Then & Now: Mike Naderer

Then & Now: Mike Naderer

Compiled By Dave Brandon

(Photo Courtesy NU Media Relations)

Mike

Naderer played at Nebraska from 1978-1981, and is among

the Top 60 scorers in NU history (657 points). Naderer

started at guard for parts of each of the four seasons

he played at Nebraska, and played for both Joe Cipriano

and Moe Iba.

Naderer

is our latest Sunday guest on this edition of "Then &

Now."

HHC: Mike, thanks for taking a trip down memory

lane with us. We've always wondered, where did your

nickname of "Skater" come from?

MN: Oh, I had some high school kids

actually name me that. I don’t know if you remember Nate

Archibald that played at UTEP, but his name was “Nate

the Skate.” But anyway, that worked into Skater because

it rhymed with Naderer, so it was pretty simple. Do you

remember him?

HHC: Yeah, I remember the name.

MN: Yeah, he

played for three or four NBA teams, Nate “Tiny”

Archibald. Guys my age will remember who he was.

HHC: You were one of the most heralded

high school players in the southwest, as you came to

Nebraska from Scottsdale, Arizona, after averaging 22

points, 12 assists, and 6 steals as a high school

senior. What was your reason for coming to Nebraska, and

what did you know about Husker Hoops before coming to

Lincoln?

MN: I actually had followed pretty much

all of the basketball in the Midwest. One reason is that

when I visited there, I was just really impressed with

the new Bob Devaney Sports Center, which was like two

years old at that time.

But it

was just great people, and the whole academic

administration was tremendous back then. When they

recruited me, they did a great job, and it felt like I

was high on their list, so I had visited some other

places, but when I visited there, they pretty much sold

me on Lincoln.

HHC: Talk to us about Joe Cipriano, as far

as what kind of man he was, and how was your

relationship with him?

MN: He was a great man. I still am very

good friends with his son today, and we see each other

once a year or so. And Joe was the one who brought me

in, and obviously gave me my first chance to start as a

freshman, and had confidence enough in me that it worked

out for me, because I got to play quite a bit those four

years.

He was

just a great man, and he was the Dean of the Big 8 at

the time, and having read on him when they were

recruiting me from pamphlets they sent, he was probably

the main reason that I attended the University of

Nebraska.

HHC: As a coach, how would you describe

Joe Cipriano and what he believed in?

MN: You know, I wasn’t really big in stature, if

you remember, and he was probably the same way when he

played in college. He gave me a lot of confidence and

said that “you don’t measure what’s inside people, as

far as the heart,” and he gave me my first shot. He was

very firm and stern, but also very fair, and gave his

players free reign within the system, and gave everyone

an equal shot, and I think that’s all you can ask for

from any coach.

HHC: Your freshman year at Nebraska was

1977-1978, and you started 16 of the 28 games while

"battling the flu" half of the season. How did that

hinder you, and what exactly did you have?

MN: Well, I got my first start the very

first game against Missouri Southern and played pretty

well. And then I started like the next 14 or 15, and

then my only two games that I missed in my entire career

were that year and due to the flu. I remember coming

back from the Oklahoma State trip and it knocked me

down, and I battled it for the next week or two, but I

did get to play quite a bit that last half of the year.

And I’ll tell you what, we had a good team that year,

and that was before they enlarged the tournament to the

field of 64, and if it were today’s game, we probably

would have been in the NCAA had it been larger.

But

yeah, my freshman year was probably out most successful

overall.

HHC: Let’s talk a little bit more about

that year. For the season, you guys finished 22-8,

making the school's first post-season appearance (2nd

Round of NIT) since 1966-1967. On that team were players

like Brian Banks and Carl McPipe. Talk about how special

it was playing with those guys, and what you remember

from that year?

MN: I came in and played alongside Brian,

and I felt that Brian, when he was a junior, was

probably the best guard in the Big 8, and at both ends

of the floor. There were some great ones with Darnell

Valentine and Larry Blackman, but Brian was right up

there. With Brian, I thought that I played against the

best guard in the conference each day in practice.

And Carl

McPipe was a great inside post man at his size, as he

was only about 6’6”. He wasn’t real big, but he did

really rebound well, and shot the ball midrange real

well. Terry Novak, who is one of my best friends to this

day, was one of the small forwards on that team, and he

was just such a great role player. And we had Curt

Hedberg and Andre Smith, who was also a freshman

alongside me, and we did most of the playing from the

freshman standpoint.

But all

those guys were great to play with, and it was a great

team that meshed together, and I think we were like 11-0

or 12-0 before we lost one, and maybe made the Top 20

that year, although we ended up losing to Texas in the

second round of the NIT, though they went on to win the

NIT.

All in

all, it was a great year, going away from home and

having success that early in my career.

HHC: 1978-1979 was your sophomore season,

and you started all but three games in the Husker

backcourt on a team that went 14-13. The strength of

that team was defense, which you ranked ninth nationally

in, and first in the Big 8. How much of that defensive

success was due to Moe Iba?

MN: Probably

100% of it. Coach Cipriano had really let Moe take over

the reigns coaching wise at that time, especially

defensive schemes in practice. Moe was such a great

defensive coach, and he demanded it number one, and you

pretty much didn’t play at the University of Nebraska

unless you could play solid defense. And he got that

point acrossed and really sold it, and the players

bought into it, so that’s probably why we were so

successful defensively.

HHC: Was it after the 1979 season that you

found out that Cip had cancer, or was it not until the

beginning of the following season?

MN: It was

more the beginning of the following year. I remember in

the fall we came back, and we knew he had been

diagnosed, we just didn’t know how severe. And he

battled it, and I think we took a trip to Hawaii, and we

came back, and it just got worse as the days went by.

But he did make his trip to Hawaii, and I think that was

one of his goals, and he was pretty much with us right

until the very end, until it just got to the point where

he couldn’t attend games.

HHC: 1979-1980

was your junior season, and you guys finished 18-13 with

another NIT appearance, while also finishing 2nd in the

Big 8. How special was it having Joe Cipriano be there

on the bench for that season while Moe Iba helped out as

Associate Head Coach?

MN: It was a

great experience for both of them. They were great

coaches, and both complimented each other as coaches.

They had a great, strong relationship, and they just

worked so well together. And it was just easy as a

player to fit into their system, and they gave you a lot

of support, but yet they pushed and drove you to be a

better player and do well in the classroom and do things

on and off the court in a respectful manner. You

couldn’t ask for two better college coaches to play for.

HHC: Prior to your senior season of

1980-1981, Cip continued to become seriously ill, before

ultimately passing away a few days before the season

opening game against Wyoming. What do you remember about

this, and how difficult was it to go through?

MN: I remember

doing an interview on TV right before the Wyoming game

after he had passed. It was a difficult period for most

of us, and personally for me, because I had a lot of

respect for him, and he obviously gave me a great chance

to play at that level.

And like

I said, he was the reason I came there, and my parents

were really impressed with him when he came to Arizona

to recruit me. And he just followed through and showed a

lot of care for his athletes. It was just a very hard

time for a week or two right after that, and probably,

as most people remember, it was easier to just play for

him and stay busy when you go trough something like

that.

But it

definitely affected us in the next couple of weeks and

months to follow, and then you go through that phase of

grief, and then afterwards, when the season ends, it

really sinks in.

HHC: What do you remember about the last

time you saw Cip, as far as what he said or what sticks

out?

MN: I remember visiting him at his house,

and again, Terry Novak and myself had gone over there

and visited him at the time, and a couple people were

over, and I don’t really remember who, but we just

wanted to see him. We knew it was kind of getting late,

and we didn’t know how much longer he’d be with us, and

it seemed like within three or four days after that, it

happened.

It was a

real special time because it was pretty much just the

three or four of us in there, and we spent some good

quality time with him. And it became very sad, but as

Terry and I remember looking back, we got to see him in

pretty good spirits the last time, and it just was very

special.

HHC: Moe Iba

took over as head coach for your senior season of

1980-1981, and your team went 15-12. Do you feel that

team rallied around Coach Iba and Cip and overachieved,

or was it right about where it should have been?

MN: It

probably was right about where it should have been. That

year I don’t know if we lost Ray Collins for a little

bit to a broken foot, but I think that was the year, and

at the time, we were at Colorado, and were playing well,

and we were near the top of the Big 8. And he broke his

foot, and that really hurt us, because we really lost a

solid player in Ray, and probably didn’t recover as a

team because he was really solid offensively and

defensively. And we kind of went on a downward spiral,

and we lost to Colorado at home in the first round of

the playoffs. They had Jo Jo Hunter, and he scored a

bunch on us, and they were just ready for the game and

upset us at home.

HHC: In that season, Andre Smith was Big

8 Player of the Year. Talk about what kind of player and

teammate he was?

MN: Andre was a very good player. Again,

another post player probably undersized, and that was a

credit to Coach Iba and Cipriano. We weren’t real big,

and Andre was the same size as Carl. They were just

great players who learned to play with their backs to

the basket. And we ran a motion offense, and learned how

to pass the ball real well, inside and out, and it

really allowed them to score.

Both of

them took advantage of that offensive system. And Moe

did a great job with Andre and Carl, as far as

instructing individually in the post. They were very

skilled, but I think Coach Iba got the most out of all

of us. We may not have been the most skilled players in

the Big 8, but we seemed to play harder than everybody.

HHC: And what about Jack Moore? What was

he like, and did you keep in touch with him at all upon

leaving Lincoln?

MN: Yeah, I did, until his passing in the

tragic plane crash. But Jack, at his size, overachieved

at everything. You couldn’t take the basketball from him

- he was very solid offensively. He was a great free

throw shooter, and obviously above average outside

shooter, but really took the ball to the basket. They

list him at 5’8 or 5’9, and he was just unbelievable to

play with. He was very good with setting you up, and

that’s basically where I got my points, when I did

score, was from him. He was very good at penetrating and

drawing help and then kicking it to the open person.

HHC: What are your favorite memories off

the court at Nebraska, and when was the last time you

were in Lincoln?

MN: Last time I was in Lincoln was… Well,

I usually visit once a summer to play golf, and I’ve

taken my son back to two football games. Probably one of

the most favorite memories of recent time has been

taking my son Andrew, who is 11, with me. I took him

back two years ago to see his first football game, and

again, we stayed with Terry. And we got him into a Big

Red football game.

I think

that kind of bonding, taking your son, is great. And I’m

still trying to take him back to a basketball game. And

I think we may be playing in a very competitive baseball

tournament in Omaha, so we’re looking to come back there

in June.

HHC: Do you keep up with the current team

at all?

MN: I do. In fact, we bought a game on

ESPN Full Court last night (Tuesday night, January 17,

2006). I saw them play not so well against Iowa State,

but I’m excited for them, and maybe somebody can slow

Texas down, and maybe the rest of the league can catch

them. Looks to me that after Texas, it looks wide open,

but I was hoping they’d protect their home court last

night, but maybe they’ll beat Kansas. So it looks like

maybe they can go down there, and if they play a little

bit better, beat them.

HHC: We’d like that! Finally, what is Mike

Naderer up to these days, and what has he been doing the

last 25 years?

MN: When I left Nebraska, I coached for

six years at the college level. I did a grad assistant

job at Nebraska, and then went to Drake and Baylor. Then

I moved back to Arizona after six years and took over

the head-coaching job at Coronado High School in

Scottsdale Arizona, and I currently live in Phoenix,

which is right next door.

But I

coached there for fifteen years, and just resigned two

years ago so I could spend more time with my family and

my son, and he’s very involved with youth sports. And I

teach in the school system here, it’s my eighteenth

year, and I’m an elementary physical education teacher,

so I’m still heavily involved in youth sports, with

Arizona Youth Basketball and Youth Baseball. So, I spend

a lot of time at basketball gyms or baseball fields.

HHC: That’s a

good life right there!

MN: (Laughs)

You got it.

HHC: Hey, if

we set you up an email account at

[email protected] , would you be willing

to take some e-mails from our readers?

MN: Sure.

HHC: Awesome. Thanks a lot for your time

Mike, and anything else you'd like to add?

MN: No, this was great. I appreciate you

contacting me and thinking about us old timers.<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript">