Cuse Country

One of the recently-awarded prizes for the Cuse Country “Pick With Your Heart” NCAA Tournament Bracket Challenge (or CCPWYHNCAATBC for short) was a game program from the February 1, 1992 matchup between SU and Seton Hall. The program’s cover features Michael Edwards, which is awesome enough by itself. But the interior is a treasure trove of early ’90s nostalgia, from the full-page color Jreck Subs ad featuring head shots of assistant coaches Bernie Fine and Wayne Morgan to the perforated page of basketball cards of Adrian Autry and Dave “Gus” Siock (2 cards each). Not to mention tons of ads for businesses that don’t exist anymore (Galveston’s Restaurant anyone?). But my favorite part of this program is the feature “Orange Gallery” story on freshman forward Glenn Sekunda.

For those of you unfamiliar with Glenn, I direct you to OrangeHoops.org, by far the best and most complete site for SU basketball history and lore. Ray does a fabulous job chronicling the history of the program, and analyzing how current players and teams fit into the overall tapestry that is Orangemen basketball. His page on Glenn Sekunda sums up Glenn’s SU career succinctly:

Sekunda came to Syracuse as part of a very talented class that included Lawrence Moten, Anthony Harris and Luke Jackson. Sekunda himself averaged 30.7 ppg his senior year in Glenn Sekundahigh school. With senior Dave Johnson already playing every minute, and Moten surprising everyone and becoming a star, there was not much room during Sekunda’s freshman year for the other freshman stars. He did however, get the chance to play in a blowout loss to Providence where he scored 18 points. In the next game, he came off the bench, and would hit the game winning shot in a come from behind victory over Seton Hall.

Sekunda would work himself into the regular rotation his sophomore season, being one of the top two players off the bench. However, Sekunda was not happy with his playing time, and transferred to Penn State after the season.

And in case you were wondering, that game-winner vs. the Hall was in fact the very game for which this game program was published. Interesting that one of the few highlights of Glenn’s SU career came on a night when he was featured in the program. Amazingly, a photo of this moment is out there on the internets:

This photo comes from the blog of its photographer, Bob Karp, who is now the Photo Editor for the Morris County Daily Record. It was #14 on his personal top 25 most memorable experiences as a photojournalist — combining the circumstances (local superstar kid makes the game winning shot, and against NJ’s own Seton Hall no less) with the quality of the photo itself. He particularly remembered not being able to sleep after the game because he knew he had snapped a potentially great shot but didn’t yet know whether the photo had come out or not.

I never would have known about any of this if I hadn’t seen the story in the game program. So before I mailed the program off to its winner, I decided to preserve this little piece of Orange journalism and share it with the masses. Thus, here is the text of the article about Glenn. In the program this fills up about half a page, with the rest of the page taken up by a photo of Mr. Sekunda in action. The facing page is another photo, this one full-size. Any typos are mine.

Frosh Forward Can’t Get Past Other No. 4
By MARK FRANK
Newcomer Glenn Sekunda says Syracuse University Head Basketball Coach Jim Boeheim has him pencilled in the No. 4 spot in the lineup. Unfortunately for the 6-foot-8, 210-pound freshman from Morris Plains, New Jersey, there happens to be a No. 4 in the way — senior Dave Johnson, who’s having an outstanding final season for the Orange.

So, Sekunda, blessed with a marvelous shooting touch and an adept passing eye, sits patiently and waits.

Sekunda is hopeful his day in the sun will come. Boeheim and Assistant Coach Wayne Morgan are certain Sekunda will have many chances to shine. Just look at Sekunda’s credentials and you’ll see why Boeheim and Morgan are so confident.

Sekunda averaged 30.7 points, 11 rebounds and four assists a game at Parsippany Hills High School. He shot 43 per cent from three-point range. Sekunda was the USA Today New Jersey Player of the Year and a Newark Star-Ledger first-team All-State pick. He was an All-Morris County selection and team captain for Coach Fred Douglass. Sekunda is the all-time leading scorer in Morris County with 2,130 points.

“I think Coach Boeheim is looking at me basically in the No. 4 spot, but DJ is playing well,” Sekunda said. “It’s tough sitting, but I think my time will come. Hopefully, I’ll get my chance sooner or later.”

“I think Glenn is one of the best shooters we’ve ever brought in for a big guy,” Boeheim said. “He reminds me a lot of Leo (Rautins). He’s a good passer, a good shooter. He knows how to play. He needs to get more physical and stronger.”

“Glenn has grown since I started recruiting him,” Morgan said. “He was 6-foot-5, now he’s 6-foot-8. He’s getting bigger, he’s getting stronger.

“He’s talented, he’s extremely skilled,” Morgan continued. “At 6-foot-8 he can dribble the ball well, he can pass the ball well, but better than both of those things he can shoot. He never gets down. Glenn’s not playing as much as he’d like to play, but one day he will play a lot and he’ll be a very key player for us.

“All of his skills exceed those of most people his size,” Morgan said.

Sekunda agrees with Boeheim that he needs to bulk up to compete effectively in the pysical rough-and-tumble basketball world known as the BIG EAST conference.

“Everybody is so good and everyone can play pretty well, and everybody also is stronger than what I’m used to,” Sekunda said. “I got bigger from last year since I lifted over the summer, but it’s much more physical because the guys are so much stronger.”

Although he often brought the ball up against pressure in high school, Sekunda acknowledged he was “working on my ballhandling quite a bit” and concentrating on “playing hard defense.”

“I’m basically trying to make myself a more complete player,” he said.

And while he appreciates compliments about his ability to distribute the basketball, Sekunda knows not many people in Syracuse have seen that facet of his game.

“I haven’t gotten the ball enough to pass it,” he laughed.

Sekunda played in 10 of SU’s first 15 games and he saw action as the Orange’s backup center while Conrad McRae sat out. His season-high of five points came against Florida State and Lafayette.

In case you were wondering, it appears that Glenn is now selling insurance in a town near Penn State.