1978–79 Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball team

1978–79 Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball
Missouri Valley Conference champions
NCAA Men's Division I Tournament, Finalist
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 1
1978–79 record	33–1 (16–0 MVC)
Head coach	Bill Hodges
Home arena	Hulman Center

The 1978–79 Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball team is considered the greatest in the school's history. The Sycamores were undefeated in the regular season and were led by Larry Bird. He led an undefeated team to the national title game versus a Magic Johnson-led Michigan State Spartans team, and ended the season as National Runner-Up with a record of 33–1. To date, the 1978-79 Sycamores are the only team to advance this far in their first-ever NCAA appearance.

Season summary

In 1979, the NCAA tournament championship game was the most-watched game in the history of the sport, in no small part because of Indiana State star Larry Bird. Bird wasn’t a one-man show, but the unheralded Sycamores rode him to a 33-0 record heading into the title game. The well-rounded Bird averaged 29 points, 14.8 rebounds, and, most significantly, six assists as he changed the way the game was played.

Offseason

Head coach Bob King suffered a stroke and was unable to continue as head coach of the Sycamores. Assistant Bill Hodges was elevated to the position of head coach.

Exhibition vs. Soviet National Team

On November 20, the touring Soviet National team came to Hulman Center to play Indiana State. ISU defeated the Soviets, 83–79, to become one of only four college teams to beat them that season.^[1]

Regular season

During the 1978–79 season, Indiana State qualified for the NCAA Tournament. ISU finished the regular season 29–0, 16–0 in the Missouri Valley Conference, and earned the top ranking in the country.^[1]

The only time that the perfect regular season was in jeopardy was on Feb. 1. The Sycamores were 18–0 against New Mexico State. With three seconds remaining, the Sycamores were down 83–81. New Mexico State was at the free throw line and the shot was missed. The missed shot was rebounded by Brad Miley and passed to Bob Heaton. Heaton launched a 50-foot desperation shot which banked through the net to send the game into overtime.^[1]

Bird received several honors at the end of regular season. He won the USBWA College Player of the Year, Naismith^[2] and Wooden Awards,^[3] given to the year's top male college basketball player.

Roster

The Sycamores were led by Bird, the NCAA Player of the Year, and his 28.6 scoring average. He was followed by Carl Nicks’ 19.3 average. The starting lineup also included Miley, Alex Gilbert and Steve Reed. Heaton and Leroy Staley were key reserves. The remainder of the roster consisted of Tom Crowder, Eric Curry, Rod McNelly, Rich Nemcek, Bob Ritter and Scott Turner.

5 Bob Ritter - Guard (Indianapolis, Indiana)
10 Scott Turner - F (Bedford, Indiana)
15 Rod McNelly - G (Speedway, Indiana)
20 Rich Nemcek - G/F (Hammond, Indiana)
22 Carl Nicks - G (Chicago, Illinois)
23 Steve Reed - G (Warsaw, Indiana)
24 Tom Crowder - F (Cayuga, Indiana)
30 Bob Heaton - G/F (Clay City, Indiana)
32 Eric Curry - C/F (Chicago, Illinois)
33 Larry Bird - F (French Lick, Indiana)
40 Brad Miley - F (Rushville, Indiana)
42 Alex Gilbert - C/F (East St Louis, Illinois)
44 Leroy Staley - G/F (Tampa, Florida)

NCAA basketball tournament

The top seed in the NCAA Midwest Regional was awarded to the Sycamores. The final game of the regional tournament was against Arkansas with a berth in the Final Four on the line. With the game tied at 71, the right-handed Heaton was the hero again with a last second left-handed shot in the lane to win the game.^[1] They advanced to the championship game and faced Michigan State University, which was led by sophomore Magic Johnson. In what was the most-watched college basketball game ever,^[4] Michigan State defeated Indiana State 75–64, and Johnson was voted Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four.

West
- Indiana State (#1 seed) 86, Virginia Tech (#8 seed) 69
- Indiana State 93, Oklahoma (#5 seed) 72
- Indiana State 73, Arkansas (#2 seed) 71

^[5]

Final Four
- Indiana State 76, DePaul 74
- Michigan State 75, Indiana State 64

^[5]

Awards and honors

Larry Bird, Consensus All-American teams
Larry Bird, All-Missouri Valley Conference
Larry Bird – AP, UPI, USBWA, The Sporting News, Basketball Weekly All-American selections
Larry Bird, Missouri Valley Conference Most Valuable Player
Larry Bird – 1979 Oscar Robertson Trophy, Naismith Award, John R. Wooden Award, Adolph Rupp Trophy, Eastman Award
Bill Hodges, NCAA Coach of the Year^[1]

References

1 2 3 4 5 http://www.wthitv.com/dpp/wildcard_1/wildcard_01/in_isu_1978_79_Dream_Season_Recap_20090306
↑ http://www.naismithawards.com/History/tabid/55/Default.aspx
↑ http://woodenaward.cstv.com/ot/award-winners.html
↑ Katz, Andy. "From coast to coast, a magical pair". ESPN. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
1 2 http://www.databasesports.com/ncaab/tourney.htm?yr=1979

Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball

Venues	North Hall (1895–1923) William H. Wiley High School Gymnasium (1923–1928) ISU Gymnasium (1928–1962) College Arena (1962–1973) Hulman Center (1973–present)

Culture & lore	"Cheer for the Blue and White" "March On! (You Fighting Sycamores)"

People	Head coaches All-Century Team

Seasons	1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–00 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17

NAIA national championship in bold; NCAA Division I Final Four appearance in italics

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