The unthinkable happened to Don Haskins, whose booming voice has terrorized referees and Texas-El Paso basketball teams for 29 years.
Tuesday, for the second time in four days, ”I tried to holler, but nothing came out,” Haskins said.
”Doctors say I`ve just overused my voice over the years,” said Haskins, UTEP`s head coach.
Haskins` voice also failed Saturday during the Miners` game against Indiana. When the Hoosiers started to open a big lead, Haskins tried yelling at the referees to get a technical foul called against him, hoping to fire up his players and let the officials know how he felt.
It didn`t work. ”The refs couldn`t even hear me,” Haskins said.
Beginning with Wednesday night`s home game against Creighton, Haskins said, he will rest his voice, and assistant coach Norm Ellenberger will do most of the talking.
Ellenberger said he`ll be Haskins` mouthpiece, but he won`t try for technical fouls.
”Coach can still handle that,” Ellenberger said. ”He`s got great body language.”
