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Speaking of Eberhard, a recent article:

Posted on: July 22, 2016 at 15:05:12 CT
FIJItiger MU
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http://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/from-springville-to-nba-20160131

For every 10,000 high school basketball players, it has been estimated only three will make it to the National Basketball Association.

If you’re from Springville, Iowa, the odds are considerably longer.

But Al Eberhard did just that. Among the 21 Iowa high school players who have reached the NBA, only Loren Meyer came from a high school with a smaller enrollment than Eberhard’s Springville. Meyer hailed from Ruthven, starred at Iowa State and played three years in the NBA.

Eberhard graduated from Springville in 1970, selected as a third-team all-stater his senior season. He had considered attending a small college but his high school coach had a connection with Missouri Coach Norm Stewart.

“My high school coach, Larry Dusanek, played for Coach Stewart when Stewart was coaching at Cedar Falls, Iowa (Northern Iowa). I wasn’t recruited by a lot of large colleges,” Eberhard said in a Missouri Sports Hall of Fame story last November when he was inducted. “Coach Dusanek told me, ‘Coach Stewart is an excellent coach; you’ll learn a lot about basketball and he will give you a chance.’”

It paid big dividends for Eberhard and Missouri. After a year of acclimation to a big-time college campus (freshmen were not eligible then), the slightly-undersized 6-foot-6 Eberhard became a Tiger star and eventually a member of the school’s All-Century team.

Eberhard needed that freshman year to become adjusted in Columbia. His graduating class at Springville numbered 41 students.

“I remember the first day I walked on campus with 22,000 students and I wasn’t sure what I was doing,” Eberhard told the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. “I wondered if I made the right decision. That’s why it was so important growing up on the farm. My family’s mental toughness and work ethic taught me valuable lessons.

“I did a lot of growing up that first year away from home. I learned a lot about life. Our freshman year was good for all of us.”

Eberhard still is one of only four Missouri players to average a double-double for his college career, 16.8 points and 10.1 rebounds. He led the Tigers to their first back-to-back 20-win seasons in school history in 1972 and ’73. One of Eberhard’s teammates in 1973 and ’74 was Ron Pexa, a star in his own right at Cedar Rapids Washington.

For what he may have lacked in height for a small forward, Eberhard compensated with his strength and work ethic. He twice was named most valuable player at the Big Eight Holiday Tournament, scoring 33 in a game against Kansas State. He was first-team all-Big Eight as a senior, averaging 19.7 points and 12 rebounds.

Eberhard’s hard work and production resulted in him becoming a first-round NBA draft pick, the 15th overall selection of the Detroit Pistons. That was the same draft in which Bill Walton was selected No. 1 overall, and such players as Marvin Barnes, Bobby Jones, Campy Russell and Maurice Lucas were picked. George Gervin was a third-round pick that year. Tom Holland, a Cedar Rapids Jefferson and Oklahoma product, went in the eighth round. Jim Bushkovsky became the only Upper Iowa University player ever selected by the NBA when he went to Cleveland in the ninth round.

The best of Eberhard’s four-year NBA career was his second season in 1975-76 when he averaged 9.3 points per game. He went for 30 points twice that season, against Houston and Seattle. The Houston team included former Iowa stars John Johnson and Kevin Kunnert. Former Hawkeye great Fred Brown had 20 points for Seattle in the other game.

Eberhard finished his pro career with 1,490 points, 760 rebounds and a 79.7 free-throw percentage in 220 games.

Eberhard, 63, has had a long relationship with Missouri. He is on the board of the university’s Thompson Center Foundation for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders. He previously was executive director for the Governor’s Council for Fitness and Health in Missouri.

Eberhard’s parents, Marvin and Hazel, farmed in the Springville area for 50 years. His dad put up backboards and hoops on the inside and outside of the barn so Al could shoot year-round. The Eberhard basketball lineage perhaps began with Marvin, a star basketball player in the Nebraska high school ranks.

Al’s sister, Lorrie, was selected to the Coe College Hall of Fame after a standout basketball and softball career. Lorrie’s husband, Steve Zeller, was a three-sport athlete at Springville and later briefly walked on to the Iowa State football team. They produced three terrific college basketball players in Luke (Notre Dame), Tyler (North Carolina) and Cody (Indiana). Tyler and Cody are in the NBA with Boston and Charlotte, respectively. Luke played one season with Phoenix.

Eberhard always has credited his small-town upbringing for preparing him as he advanced through his basketball career.

“I wondered if I made the right decision (going to Missouri),” he said. “That’s why it was so important growing up on the farm. My family’s mental toughness and work ethic taught me valuable lessons.”

And took him far — from Springville to the NBA.
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"Norm" on SECN now (nm) - haeffb MU - 7/22 14:08:47
     You guys seem to love Norm so much wonder why the school - tawtam1 ARK - 7/23 09:51:06
          Goddamn, I think you're dumber than tmcats - Cosmo MU - 7/23 13:08:12
          RE: You guys seem to love Norm so much wonder why the school - Odom MU - 7/23 10:09:11
               It's called white people................................... - tawtam1 ARK - 7/23 10:41:11
                    How Arky of you. - Gary P. MU - 7/24 12:21:13
                    RE: It's called white people................................... - Odom MU - 7/23 11:30:02
     Watching it for the first time - Cosmo MU - 7/22 14:30:07
     Did anybody ever watch a game at Brewer Fieldhouse? - Eastside Tiger MU - 7/22 14:18:47
          Yes----what a dump - mu7176grad MU - 7/22 15:06:12
          That was a funny place - tigersailor MU - 7/22 14:27:27
               Speaking of Eberhard, a recent article: - FIJItiger MU - 7/22 15:05:12
          Lots of people over the years. (nm) - TheWildcat STL - 7/22 14:19:39
               +1 - TXStiger MU - 7/24 12:23:13
               I guess I should have asked anyone on here and what - Eastside Tiger MU - 7/22 14:23:07
                    Here is Joe Scott setting the single game scoring record - FIJItiger MU - 7/22 14:40:46
                         "Norm" is pretty cool show. I forgot about all the good team - Eastside Tiger MU - 7/22 14:44:20
                              I think they did a good job, here were my thoughts from - FIJItiger MU - 7/22 14:49:08




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