March 10, 2002

By AMANDA RIDDLE
Associated Press Writer

BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) - The congratulations have been pouring in since Sidney Green led Florida Atlantic to its first NCAA tournament berth.

He's gotten calls from his former coaches - Rick Pitino, Chuck Daly and Larry Brown. Former UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian sent a congratulatory fax. Former NBA teammates Michael Jordan and Charles Oakley left messages. And Green has received more than 100 e-mails.

"All the individual accolades that I achieved - high school All-American, college All-American, NBA - it doesn't compare to this," Green said. "That's one reason that I wanted to coach - to try to make a difference."

Green, a former UNLV star who played 10 seasons in the NBA, has transformed Florida Atlantic from a 2-28 team in his first season to this year's Atlantic Sun Conference tournament champion. That gave the Owls an automatic NCAA bid.

The Owls (19-11) won a total of nine games in Green's first two years and this season were picked to finish 10th in the 11-team league. Instead, they finished third and beat defending champion Georgia State 76-75 in the conference title game March 2.

Despite this year's success, Florida Atlantic's NCAA trip might have a quick end. As the surprise champion of a low-profile league, the Owls could be drawn in the first round against a top seed, such as Duke or Cincinnati.

Some wondered why Green would take on the challenge of an obscure college team instead of pursing a coaching career in the NBA. After he retired from the pros in 1993, he had an offer from the Charlotte Hornets to start in radio and work his way into a coaching position. But Green wanted his own program where he could develop young talent.

In 1995, Green was hired by Division II Long Island Unversity-Southhampton College. He then spent two seasons at North Florida before accepting the Florida Atlantic job in 1999.

"I don't think any other NBA player would have done what I did," the 6-foot-9 coach said.

Florida Atlantic is best known as the home of Howard Schnellenberger's fledgling football program. There's no winning tradition in basketball, and things went from bad to worse at first under Green, who had just seven players his first season.

After a 7-24 record last season, Green recruited three junior college transfers to improve depth. One of them, junior forward Andre Garner, is the fourth-leading scorer at 9.2 points per game. Senior forward Raheim Brown leads the team with 16.4 points per game, followed by sophomore guards Jeff Cowans at 11.7 and Earnest Crumbley at 11.1.

"Florida Atlantic has had its share of adversity. You can't hide that," said Brown, a first team all-conference selection who transferred from South Florida in 1999.

At Thursday's practice, the first since clinching a tournament berth, the Owls sounded confident. They autographed NCAA Final Four basketballs and gave the most interviews of their career.

Green doesn't expect nerves to be a problem before the big game.

"Do these guys look nervous?" he asked.

"People will go on thinking we're going to be an easy victory," junior center Nick Neumann said. "If they think that way, they're going to be in a shock for what we bring to the table."

At the beginning of the season, Neumann said, no one expected anything of the Owls. When they started winning games, strangers for the first time would stop the players as they walked across campus to congratulate them and shake their hand.

"That feels good," Neumann said. "You basically come from a nothing team - we were 2-28 - to where we are now. You want people to respect what you're doing."

Green always had confidence.

"He believed in this program so much that there was no other choice but to be successful," Brown said. "This is big time, We're trying to put Florida Atlantic on the map."