The Tournament That Wasn’t – East Region Rounds 1 and 2, Part III

Posted on April 3, 2020 by Chad

HoopsHD continues its simulation of what would have happened in TTTW (The Tournament That Wasn’t).  Up next it is time to continue with the First and Second rounds of the NCAA Tournament as we take a look at the third of four pods in the East Region.  Albany, New York was the site for this pod which was headlined by the Big East co-champion Seton Hall Pirates.  The Pirates had an amazing 2019-20 season, but would need to find a way to get past Eastern Washington and then the winner of an intriguing Penn State-NC State game to advance to the Sweet 16 in New York City.  Who would move on?  It is time to find out!

 

FIRST ROUND – EAST REGION – ALBANY, NEW YORK

(6) Penn State vs (11) North Carolina State

The success of the Penn State basketball team this season was one of the many great stories of the 2019-20 season.  The Nittany Lions had not been in the Big Dance since 2011, yet surged out to a strong start and finished the year tied for 5th place in the Big Ten and with an overall record of 21-11.  Of course, 4 of those 11 losses came in their last 4 games heading into the Tournament, so it was definitely time for Penn State to turn things around.  Their first round opponent was an NC State team that was among the final few teams to receive an at-large bid into the field.  The Wolfpack had been sent to the First Four in Dayton to playing defending national runner-up Texas Tech, and defeated the Red Raiders by ten points to move on to the Round of 64.

Penn State was in a bit of a tailspin at the end of the season, and if that continued in this game, their season would be over.  Unfortunately for the Nittany Lions, that is exactly what happened.  NC State jumped out early, building a lead as large as 13 points in the first half and taking a 49-39 advantage into the break.  The second half started out with more of the same, but Penn State finally put together a run and cut the lead down to 2 with just under 10 minutes left to play.   However, that was as close as they would get, as the Wolfpack took control again, extending the lead to as many as a dozen and only letting a couple of 3-pointers in the finals minute make the score look somewhat respectable.  The Wolfpack won 84-77 behind 25 points from Markell Johnson and advanced to the Round of 32 to await the winner of Seton Hall and Eastern Washington.

Final Score: (11) North Carolina State 84, (6) Penn State 77

 

(3) Seton Hall vs (14) Eastern Washington

The Seton Hall Pirates finished the Big East regular season in a three-way tie for first place, though they had actually been up by two games in the league standings before dropping their final two games heading into the conference tournament. Despite those late losses, the Pirates still had an amazing season and were certainly worthy of the 3-seed the Selection Committee had given them.  Their quest for a spot in the Final Four began with the Big Sky champion Eastern Washington Eagles.  The Big Sky had been a a tough three-way battle most of the season between EWU, Northern Colorado and Montana, but the Eagles had taken the regular season crown by a game and found a way to follow that up with the conference tournament title and automatic bid.  However, having to travel cross-country to Albany to battle one of the top teams in the Big East appeared to be a huge task for this team.

Seton Hall may have been the heavy favorite, but the Eagles came ready to play, hanging tough with the Hall the entire first half and heading to the break only down by four points.  When Mason Peatling nailed a 3-pointer with 10:37 left to play to give Eastern Washington a 56-54 lead, the upset alerts began to go off across the college basketball world.  The teams proceeded to exchange the lead for the next five minutes until a pair of shots by Myles Powell, one of which came from beyond the arc, pulled the Pirates out to a 7-point lead that they would not relinquish.  The Eastern Washington Eagles had played their hearts out, but at the end of the day Seton Hall was moving on with an 87-77 win behind 24 points from Powell and a double-double from Romaro Gill.

Final Score: (3) Seton Hall 87, (14) Eastern Washington 77

 

SECOND ROUND – EAST REGION – ALBANY, NEW YORK

(3) Seton Hall vs (11) North Carolina State

A spot in the Sweet 16 at Madison Square Garden was on the line in the Big East vs ACC battle between Seton Hall and NC State.  The Hall had been given all they could handle in the first round from a tough Eastern Washington team, but Myles Powell and company had found a way to survive and advance to this game.  NC State had already won two games in the Tournament, having taken down a Big 12 team, Texas Tech, in the First Four and followed that up with a Big Ten team, Penn State, in the Round of 64.

The game was tight throughout most of the first half, though Seton Hall made a small push right before the break and was able to open up a 48-40 advantage.  The second half was a different story altogether.  Myles Powell, who finished the game with 29 points, was on fire after the break and the Wolfpack were simply unable to hang around close enough to make a run.  Seton Hall cruised to a 96-73 win and punched their ticket for a trip to New York City.

Final Score: (3) Seton Hall 96, (11) North Carolina State 73

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The Tournament That Wasn’t – East Region Rounds 1 and 2, Part II

Posted on April 2, 2020 by Chad

HoopsHD continues its simulation of what would have happened in TTTW (The Tournament That Wasn’t).  Up next it is time to continue with the First and Second rounds of the NCAA Tournament as we take a look at the second of four pods in the East Region.  The Maryland Terrapins and Butler Bulldogs entered the NCAA Tournament as the 4 and 5 seeds respectively in this portion of the East Region.  Both teams had ups and downs all season long, and it was time to see who would emerge from this group to battle Dayton in the Sweet 16.  Standing in both teams ways were a pair of very dangerous mid-majors — the Ivy League champion Yale Bulldogs and the Colonial champion Hofstra Pride.

 

FIRST ROUND – EAST REGION – GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA

(5) Butler vs (12) Yale

With two of the three 12-seeds already having pulled off first round upsets, the Big East’s Butler Bulldogs were certainly not going to be taking the Ivy League champion Yale Bulldogs for granted.  Butler entered the game having won 22 times overall on the season, and finishing in 5th place in the final Big East standings.  However, Butler had been on pace for much better things than that early in the season.  Six losses in February and March had caused the Bulldogs to slide down the overall seed list a few seed lines.  Yale had been close to dominant during the Ivy League season, although losing twice to Harvard and then having to play the conference tournament on the Crimson’s home court did make their fans a little uneasy.  Yale responded in a big way though, avenging their two prior defeats with a blowout win in the conference title game, earning the Bulldogs a spot in the Big Dance and in this Battle of Bulldogs against Butler.

Butler may have known that they needed to be playing their best basketball to win this game, but that did not necessarily help them much.  Yale used an 8-2 run to close out the first half to turn a tie game into a 37-31 lead at the break.  The second half saw things get even worse for Butler as Yale was able to extend the lead to 17 by the under-12 media timeout.  The Bulldogs of Yale did not let their foot off the gas pedal the rest of the way, and cruised to a 76-61 win and a spot in the Round of 32.  Paul Atkinson led Yale in scoring with 18 points, and his team was moving on to face the winner of the game between Maryland and Hofstra.

Final Score: (12) Yale 76, (5) Butler 61

 

(4) Maryland vs (13) Hofstra

The final first round game in Greensboro, North Carolina saw the Maryland Terrapins facing off against the Hofstra Pride.  Two current ACC teams, Virginia and Duke, had both failed to advance to the Sweet 16 out of the Greensboro pod in the West Region.  Now it was up to a former ACC (and current Big Ten) team to try to advance from this city.  First up for the Terps was the Colonial Athletic Association’s regular season and tournament champions, Hofstra.  The Pride entered the game with 26 wins, including a road win at UCLA, and the knowledge that they had the talent to potentially pull off the major upset.

The first half of the game saw Hofstra hanging tough with the Terrapins.  The Pride in fact built an early 8-point lead, but Maryland was able to fight back to take a narrow 40-37 edge into the halftime break.  Five minutes into the second period, the game was knotted up at 46 and the upset alerts bells were beginning to ring across the country.  Maryland was able to turn it up another notch, however, and a 23-12 run put them on top by double-digits.  The Terps never looked back and were able to cruise home to a 92-78 win and a berth in the second round against Yale.  Anthony Cowan has a monster game with 32 points while teammate Jalen Smith was nearly as dominant, scoring 20 points and pulling down a dozen rebounds.

Final Score: (4) Maryland 92, (13) Hofstra 78

 

SECOND ROUND – EAST REGION – GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA

(4) Maryland vs (12) Yale

After defeating Butler in the first round, the Yale Bulldogs had their sights set on the Maryland Terrapins.  Maryland, a team that had tied for the Big Ten regular season title and entered this game with 26 wins on the season already, knew that they could not overlook the Bulldogs.  At stake for the winner was a berth in the Sweet 16 in New York City and a matchup with the 1-seed Dayton Flyers.  However, neither team was ready to think about Dayton yet when they took the court for their second round matchup.

Maryland had struggled for a half against Hofstra before turning up the intensity and running away with their first round game.  The first half script seemed to be the same against Yale as the Bulldogs used a late first half 10-2 run to propel themselves to a 41-34 halftime lead.  Unlike the first round game against Hofstra, however, Maryland never was able to get going in the second half.  The Yale Bulldogs led the game the rest of the way and won by a final score of 81-70.  Azar Swain scored 18 points and Jordan Bruner had a 13-point, 13-rebound double-double to propel head coach James Jones’ Bulldogs into the Sweet 16.  For Maryland, despite 25 points and 10 rebounds from Jalen Smith and 23 points from Anthony Cowan, the season was over.

Final Score: (12) Yale 81, (5) Maryland 70

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Champions Week: HoopsHD interviews 2-time AIAW champ Inge Nissen

Posted on April 2, 2020 by Jon Teitel

In any other year early-April would be a time for reflecting on the Elite 8 and looking forward to the Final 4, but this year is not like any other year. Instead, we will spend the week reflecting on champions of the past, from a famous coach who won the 1947 NCAA title as a player to a Hall of Famer who led her team to a perfect 34-0 season in 1986. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel continues our 8-part series with Inge Nissen, who talked about winning back-to-back titles and being inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.

You grew up in Denmark: how did you 1st get into basketball? I went to 1 of the few high schools in the country that had a club basketball team.

You won 4 straight national championships from 1972-1975 in 3 different European countries (Denmark/Norway/France): what was the biggest difference between basketball in the US vs. basketball overseas? At the time I started playing internationally Europe was way more advanced than the US, which has changed over time via opportunities from Title IX. It all started with Title IX: I went to the University Games in Moscow and we were awful after having to pay for our own trip! The American team was not good at that time either but I got to sit in the stands and watch some of the other European teams play: they were awesome. It expanded my horizon and that is when I started wanting to become a good player. It was so unlikely for a girl from Denmark: once we had a national team practice scheduled but we were kicked out of the gym…by a badminton team.

After that you became 1 of the first Europeans to come to America to play women’s college basketball: why did you choose Old Dominion? I was playing for 1 of the top European teams in France and asked if it was possible to start studying but there was no flexibility: we had 2-hour practices in the morning. ODU was the only place that aggressively recruited me. I wrote letters to the top colleges listed in Sports Illustrated and was close to going to Sue Gunter’s school (Stephen F. Austin) but ODU assistant coach Cindy Russo told me to call her collect: I could practice my English for nothing! It sounded really exciting to me.

You played for Hall of Fame coach Marianne Stanley: what made her such a great coach, and what was the most important thing that you ever learned from her? She knew how to handle a bunch of strong-willed kids and get the most out of us. We had some strong talent/personalities and had a lot of fun.

You won the Women’s NIT in 1978 and back-to-back AIAW titles in 1979/1980 with teammates such as Anne Donovan/Nancy Lieberman: where do those Monarch teams rank among the best in the history of women’s basketball? That is not something that I can rank but at the time it was pretty awesome. You cannot easily compare teams from different eras but we had so much confidence that we would be successful. The whole team was involved: the starters played their butts off so that the non-starters could get some playing time. I think that caring about your teammates is key: talent is not enough.

In 1980 you were named an All-American: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? As a junior I wanted to become an All-American and I worked very hard to get it. We got to the regionals and I was named tourney MVP, but when they named the All-American candidates I was not on the list and I was really ticked off. By the time I was a senior I did not need that validation stamp.

You graduated with school records of 2647 PTS/1459 REB: how were you able to balance your scoring with your rebounding? My main objective was winning so you cannot just score or just rebound: you needed a total game. I never had any video of my games but Anne sent me a copy once. I was watching it at FIU when some of my kids came into my office. They said, “Oh, no rebounding!”…and I told them to get out. If I knew then what I know now I would have been a different kind of player. Rebounding is a big key to victory for coaches: it is rare to see a team win when they get out-rebounded. You cannot control the percentage of shots that go in but if you move around and actively engage in trying to rebound you can be very successful.

You spent more than 25 years as an assistant coach at Florida International: how did you 1st get into coaching, and how did you like it? I swore that I would never coach because it was not an interest of mine, but Cindy would come to Portsmouth, VA to visit her family and also spend time with me because my husband’s family is from there. It was an interesting experience in the beginning but it was a lot of fun. We became quite competitive not by getting the biggest fish in America: we were able to bring in some of the top talent from Europe. You cannot teach kids to do something that they cannot see being done. It is 1 thing to say that you need to hit 10 shots from a spot on the floor: it is another to have your players watch a teammate actually do it! A lot of coaches/scouting services are now involved in European recruiting.

In 2012 you were inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame: where does that rank among the highlights of your career? It was kind of a validation and I was grateful that they selected me. Many of my teammates who I invited to come actually showed up, which was terrific because it was a team effort and very dear to my heart.

When people look back on your career, how do you want to be remembered the most? I do not know. I had so much fun playing but I hope that they remember my competitiveness.

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The Tournament That Wasn’t – East Region Rounds 1 and 2, Part I

Posted on April 2, 2020 by Chad

HoopsHD continues its simulation of what would have happened in TTTW (The Tournament That Wasn’t).  Up next it is time to continue with the First and Second rounds of the NCAA Tournament as we take a look at the first of four pods in the East Region.  Cleveland, Ohio was the site of the games, and certainly provided a home court edge to the 1-seed Dayton Flyers.  Dayton would begin its run at a potential Final Four by taking on the Siena Saints, while Saint Mary’s and USC were matched up in the 8 vs 9 game.  Who would get the Sweet 16 spot?  It is time to find out!

 

FIRST ROUND – EAST REGION – CLEVELAND, OHIO

(1) Dayton vs (16) Siena

The Dayton Flyers had an amazing 2019-20 season, winning 32 games and only losing a pair of overtime thrillers to Kansas and Colorado.  The Flyers were a perfect 18-0 against Atlantic Ten foes during the regular season and followed that up with an A-10 tournament title as well.  Making the Final Four was not going to be an easy task, but to even have that chance, the Flyers would first have to win a pair of games in Cleveland.  First up was the Metro Atlantic tournament champion Siena Saints.  Siena had failed to win the MAAC championship while hosting the conference tournament each of the past five years, yet with the event moved down to Atlantic City, they finally claimed the title and a spot in the Big Dance.

With the fans in Cleveland behind them, the Dayton Flyers jumped out early against Siena, building a 7-point lead 6 minutes into the game.  The Saints hung tough after that, however, and were down by the same margin, 43-36, at halftime.  The same toughness that allowed Siena to stay in the game in the first half was the story of the second.  Every time Dayton tried to push the lead open, the Saints struck back.  In fact, with just 90 seconds left to play, Siena was still within striking distance, down by only 5 points.  The Flyers were able to use the pro-Dayton crowd, however, to lift them in the final minute and hung on for a hard-fought 81-72 win.  Jalen Crutcher scored 18 points to lead the Flyers while Obi Toppin had 16.

Final Score: (1) Dayton 81, (16) Siena 72

 

(8) Saint Mary’s vs (9) USC

In the first round in the Midwest Region, Xavier and Ohio State had traveled cross-country to play each other in Sacramento, California.  It only seemed appropriate therefore that a pair of California teams would exchange the favor and travel cross-country to meet in Cleveland.  The second round 8 vs 9 game matched up the West Coast Conference’s Saint Mary’s Gaels against the Pac-12’s USC Trojans.  The Gaels were a team that somehow found a way to hang with every opponent they played this season – including the ones they should have blown out.  However, they did win 26 games, including two over BYU, and clearly deserved the single-digit seed the Committee gave them.  USC, much like almost every team in the Pac-12, at times looked like the conference’s best team and at times looked like they didn’t even belong in the NIT or CBI.  At the end of the day, however, Andy Enfield’s squad won 22 games and deservedly had their dance tickets punched.

8 vs 9 first round games are normally predicted to be close battles, though on occasion they have been known to be one-sided blowouts.  The battle between the Gaels and Trojans proved to be the former, a hard-fought close game that was not decided until the final moments.  Neither team opened a lead of greater than 5 points the entire first half and it was the Trojans that held the advantage at the break, 36-33.  Southern Cal came out strong in the second half as well, not relinquishing their advantage and eventually stretching the lead to 11 points with 6:30 left to play.  The Gaels were not done, however, as 3-pointers by Jordan Ford and Malik Fitts pulled St. Mary’s to within a single point with only 6 seconds left on the clock.  After Ethan Anderson made only one of two free throws, St. Mary’s had one last chance.  Jordan Ford got a good look from beyond the arc at the buzzer, but his shot clanked off the rim and USC had the win, 69-67, and a shot at top-seeded Dayton in the second round.

Final Score: (9) USC 69, (5) Saint Mary’s 67

 

SECOND ROUND – EAST REGION – CLEVELAND, OHIO

(1) Dayton vs (9) USC

The Dayton Flyers had survived their first round test against Siena, though had certainly not looked dominant in doing so.  USC had managed to hold on, after almost blowing an 11-point lead late, to knock off Saint Mary’s in their opener.  It was therefore by no means a certainty that top-seeded Dayton would punch a ticket for the Sweet 16 in New York City in the second round matchup.  The Flyers did, however, once again have a huge advantage in fan support, with the vast majority of those in attendance in Cleveland pulling for them to win.

The first 14 minutes of the game were close, with Dayton carrying only the smallest of leads most of the way.  With 6 minutes left to play in the first half, Dayton’s lead was at a narrow 25-22.  That is when the Flyers decided to wake up.  When the halftime buzzer sounded, Dayton had just finished a 15-0 run and was now in front 40-22.  An 18-point deficit was simply too much for the Trojans to overcome in front of a hostile crowd, and the second half was simply no contest.  Dayton had the 88-60 blowout win behind 18 points each from Obi Toppin and Jalen Crutcher and a double-double from Trey Landers.  The Flyers were moving on to the Sweet 16 at Madison Square Garden and the Trojans were flying back home to Southern California.

Final Score: (1) Dayton 88, (9) USC 60

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The Tournament That Wasn’t – West Region Rounds 1 and 2, Part IV

Posted on April 1, 2020 by Chad

HoopsHD continues its simulation of what would have happened in TTTW (The Tournament That Wasn’t).  Up next it is time to continue with the First and Second rounds of the NCAA Tournament as we take a look at the fourth and final of the four pods in the West Region.  2-seed San Diego State was looking to continue their amazing season with a run to the Sweet 16, but had to first get past Toledo and then had the winner of an intriguing Providence vs Indiana game waiting in the second round.  Who would get the spot in Los Angeles?  It is time to find out!

 

FIRST ROUND – WEST REGION – SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA

(7) Providence vs (10) Indiana

The 2019-20 season was really a tale of two seasons for the Providence Friars.  During a 16-day span in mid-November, the Friars lost games to Northwestern, Penn, Long Beach State and College of Charleston.  Those losses seemed to doom the Friars to a long regular season without any hope of postseason play.  February and March were a completely different story, however, with wins over Seton Hall and Creighton at home and on the road at Villanova and Butler, among others, not only pushed the Friars back into the Tournament picture but eventually landed them with a solid single-digit seed.  With the 7-seed in hand, Providence’s first round opponent was the 10-seed Indiana Hoosiers.  Head coach Archie Miller’s team had a bumpy season of their own, and it took all the way until they knocked off Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament before IU fans were certain that a tournament bid was on its way.

The Friars jumped out early in this game, grabbing a quick 10-0 lead that had Hoosier fans ready to fire their head coach before halftime.  However, Indiana struck back and a Trayce Jackson-Davis with 2 seconds left pulled them within 2 at the break, 42-40.  Indiana kept the game close for the first 8 minutes of the second period, but the Friars then exploded on a 14-2 run and Indiana simply had no answer the rest of the way.  The Friars won by a final score of 82-72 led by 17 points from Luwane Pipkins and 11 rebounds from Alpha Diallo.  Indiana was heading home, while Providence moved on to the second round.

Final Score: (7) Providence 82, (10) Indiana 72

 

(2) San Diego State vs (15) Toledo

The San Diego State Aztecs were one of the top stories of the 2019-20 season.  The team went undefeated until tripped up by UNLV at home on February 22, and suffered only one other loss the rest of the way – by three points to Utah State in the Mountain West title game.  Although the Aztecs entered the NCAA Tournament as a 2-seed, they certainly had a profile that could have landed them on the 1 line if a few balls had bounced in other directions for the teams ranked above them.  Their road to a potential Final Four would begin in Sacramento with the 15-seed Mid-American Conference tournament champion Toledo Rockets.  Toledo had come out of 7th place to steal the MAC automatic bid and win one of the most upset-riddled conference tournaments we had seen in a very long time.

Toledo’s run through their conference tournament had been close to magical.  No such magic was in store in the NCAA Tournament, however, as the Aztecs jumped out to a big lead early and took a 17-point lead into the halftime break.  Although Toledo technically outscored San Diego State by a point in the second half, the Aztecs never had to really break much of a sweat during it.  Malachi Flynn led the way for SDSU with 19 points and 11 rebounds in the victory.  San Diego State was moving on and had a date with Providence set for the second round.

Final Score: (2) San Diego State 79, (15) Toledo 63

 

SECOND ROUND – WEST REGION – SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA

(2) San Diego State vs (7) Providence

San Diego State may have cruised past Toledo in the first round, but the Providence Friars looked to be a much tougher opponent in the Round of 32.  The Aztecs , who now had 31 wins under their belts on the season, were certainly going to have to play at their peak level to advance to next weekend’s Sweet 16 in Los Angeles.  As for the Friars, their incredible second half turn around, going from a team that didn’t look even close to Tournament-worthy early in the year to a solid pick by the end of the day, could continue for at least one more game if they could do something that only two other teams had done all year – defeat the Aztecs.

San Diego State knew that Providence would give them a tough game, and that is exactly what they got.  The Friars and Aztecs fought back-and-forth the entire first half, with neither team opening a lead of more than 5 at any time, and Providence finding a way to slip to the break with a 40-37 lead.  Providence held onto the lead for the first 10 minutes of the second until a Matt Mitchell jumper tied the game and a Trey Pulliam shot put the Aztecs back in front.  San Diego State extended the lead to as many as 7 points and made their free throws down the stretch to hold on for an 84-80 victory and a trip to the Sweet 16.  Matt Mitchell led the Aztecs with 16 points while both Malachi Flynn and Jordan Schakel scored 15 apiece.

Final Score: (2) San Diego State 84, (7) Providence 80

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Champions Week: HoopsHD interviews Marshall Terrill about 1974 NCAA champ David Thompson

Posted on April 1, 2020 by Jon Teitel

In any other year early-April would be a time for reflecting on the Elite 8 and looking forward to the Final 4, but this year is not like any other year. Instead, we will spend the week reflecting on champions of the past, from a famous coach who won the 1947 NCAA title as a player to a Hall of Famer who led her team to a perfect 34-0 season in 1986. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel continues our 8-part series with Marshall Terrill, co-author of “Skywalker: The Remarkable and Inspiring Story of Legendary Basketball Player David Thompson”, about David winning the 1974 NCAA title and scoring 73 PTS on the final day of the 1978 NBA regular season.

How did the book come about, and what was Thompson like as a person? My co-author Sean Stormes and I talked about doing a book project together after we became friendly with each other when I interviewed him for “Maravich,” a book I did on “Pistol” Pete Maravich with Wayne Federman. Thompson was a god back in our day but people now have lost sight of how good he actually was: we wanted the younger generation to get a better appreciation of him. We were surprised that he had never written an autobiography so we approached his agent with our idea for a book. After some back and forth with his agent we struck a deal.

How did you find David, and what kind of person is he? I found him to be a shy/quiet guy, which is completely the opposite of most star athletes. I was shocked at how unassuming he was. He certainly had a memory for details and gave us plenty of material while being brutally honest, which always makes for a great book. He has never been afraid to share that with people and many life lessons can be learned from his story. For many years David was down on himself about how he short-circuited his career but the best blessing is that he has forgiven himself. He is older/wiser and has now moved on to other things in his life so his story ends on a winning note.

Did you ever have a chance to visit his original home? Yes, it was a priority of mine and Sean’s, so one day during our taping sessions we took an hour-long drive from Charlotte to Boiling Springs (where David is from). We actually went inside David’s childhood home because it was abandoned. A neighbor pointed it out to us and we just let ourselves in! It was a ramshackle place (an old roadside café) and I could not believe that David and his 11 siblings were all raised there. To us that was the second biggest thrill next to meeting David in person. We also visited his high school and saw his jersey in a trophy case: we could not get over how small it was!

In 1973 he led NC State to a 27-0 record but the Wolfpack was banned from postseason play due to NCAA rule violations involving his recruitment: how was he viewed at the time? He was certainly viewed as a savior. If you look at the violations the words he used were “ticky-tack” and it was a set-up by an alumnus of UNC. I am not a conspiracy theorist but I think that it would not have happened had he not been such a dominant player. He said that the NCAA investigator was actually the roommate of an assistant coach at UNC! I do not think people held it against David at all because they would not have been such a great team without him.

In the 1973 World University Games gold medal game against the unbeaten host country Soviet Union, he had 24 PTS/10 REB for team USA in an 8-PT win en route to being named tourney MVP: how big a deal was it to beat the USSR in Moscow only 1 year after the infamous 1972 Olympic gold medal game? I think that it was a very big deal. I cannot recall if it was televised but Team USA was salivating at the chance for revenge. In hindsight it is funny to say the word “revenge” but you have to remember this was much bigger than just a basketball game: we are talking Cold War stuff here. Their only enemy back then was the USSR, especially after the US was robbed in the 1972 Olympics. David was asked to join the 1972 Olympic team but his knee was giving him problems and the coach would not guarantee him a starting spot, which is crazy if you think about it. Not only would David have been the most talented person on the floor, but people forget that he was a team player and the team came first before his personal accomplishments. The coach was Henry Iba, who played a very slow/methodical game: that was fine in previous decades but the sport was moving in a different direction where it was played faster and more freestyle. Incidentally, Iba was the same guy who discouraged Pete Maravich from playing on the 1968 Olympic squad. Now Iba has two gold medals as a coach but I think that he was personally wrong by 1972. The game had passed Iba by and David represented the future.

Take me through the magical 1974 NCAA postseason:
In the ACC tourney title game he scored 29 PTS in a 3-PT OT win over Maryland: why is that still considered one of the best college basketball games ever? You would have to compare it to a prizefight: each team was loaded with talent and they battled back and forth while giving it all they had. It was basketball at its best: you knew that you were watching something very special. The ratings were extremely high during an era when the NIT was the premier postseason tourney, but that game drew attention away from the NIT and made it special.

In the Final 4 in Greensboro he had 28 PTS/10 REB in a 3-PT 2-OT win over UCLA: how was he able to lead his team to a win over the 7-time-defending champs and 3-time national POY Bill Walton (who had 29 PTS/18 REB in 50 minutes) despite having 15 stitches in his head? The 84-66 loss to UCLA in December of 1973 in St. Louis really pumped them up for the rematch in March at the Final Four. The prior game was just created for TV and many of the NC State players were off that night. College basketball was not aired regionally back then so UCLA was always on national TV and everyone knew who they were. If a “David” wants to take on a “Goliath” then that is the game that you get pumped up for.

In the title game he scored 21 PTS/7-12 FG in a win over Marquette en route to being named tourney MOP: what did it mean to him to win a title, and what was the reaction like when they got back to campus? There is always elation when you win your 1st title but what was interesting was that David said the bus ride back from the coliseum to the motel was surprisingly calm and silent, as if they could not believe what they had just accomplished. They also ate dinner together that night, which was also subdued: they just wanted to relax and smell the roses. The following day there was a celebration for them and 10,000 people showed up at a planned event for the team. Of course they were elated they won the title but the real impact was felt the following season: Tommy Burleson left for the NBA so the 2 main stars were David/Monte Towe. It was a party atmosphere the rest of the year and David said he went from being a social drinker to an everyday drinker. As David so eloquently said in the book, “It is hard to stop drinking when you are constantly the toast of the town.” Also, when they lost such an offensive threat like Burleson it is natural that all of their opponents would focus their attention on David…and they did. They were still a good team (ranked in the top-10 nationally) and had a very respectable 22-6 record. They lost to a very talented UNC team, which included Phil Ford/Mitch Kupchak/Walter Davis/Tom LaGarde – all future pros.

David was a 2-time national POY in 1974/1975 and in 2003 he was named to the ACC 50th Anniversary men’s basketball team: where does he rank among the greatest players in college basketball history? I have to believe that he is in the top-5/top-10. You have legends like Wilt Chamberlain/Lew Alcindor/Pete Maravich/Bill Walton/Bill Russell…also Oscar Robertson as well as Jerry West. Those are some of the most essential players ever but David was just as impactful as they were in college.

In the summer of 1975 he was selected 1st overall by both Atlanta in the NBA draft and by Virginia in the ABA draft, and after getting traded to Denver he was named 1976 ABA ROY: why did he choose the ABA over the NBA, and how was he able to make such a smooth transition from college to the pros? The Hawks’ pick was part of the Maravich trade from Atlanta to New Orleans in 1974. There were 2 things at play: Denver was not an established basketball town (so he could make his mark there immediately), and the ABA was more suited to his style of play. David only got better as he got older: in high school he scored 18 PPG but continued to raise his average in college and then pro basketball. The interesting thing is that even though he was a rural kid he had an inner-city style that was welcomed by the ABA. David also based his decision on the fact that Julius Erving/Charlie Scott/George Gervin also played in the ABA and he did not think that 1 league was better than the other. I think he made a wise choice by going to the ABA: Atlanta was quite a mess after Maravich left and Denver greeted him like he was the Second Coming.

He helped invent the alley-oop during his college days (since dunking was outlawed at the time) and as a rookie with the Nuggets Brent Musburger nicknamed him “Skywalker” due to his 44” vertical leap: how much of his success was due to his athleticism? I think that almost 100% of his success was due to his athleticism. He could very well be the 1st athlete in professional basketball at that time to rely solely on his athleticism: his fundamentals were strong but his physical ability was amazing. The NBA itself transformed from fundamentals to athleticism. The alley-oop became necessary after the NCAA banned dunking from 1967-1976. I think that it was a racist rule created specifically for Lew Alcindor: think about how exciting the game is today with dunks! David/Monte created that play at NC State and people loved it. It truly put them on the map.

On the final day of the 1978 regular season he scored a career-high 73 PTS/28-38 FG in 43 minutes (including a then-NBA record 32 PTS in the 2nd quarter) for Denver in a 2-PT loss to Detroit: was it just 1 of those situations where every shot he put up seemed to go in because he was “in the zone”, and how disappointed was he to finish 2nd in the scoring race after San Antonio’s George Gervin scored 63 PTS later that day? It was definitely one of those nights: every great athlete will tell you that there are a couple of occasions where everything just falls into place. Basketball is a game of momentum/confidence: if you hit your first couple of shots then you feel like you might make your next 10 in a row. Everything was going in for David that day and he just went with the flow. I think that David was actually too pooped to be upset about it at the time but maybe he was later.  That was a very big sports day: I specifically remember it dominating the sports headlines.

A couple of weeks later he signed a 5-year/$4 million contract: how did he like becoming the highest-paid player in the history of team sports at the tender age of 23? David was glad to be compensated for his work but it also brought a pressure to him that he had never known before: his very 1st shot after he signed the contract was an airball! It was a double-edged sword: it was nice to be a millionaire but with that came unbelievable pressure to perform his best every night. The franchise was now on his shoulders.

He remains the only player ever to be named All-Star Game MVP in both the ABA (29 PTS/9-18 FG in 34 minutes in 1976) and NBA (25 PTS/11-17 FG in 34 minutes in 1979): how was he able to play his best against the best? He noted in the book that the sign of a great player is they always perform their best when competing against the best. He always got up for the opponents who would bring out the best in him.

He was out of pro basketball by age 29 due to a variety of injures/off-court problems, yet was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1996 and the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006: when people look back on his career, how do you think that he should be remembered the most? He was Michael Jordan’s idol, which is no small feat. His athleticism had an impact on the ABA so he along with people like Erving/Gervin deserves a lot of credit for the transformation of that particular league. He was 1 of the best college players ever and I believe 1 of many great ABA players who helped force the ABA-NBA merger. Part of his legacy is that he did not live up to his full potential…but I know for a fact that he has come to peace with that. He had 5 really great years in the NBA but probably could have had 10 great years if he remained injury-free and was a better steward of his health. He was one of the most exciting players ever to watch and there is still magic associated with his name for those who know the game.

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