Asmussen | Small, Illini looking to start new streak

Bob Asmussen, The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
·5 min read

May 13—URBANA — No need for Mike Small to use the treadmill this week. Starting Monday, the Illinois men's golf coach will get his steps in.

About 7 to 10 miles worth each day during the NCAA regional at Eagle Eye Golf Club in Bath, Mich. The tournament continues Tuesday and Wednesday.

Active times ahead for the 57-year-old.

"The older I get, the more I'm exhausted," Small said. "You're always moving. You're never sitting.

"It's tiring. But when you're in the scope of it and you're competing, you don't really know it. But when you sit down at the end, I feel it more and more all the time."

Small has help.

During the rounds, Illinois assistant coach Justin Bardgett goes to the Par 3s to provide information and suggestions for the players.

Small goes to the holes where decisions need to be made.

"Par 5s where it is either lay up or be aggressive," Small said. "Each of us see the guys every couple holes.

"Manage emotions is the biggest thing I do. Every player on this team plays their best golf in a range. They're not too low. They're not too sad. They're not too high. They're not too fired up and mad. My job is to be that gauge that watches them and follows their scores and progressions and kicks them up or kicks them down where they can play their best."

After the rounds, Small and Bardgett talk to the players about what they need to work on. Whether it is technical or emotional.

"This time of the year, it's not technical," Small said. "We spend a lot of time on the emotional/mental part, getting them in the right frame of mind, so they have the best chance for success."

The good news for Small is that before all the walking, he won't have too long of a trip. Bath is 332 miles from C-U. The other regional sites are in Auburn, Ala., Salem, S.C., Las Vegas, Norman, Okla., and Morgan Hill, Calif.

"We don't have to get on an airplane, which is kind of nice," Small said.

Illinois has been the top seed at other Midwest regionals in the past. Weather is usually a helper for Illinois, which is used to less-than-ideal spring conditions at home.

But the forecast for Bath shows sunny skies and mild temperatures all three days.

"There goes that little advantage out the window," Small said.

Back in the huntSmall's experienced team is considered one of the favorites to advance to the NCAA Championships, which take place May 26-31 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.

The top-five finishers at each regional move on to Grayhawk.

Illinois enters the regional ranked No. 2 or No. 3 in the major polls. Most figure Illinois will move on. But there are no guarantees, a lesson the team learned in 2022.

Last year, Illinois' streak of 13 consecutive appearances at the NCAA Championships ended when the Illini tied for sixth place at a regional in New Haven, Conn.

Small doesn't have to remind the current players what happened.

"They know," he said. "I think when you have a team that is confident and works hard, you can bring it up more times. If you have a fragile team that maybe is offended by it or they are worriers and not strong people, I think you stay away from that."

Not a problem for the current squad, which is led by fifth-year seniors Adrien Dumont de Chassart and Tommy Kuhl.

Of course, not a lot of schools reach the NCAA finals 13 years in a row.

"That's why missing it meant more," Small said. "But there are 60 schools every year that miss it. And there are some schools, good programs, Power Five programs, that have missed it every year for 15 years. It's just hard to get to the finals. So what we did was so unique that missing it last year made it a bigger deal.

"Last year was a one-off. It was weird. We'll find out if it was a one-off next week."

At the airport on the way home from New Haven last year, Small and the players talked about missing the championships.

"They didn't like it," Small said. "That was a focal point to this year. I think that's also given us the reason we've gotten better and improved and had a good season. That's something that's motivated them."

Earning respectSmall led his alma mater to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 2002. It was his second full year as the Illini's coach.

The team finished fourth at the regional to advance to the NCAA Championships.

"We didn't know what we were doing," Small said. "We were just playing golf.

"The next year, we went to Kansas State and Hunter Mahan beat James Lepp for regional medals honors and we finished second."

The Illini were getting noticed at a national level. The trend hasn't gone away since.

"Coaches are saying, 'How are you doing this? Don't you have to learn how to do this?'" Small said. "The less you know, sometimes the better you are. Just go play golf."

Illinois is now recognized as one of the blue bloods of men's golf. Like Georgia, Alabama and Ohio State in football and Kansas, Duke and Kentucky in men's basketball.

"That's the best respect you can get," Small said. "You're not always going to win it. You're not going to always be there every year. There are some teams this year — Oklahoma, Oklahoma State could still win it this year — but they are down on paper.

"When people see your team, they take notice. That's something we're proud of. That's what we wanted to build."