We have seen a lot of great individual efforts this season: Tacko Fall’s 23 PT/20 REB game for UCF last Sunday, Cameron Young’s 55 PT game for Quinnpiac in triple-OT the Sunday before that, Markus Howard’s 45-PTS-in-30-minutes-against-an-undefeated-Buffalo-team for Marquette in late-December, etc. However, they all pale in comparison to Carl Fuller’s sensational stat line that occurred exactly 54 years ago today. In the semifinals of the 1965 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Collegiate tournament in Tuskegee, AL, the Bethune-Cookman star had 1 of the greatest performances in college basketball history with 60 PTS/40 REB in a 107-80 win over Fisk. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Mr. Fuller earlier this month about the game of his life and how it remains a part of his life more than a half-century later.
You grew up in Florida: what made you choose Bethune-Cookman? I grew up about 50 miles from St. Augustine and I had some relatives who lived only 1 block from the school. My grandfather met the coach 1 day…then he told me that I was going to attend Bethune-Cookman!
You played for legendary coach Cy McClairen: what made him such a great coach, and what was the most important thing that you ever learned from him? He was more of a father to me than a coach. Everything he did as a coach I try to do myself. We still send each other Christmas cards every year.
Take me through the 1965 SIAC tourney:
In the semifinals you set a pair of school records with 60 PTS/40 REB in win over Fisk University: how on earth were you able to dominate that game? It was like I was in a daze so I do not remember very much of what I did. Coach told me to jam the ball and I did: I simply could not miss that night.
In the title game you scored 15 PTS in a 1-PT loss to Clark College: where does that rank among the most devastating losses of your career? Clark had a good defensive coach so I was tired from working really hard to get the ball.
You averaged 16.3 RPG as a freshman and remain the all-time leading rebounder in school history with 1685 REB: what was your secret for being a great rebounder? What really helped was when I started playing with Johnnie Allen (the Wildcats’ all-time leading scorer): he really wanted to shoot while I did not care if I scored. I just wanted to win games so I let him shoot while I rebounded/defended.
You led the Wildcats to the 1968 SIAC tourney title: how big a deal was it to win a title? We were tied with only a few seconds left. Johnnie was whistled for a foul against Florida A&M but I raised my hand to take the foul so that he would not foul out.
You were selected by St. Louis in the 7th round of the 1967 NBA draft and by Detroit in the 5th round of the 1968 NBA draft: why did you end up joining the ABA instead? Detroit had followed me for an entire week but the 1 day they did not follow me I signed with the ABA. They said they would give me $10,000 if I put my name on the paperwork, which is more money than I ever had in my life at that time. Looking back now, I should have joined the NBA because the ABA was mostly about scoring.
You played 2 seasons with The Floridians from 1970-1972: what is your favorite memory from your time in the ABA? Being from Florida it meant a great deal to me to play down there.
What have you been up to since retiring? I was a school teacher for 35 years in New Orleans. I enjoyed it and was able to teach young Black boys in the ghetto: I was more of a role model because I was 1 of the few adult males many of them saw on a daily basis.
In 2012 you were inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame: where does that rank among the highlights of your career? It meant a great deal to me but I wondered why it took so long. Bethune was a football school so we did not have a lot of fans back then: I was the 1st player to get a basketball scholarship.
When people look back on your career, how do you want to be remembered the most? As the 60-40 guy: even my grandkids call me “60-40”! I do not think that anyone will ever do it again. Nobody came into our gym and beat us when I was playing.