Wednesday, February 4, 1998
By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Micah Kroeger is confident Hawaii can still
qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
Micah’s Madness
The NCAA Tournament
By Cindy Luis
has long been an obsession with
'Bow forward Kroeger
Star-BulletinIt will be March soon. Micah Kroeger's favorite time of year.
His favorite season.
The season of March Madness.
Even though basketball wasn't always his best sport, he was enthralled by the NCAA Tournament. From the time he was 10 years old, Kroeger was caught up in the magic of the battle for the national championship.
He skipped school religiously for what he considered the Holy Days of Obligation. Cinderella was his first date as he followed the underdogs through the tournament brackets, dreaming that some day he, too, would get to The Big Dance.
"I can't explain what it is about the NCAA Tournament, but you could chalk up sick days for me the first Thursday and Friday in March when it started," said the 6-foot-6 senior forward for the University of Hawaii. "I stayed home to watch those first-round games in the mornings.
"Sitting there, thinking, hoping to get a chance to be there. I've been dreaming about it for 12 years, that someday there would be some kid watching me and having that same dream that I had."
The deadline to accomplish his dream is rapidly approaching. A month ago, the Rainbows were being touted as a Sweet 16 team after starting out 11-1, including a nationally televised win over No. 2 Kansas.
Heading into tonight's game with San Diego State, Hawaii (14-5 overall, 3-4 Western Athletic Conference) is on the verge of sliding off the NCAA bubble and into the morass of the NIT for the second straight year.
"I hope that doesn't happen," said Kroeger, who has started every game this season at small forward. "We've worked so hard. We knew coming in that this season wasn't going to be a smooth ride, that there would be little bumps along the way.
"But we have to start performing or it's not going to be the season we vowed we would have."
Ask Kroeger about his favorite memory and you might find the answer surprising.
"It has to be after the NIT loss last year at UNLV," he said. "The guys coming back for their senior year -- me, Alika (Smith), Anthony (Carter), Eric (Ambrozich) and Mike (Robinson) -- all were hugging each other and vowing our senior year would end differently.
"We wanted to show how we could all work together toward the goal of getting into the NCAAs. My feeling is that sometimes it's the losses that give you the most rewards."
Coming to Hawaii was Kroeger's reward for taking the junior college route instead of opting for a Division I program after high school. After a three-sport career at Edison High in Huntington Beach, Calif., he chose to attend nearby Saddleback College, which has become a pipeline to the Rainbow program.
Kroeger was all-conference as a freshman for the Gauchos, a team that included Carter and Ambrozich. He transferred to Hawaii after one season, finding the Division I atmosphere he had been looking for.
"It was a perfect fit for me," said Kroeger, who is interning with the UH Sports Marketing Department. "I had a year to mature and grow. I wanted to go someplace with a real program where we could make some noise.
"I loved the beach, the weather and the people. There was such a homey feeling that you don't have in California. It's aloha."
"I'm really proud of him," said his father, Roger, visiting this week from Michigan. "I'm not surprised he's become the player he has. He was always aggressive, offensive-minded, even when he was little. He's always been a sports nut.
"I'm up until 3 in the morning to watch him on TV. It's unbelievable."
Kroeger puts the "over" in the term "overachiever."
"Micah always gives 110 percent," assistant coach Jackson Wheeler said. "He's the kind of guy who could have contributed to a number of programs. He just found a niche in ours.
"Everyone is looking for a guy who gives 110 percent, hustles and works hard. There's always a spot for a guy like that on your team."
Team is the optimum word here. He's become Carter's favorite recipient of bullet passes on backdoor plays while ranking third in assists behind Carter and Smith.
"I hope that we have shown people that basketball is a team game," Kroeger said. "I think we've shaped the future of Hawaii basketball. I think we've shown that it's not always the five most talented guys who are going to win.
"Our fans appreciate us because we're just normal guys who, together, are better than normal. You can win with nice guys. Nice guys don't always finish last and it's not over yet for us. We still have another chapter to write."
Next month, there will be some little kid with white socks pulled up to his knees, just to be different. A kid who has caught March Madness, and if Kroeger fulfills his dream, a kid who will be watching the NCAA Tournament through Kroeger's eyes.
1997-98 Rainbow Men's Basketball Schedule
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
