Tradition runs deep

The tradition of coaching success at IU is unmatched by most universities in the nation. Doc Counsilman, Bobby Knight and Jerry Yeagley are considered to be some the greatest college coaches in the history of their respected sports. It's time for Hoosier fans to add another name to the list of Hall-of-Fame coaches: diving coach Jeff Huber.\nHuber's coaching ability has been recognized by six Big Ten Coach-of-the-Year awards, five U.S. National Coach-of-the-Year awards and most, recently, a return trip to the Olympics to serve as an assistant coach on the United States Olympic Diving team, where he coached three former Hoosier divers: Sara Hildebrand, Cassandra Cardinell and Kimiko Soldati.\nHuber also served as the Dominican Republic's diving coach at the 1984 Los Angeles games as well as an assistant coach at the 2000 Sydney games.\n"It was very special for me to have three divers on the Olympic team," Huber said while speaking at a meeting of the Women's Club at the Meadowood's Terrace Room Oct. 14. \nHuber is beginning his 15th season as the men's and women's diving coach at IU and his 27th season coaching NCAA diving. In those 15 years, Huber has proven himself to be one of the premier diving coaches in the nation. During his career at IU, he has made champions out of Hoosier divers, including 22 Big Ten champions, over 20 divers named to the All-American team and 15 NCAA champions. Also, Huber has coached the Hoosiers to the last 10 U.S. National Championships.\nHuber recapped his collegiate career, when he snubbed a scholarship opportunity IU coach Hobie Billingsley gave him coming out of high school. Huber later went on to tell the audience about how he couldn't turn down Billingsley a second time when he offered Huber the job as diving coach.\n"I turned down IU once; there was no way I was going to do it again," Huber said about the offer to come to IU as a coach from the University of Nebraska.\nHuber also shared his experiences in the Olympics. He went into the preparation coaches and athletes do during the offseason, the international rivalries in diving, and into the pressure all the competitors face during the short time they are in the Olympic city. He also touched on some of the more controversial issues of the Athens Olympics, such as security and the problems of such sports like diving that require judges to award the winners.\n"We were really glad to have Jeff speak to us today," said Marge Belisle, a member of the University Club. "He has always done a great job teaching, motivating and coaching."\nHuber's coaching days are far from over. He hopes to continue the success he has earned in his first 15 years at IU. \n-- Contact staff writer Chris Engel at ccengel@indiana.edu.