In 1972, the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) meant something. Only Conference Champions won a spot in the NCAA Tournament (pre-March Madness). Conference Runner-up teams, Independents (50% of colleges) and local schools came to NYC and gladly accepted an invitation to the NIT.
The 1970-71 Maryland Terps had "experienced" Madison Square Garden (MSG). The Terps played and beat Seton Hall on Feb 20, 1971. Freshman could not play Varsity sports then. I met Freshmen Tom McMillen and Len Elmore sitting court side and had them autograph my Maryland press guide. Lefty came over and passed the guide around and had all the players autograph the inside cover.
The Terps invitation to the 1972 NIT was an important accomplishment in Lefty's plan to make Maryland "the UCLA of the East."
The "President" Arrives
"Pep Bands" were not common in MSG. Eddie Layton played the organ there for 50 years and that was all I knew about music.
The Maryland Pep Band set up early for the first game against St. Joseph's. When Coach Lefty Driesell came out for pre-game warmups, as usual they played "Hail to the Chief." The uproar that President Nixon was entering took 5 minutes to calm down.
The Terps played well enough to beat St. Joe's that day, then Syracuse and Jacksonville. Terps drew some boos during the "slow downs" that made North Carolina "four corners" famous - which resulted in the shot clock in college basketball. Now on to the NIT Championship against Niagara.
NIT Championship Game - March 25, 1972
The Championship game against the Purple Eagles of Niagara University (Buffalo NY) was on a Saturday afternoon. The NHL NY Rangers had a home game that night, so the court was placed on top of the ice. I sat in a floor seat right behind Lefty. The mats or cloth laid on top of the ice did not keep my feet from being ice cold.
Maryland won its First Championship that day. Niagara made a good accounting of itself, but the Terps had size and controlled the boards.
After the game I went towards the locker room entrance with my friend Howard (Lefty's business partner). When a security guard stopped me, Asst Coach George Raveling came over and said to him "that's Lefty's son." I ran into the locker room.
The locker room celebration was the realization that Maryland basketball was on the right track. It took another 30 years for Maryland to complete that journey and Win the NCAA National Championship. I'm glad I was there for the entire trip.
No comments:
Post a Comment