Published: February 11, 1992
Section: SPORTS
Page#: 01C
Lessons extend beyond the court
By Jon Roe; Staff Writer   

On one corner along Hennepin Av. is the Basilica of St. Mary's, where they're trying to save souls. Kitty-corner is the gymnasium of Minneapolis Community College, where they're trying to save soles.

"We're their second chance," said Jay Pivec, who coaches the college's men's basketball team. "We try to convince them that they have basketball skills that are God-given, but that education is the key if they want to do something more with their lives."

Pivec, 36, feels the same about basketball as an evangelist feels about religion. He is a devoted hoops freak who is trying to put his players' sneakers on the path to glory through their basketball skills and the pursuit of a college education.

"I don't want it to sound like we're Father Flanagan," Pivec said. "But what we're trying to do is tell a kid that if he's willing to pay his dues, if he's willing to get the job done in the classroom, we'll do everything we can to get him into a four-year school with the chance to play some basketball and get his degree."

Pivec has been on his mission for two years at MCC, and the Marauders have gone from an 0-22 record before he arrived to a current mark of 16-4 and a No. 13 ranking in the national junior college polls. The ingredients of this year's team are an amalgam, ranging from 5-6 Shannon King, a freshman from St. Paul Humboldt, to 6-10 Dennis Winfield, a sophomore from Minneapolis Henry. There are Eric Thomson, a 6-5 freshman from Minneapolis Roosevelt; Brian Reiger, a 6-6 sophomore from Richfield; Rodney Anderson, a 6-7 sophomore from Milwaukee; and Brian Born, a 6-6 sophomore from Park Center.

Thomson is the Marauders' leading scorer at 18 points despite playing fewer than 25 minutes a game. He had been out of high school for two years before coming to MCC because he didn't get an anticipated offer from North Dakota State and did not have the funds to attend college. He still works part-time doing laundry at a Minneapolis hotel to supplement a state grant he receives.

"It's been a blast for me," Thomson said. "It's a great atmosphere, and I look forward to being with the guys at practice every day. I'd like to be able to transfer to a four-year school by next year - hopefully, a Division I school."

Winfield hopes that happens this year. He has signed to play at Utah next year - if he gets his degree. It might mean going to summer school, but Winfield already has experienced some of the alternatives and he likes what he's doing now a lot better. His ACT score was one point too low coming out of high school, so he couldn't get a basketball scholarship at Southern Illinois. He considered some out-of-state junior colleges, then discovered MCC.

"Getting this chance has kept me off the streets," Winfield said. "I'd probably be in Gary, Indiana, living with my grandparents if I wasn't here. Coach Pivec really gets on you about going to class. If you don't go to class, you don't practice and you don't play in the games. He puts it up to you to do what has to be done."

Winfield, who is averaging nine points and six rebounds, hasn't been a starter since December. That's when Pivec benched some starters for a lack of effort on the floor and in the classroom. With backups starting, the Marauders still won and Pivec has stayed with the lineup. The team has won 12 of its past 13 games.

"We're basically going to get two kinds of kids," Pivec said. "One is the kid who has been a star in high school and nobody tried to recruit them, or they just weren't ready for college. The second is the kid who doesn't have the academic qualifications for college and has to build up his grades. But we aren't going to waste our time. If they aren't serious, then we'll go find some people who are willing to work."

Anderson said he had "pitiful" grades in high school and didn't play much basketball. Now he hopes to obtain a degree, and is being looked at by Loyola Marymount, Ball State, and Division II Metro (Colo.) State. Reiger is averaging 13 points on the court and 3.0 in the classroom.

He has been contacted by Morningside of the NCC and Minnesota-Morris of the NIC. He might be the only Marauder who hasn't felt Pivec's lash about going to class. "Some people have found out the hard way," Reiger said. "I knew he wasn't kidding."

Pivec went to Minneapolis Southwest, then attended Normandale Community College and was an assistant coach at Mankato State and for the Gophers in 1982 under Jim Dutcher. He was the head coach at Jamestown (N.D.) for three years and Northern Montana for five years before signing on at MCC. Although he might move on if the opportunity is right, he feels comfortable at MCC.

"We don't want to have just good players," Pivec said. "We don't want to be just a basketball factory. We want our players to go on and finish their college education. What they do at MCC should just be the beginning."

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