is a friggin treasure, guys. Probably 20-25 of us got to talk to him for a few minutes after the statue ceremony. He repeated some of the things he said in his address in the video. We asked questions and then Norm just kind of talked about whatever he wanted to.
Some highlights:
"I'm so happy, I really, truly am happy that I get to represent 113 or 14 years of basketball in that statue. My history and my knowledge, I'm proud of that."
"The statue's out there, I've been out of it 18, 19 years, so people are gonna look at that, they really don't know who that is. I just told the audience that I hope they bring their grandchildren, I hope they bring their children, I hope they bring their friends...and point to that and say 'I helped put that there' because they did. They're the ones that put it there. I'm so proud that it's me."
"They helped make you and you're hoping that maybe you did something to help make them. I thought Doug Smith's remarks were absolutely fantastic and I think all the players would join him not in praising me or anything, but just in the way it was presented and bringing back a lot of thoughts about all the things that you go through."
"I was born with a wonderful head of hair, which you wouldn't know that. So I was proud of my hair. I miss my hair...I told (the sculptor) you did all the other guys...he really had to work. Those were easy. He had a lot of talent to work with Payne Stewart or Stan Musial. He's got Norm Stewart, now he's really got to go to work."
"Missouri, we undersell ourselves. I think it's a little better maybe than the other."
"Don (Faurot) hired me. He and Dan Devine. Don was the athletic director and Dan became the athletic director the year I was hired...Dan wound up hiring me and DOn set the salary. And that was a bad plan. Don could figure out some way to save money.
Said when he came as an assistant in 1957, the entire AD budget was less than a million bucks.
"I can do my Johnny Orr impression in due reverence." He then scrunched up his face, shrugged his shoulders and in a high pitched voice said "God Damn Boy!" Wish I'd have videod it.
"As a former coach you try to stay out unless you're asked. If somebody asks for your help then you try to do that. I've tried to do that with all of them that have been here."
On Cuonzo: "He's passed a lot of tests already...I had a lot of Missouri people there and they spent some time talking to him and their impression was extremely good. I told him you passed a much bigger test than that. My wife and daughter spent some time with him and I said 'Their bullshit meter runs pretty high after all these years.'"
"I got mad one day at one of the starters and we're getting ready to play Texas...I started Wampler, we played Texas and we beat them and Wamp had a hell of a game...I told him you've got to go back to Savannah and take advantage of this. I made you a hero."
Talking about the training staff: "They hire a guy from North Carolina. They bring him in and he wants to tell me how they do everything in North Carolina. This brings it back to Missouri. Look, North Carolina great state, great people...They have great basketball, great sports. But it ain't Missouri. This guy kept telling me how they do it at North Carolina. So I said 'You know what that guy knows how to do things in North Carolina but I don't know if he figured out he crossed the line somewhere and he's up here in Missouri now. So give me that student assistant, that guy that kind of looks like he might be homeless. Bring him in. That was John Skip Picker. And he was absolutely the best."
"Now I talked so long, what the hell was the question? That brings me to something else. That's what Dan Devine taught me. Dan said, 'If a guy asks you a question, just kind of take your time and kind of stroll it out a little bit.' He said 'They don't have all day. Just give em a long answer and then you don't have to answer the second question.' Cause you guys, it's not the first question that you ask that's tough. It's the second and third one. So you know what we try to do is just bullshit you until you forgot the second and third ones."
Some highlights:
"I'm so happy, I really, truly am happy that I get to represent 113 or 14 years of basketball in that statue. My history and my knowledge, I'm proud of that."
"The statue's out there, I've been out of it 18, 19 years, so people are gonna look at that, they really don't know who that is. I just told the audience that I hope they bring their grandchildren, I hope they bring their children, I hope they bring their friends...and point to that and say 'I helped put that there' because they did. They're the ones that put it there. I'm so proud that it's me."
"They helped make you and you're hoping that maybe you did something to help make them. I thought Doug Smith's remarks were absolutely fantastic and I think all the players would join him not in praising me or anything, but just in the way it was presented and bringing back a lot of thoughts about all the things that you go through."
"I was born with a wonderful head of hair, which you wouldn't know that. So I was proud of my hair. I miss my hair...I told (the sculptor) you did all the other guys...he really had to work. Those were easy. He had a lot of talent to work with Payne Stewart or Stan Musial. He's got Norm Stewart, now he's really got to go to work."
"Missouri, we undersell ourselves. I think it's a little better maybe than the other."
"Don (Faurot) hired me. He and Dan Devine. Don was the athletic director and Dan became the athletic director the year I was hired...Dan wound up hiring me and DOn set the salary. And that was a bad plan. Don could figure out some way to save money.
Said when he came as an assistant in 1957, the entire AD budget was less than a million bucks.
"I can do my Johnny Orr impression in due reverence." He then scrunched up his face, shrugged his shoulders and in a high pitched voice said "God Damn Boy!" Wish I'd have videod it.
"As a former coach you try to stay out unless you're asked. If somebody asks for your help then you try to do that. I've tried to do that with all of them that have been here."
On Cuonzo: "He's passed a lot of tests already...I had a lot of Missouri people there and they spent some time talking to him and their impression was extremely good. I told him you passed a much bigger test than that. My wife and daughter spent some time with him and I said 'Their bullshit meter runs pretty high after all these years.'"
"I got mad one day at one of the starters and we're getting ready to play Texas...I started Wampler, we played Texas and we beat them and Wamp had a hell of a game...I told him you've got to go back to Savannah and take advantage of this. I made you a hero."
Talking about the training staff: "They hire a guy from North Carolina. They bring him in and he wants to tell me how they do everything in North Carolina. This brings it back to Missouri. Look, North Carolina great state, great people...They have great basketball, great sports. But it ain't Missouri. This guy kept telling me how they do it at North Carolina. So I said 'You know what that guy knows how to do things in North Carolina but I don't know if he figured out he crossed the line somewhere and he's up here in Missouri now. So give me that student assistant, that guy that kind of looks like he might be homeless. Bring him in. That was John Skip Picker. And he was absolutely the best."
"Now I talked so long, what the hell was the question? That brings me to something else. That's what Dan Devine taught me. Dan said, 'If a guy asks you a question, just kind of take your time and kind of stroll it out a little bit.' He said 'They don't have all day. Just give em a long answer and then you don't have to answer the second question.' Cause you guys, it's not the first question that you ask that's tough. It's the second and third one. So you know what we try to do is just bullshit you until you forgot the second and third ones."
