Lehigh Making Most of Pregame Hoopla

One TV network was so unprepared for the development that it listed the school as LeHigh. It’s Lehigh, of course, and it takes its 12-18 record to Hartford, Conn., Thursday and lays it on the line against Georgetown in the NCAA East regionals.

Says Coach Tom Schneider, definding Lehigh’s record: “We’ve played some good teams the last two years--Arizona State, Marquette, Notre Dame--so I don’t think our players will be awed.”

What he didn’t mention was that Lehigh lost to Arizona State by 17, to Marquette by 29 and to Notre Dame by 22.

Will Lehigh really show up Thursday?

“Absolutely, “ said Roger Clow, sports information director. “Don’t you have to, to collect the dough? Personally, I’m glad it’s Georgetown we’re playing. I was afraid we’d get someone we couldn’t beat.”

Careful, Roger, those Hoyas don’t have much of a sense of humor.

Add Lehigh: Writes the Associated Press: “The campus of Lehigh, a school of 4,400 students, is situated on South Mountain, about 40 miles of Philadelphia, with a view of the steeples and smokestacks of Bethlehem, PA., a steel-making city of 72,000 along the Lehigh River.

“Founded in 1865, Lehigh is best known for its highly regarded engineering school, which supplies Bethlehem Steel Corp. with employees, and for its wrestling team, which has produced 22 NCAA champions and Olympic gold medalist Bobby Weaver.”

Now, there’s the guy they should put on Patrick Ewing.

Would-you-believe-it dept.: Al Oliver of the Dodgers, never known as a slugger, has hit seven career grand slams. That puts him even with perennial home run leader Mike Schmidt and ahead of former Dodgers Ron Cey (six) and Steve Garvey (five).

Among active National Leaguers, George Foster is the leader with 11. The all-time league leader is Willie McCovey with 18. The major-league leader is Lou Gehrig with 23.

According to the Bob Gibbons All Star Sports Report, the leading high-school scorer in the state is 6-2 guard Nomo Williams of River City (Sacramento) with a 35.3 average. Among the schools pursuing him are Cal State Long Beach and Cal State Fullerton.

How did he get the name Nomo?

Gibbons: “Nomo’s mom had 10 kids, and he was the 10th. After his birth, she said, ‘No mo.”’

Steve Alford, trying to explain Indian’s collapse this season, said it could have been caused by Olympic Games hangover. Bob Knight was the U.S. coach, and Alford was a member of the team. Uwe Blab played for West German team.

“I still think it has had to do with fatigue,” Alford said.

Good theory, but Pat Ewing has managed to carry on at Georgetown, as have Chris Mullin and Canadian Bill Wennington at St. John’s.

also, Michael Jordan apparently hasn’t missed a beat, and he has the most demanding schedule of all with the Chicago Bulls.

Quotebook

Announcer Billy Packer, told that Lehigh had run out of brochures after being named to the NCAA tournament: “At Kentucky, Joe Hall spends more on his basketball brochure in one season than Lehigh has spent on basketball in its entire history.”