Five Questions For Alan Nass

Alan Nass was recently announced as an inductee into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2013.

Nass was an Indiana All-Star and led the Huntingburg Happy Hunters to a 40-9 record his junior and senior seasons before he went on to play for Georgia Tech. He started three seasons as a center and was captain of the 1962-63 Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket team.

The 2013 class of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame will be honored in March of 2013.[hr]

Let’s start off with the home run question, how does it feel to be nominated?

In a lot of ways that’s a tough question. You run into conflict. Its very humbling. That’s the first thing that happens to you when you find out.

I don’t know how you match this up but there’s also a sense of pride. Pride’s not always bad; pride can be a reflection of how you look back on what you’ve done over the years. Whether you gave your best and played as a team member to those people that helped you achieve some degree of success.

Two feelings, humbleness and very much a sense of pride.

Are there players in the Hall of Fame that you feel humbled to be standing there with now?

Yes. I’ve been very fortunate to have played with people like Larry Bird and Roger Kaiser and John Hoffman. And with other people whose names aren’t that familiar. Basketball being a team sport requires you to depend on each other; everyone has to have a role. You become dependent.

I’ve been blessed, if I have to name all the names of the people I’ve enjoyed playing with as well as against, it would be a long, long list.

How long did you play?

My wife says that I’ve played too long because I’ve run through four back surgeries and all kinds of other stuff.

To the best of my knowledge  —I think it’s accurate— I played until I was 52.  When I was four or five years old I can remember being on my uncle Maurice Sakel’s farm, west of Stendal, Indiana. He had an outdoor goal and I shot and made, underhanded, a two handed shot that went through the rim. That is my first recollection of playing basketball. My last game was playing in a Tristate Tourney down in Evansville, Indiana.

What is the highlight of your career?

Oh Boy. Probably the answer is being inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame because it brings all those different highlights of my career together. That has to be the highlight of my basketball career.

Do you have any particularly fond memories?

I’ve got fond memories and I’ve got ones that stick that I can’t get rid of.

Of course everyone goes back to the Odon game. They had a good team, we had a good team and we happened to be beat on the finals of the regional on some controversial calls. One of them was made by a particular official by the name of Williams. When we went up on the Silver Anniversary at the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame and a few of my teammates said, “Alan, come over here, we’ve got someone we’d like for you to meet. Alan do you remember official Williams?” And I looked at him (Williams) kinda stern and said, “you’re damn right I remember him.” Then I laughed and he started laughing. I guess that was my way of saying it was alright.

Nothing is ever determined by one particular thing in a ballgame, you can go back and point out all kinds of different things. He (Williams) was being inducted into the Hall of Fame as an official. One bad call from an official being inducted into the hall of fame, that’s not bad.