Then & Now: Randy Cipriano on

Then & Now: Randy Cipriano on

Joe Cipriano

Compiled By Dave Brandon

(Photo Courtesy NU Media Relations)

Randy

Cipriano was an Assistant Coach at Nebraska from

1982-1986, and saw his teams go a combined 91-57 (.615)

while serving under Coach Moe Iba.

Cipriano

is the son of the late Joe Cipriano (Head Coach,

1964-1980), who is second on the all-time victories

list at Nebraska (253-197, .562).

Cipriano

is our latest guest in this special two-part/two-week

edition of "Then & Now."  Today’s edition will focus on

his father (pictured at left). Make sure to check back

next week when we talk about his life and coaching

career at Nebraska.

HHC: Thanks

for joining us. For the first part of the interview this

week, we'd like to talk about and honor your Dad. Talk

about his childhood, and what got him so interested in

basketball at such a young age?

RC: Well, he grew up 9 miles from the

Canadian border in a small town called Nooksac. His Dad

worked for the railroad and was an immigrant. I think

his Dad came over on a ship when he was 12.

The town

he grew up in was a town of about 10,000, and he was a

high school All-American (Class of 1949) and then went

on to the University of Washington on a scholarship,

where he played for Tippy Dye, a former Athletic

Director at Nebraska.

Dye

recruited my Dad and he went there. They had some really

good teams, and I don’t know if it was his junior or

senior year, but they went to the Final 4 before losing

to Kansas.

So, he

had a real strong college career.

HHC: Yeah, I’d

say. His teams went a combined 79-15, won the Pacific

Coast title all three years, and finished third in the

NCAA Tournament in 1953. Anyway, after graduating from

Washington, your Dad spent three years as a player on

the AAU Buchan Bakers of Seattle, where he served as a

player-coach on one of the European trips. Are those the

days when he decided to pursue coaching?

RC: I couldn’t tell you, but I know that

his basketball knowledge started at a very young age

since he played all the time. Whether he made a decision

that he wanted to coach in high school, university, or

when he was playing semi-pro, I don’t know.

HHC: His first coaching job was as a high

school coach, which he did for one year. Do you recall

where that was at or hearing anything about that year?

RC: Yes, it was at Mercer Island High

School (Washington). I don’t remember anything specific

because I wasn’t around, but after he did that for a

year, he went back to Washington under Tippy Dye and was

the freshman coach.

At that

time, there were a lot of young coaches coming up

through the ranks, and he learned a lot at that level.

Every Division One School had a freshman team and they

competed against each other and played just like they do

at the varsity level now. 

HHC: After serving as freshman coach for

three years at Washington, your Dad went on to the

University of Idaho in 1959-1960. Do you remember

anything about that? 

RC: Yeah, I was born in Seattle and I

remember Idaho. He had some great teams there, and a kid

that played in the pro’s named Gus Johnson. Johnson

played for the Baltimore Bullets, and had a gold-star in

his front tooth. He was 6’8”, and a kid that was just a

great athlete; he could really rebound and play. 

Johnson

was a friend of our family, and so that’s how my Dad got

him. He used to come to Nebraska after his NBA career to

help with my Dad’s camps and we’d go fishing.

HHC: Your Dad was extremely successful

during his times at Idaho. In fact, his three years

there, he led the team to records of 10-16, 13-13, and

20-6, before leaving for Nebraska in the fall of 1963.

He was asked at the time why he left a program with 20

wins for a school without a winning season in 13 years,

and a school that had finished above the .500 mark only

twice in the previous 26, and he said, "Because it was a

helluva challenge. There was only one way for the

program to go, and that was up." Does that quote sum up

your Dad pretty well?

RC: Yeah, but I think it was more

relationship driven than that. I think he was all about

relationships and loyalty, and Tippy Dye, his earlier

coach, was pretty persuasive and influenced him probably

more so than you just told me.

HHC: In just his third year at Nebraska

(1965-1966), your Dad took the Huskers to a record of

20-5, along with a #11 ranking in the final national

poll, and won the award of Conference Coach of the Year.

Was that one of his favorite years, and did he feel that

was his best team?

RC: Yeah, I’m sure it was one of his

favorites, and I remember that year. They had a great

team.

My Dad

had several teams that were really talented and won a

lot of games, but at that time, I think they took 8

teams to the NCAA Tournament, and then one year, they

took 16, so that was it. If you weren’t in the Top 8 or

16, you weren’t going to the NCAA Tournament. So, that

had an impact on the exposure that you got.

But the

team that you’re talking about had Stu Lantz, Nate

Branch, Coley Webb, Willie Campbell… Those kids really

had a lot of personality. They were intelligent with a

lot of class, and it would have been a good bunch if

they had won 10 games, let alone 20.

They all

got along and they competed, and had a handful of kids

that were really good.

HHC: The following year (1966-1967) was

highly successful as well, as the team captured the

schools first ever NIT bid. And, a key season of your

Dad’s times at Nebraska was 1970-1971 when Moe Iba

joined the staff, as Iba would later succeed your Dad.

Talk about what their relationship was like and how well

they complemented each other?

RC: Well, I think that my Dad had a lot of

respect for Hank Iba, as they were friends and talked a

lot of basketball. So when Moe was looking to make a

move, my Dad’s relationship with Hank was really the

factor that got Moe to come to Nebraska.

Moe

obviously grew up around basketball and was a great

basketball mind. I think they complemented each other in

a number of ways. My Dad had a lot of energy,

personality, people skills, and was a great offensive

mind. And Moe was a great defensive mind.

HHC: Your Dad

and Iba were definitely a dynamic duo, as Nebraska

finished under .500 only once in the 1970's (1972-1973),

and had its best season ever (at the time) by going 19-8

in 1975-1976. What are your favorite memories of those

teams and times?

RC: Well, at one time Nebraska had one of

the longest winning streaks, as far as finishing above

.500, in the country. I think they had like the second

or third longest.

HHC: Really?

RC: Yeah. But I remember the players, the

relationships, and all that, but I was in high school at

that time (the 1970’s). Jerry Fort and I were really

good friends, and I became close with a lot of my Dad’s

players. A lot of my friends even to this day are via

basketball and either played for my Dad or at Nebraska.

HHC: Talk about some of the great players

that your Dad coached at Nebraska, and who were some of

his favorites?

RC: Jerry Fort was a great player. Brian

Banks was a great player. Steve Willis, who played guard

with Jerry Fort, was one of the best guards to come

through the basketball program at Nebraska as well.

Those two guards were awesome, and just really good, and

they roomed together. They also had a kid from New York

named Rickey Marsh who came in for a year before he got

homesick and went home. There are just too many good

players to name.

HHC: Your Dad

is described as a character who would do things from

firing off the gun at the scorers table during a game to

telling players to run over the Jayhawk logo at center

court in Allen Fieldhouse during warmups to rile up the

fans. What are some of your favorite colorful stories?

RC: My Dad thoroughly enjoyed life; it wasn’t

just at the basketball arena. I remember a lot of things

growing up, and how he liked to have fun and was a

practical joker. He had a lot of friends, a lot of

personality, and there was a lot more depth to him than

basketball.

HHC: Did he

hate Kansas as much as we hear?

RC: Oh, that’s a competitive thing Dave,

and you can use the word hate in a competitive way, but

as far as really hating them, absolutely not. He had the

utmost respect, but you have to remember that Kansas was

the team that beat him when he was in the Final 4, so he

probably got tired of getting beat by them. He got beat

by them when he was playing, and he got beat by them

when he was coaching.

The

Kansas fans always liked him, and I’ll never forget when

my Dad got sick, and all of a sudden the UPS truck comes

up, and here comes the UPS guys with what looked like a

rug, but it was a roll of paper rolled up with 20,000

signatures from all the KU fans saying, “Get well,

thoughts and prayers.”

HHC: That’s

awesome, I never knew that.

RC: Most

don’t, we didn’t tell it all.

HHC: Since you

are a former coach yourself, talk about what your Dad

liked to have his teams do on offense and defense, as

far as sets and beliefs?

RC: Well, he was one of the guys who really

believed in the passing game. He learned a lot from Pete

Newell and Hank Iba. Actually, there were several people

who really influenced his offensive philosophies. And, I

think he was one of the guys that helped Bobby Knight go

to the passing game like he has.

But I

know my Dad believed in the passing play more than maybe

the true passing game, meaning that he wanted to set up

a play to get a shot for a certain player, and if it

broke down, then you go into your passing game.

HHC: And did

he believe in hard-nosed man-to-man defense like Moe Iba?

RC: Oh, I think all coaches believe in

that, but he did a lot more pressing with that team when

he had Lantz and (Nate) Branch, and they pressed most of

the time, and I mean full court. They scored a lot of

points.

HHC: You

mention that your Dad played a big role in the

development of Coach Knight. Talk more about that.

RC: Well, Hank Iba hired my Dad to come in and

help with the selection of the Olympic team in Colorado

Springs, and Bobby Knight was one of the coaches that

came in with him. So they spent a lot of time together

and they were tight.

I

remember going with his sons (Coach Knight) and him up

to Montana and trout fishing for a week. And I remember

growing up listening to my Dad talk basketball with Hank

Iba, Bobby Knight, Norm Stewart, Pete Newell, Don

Haskins, and a lot of other great guys that he was

friends with.

HHC: Describe

and talk about Mrs. Cipriano and your brothers and

sisters, and what are they up to today?

RC: I have two sisters, and we all grew up

in Lincoln and went to Southeast. My youngest sister

lives in Seattle, and my oldest lives in New Mexico. My

Mother lives in Seattle.

HHC: After

being diagnosed with cancer in 1979, your Dad's last

couple of years at Nebraska were both inspirational and

courageous, but also sad, as he fought with every ounce

of energy he had to stay with the team until the end of

his life in 1980. What were his spirits like at the end?

RC: Well… brave. He had an opportunity to

get things in order, which he appreciated. He had time

to spend with his close friends that meant so much to

him, which he appreciated.

HHC: Did your Dad teach you more about

life and battling in his last year than ever before?

RC: No, that’s something that he taught me

while I grew up, and we knew that was there when it

happened. He traveled everyday of his life that way,

ever since I knew him, so that wasn’t something we were

surprised to see at all.

HHC: Finally,

how would you describe your Dad, in your own words?

RC: He had a

lot of passion for life, in everything he did. There was

always passion and competitiveness.

He had a will to succeed in not just basketball, but he

also wanted to be a solid person in all aspects of his

life. Unfortunately with coaching, it consumes people.

Just like when you see these coaches that say they are

going to retire to spend time with their family, and

then don’t do it, I’m just left sort of shaking my head.<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript">