Knox vs UCLA Rivalry- It's Impact on Caitlin Clark

Woody shooting!

Dave Wood and I have shared an interest in basketball, and over time, we have turned it into a lucrative business. Our business is “The Shot Doctors.” Without going into details, let's just say there is a lot of money to be made working with NBA and WNBA players. To explain our business, I need to go back and give you a foundation of how we got to where we are today. 

Realize as I share the story, I am at an age where maybe some of my memories won't be completely accurate. Obviously I would have no intent to fabricate or deceive you- it will just be an age thing. 

For many people if you mention the "Knox College rivalry," they will think Knox vs Monmouth. Perhaps for Monmouth people, that is “the rivalry.” But for Knox, the rivalry has always been Knox vs UCLA. The rivalry was at its peak in the 1960's and 1970's when often Coach Wooden and Coach Knosher were battling for the same recruits. These were not recruiting battles, these were recruiting wars. The stories of competing Galesburg millionaires and Los Angeles millionaires trying to entice basketball players to their schools are legendary. 

Douglas with the other guy.

In 1965 UCLA opened up Pauley Pavilion as the home for their basketball team. Not to be outdone, Knox made plans to open up their own arena. Descendants of Stephan Douglas had long felt that after the Knox College Lincoln vs Douglas Debate, people had unfairly given Lincoln credit for winning the debate. Douglas descendants had long looked for a way to get his name back in a positive light. Supporters of Douglas donated the money to build the Stephan Douglas Arena. It was built on the corner of Cherry St. and North St., where Knox owned property. Pauley Pavilion's capacity was 12,829, the new Douglas Arena by no consequence, opened in 1968 holding 12,830. Knox was never going to be outdone by UCLA.

Lew Alcindor and Coach Wooden

One of the first recruiting wars involved the battle for Lew Alcindor and Dave Wood. Coach Knosher was aware of growing sentiment to put in the three point arc, so he focused most of his attention on Wood. Wood was a prolific shooter, and it was felt getting a local boy might help fill up the new arena. Meantime, Wooden focused on Alcindor. When it all settled out, Wood went to Knox and Alcindor to UCLA.

Things got more complicated from what I have been told (and it may be accurate). Both Knosher and Wooden were active on the NCAA committees governing basketball. Knosher pushed to put in the three point line, knowing it would make Dave Wood an even more prolific scorer. Wooden knowing the three point arc would help Knox, blocked it. In response, Knosher pushed thru the "no dunk" rule to try to limit Alcindor. Unnamed sources tell me that Wooden was furious- more fuel for the growing rivalry.

Even without the three point arc, Wood led the Midwest Conference in scoring at about 22ppg. If you study the films like I have, with the three point arc I have calculated Woody would have averaged 42ppg not 22ppg. I am confident my math is just as accurate as everything in this story.

Knosher explaining how
Loud Douglas Arena would be.

The next recruiting conflict was when both Bill Walton, Jim Wetherbee, and Evan Massey were in the class of 1970.  Coach Knosher wanted to get all three players. He mistakingly told an assistant to “go get Walton.” The assistant came back with Steve Walton from Bushnell, not Bill Walton. But Knox got Wetherbee and Massey, while Wooden again got the size with Bill Walton. 

Then came the big coup for Coach Knosher. Wooden and Knosher both desperately wanted Gary Pokorn and Kjeld Sorenson out of the Chicago suburbs- Knox got both of them. The following year, Knosher won Dave Woodward over UCLA. Wooden and UCLA were losing major recruiting battles year after year with Knox. And Knox was regularly selling out Douglas Arena. 

Douglas Arena was ahead of its time. The concessions were wonderful, all run by local restaurants- Harbor Lights had chicken livers wrapped in bacon, Club 19 had fried chicken dinners, Taco Hideout had specials on tacos, Coney Island sold hot dogs, and the Downtown Lounge at $.25 draft beers. Douglas Arena was the place to be. My unnamed source told me that Bradley, Illinois State, the U. Of Illinois, and the Bulls all found their attendance dropped when the Siwash were playing. 

I am sure some of you are thinking, how could Knox and UCLA have been a rival, UCLA won 10 National Championships during this period. That is true, UCLA was having a pretty good run. During this time, everything was going great for UCLA basketball except for one thing. Despite UCLA's dominance from 1964 thru 1975, not once did UCLA ever beat Knox in basketball during this period. Think about it, UCLA was totally dominant but can't beat Coach Knosher and Knox College. 

12,830 in Douglas Arena

At the peak of the Knox success, a series of events caused the Knox vs UCLA rivalry to dissolve after the 1975 season. Knox had another great season, again UCLA failed to get a win over Knox, and Knox continued to sell out Douglas Arena. Rumor had it Knox was going make the move from D3 to D1 in basketball. Fearing Knox would now be in the NCAA D1 Tourney, some speculate that may be why Coach Wooden retired. Knox moving to D1 would have effectively ended UCLA’s title run.

With the success and attendance at Douglas Arena, the IHSA had decided to move the 1976 IHSA State Tourney to the Douglas Arena. Quincy attempted to block the move by demanding Galesburg admit to recruiting Bumpy Nixon and apologize to the people of Quincy. The IHSA refused to go along with the Quincy demand. Quincy then petitioned the State of Illinois to secede from Illinois and go to Missouri. Illinois quickly approved the move but Missouri rejected Quincy. 

Site of Douglas Arena today.

Then tragedy stuck. In the summer of 1975, a disastrous fire destroyed the Douglas Arena. It is believed to have been arson. No one knows for sure, but there are many rumors to this day. Some say it was angry descendants of Abe Lincoln, some think it was angry UCLA fans, and still others think it was Quincy fans. Unfortunately, the building was not fully insured. Knox had tried to save on the insurance cost to cover some of their "NIL expenses." Without the insurance money, the building could not be rebuilt. 

Instead Knox used what insurance money was available to rebuild the original Gale House on the property- and that is how it is today.

If you didn’t actually see a full Stephan Douglas Arena packed with 12,830 fans screaming for Knox, some of this story may be hard to believe. I can still see the crowds and smell the Club 19 fried chicken and the spilled DTL beer. I am confident that my story is at least partially accurate describing the era of the famous Knox vs UCLA rivalry that dominated college basketball. How did Woody and I translate our Knox careers into careers as trainers for the elite players? 

More to the point, how did Woody and I end up as trainers for players like Caitlin Clark? When I connect the dots, i think it will be easy to see. 

If not for the Knox vs UCLA rivalry then Reggie Miller would never in the 1980’s have been recruited by both Knox and UCLA. And if he were not recruited by Knox and had a Galesburg campus visit, he would never have met Dave Wood and I. If he had never met Dave Wood, he would never have heard Woody’s famous line,”Shoot when you get it, think about when don’t have it.” So would anyone have shot as often as Reggie Miller as an Indiana Pacer, if he had not received Woody’s advice?

Caitlin Clark with Coach Massey

Caitlin Clark got drafted to the Indiana Fever, and Reggie Miller is still an icon in Indianapolis. If there was no Knox vs UCLA rivalry, then Woody and I would not have met Reggie Miller, and when Caitlin Clark struggled at the start of her WNBA career, Reggie Miller would not have contacted us to work with Caitlin. 

We were perfect for Clark! Woody had invented the “logo 2.” Just because there was no three point line, it didn’t stop him from shooting by the logo. Woody helped her with the mechanics of her shot and explained to her that a bad shot is much better than a bad pass. 

And like Caitlin, I had been one of those rare players whose points per game and assists per game were almost identical. I had 3.8ppg and 3.2apg. If I had made a couple more baskets per game, and if I had a couple more assists (maybe if Sorenson hadn’t missed a couple layups), I ALMOST averaged an incredible double double- just like Caitlin. 

Look at Clark’s stats for her first 9 games this season, then her stats after that.  Obviously something changed her game completely. Clark’s shot looks eerily similar to Woody’s, and the similarity in Clark and my ppg/apg numbers are too alike to be a coincidence. Isn’t it clear how Caitlin Clark made such a big jump? It makes one wonder what Caitlin Clark would be like if the Knox vs UCLA rivalry had never happened. 

I am thru writing for now- I really need to take a nap. I find I need to nap more and more often. And I find the more I nap, the more trouble I have keeping track of what is real and what I dreamed. I guess it is up to you to figure out what is real and what I dreamed!