business professor and/or

entrepreneurship center director since then. I’ve taught

at Florida International University, the University of

Missouri-Kansas City, and at the University of

Wisconsin.  I’ve also worked at the Kauffman Foundation

in Kansas City, Missouri. 

I’m currently an Associate

Professor and Entrepreneurship Center Director at Ball

State University in Muncie, Indiana. My wife, Elly,

teaches special education at an elementary school. My

oldest daughter is a junior on the crew team at the

University of Wisconsin. My second daughter will be

attending Wisconsin next year. My son is a junior at

Muncie Central High School (Jack Moore’s alma mater),

and my youngest daughter is a 7^th grader.

HHC: If we set you up

an e-mail account at

[email protected] , are you game

with taking some e-mails and questions from our readers?

LC: Oh sure.

HHC: Great. Thanks a

lot for your time, and anything else you'd like to add?

LC: No, I think you covered it all. Thanks

a lot for the interview.<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript">