North Texas basketball memorable moment

[Buford_Julep]

ESPN is doing a Basketball Memorable Moment series at halftime of their broadcasts. All 326 Div I teams will be included. The day of honor for North Texas is February 11.

What will this memorable moment be? NT has never won an NCAA playoff game or an NIT game.

Here are some candidates:

1. March 12, 1988 NT 88, Northeast Louisiana 70. North Texas wins Southland Tournament and the right to play in the NCAA Tournament. This is the only time NT ever was able to play in a Div I NCAA postseason tournament.

2.The win or wins over Texas. I can't believe I would forget a win over Texas. I remember one, but my NT media guide has NT defeating Texas on Jan 17, 1980 by 79-77 in OT and another 75-74 win in 1981.

3. Near the end of the 75-76, 76-77 and 77-78 seasons many NT fans harbored a naive hope that a record of 22-4, 21-6 or 22-6 and beating a good team near the end of the season might land an NCAA at-large bid or an NIT bid. Feb 28, 1976 NT defeated a good Bradley team 108-88. Then followed it up on Mar 1 against a good West Texas State with 88-69 win. Maureece Cheeks, who played in the NBA for 15 years, was the star of that West Texas St team.

4. Mar 2, 1970 NT defeats Louisville 98-80. Before the game, the buzz in the DRC and amongst the NT fans was that the NIT would accept the winner in the then "Big Time" Madison Square Garden tournament. Somehow, the NIT picked Louisville anyway.

5. Feb 10, 1970 North Texas defeated Drake 93-81 in two overtimes. Drake was ranked #10 in the nation and was undefeated in the Missouri Valley Conference at

the time.

My choice would be the 1970 win over Louisville. The other wins were big at the time also, but who wants to brag about wins over Northeast Louisiana, Bradley, West Texas St or Drake. I was unable to find the records of the Texas Team(s) NT defeated. I don't think they were all that good at the time. NT was only 13-14 in 79-80 with losses to St Mary's(Tx) Southwestern and two losses to Houston Baptist. In 80-81 NT was 15-12.

Edited December 11, 2005 by Buford_Julep

[GreenBat]

It will probably be the NE Louisiana game or the first round loss to North Carolina. They need to have video tape on the game and I don't think they would have video from any of the others.

[eulesseagle]

I think what made the Louisville (1970) game so memorable was that in the 1969 game Denny Crum, who coached Louisville, labeled NTSU as the "Worst Crowd in the Nation." NTSU had only one home court loss that year and it was to Louisville. In 1970, playing in the PIT, there were banners everywhere stating, "Worst Crowd in the Nation." The accoustics were so bad in the old PIT that when everyone in the "SOLD OUT" PIT were screaming and stomping their feet on the wooden bleachers it would, literally, make you go deaf.

That same year, Cincinatti, who was also nationally ranked came in and NTSU jumped out to an early 20 - 25 point lead before 10 minutes in the first half.

Students would throw rubber snakes and all sorts of stuff at the opponents on the bench and when they had time outs. It was absolutely CRAZY!!

Students would yell at the top of our lungs, "Welcome to the Pit, Welcome to the Pit."

Got to agree the Drake game that went to double OT was great. Drake got beat in the quarterfinals of the NCAA by UCLA. Drake had a GREAT TEAM.

The DePaul game in the 80's, when Mark Aguire was playing was a great game, even though NTSU lost. The new pit was packed or almost packed and we had a chance to win against one of the best teams in the nation.

NTSU's win over Texas A&M in 1967 was great because the Aggies won the SWC in 1966 and were suppose to repeat again and beat the crap out of NTSU. That same year NTSU lost to Uof Houston by 2, at the Hawaii Classic to the Elvin Hayes team that beat UCLA in Houston.

[Cooley]

Without question, the 19 point blow-out of West Texas State to stake claim as the #1 team in Texas! Additionally, ending our best season ever at 22-4, with the realistic expectation of receiving an NCAA Tournament Bid.

Mean Green Ruffs Buffs in 88-69 Win

With the aid of the most emotional display of basketball spirit perhaps ever witnessed at North Texas, the Mean Green strapped a 19-point loss on the West Texas State Buffaloes Monday night.

A near capacity crowd watched the Eagles as they ran their season record to 22-4, the best record ever in the history of the university.

Senior guard Carl Jones paced the fast moving Eagles with 22 points. Junior guard Walter (Weasel) Johnson was next with 19. It was Johnson who almost single-handedly worked the Eagles’ impressive stall against West Texas in the closing minutes of the game. He wheeled and dealed in and out of the Buffs defense, and when he successfully drew them out, he would make one of his patented behind-the-back passes, setting up easy buckets.

But it was sophomore forward Fred Mitchell who stole the show when with 10 seconds remaining on the Coliseum scoreboard he intercepted a wayward West Texas pass. He quickly threw the ball to sophomore forward Ken Williams, who crammed it into the basket.

Although the points were not important at that time, the shot did bring the 8,800 Coliseum fans to their feet and the noise they made must have made the ghosts of the neighboring “Old Pit” raise up and take notice.

The 19-point licking was the worst handed to the Buffaloes this season and it may have decided once and for all the “Battle of Texas.”

Senior forward Terry Bailey played an exceptionally physical game on the inside, hitting for 17 points and dragging down 11 rebounds, a team high. Bailey’s point total brought his season record to 501, placing him ninth in the NT record book. His career-scoring total now rests at 907 for an 11th place slot. He also has 201 field goals in a single season for sixth place.

“It was a rough game,” Coach Blakely said. “The officials weren’t calling it very close but I do think they called a good game.”

Senior guard Earl King did not get into the game but Blakely had praise for him also. “King didn’t play tonight but he did a fantastic job all season, on and off the court,” he said.

Blakeley said the crowd was extremely helpful, citing the missed free throws of West Texas as a result of the cheering crowd. “It would be great if we could fill it up (Coliseum) all the time,” he said. In the past the first-year coach had said that for each thousand fans, the gained a one-point advantage. Monday night they game him two points per thousand.

As a result of the Eagle victory, North Texas now stands a good chance for an NCAA playoff bid. Asked where he wanted to go, Blakeley said, “We’ll go anywhere, even Snook, Tex., if that’s where we have to.”

North Texas must await a decision from the NCAA, which will be forthcoming Thursday.

[Cooley]

High Flying Eagles Crush WTSU, 88-69

West Texas State Buffaloes

Name Pos Ht Wt C Hometown

Maurice Cheeks G 6-0 170 So Chicago, Ill.

Frank Stingo G 5-10 160 So Fairmount, W. Va

Melvin Jones G-F 6-4 185 Jr Memphis, Tenn

Milt Henderson G 6-2 175 Jr Bakersfield, Calif

Bobby Anderson G 5-10 165 Sr El Paso, TX

Brad Schreck F-C 6-6 200 Jr Wichita, Kan.

Bruce Taylor F 6-6 205 Jr Cleveland, OH

Eugene Smith F 6-5 200 Jr Hobbs, NM

Mike McBride G 6-3 180 Fr Wichita, Kan.

Reggie Ramey F-C 6-8 212 Sr Philadelphia, PA

Larry Cunningham G 6-9 190 Fr Florissant, MO

Dallas Smith C 6-10 210 Sr Des Moines, Iowa

Head Coach: Ron Ekker

North Texas State Univ.

Name Pos Ht Wt C Hometown

Earl King G 6-1 170 Sr Chicago, Ill

Waymond Lister G-F 6-3 170 Fr Dallas, Texas (SOC)

Walter Johnson G 6-0 160 Jr Houston, Texas (Waltrip)

Carl Jones G 6-1 175 Sr Wichita Falls, Texas

Larry Spruiell G 6-2 175 Jr Petrolia, Texas

Greg Boyd G 6-3 185 Fr Denton, Texas

Danny Kaspar G-F 6-4 180 Jr Corpus Christi, Texas

Norvell Miles G-F 6-3 170 Jr Dallas, Texas (SOC)

Ken Williams C 6-7 205 So Dallas, Texas (SOC)

Paul Tedder F-C 6-9 205 Jr Richardson, Texas

Fred Mitchell F 6-7 205 So Amarillo, Texas

Melvin Davis C-F 6-8 210 So Greenville, Texas

Terry Bailey F-C 6-8 220 Sr Crandall, Texas

Head Coach: Bill Blakeley

Asst Coach: Jimmy Gales

Asst Coach: Billy Tubbs

[125th Street Gang]

The greatest w/o a doubt has to be the 1970 Louisville game.They were ranked 13th in the nation.John Dromo was the coach not Denny Crum.Crum was still at UCLA as an asst under Wooden. He came the next year and made those comments

The Snake Pit was unreal.We went 14-0 at home.We beat everyone. This was my freshman year.Joe Hamilton,Creston Whit..wow.

My 1st game was Arizona in the Pit.They came in with two 7'0 and a 6'10 kid.Watching the layup line of the Wildcats was unreal.

But we kicked they hell out of them.We beat everyone,Cincy,Drake,Bradley,Wichta,Tulsa,St Louie,etc.

We would pack in 4,400 in the Pit.The sound was unbearable.Many times the ref's blew the whistle but the players kept playing. Duke,you coudn't come close to that.Unless you were there..you cannot explain the sound..

Getting back to the Louisville.It was rumored that the winner would get a trip to the NIT's.We beat them and Louisville was picked over us.Louisville's 6'9 center was Mike Grosso a local kid fronm NJ.NIT's brass thought that would bring in more local people into the Garden in NYC.We were devasted.But Cards had Price,Bacon and some other great players.

But that night in the game I fell in love with John Dromo the Louiv coach.He was so funny during the game.For some reason we sat right behind the Cards bench.I fell in love with Dromo.He was screaming,yelling for help,making fun of the crowd.Then he did the famos Italian hand sign to the crowd. "up yours" or "ma fa goulo". We were rolling...I yelled to Dromo" your not getting any calls here tonite,coach.He looked right at me and said laughing at me" your right,sonny".I'll always remember that.He looked right at me in the middle of this frenzy crowd.

We won 98-80.Blew the No 13th team in the country right out of Denton.The greatest game ever played in the Pit.

Over the summer I heard John Dromo had a massive heart attack.He had to resign as coach.Crum took over.The next year when the Cards came to Denton before the game the our freshman team was playing a juco team.Louisville players all dressed in red turtle necks and sports blazers were sitting in the bleachers.Crum was all by himself.I walked over to him and sat down next to him.I asked him how Coach Dromo was doing.He told me he was doing good.The Univ had kept him on as an Intramural dirc or something. I told Coach Crum to tell coach Dromo that there was a fan of his here in denton and wishing him well.Crum looked at me and shook my hand and said" I'll tell Coach that".He also said you can write him a card.

Well,I did.I told Dromo you inspired me that night in Denton.Someday I want to coach too.

I graduated NTSU in 1973-74 and went back to NY.Became a teacher, basketball coach and athletic dir for 25 yrs.

Had great HS teams in NY.In 1995-6 I was named the NY State HS Coach of the Year.In Binghamton NY at the NY Coaches Clinic I was given my award.

Who do you think was the presenter to give me the award. Denny Crum.I asked him if he remembered me 30 years ago and he said he did.Not sure if he was telling the truth.He told me Coach Dromo had passed away a few years ago.

Life is strange.. I watched a coach in 1970 and said I want to be like him.

Who would ever know how things turn out...

I met my wife dribbling a basketball in the Kerr hall court yard.She was born and raised in Paris,Texas.Have 4 kids. I gave up coaching and am now a principal of a HS here in NY.I can retire in a couple of years.Maybe down in Texas.

The greatest game ever...NT-Louisville It changed my life..

[j0nat8an]

wait!...4,400 people interested in NT basketball? and actually loud? man, i missed all the fun.

[CMJ]

Awesome story...

[Eagle1855]

that was a great story! thank you for sharing that.

[Guest GrayEagleOne]

I think Cooley identified the best ever North Texas team and 125th St. the best game. My favorite though was one we lost to Cincinnati. The great Oscar Robertson, playing with four fouls, squeaked them by in overtime.

Ah, Crest Whittaker. He's my all-time favorite defensive player. He could stick like glue to anyone. He was so good that he was drafted by the NFL's LA Rams as a defensive back even though he didn't play a down of collegiate football.

[125th Street Gang]

I think Cooley identified the best ever North Texas team and 125th St. the best game.  My favorite though was one we lost to Cincinnati.  The great Oscar Robertson, playing with four fouls, squeaked them by in overtime.

Ah, Crest Whittaker.  He's my all-time favorite defensive player.  He could stick like glue to anyone.  He was so good that he was drafted by the NFL's LA Rams as a defensive back even though he didn't play a down of collegiate football.

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[125th Street Gang]

Sorry,I made a mistake in my reply.Cooley,Creston Whittaker was one of the greatest defensive players I ever saw.He was over shadowed by Joe Hamilton who was the greatest player in NT history.Lee Winfield who played for Seattle in the pro's the year before might get some votes as the greatest.Lee just graduated as I came in.Another player by the name of Mean Joe did the same.

But my freshman year we had the great basketball team and then the No 1 passing offense in the nation with Steve Ramsey.

Don't want to get into the greatest Qb in NT history but its not even close.Ramsey broke 6 NCAA passing records.I know he has been passed by other Qb's at NT but he had the greatest arm.Him and Shanklin were second to Rhome-Twilly[Tulsa] in all time QB-WR..TD's.

I was lucky my first two yrs.We had great teams.By my jr. and sr. year we started to slide.

I keep in touch with Herb Larkins all the time.Someday I;ll come in here and tell you guys the most tragic story you ever heard.

I'm sure there are some of you that remember it.Herb is doing good.Has not moved his arms and legs since that incident in the Mens Gym.And North Texas gave him a 12" black and white TV...don't get me started.