Its tournament time, folks! The time of the year when everyone is drawn in by the lure of the bracket—even the most casual basketball fans.
The tournament creates memories, and everyone can think back to the year that sparked their lifelong fascination. For me, it has to be the 1970. I was a huge fan of Niagara, Canisius and St. Bonaventure—the programs that made up Western New York’s Little Three Conference. Though I loved the Purple Eagles’ diminutive Calvin Murphy, it was the Bonnies’ run to the Final Four—led by Bob Lanier—that captured my imagination. I can still remember bursting into tears when I came home from my Saturday afternoon rec league game and found out that Lanier was hurt and Artis Gilmore’s Jacksonville Dolphins had beaten St. Bonaventure to reach the championship game against UCLA.
Of course, UCLA won in 1970, as they had in each of the previous three years and would for another three after. Those John Wooden-led UCLA teams were spectacular, creating many of my fondest early memories of the tournament, like Bill Walton going 21-for-22 from the field in 1973 to defeat Memphis State. Wooden’s streak was snapped the next year but it took NC State two overtime periods in the national semis to finally beat the Bruins.
In ‘75, with Wooden set to retire at the end of the season, I found myself cheering for UCLA against Kentucky. Kentucky had advanced to the Final Four with a thrilling win over previously undefeated Indiana after the Hoosiers’ leading scorer, Scott May, was sidelined with a broken arm. But the Wildcats were no match for a UCLA squad with Marques Johnson and Richard Washington at the helm.
There are so many unbelievable moments to choose from when thinking back on the NCAA Tournament, but here are a few that stick out to me:
1977: Cinderella wears a green dress to the ball as Charlotte are led to the Final Four by Cedric “Cornbread” Maxwell before coming up short against Marquette, who go on to win the championship over North Carolina and their vaunted Four Corners Offence. It’s the only title for head coach Al McGuire and he sheds tears of joy on national TV.
1978: Dwane Casey and the Kentucky Wildcats defeat Duke. My university team is playing a touring team from Sweden and I only get home to see the second half of a great performance from Jack “Goose” Givens.
1979: The one everybody remembers, with Magic and Larry. The national semi-final matchups are so captivating, the men in my family can’t pull themselves away from the TV and are almost late for a family dinner where we were to be the guests of honour. Needless to say, mom isn’t happy.
In the ‘80s amongst other things: Louisville’s Doctors of Dunk and Larry Brown leading UCLA to the Final Four in 1980… Michael Jordan and James Worthy leading Carolina over Georgetown in 1981, with Hoya freshman Patrick Ewing making his mark… In 1983, there was Jimmy Valvano looking for someone to hug after his NC State team upset Houston and the most exciting Final Four game I had ever witnessed when a Cougars team featuring Clyde “The Glide” Drexler, Hakeem Olajuwon, Benny Anders and “Phi Slama Jama” took on Louisville. Clyde’s final words to Louisville: “Sorry, you can’t join our fraternity.”… Georgetown and Fred Brown get a measure of redemption in ’84 at the Kingdome in Seattle as Brown, Reggie Williams, Michael Jackson and company take turns driving past Jim Master in the national semi-final. Michael Graham is a perfect running mate for Ewing as Olajuwon is beaten again in the finals…’85 “The Upset” Villanova over Georgetown…’86 saw “Never Nervous” Pervis Ellison play exquisite basketball as Louisville defeated Duke… Indiana and Knight win again in ’87 over Syracuse. Derrick Coleman needs just one free throw to put the game away for the Orange and can’t get it down…’88 Danny and the Miracles defeat Oklahoma in a conference matchup the way “Nova took down the Hoyas in ‘85”… Providence, led by Rick Pitino and guard Billy Donovan, make it to the Final Four in ‘87… In ’89, interim coach Steve Fisher takes a Michigan team featuring Glen Rice, Loy Vaught, Sean Higgins and Rumeal Robinson to the title over Seton Hall. About a week after that game, Seton Hall head coach P.J. Carlesimo walks into a Toronto gym while I’m coaching a local high school all-star team. He is wearing a long coat and a hat and looks more like Sherlock Holmes than a D-1 head coach. He is in pursuit of one of Toronto’s greatest high school players, Phil Dixon.
I could go on, but as we hit the ‘90s, some of you young ‘uns are starting to have your own memories. Was Christian Laettner’s shot to beat Kentucky in the ’92 East Regional Final the greatest shot in Tournament history? Maybe so, but the Madness continues, and this year, like all the others before it, new and lasting images will be created.