Ken Burmeister was an assistant to Arizona coach Lute Olson when he recruited Steve Kerr out of Pacific Palisades more than 30 years ago. Burmeister is not surprised by Kerr's success as coach of the NBA champion Warriors, but doesn't pretend he saw all that potential back then.
"He could shoot free throws and got straight A's," Burmeister said, "so we recruited him."Now the coach at Incarnate Word, which plays at Cal on Wednesday night, Burmeister said most colleges pursued Kerr as a non-scholarship walk-on player. Olson had just arrived at Arizona and was looking for anyone who could help elevate a program that was among the worst in the Pac-10 at the time.