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--> --> Aug. 15: McDermott inducted in hall of fame By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Southern Oregon University head men's basketball coach Brian McDermott was honored for one of his better coaching jobs Saturday with a trip into the Dakota State University Hall of Fame. McDermott, who coached at DSU for 10 years from 1985-95 before joining the Raiders in 1996, was inducted along with the rest of the '92 Trojan squad in a ceremony held at the Madison, S.D. college. Using a three-guard lineup, McDermott led Dakota that season to the NAIA Division II final four despite overhauling the offense midway through the regular season. McDermott said he scrapped the triangle offense for the four corners offense, which proved to be a perfect fit for what he called the best passing team he's ever coached. "Well, that was my first year teaching the triangle," McDermott said, "and I didn't know it very well and I sure didn't teach it very well. As it turned out, we got pretty good at four corners. "It was an interesting group. We didn't look like much of a team, but they could play." The Trojans upset four top-25 teams on their way to the semifinals, including a 20-point blowout of the No. 1 seed, before an emergency appendectomy sidelined their starting point guard three hours before their semifinal game, which they lost by seven points. "We probably should have won the whole thing," McDermott said. McDermott has since earned his stripes at SOU as well. In his second year at the helm, the Iowa native led the Raiders to a 15-18 record - an NAIA-best 13-game improvement - and the team's first conference playoff berth since 1990. The following season McDermott earned Cascade Conference and regional Coach of the Year honors for leading SOU to a 22-9 record, its first league title in 30 years and its first NAIA tourney bid since 1968. As a player, McDermott led the University of South Dakota in assists from 1976-78 and established a national record by dishing out 21 assists against Mankato State as a junior. He was a starter on the 1977 South Dakota all-star team that became the first squad from the United States in years to take on the Cuban national team. During the trip to Cuba, he was interviewed on ABC World News Tonight with Frank Reynolds. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing