It has been a long, hard climb back for Funderburke, a dynamically talented 6-foot-9 sophomore center. Today, as Ohio State takes on Michigan in the Southeast Regional final (Channel 10, 4 p.m.), he is a central figure in the Buckeyes' quest to win a national championship. Two years ago, his college career was in jeopardy, tangled up in attitude problems, school changes and coaches' grudges.
"It's been a difficult time for me, and I'm just now getting my feet wet," Funderburke said. "But being here makes me feel like the wait was worth it."
Funderburke, out of Wehrle High in Columbus, Ohio, was one of the top five scholastic players in the nation in 1989, even though a run-in with his high school coach caused him to sit out almost his entire senior year.
His first choice of colleges was Kentucky, but that dream was destroyed when the school's recruiting of Funderburke and other athletes sparked an NCAA investigation that resulted in probation for the Wildcats. He grudgingly accepted a scholarship to Indiana but left the team on Christmas Eve 1989 after a clash with Bob Knight. Then Knight refused to grant him permission to transfer to another school.
For Funderburke, the most difficult part has not been the resumption of his basketball career. His 21-point, seven-rebound effort in the 80-73 Southeast semifinal win over North Carolina was probably only a preview of the greatness that is to come. The most difficult part, he says, was "learning to be a normal person again."
After the blowup with Knight, Funderburke had to return to Indiana for the fall term of 1990 so he'd be eligible for a transfer. His exit from the campus a year before had not exactly been quiet.
