STILLWATER — When Brad Underwood took a recruiting visit to Kansas State University back in the 1980s, he wasn't quite sure what to make of the man who would become his coach.
“I wasn't sure he was real friendly,” Underwood said. “But that was Coach. Coach was an extremely intimidating guy.”
That's the way most of us saw Jack Hartman, back in those salad days when he coached the two-tone purple Wildcats to great heights. Three Big Eight titles. Seven NCAA Tournaments, when the field was smaller and tougher to crack. Two NCAA regional final appearances.
“He was demanding,” said another Hartman player, Lonnie Kruger.