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Jim Clausen
CHICAGO, IL (June 13, 2003) - Jim Clausen came to the North Park College program
in 1977-78 as a freshman from Moline High School in western Illinois, where
he was an All-Conference and All-Section player. A 1981 graduate of North
Park, Clausen had attended the First Covenant Church in Moline and Broadway
Covenant Church in Rockford before college.
Clausen had an immediate impact for the program, earning minutes in the
North Park rotation as a reserve forward on the first national title team.
As a starter on the second and third title teams, he continued to help
North Park with his dependable play and was a key player during his senior
year when the Vikings again made the NCAA Division III playoffs. Before his
career ended with the Vikings, he played in a school record 119 games while
earning Academic All-America honors three times. He is the co-owner of the
school record for steals in a game (eight) and ranks sixth on the career
steals list (151) and fourth in career assists (416).
"I was lucky enough to play with a brother, Roger (also a reserve on the
first title team), who was a year ahead of me, so I knew all about North
Park that way," said Jim. "We had a seven-man rotation and I was the first
big man off the bench and Ernie Flores was the first guard off the bench. I
had seen the team the year before and thought we were loaded with talent.
It was a well-rounded team and we had such good chemistry.
"I think coach (Dan) McCarrell did a good job blending the talent and
everyone played for the common goal of winning," Clausen continued. "I
don't ever recall any episodes of anyone's ego getting in the way of the
team."
Currently living in the Twin Cities, Clausen now attends Bethlehem Covenant
Church in Minneapolis and serves as a player-coach on his church's adult
basketball team. A sales engineer in the audio/visual industry, he and wife
Lynette have three children. Clausen noted the solid leadership of captain
Al May and clutch play of Mike Thomas as he thought of North Park's first
national championship.
"One thing that sticks out during the playoff chase was when we played
against Humboldt State," Clausen said. "Thomas, in a hostile gym, hit
nothing but net with two free throws (in overtime). He had ice in his veins
and he played that way all through his career at North Park."
After May, Flores and Florentine graduated, North Park continued to roll as
transfers Keith French and Grant Grastorf and multi-sport standout Scott
Groot moved into the rotation. Clausen's 9.5 points per game and his
precision passing was an integral part of the Vikings' versatile offense,
which seemed to evolve without a hitch en route to title number two.
Clausen recalled a victory over conference foe Augustana College, a NCAA
quarterfinal win versus Hawaii's Chaminade University, and games against
Division I opponents South Alabama and Jacksonville as highlights from the
second championship.
"We knew that we had lost a senior class with leadership and talent, but we
knew we had a real good nucleus back and heading into camp we were
determined not to make the last year a fluke," Clausen recalled about the
1978-79 title winning team. "My role was to play the tough defensive
assignment, to rebound, and to distribute the ball in our offense. Our
offense set up with a lot of movement, a lot of backdoor plays. I actually
enjoyed setting the others up for a basket than scoring and we certainly
had a lot of people who knew what to do with the ball."
"The Chaminade game, which was really touted, might have been the best
first half we had played all year," Clausen continued. "The South Alabama
game (a loss) was one where we couldn't quite get over the hump, although
it could've gone either way. Against Jacksonville a few days later, we
played a good game and caught them off guard."
During the third championship season, Clausen (then a junior) averaged 6.5
points per game. During the NCAA Division III playoff finals he had five
points in his team's 83-76 win over Upsala College. However, Clausen has
thought more often about the final seconds of the team's semifinal win
against Longwood - most notably a blocked shot by Keith French that
preserved the 57-55 victory - than any other memory of title number three.
"One of the memories of my life was Keith's block against Longwood," he
said. "The guy was just about to put the ball up and Keith went up and got
it. I have two other real fond memories of the 1980 playoffs. Beating Augie
at home in the regionals was a great memory. It was hard fought, but we won
by 12. Then we went to Jersey City, a real quick team, and we won by 23
points and we had Harper on the bench for half of the game. We went to a
four-corner offense late in the first half and just "backdoored" them.
"The second year and certainly the third year, the chemistry got so good
where we pretty much knew what everyone else was going to do," Clausen
continued. "It seemed like it was a different guy every night. Mike Harper
was the dominant player of our era, but when he got in foul trouble or was
hurt we also seemed to find another piece of the puzzle."
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