UMKC stuck in the small time, wants slice of big time

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- There's a cautionary tale being told here for all those wannabes and might-have-been schools that aspire to play Division I basketball.

Beware: Your star might end up in a parking garage on a training table getting four stitches near his right eye.

UMKC's 6-foot-8, 322-pound Carlton Aaron gives teams matchup problems. (Provided to SportsLine)

Eighteen years after ascending to D-I status, the Kangaroos (yes, the Kangaroos) can at least talk about getting to the NCAA Tournament without getting a snicker.

After starting 0-7, UMKC suddenly has the nation's ninth-longest winning streak at nine. It leads the Mid-Continent Conference at 7-0 (9-7 overall) heading into Saturday's game at preseason favorite Oral Roberts. That game will mark the halfway point of the conference season. So in a mid-major league that promises only one precious NCAA berth -- the tournament champion -- the streak means a lot to UMKC in late January.

"That's to remind us how bad we want it," said Aaron of the pair of scissors that coach Rich Zvosec put on display in a glass case in the team's practice facility.

The symbolism is obvious and painful: The scissors are there to cut down the nets at the conference tournament, something the 'Roos (yes, the 'Roos) have never done.

"Coach Z puts up a new pair to start off each new year," said Aaron, a 6-foot-8, 322-pound specimen from the Bronx.

So far they have gone unused. But Aaron's game has provided hope as big as his wide body. On Monday, he came off the court the conquering (and bloodied) hero having scored 31 points and pulling down 14 rebounds in 30 minutes against Centenary in an 82-70 victory.

"I lot of people in New York have never heard of UMKC," Aaron said. "They say, 'Oh, the (Missouri) Tigers.' Then they say, 'What? The Kanagroos?'"

And don't forget the cheerleaders (Joeys) or that the home court (Municipal Auditorium) has been called "The Pouch." It is a painful pun but also unique. No other Division I school claims Kangaroos as an official nickname.

Merchandise isn't exactly flying off the rack. In fact, you can get a T-shirt for $5 at any home game. Sorry, cash only. But going to a UMKC is becoming something more than a guilty pleasure. One look at Aaron's unique body and it's obvious he could play for a lot of D-I majors. Using him as a screener alone could send some unsuspecting point guard to the hospital.

An inadvertent fist was the only thing to slow down the biggest Kangaroo after Aaron missed just two of his 15 shots on Monday. At this level, medical treatment becomes a very public thing. The UMKC locker room opens up to a vast indoor parking garage next to temporary home Hale Arena.

Only after doing a round of print and TV interviews, though, did Aaron lay down on the training table to get his stitches. A curious eight-year-old even wandered over to watch the "surgery."

Aaron still thinks Kansas City is "slow" compared to The Big Apple but the senior in his third year here is warming up to one of the city's best-known exports -- its barbeque.

"I love the ribs," he said.

And a growing segment of Kansas City is loving him. "The Big Marsupial" has more nicknames than post moves. "Big C" is the most common, but fans behind one basket on Monday began hailing him as "The Godfather."

"I just call him Carlton," Zvosec said. "The big fella keeps getting better. Had he not been poked in the eye who knows what he would have done."

Aaron originally went to Temple but transferred to UMKC when Dean Demopoulos left John Chaney's staff after 17 years in 2000 to coach the 'Roos.

Aaron stayed. Demopoulos, though, left after a year to become a Seattle Supersonics assistant -- a statement, perhaps, on the condition of the program.

Zvosec, Demopoulos' assistant head coach, turned out to be the perfect replacement if only because he wants to stay. In his fourth year, Zvosec is the program's fourth coach since it moved to Division I. The 'Roos have won 20 games once in D-I (1991-1992) and finished higher than fourth in the Mid-Con only twice since joining in 1994.

Playing in the middle of Kansas and Missouri country, it's understandable that crowds are sparse (UMKC averages 2,395). It's not understandable how the program has held on while millions are poured into it without the return of a single NCAA Tournament game.

The coach gets it. He promotes. He's outgoing. He has made a series of laugh-out-loud television commercials with the team's mascot, "Kasey." The latest features the Kangaroo flipping over the board after losing a game of checkers. Shooting that day ended between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m.

Can't imagine Roy Williams agreeing to that schedule.

Then there is Zvosec's habit of buying the house a round before his radio show each Tuesday night at Lew's.

"Whoever is there when I come in, I buy a round," he said. "The first week I spent $25. I'm up to $200."

An Ohio native, Zvosec has coached mostly on the East Coast. The idea for the scissors came from Central Connecticut State's Howie Dickenman, who recruited him out of high school.

Now there is a winning streak that is threatening to show up on the national radar. The team has meshed, in part, because its all-time leading scorer is gone. Michael Watson took 301 shots last year, 187 more than anyone else on the team.

"Mike was a great player," Zvosec said. "But sometimes when you have a great scorer you tend to stand around and watch him play."

Aaron is one of four seniors who have led the 'Roos. Forward Mike English is the leading scorer (16.5 per game) but is more than happy to keep feeding Aaron, the leading rebounder who is one of five players to average in double figures in scoring.

"Six-eight, 320?" English said. "I'm going to give it to him every time. He's got a soft touch. He's feeling it."

This is only a snapshot of UMKC. A portrait is required to get the full picture. It is a commuter school of 13,000. The school actually admits that Donald Fehr is an alum. On a lighter note, Walt Disney drew one of the first published Kangaroo mascots in the 1930s.

That history doesn't keep the team from being moved out of its Municipal Auditorium home every year because of Wal-Mart's national convention.

Just another example, it seems, of Wal-Mart dissing the little guy.

Instead, Aaron had his big game in Hale, former home of the city's professional tennis team. It is part of an exposition hall attached to Kemper Arena -- site of the Big 12 Tournament in March.

The big time is -- literally and figuratively -- only a jump shot away. If UMKC drew more it could play in Kemper. If it wins the Mid-Con Tournament, having that UMKC name flash across the screen on Selection Sunday could mean everything.

"It's so fragile," said athletic director Bob Thomas. "Gonzaga told us that its website used to get 3,000 hits a month. When it went to the Sweet 16, it got 300,000 a day. We want to play that Cinderella role."

Wanting and doing are two different things. In each of the past three years UMKC has lost in the Mid-Con semifinals to annual favorite Valparaiso. Last year it led by 17 at halftime in Kemper before losing.

"Eyes on the prize," English reminded. "The scissors are there to cut down the nets."