Korcek's Corner: Leaving Battle off best dunkers list egregious

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When you spend five decades navigating “the toy department of life” - i.e., sportswriting, that Walter Mitty world can be frustrating. I mean, basically, your job in sports is to make the unimportant important. The Big Game. World Championship. MVP. Player of the Year. Important? Who are we kidding. The real-world juxtaposition burns, belittles the world of sports every time. If only I could contribute a list of the Top 10 cures for cancer or AIDS, solutions for Mideast peace, suggestions for preventing global warming, or reasons for the human race to stop abusing itself. But I digress. Heck, I'm a fraud. Instead, today we examine one of my favorite aspects of basketball - the dunk. Or more specifically, College Basketball's Ten Greatest Dunkers as shown on CBS the Sunday between the NCAA Final Four and championship game. There was an official website with internet fan voting. As a basketball groupie since the early 1960s and a dues-paying member of the U. S. Basketball Writers Association since 1984, I was not aware of this dunk-shot celebration. They were listed, in order as: Darrell Griffith (Louisville), Clyde Drexler (Houston), Vince Carter (North Carolina), Dominique Wilkins (Georgia), Steve Francis (Maryland), Shaquille O'Neal (LSU), Michael Jordan (North Carolina), Darvin Ham (Texas Tech), Harold Minor (Southern Cal), and Jerome Lane (Pittsburgh). Several questions come to mind. If you know me, the first query is a no-brainer: Where's Northern Illinois University's “slamboyant” Kenny Battle? Hate to tell you, the “King of the 360s” didn't even make the 50-player CBS ballot. Our one-man Huskie Phi Slamma Jamma never got to the frat mixer. You might blame Billy Packer, but I know better. The mid-major curse or directonal school discrimination strikes again. At least, on the surface. “A Top 10 all-time dunk list without Kenny Battle isn't right,” said former Northern Illinois teammate and All-Century swingman Brad Waller, who hung on the rim with the best of them in his Huskie years (1982-85). “It's egregious. How many guys that size (6-foot-6, 200 pounds) were doing 360s then? Kenny dunked in practice a million times. When he did that first 360 (degree dunk), I couldn't believe Kenny did it in a game. I've played against great athletes like Glenn Rivers and Ron Harper and watched a lot of ball over the years. In terms of one guy who could turn a crowd on with a dunk, there's nobody better than Kenny. Period.” Before you head to your thesaurus, “egregious” means flagrant. For years, I realized that I worked on the wrong side of the Hudson River in New York. You know, the Rodney Dangerfield “no respect” gig. The Madison Avenue “suits” know better than the Northern Illinois “schlups” in DeKalb County. The first questions from New York media were always “are you Division I?” and “do you have electricity out there?” How could they miss on Kenny Battle? Believe it or not, the same network called No. 33 the “Best Dunker in the Country.” In a poll of the National Association of Basketball Coaches during his year (1985-86), Battle was voted the No. 1 dunker in America. During a halftime feature of the Duke-Oklahoma game the same winter, CBS play-by-play man Brent Musburger (former sports editor of the Daily Chronicle) called Kenny the “King of the 360s.” ESPN's Dick Vitale gushed about Battle: "He's a dunking machine (baby).” As a rookie with the Phoenix Suns, Battle participated in the 1990 NBA Slam-Dunk Contest and, in my humble opinion, got robbed by the judges. The great Dominique Wilkins won that one. After the competition, Kenny slumped in front of his locker, head covered by a towel. A man came over and put his hand on Battle's shoulder. “Son, if it means anything, you were the best dunker out there today.” Kenny removed the towel and looked up. The voice belonged to one of the greatest players and stuff shot artists in the game's history, the iconic Julius Erving. For two magical years under Hall of Fame head coach John McDougal, Northern Illinois had its own Doctor J or "Air" Jordan. Battle was the local hardwood Pied Piper. People all around town talked about No. 33's latest dunk exploits. Tip dunks. Tomahawks. Double-clutch. Reverses. Gym rats could only fantasize what Kenny executed. In that era, Chick Evans Field House was packed to the rafters and when Battle skied, the place went bananas like the old Chicago Stadium. To sound like a Baby Boomer, it was psychedelic, man. To add to the Evans fun, current deputy athletic director Glen Krupica had a special Battle dunk-o-meter constructed. It was a gas, gas, gas, jumpin' jack flash. Super first step. Quick leaper. Played big(ger) in traffic. Great hops, endless heart, and world-class athleticism. To me, the dunk defined Kenny (93 of his 396 NIU career field goals were stuffs) and his indefatigable will to take it strongly to the hoop. “One of the best finishers I've ever seen,” said long-time NBA scout and ex-Huskie head coach Tom Jorgensen. Ever notice that Battle holds the school record for most free-throw attempts (234 in 1984-85), the ultimate reward for the ultimate finisher. So, how could this CBS panel of “experts” miss him? My bias aside, this is a first-round NBA draft choice and a first-ballot NIU Athletics Hall of Famer. One of the four greatest players in Northern Illinois men's basketball history with Jim Bradley, T. J. Lux, and Allen Rayhorn, according to a 29-person Centennial Committee vote in 2000. Okay, this is not Duke, UCLA, or Michigan. But by any standard, Battle was a national-caliber athlete in college. “What an athlete,” said former Marquette coach Rick Majerus in 1984-85. “I mean, he's the best athlete I've seen since Darrell Griffith. That Battle is as good a freshman as I've seen.” Someone mention Dr. Dunkenstein (and in relation to Battle)? Obviously, CBS didn't consult Majerus either. Strange, considering Battle transferred to “major-major” Illinois and became the “flyingest” of the 1989 Flyin' Illini quintet that reached the NCAA Final Four (on, did I mention, CBS?). With several other “long and athletic” NBA draft picks on that Illinois roster, Kenny wrote his dunk-a-rama Ph.D. on high-percentage shot opportunties in an uptempo transitition game. To quote TV color commentator Al McGuire, after watching Battle practice at Illinois: “I've just seen the second coming of Michael Jordan.” (McGuire was not referring to Kenny's jump shot, folks). In two years at Northern Illinois, Kenny generated more positive pub than most. Mid-American Conference Frosh of the Year. All-MAC. Two-time Honorable Mention All-America. Quickest player in school and MAC history to reach 1,000 career points (in 50 games). Frankly, the unraveling of the Battle era, the firing of McDougal, and leaving the Mid-American Conference is one of the saddest stories in NIU's history. But that still does not rationally explain his exclusion from the ballot. Which is interesting to the dunk contend that it does not take much skill for a seven-foot, 350-pound giant camping in the lane tiptoe one over the rim. I agree. If there's an astute pick on the CBS ballot, then it would be Jim Pollard (Stanford) who played the athletic, slasher, small foward role with Mikan on the NBA Minneapolis Lakers. Similar to Kenny Battle. You do remember him? “King of the 360s.” Sorry, CBS, some of us will never forget. Editor's note: This is the third in a series of community columns on various topics from DeKalb County. Mike Korcek is currently the Northern Illinois Sports Information Director Emeritus. Korcek can be reached at mkorcek@niu.edu.