My Two Cents: Plenty of Indiana Ties For High Point Coach Alan Huss
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Sleepy yet beautiful High Point, N.C. is a long way from the state of Indiana and the Big Ten, but for High Point coach Alan Huss, who leads his 29-5 Panthers against Purdue in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, his Hoosier state ties run deep.
He knows all about Purdue, all about Matt Painter and all about their NCAA history, the good and the bad. He knows it, because he's lived it, coaching in the state at the high school level at Culver Military Academy from 2007 to 2010, and at La Lumiere in LaPorte from 2010 to 2014 before entering the college ranks.
Huss led High Point to Big South Conference regular season and tournament titles, so when he was watching the Selection Show on Sunday, he was glad to see Purdue's name pop up. He's in his second year there, and it's the school's first-ever trip to the NCAAs. The two teams tip off at 12:40 p.m. ET on Thursday.
"It was a weird deal for us. We have been done for a week (after winning the Big South Tournament), so we got to watch other people fighting for an (NCAA Tournament) spot suffer. That was kind of enjoyable,'' Huss said. "Once we found out our opponent on Sunday night. I spent a lot of time in the state of Indiana, and I'm familiar with their program, so we were able to pivot and put together a game plan.
"At this point, it's not about Cinderella. Once the ball goes up, it's about trying to win a basketball game, trying to be solid in all aspects and all phases of the game, and we'll try our best to do those things.''
Huss and Purdue coach Matt Painter have spent a fair amount of time together. Huss coached Purdue's Rapheal Davis at La Lumiere, and Painter spent a lot of time there, not only recruiting Davis but also watching Huss's practices.
He has a lot of respect for him as a coach — and his High Point team that's won 14 games in a row.
"High Point is a very good team. They're well-coached,'' Painter said Wednesday in Providence. "I've been in his practices when he was at prep school. He coached one of our guys, Rapheal Davis. My assistant (Paul Lusk) was on the Creighton staff with him.
"Any time you can dominate your league and win your tournament and 14 straight games, that's respect, man. That's a hard thing to do. That's a very difficult thing to do in any league that you're in. So our guys understand that and a handful of them understand that the hard way (about playing lowerr-seeded mid-majors in the first round.''
Huss cherishes his time coaching in Indiana because it allowed him to cut his teeth away from blazing spotlights. He said learning from his mistakes was a big thing, and made him a better coach today.
"When you're working at a boarding school (like La Lumiere), those jobs are more difficult than what I do now,'' Huss said. "You're really doing the exact same thing. You're bringing in a team, recreating that team, but they're not grownups yet. They're still in high school. In many cases, they're 14, 15, 16 years old and they're moving away from home. They don't have the support network. They don't drive yet.
"They're just... they're kids. You have all the responsibilities that we have now. In addition to that, I had a day job. I worked in the admissions office there. In addition to all that, these kids weren't self-reliant like they are at the collegiate level.''
Huss is a humble guy by nature, and his success thus far at High Point — he's 56-14 overall and 27-5 in league games in two years — doesn't go to his head. But he's also a guy that's likely to move up in the ranks in his profession.
That Indiana start has a lot to do with it.
"The beautiful thing about boarding school is you get to learn all these things, fight all these battles, wear all these hats and you get to be the chauffeur and the laundry man and all those things,'' Huss said.
"I think number one, it humbles you. There's a number of times where you're doing something funny in that environment where you can think back to really look inside or outside. You look around and go, 'how did I end up right here doing laundry at 11:30 in a snowstorm in La Porte, Indiana?' That happens. But you make mistakes also at a lower level that aren't scrutinized. I think as a coach, making mistakes and learning from those mistakes is probably as important to the growth process as anything. I certainly made my fair share, and for me, there were very few people who cared when I made them so I was able to learn without ending my career.''
Huss says he and his family have been ''fortunate to be in the state of Indiana and northern Indiana for a long time.'' It was a perfect locale for his family.
"Culver is a larger school. You don't wear as many hats as at La Lumiere. We valued our time there. My kids were little kids in both these places and grew up on campus and when you start talking about quality of life, working at Culver and La Lumiere, that's a pretty good life.
"There's a reason people go to those places and don't leave. It's like stepping back in a time machine. Kids play outside. You have great people and families around. You're immersed in where you live and work and it's a phenomenal lifestyle.''
Huss, ironically, was replaced by Mark Galloway at Culver. He's been there ever since, and is the father of Trey Galloway, who just concluded his firve-year career at Indiana.
His High Point team has dominated the Big South with a sound offensive system. They are No. 7 in the country in field goal percentage (49.39), are 16th in effective field goal percentage (.565) and No. 10 in scoring margin at 13 points per game.
He built his team by tapping into the transfer portal, which works at the mid-major level, too. His top-six scorers all started their college careers somewhere else. Kezza Giffa (UTEP), D'Maurian Williams (Texas Tech), Kimani Hamilton (Mississippi State), Bobby Pettiford (Kansas), Chase Johnston (Florida Gulf Coast) and Abdouleye Thiam (Minnesota) know what it's like to play power conference and/or postseason basketball.
They have plenty of respect for Purdue, but they won't be intimidated.
"Every kid grows up playing basketball and this is your dream, to be on this stage and compete with the best of the best,'' said Pettiford, who spent two years at Kansas and averages 8.9 points off the bench.
"It's a blessing to be here. This is something that we talked about in our visits since day one in the summer. Coming here, we wanted to make history. Me and D'Maurian, we know what it takes to get here, and our fan base will be rooting for us.''
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Tom Brew is an award-winning journalist who's worked at some America's finest newspapers, including the Tampa Bay (Fla.) Times, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and the Indianapolis Star. He also owns the book publishing company, Hilltop30 Publishing Group, and he has written four books and published 16 others.