El Paso Sports Columns by Ray Sanchez

a href=”http://el-paso-sports.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/nate.jpg”>One of the best parts of my job is hearing stories from sports fans.
Remember Nate Archibald? He was so little and so skinny they nicknamed him “Tiny.” But oh, what a basketball player. He led the Miners to the Western Athletic Conference championship in 1969 then went on to a career in the National Basketball Association that was so outstanding he was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame.
Don Haskins wrote in his autobiography that he fell in love with Archibald from the moment he scouted Archibald his senior year in high school. There was another player on his team scouts were after and, wrote Haskins, “there was little Archibald on the team, all arms and legs.” But Haskins saw the talent in him and brought him to UTEP.
Haskins found him to be one of the hardest workers he ever coached. “If we had practice at 3:30 p.m. he would show up at 11 a.m.,” he said. “An when I left the office at 8 o’clock at night he would still be out there on the floor practicing.”

THESE MEMORIES were brought back to me by Bob Nitzburg, veteran El Paso sportscaster and advertising executive. He’s now a consultant with Entravision. Following is a story he sent me:
“A longtime friend of mine, Marty Blake, died recently at the age of 86. Marty spent 15 years as the general manager of the St. Louis Hawks who later relocated to Atlanta. For the next 35 seasons he was the NBA’s director of scouting.
“I first met Marty at Memorial Gym in late November of 1969 before a UTEP-New Mexico State game. He was there to scout two Aggie stars, Jimmy Collins and Sam Lacey. A year later the duo became first round NBA draft choices. I suggested that Blake take a look at a guard on the other team. That was Nate Archibald. Nate and I had a special bond because he and my father both went to DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx. I told Marty that if coach Don Haskins had let him loose on the opposition ‘Tiny’ probably would have scored 30 points a game.”
“As Miners fans know, Archibald was drafted in the second round by the Cincinnati Royals. After a 14-year NBA career he was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame.
“Glad I had that chat with Marty Blake.”
It’s fascinating how things and people are connected to each other.

<AND HERE’S another nice story which was pointed out to me by another sports fan, Manny Ontiveros, a member of the board of directors of the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame.
Remember Kimani Jones Young? He was a star basketball player at UTEP in the 1990s. But in 1999, a year after he graduated, Young was arrested. In his possession were 96 pounds of marijuana. He wound up in prison.

YOUNG HAD had seemed such a nice person that El Pasoans, and his own family members, were shocked.
Young was, too. He couldn’t believe he had gotten into that business. He confessed and decided to change his ways.
Since then, he has worked steadily to make up for his misguided ways. He got into coaching and worked his way up as an assistant coach at Florida International.
Last week University of Minnesota announced that Young would join the staff of new Gophers men’s basketball coach Richard Pitino. The details of Young’s past came up again.

MINNESOTA athletic director Norwood Teague acknowledged it. He issued the following statement: “President Eric Kaler and I each spoke at length with college presidents and athletic directors at schools employing Coach Young and received assurances that Kimani was a positive influence and leader for their programs and student-athletes.”
Ontiveros wrote, “It’s a good step up for him.”
Yes, and it’s good to know people can do well when given a second chance.