bulldog
Drummond to play final games
for home audience this weekend
By MIKE GRADY
Of the Emerald
At 4 p.m. on Saturday after
noon, Mike Drummond will be in
troduced for the final time in front
of a McArthur Court crowd.
It’ll be the first time in three
years Oregon hasn’t graduated an
All-American basketball player
who would later go on to become a
professional in the NBA. But if
Ronnie Lee and Greg Ballard
were somehow able to attend this
Saturday’s game against UCLA,
even they would eat their hearts
out when hearing the applause
and appreciation being given to
the 5-8 Drummond as the starting
line-ups are announced.
“It’s a sad time for any player,
knowing he’s playing his last
game in front of the people who
have watched and cheered his
every move for four years. And in
Drummond’s case, it’ll be just as
sad a time for those who have
watched, as for the Bulldog him
self.
With his days of competitive
basketball numbered, Drummond
reflected on what his career at
Oregon, both on and off the court,
has meant to him.
“Most of my education hasn’t
come from the classrooms or the
books,” he said, “It has come from
the basketball court and the things
that have to do with basketball.
Basketball has made me work
hard and I’ve learned what it takes
to do that."
Drummond shows no qualms
about admitting that he has
changed and grown since his arri
val in Eugene from Racine, Wis.,
four years ago. And he also leaves
no doubt as to what kind of
changes they’ve been for him.
“When I first came here, playing
basketball was the biggest thing to
me,” he said. “Now it’s different.
Now I’ve realized that when this is
over, basketball isn’t gonna mean
that much anymore. I’ve changed
the way I’ve looked at things to
more of a responsible goal instead
of a personal goal.”
As the lone senior on the
Oregon squad this year, respon
sibility has rested heavily on
Drummond’s shoulders — and
most of it has been self
proclaimed. So with the recent
hard luck experienced by the
Ducks has also come quite a bit of
frustration for the Pac-8’s smallest
player.
“I think that this year has kinda
been the lowest point for me at
Oregon,” Drummond explained.
“It's really tough when you've
worked hard for something and
you haven’t gotten the results.”
After pointing to the inconsis
tencies of this season as his low
point, Drummond stated that his
feeling after the Duck’s NIT victory
against Oral Roberts last year was
probably the highest point of his
Oregon basketball days.
“But a lot of times I've felt really
good and it has had nothing to do
with games at all,” said Drum
mond. “The last couple of weeks
I’ve felt pretty good. Even though
we re losing, we re not giving up.
I’m not giving up.”
This statement can best be
seen in Drummond’s interaction
with referees this season. Once a
calm and complacent participant,
Drummond has of late been carry
Photo by Steve Schneider
The sight of Mike Drummond bringing the ball up the Mac Court floor
for Oregon has become very familiar over the last four years. Drumond
will make his final home appearance this weekend.
ing on more and heavier conver
sations with the men who carry
whistles.
“Yeah, I think the frustration has
shown,” admitted Drummond with
a smile. “My emotions have kinda
been spurting out at the refs lately.
Maybe that’s why I’ve felt good the
past couple of weeks. If I hadn’t of
shown it, it would still be inside
me, building up.”
Perhaps the biggest shame
when considering the finish of
Drummond’s career comes while
wondering if people wi II remember
what he meant to the Ducks dur
ing his playing days. You see,
people have a tendency to re
member and worship numbers
and statistics. They’ll always be
able to look in the record books
and see what Lee and Ballard
meant to their teams, but that
won’t be so for Drummond.
Drummond doesn't get statis
tics; he gives them. They don’t
have a column for the number of
times a man leaves his own man
on defense to help out a beaten
teammate. They also don’t keep
track of how long a player keeps
control of the basketball, which in
essence gives him control of the
whole game.
Those are the things Drum
mond does; he does them well
enough that his coach, Dick Har
ter, has been quoted on numer
ous occasions that he wouldn't
trade him for any other guard in
the Pac-8.
But then maybe it's fitting that
Drummond won’t have the num
bers hanging around after he
leaves. He’ll have something
which is better and which in his
mind he sees as much more con
crete.
“I know I’m gonna miss every
thing about athletics,” said
Drummond. “But the thing I’ll al
ways remember is the relationship
you have with the other guys on
the team. It’s fun to sit around the
locker room and watch the differ
ent moods that the different peo
ple go through.”
Drummond is undecided on
what he'll be doing after his
graduation in June of this year.
He'd like to stay in Eugene and get
a job in his major — business, but
if nothing works out along those
lines he’s seriously considering
Law School or a Master’s degree.
Until that time though, the
things weighing heaviest on
Drummond’s mind are his last
three games — USC, UCLA, and
Oregon State. For most college
players who have reached the
plateau of popularity which
Drummond has, it’s not the end of
the road. But for Mike it is.
"I just want to play well, win and
cry afterwards.”
r ~\
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