In post-game interview, Francis describes that last shot and how he had missed it vs Augustana, with the game on the line, back in January - so he practiced it and made it 100x “so it wouldn’t happen again . . .”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sa76qxU79xA
1:00
Great link. The humility of the coach really comes through as he acknowledges the coaches who came before him.
"If I have seen further it is by standing on ye sholders of Giants." Isaac Newton February 15, 1676
Yep. And that's who Mike is. He's a big-picture guy when it comes to his program, the history of it, and his place in it.
And you can tell, too, how invested in the CCIW he is. He made reference to Augustana SID and assistant AD Dave Wrath remembering what a bad player Mike was when he was at Wheaton, which wasn't a very good program in that era and thus could give Mike playing time ... and Dave demurred and said that he was actually pretty good. (Mike was a decent player; not great, but decent.) And he mentioned how he still sees himself as a player, going up against Aben Cooper and Kirk Anderson, two great Augie players of yesteryear (both of whom played in the '93 national championship game that Augie lost to Ohio Northern -- among his other accomplishments last night, Aston Francis tied Kirk Anderson's record for most treys made in a D3 tournament game).
So, yeah, the Isaac Newton quote really does describe Mike Schauer. It's the genuine humility of someone who appreciates the greatness of the coaches who came before him at Wheaton, the greatness of his league and the teams and players he's played and coached against in it, and who has a refreshing lack of ego in an occupation in which big egos are commonplace -- and that humility was on display on a night in which it'd be all too easy to bask in your own accomplishments.
