Doc: NKU makes history with postseason appearance

The Northern Kentucky University men's basketball team is playing its first postseason game in Division I Tuesday night, a first-round Atlantic Sun Conference tournament game at quaint and tiny Regents Hall at 7 p.m. If you don't believe this is a very big deal, you've lived an undefeated life.

You've never been told no, politely or otherwise, or been humbled or felt like what's the use. You certainly haven't walked a mile in Kevin Schappell's sneakers. He's an assistant coach and top recruiter for the Norse, a job that requires the sun's optimism and the persistence of Job. When the Norse went from Division II to Division I three years ago, they did so knowing the NCAA wouldn't allow them to play in the tournament for four years.

Try telling a recruit how great that's going to be. Then try to find hair on top of Dick Vitale's head.

"You're at such a disadvantage with that tournament thing. That just kills you," Schappell said Monday. Or as head coach Dave Bezold put it, "It really limited who we were going to be able to go after."

It's like having a birthday with candles and no cake.

In no particular order, high school studs want to (1) be on television (2) play a lot, right away if possible and (3) play in the NCAA tournament. NKU is 1-for-3 at the moment. Freshmen have a chance to play.

The Norse had to find special players who were also special people. Players who would rather plant the seed than eat the fruit. Players who wanted to create shadows, not stand in them. And let's face it, players who could handle busting their aspirations between October and February, with no chance of a trophy moment in March.

They've gotten a few. They've had a few leave. Bezold had six players in his first D-1 recruiting class. Four left the program. Todd Johnson and Tyler White remain. Both play big roles.

Schappell persists. "It's gotten easier," he admitted.

The four-year NCAA tournament wait is down to two. And Tuesday, the Norse host Lipscomb in that first-round conference tournament game. As senior Chad Jackson said, "We finally have something to play for."

They're still ditching the D-1 training wheels.

"We sold them on (Bezold's) success and our vision for the program. We're telling these kids that our vision is to take a team to the first tournament, and we need them to help us build up to that point," Schappell said.

The walls aren't tumbling down. But they are swaying. The NCAA wants it to be hard for a school to jump to Division I, so only the capable few dare attempt it. Even now, Schappell said, "Every kid we have commit to us, it's a celebration."

Freshman Tayler Persons is the face the Norse are seeking. A top-10 player from Indiana who felt unloved in his own state, Persons said he chose NKU because "other schools already have their history. I wanted to come here and make history."

He's a 6-3, 230-pound point guard, arguably the first NKU recruit with the size and ability D-1 demands. Persons is from Kokomo, which isn't exactly the stereotypical Indiana town.

"It's a lot of factories,'' said Persons. "Very tough. You play in the park, you come out with a bloody nose. It's a fight. That's how everybody in Kokomo plays."

Schappell said he was "shocked" when Persons committed to NKU last June. Bezold had figured Persons for a Big 10 player. Schappell said, "It's worth a call."

Indiana coach Tom Crean had invited Persons to walk on, with the possibility of a scholarship his sophomore year. That didn't thrill Persons.

"I thought I was underappreciated. I wanted to go somewhere I knew they wanted me," he said.

Persons is big enough to get into the lane, and deft enough to make a three. He was a four-year starter on the football team in high school, at quarterback and safety. He tore an ACL his senior season. Two months later, he was practicing with the basketball team.

On Tuesday, the A-Sun named Persons its freshman of the year.

Tayler Persons needed Northern Kentucky University as much as NKU needed him. That soul-match doesn't happen a lot. It should happen more in Highland Heights, as the no-tournament mandate ebbs.

Meantime, the Norse are playing Tuesday night, in their first postseason game as a Division I representative.

Kevin Schappell's recruiting trips just got a little easier.