Little guys always prevail at South Point showcase

On Wednesday night, the night UNLV boat raced Scottie Pippen's alma mater a bazillion to 75, I and 64 others watched Hanover College of Indiana play Spalding University of Kentucky in an NCAA Division III basketball game at South Point Arena.

This is because I always have had a little Division III inside, in the place where little guys win, or at least get a chance to compete for motives no more ulterior than their love of the game.

If you cheered for Butler against Duke and Connecticut, Susan Boyle to get a record deal, Rocky Balboa to go the distance, the boy from the wrong side of the tracks to get the girl from the right side, David against Goliath, then you probably have a little Division III in you, too.

Heck, I just think it's neat when David gets a chance to play another David, instead of taking his slingshot to the Valley of Elah Conference because the Goliaths have a better TV deal.

There are no scholarships in Division III. Hence, there is no pretentiousness.

Upon arriving at the South Point, I noticed an older gentleman tacking up the Gustavus Adolphus banner that had fallen from a facade. Tim Austin is a former Chevy dealer from the Chicago suburbs and tournament director of the D3hoops.com Classic.

Gene Smith, the athletic director at Ohio State, was chairman of the 2011 NCAA men's Division I basketball tournament. His duties did not include tacking up the Kentucky banner after it had fallen or addressing plumbing after it had backed up near the portable locker rooms, which is what Austin was doing before we met. He said it was OK if I didn't shake his hand.

"In Division III, you deal with one or two people who do all the work," Austin said about the difference in the NCAA's Roman numeral tiers. "The head coach makes sure the balls are here, the uniforms are clean. He does it all."

In Division I, Rick Pitino does not wash uniforms, leaving him more time to shop for Armani suits with pinstripes.

By halftime of the Hanover-Spalding game, I had learned that Hanover College is situated on the banks of the Ohio River in scenic Southern Indiana and that Woody Harrelson is its most famous alum. And that Spalding University is situated in an ornate edifice carved of ancient limestone on a street corner in downtown Louisville.

Hanover is the oldest private college in Indiana; Spalding the oldest Catholic university west of the Alleghenies. It was named not for Albert Spalding and his sporting equipment but for Catherine Spalding, founder of the Sisters of Nazareth.

I was told Spalding University is noted for its Auerbach School of Occupational Therapy. Not Arnold "Red" Auerbach, but Dr. S. Pearson Auerbach, a benefactor of the university.

Yes, they have boosters in D-III, too, but they tend not to hire football coaches.

At halftime, I also met a young man wearing an Amherst T-shirt and basketball sneakers. Over the past three seasons, G.P. Gromacki has coached the Lord Jeffs of Amherst -- don't you just love these D-III nicknames? -- to three NCAA women's Division III Final Fours, the last of which they won. If this were Division I, Gromacki would be the one wearing tailored suits with pinstripes.

"I grew up nine miles from campus," Gromacki said of his loyalty to Amherst. "We have very good academics."

I wonder if academics ever gets mentioned to Louisville recruits?

Upon further review, I should have just asked one.

After Jimmy Chitwood and the cast of "Hoosiers" beat the city kids from Louisville 61-42, I noticed one of the Spalding assistants unfolding from the bench. It looked like time-lapse photography of the Sears Tower going up.

It was 7-foot Felton Spencer, a Louisville kid who played for Denny Crum and spent 12 seasons in the NBA.

Spencer, who might be the friendliest fellow I've ever met, said he owned a trucking business in Louisville but was missing basketball. So when Roger Burkman, the athletic director at Spalding who played for Louisville's 1980 national championship team, offered him a gig as a Spalding assistant, he jumped much higher than he did for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

"I wanted to give something back," Spencer said. "Now I get to give back to the kids right there at home."

So now like me, like Tim Austin, like G.P. Gromacki, like No. 12 for Hanover College, 6-foot-1-inch Drake Hendricks of Muncie, Ind., who displayed perfect form on every jump shot, Felton Spencer has a little Division III inside of him, too.

He was sitting at the door to the arena, going over scouting reports on 6-3 forwards and whatnot, when I noticed the Golden Gusties of Gustavus Adolphus had taken the court, behind which their banner had been hung with the greatest of care.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ron Kantowski can be reached at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow him on Twitter: @ronkantowski.