1969-70

Pete Maravich may have been the greatest college basketball player since Hank Luisetti never to play in the NCAA tournament. The 1970 Player of the Year was certainly the most exciting player to miss the Big Dance.

In the three years Maravich played varsity ball at LSU, the Tigers were only 49–35 and never won the SEC, but “Pistol Pete” led the nation in scoring each year—averaging 43.8 as a sophomore, 44.2 as a junior and 44.5 as a senior. He was the college game's all-time scoring machine, throwing in 3667 points in just 83 games for a career average of 44.2 points a game—10 points better than anyone else—ever.

Meanwhile, back at the NCAAs, UCLA became the first team to win four consecutive titles. Lew Alcindor was gone, but John Wooden dusted off the zone press and the Bruins wrapped up the season beating 7-2 Artis Gilmore and high-scoring Jacksonville (100.3 ppg), 80–69.

No.3 St. Bonaventure reached the Final Four for the first time, but when star Bob Lanier tore up his right knee in the East Regional final the Bonnies' chances went down with him.

No.8 Marquette and No.9 Notre Dame made their presence felt in the postseason. The Warriors passed up an NCAA bid for the NIT and won the tournament for the first time, beating St. John's by 12 in the final. And Austin Carr of the Irish scored 61 points against Ohio University in the first round of the NCAAs to break Bill Bradley's single game record of 58.

Final AP Top 20 (Writers' poll taken before tournament).

Note: UCLA won the NCAAs and Marquette won the NIT.

Consensus All-America (In alphabetical order)

First Team

·         Dan Issel, Kentucky

·         Bob Lanier, St. Bonaventure

·         Pete Maravich, LSU

·         Rick Mount, Purdue

·         Calvin Murphy, Niagara

Second Team

·         Austin Carr, Notre Dame

·         Jimmy Collins, New Mexico St.

·         John Roche, South Carolina

·         Charlie Scott, North Carolina

AP POLL

1. Kentucky
2. UCLA
3. St. Bonaventure
4. Jacksonville
5. New Mexico St.
6. South Carolina
7. Iowa
8. Marquette
9. Notre Dame
10. N.C. State

UPI COACHES POLL

1. Kentucky
2. UCLA
3. St. Bonaventure
4. New Mexico St.
5. Jacksonville
6. South Carolina
7. Iowa
8. Notre Dame
9. Drake
10. Marquette

HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

1970
Robert J. Cousy, Player
Robert L. Pettit, Player
*Abraham Saperstein, Contributor

Alcindorless UCLA rolls on

After three years of hitching themselves to Lew Alcindor's star, UCLA's Bruins were in the strange position of looking up at college basketball's big man and finding him wearing an opponent's uniform.

With each passing game, it appeared that the tower of power in the 1970 NCAA Tournament was Jacksonville's Artis Gilmore.

That the Bruins had returned to the Final Four in the season after Alcindor's graduation was extremely gratifying to the players left behind. Four starters on the 1970 team had played in the shadow of the great center, and their roles in the most recent championship had been minimized by Alcindor's presence. In many respects it was his triumph, not theirs.

"I remember our 1969 championship," senior guard John Vallely said, "and a lot of guys didn't feel anything about it because they didn't think they had contributed. And they hadn't.

"It was all so easy. But now everyone is helping each other a lot more -- not just saying 'too damn bad' if another guy makes a mistake -- and if we win again, they're all going to have contributed."

As usual, there was no shortage of talent in Westwood. The difference this season was that UCLA would need all of it, acting in unison, to compensate for the loss of perhaps the most dominant collegiate player in history. The Bruins would have to work not only harder, but also together.

That is precisely what they did. Blessed with two superb forwards in 6-foot-8 Sidney Wicks and 6-6 Curtis Rowe, an underrated center in 6-9 Steve Patterson, a fine shooter in Vallely and a dynamic point guard in sophomore Henry Bibby, John Wooden went back to his pre-Alcindor playbook.

UCLA set up in a high-post offense, ran the fast break whenever it was available and revived the devastating zone press. The result was another hugely successful regular season in which the Bruins played with great verve and won all but two games.

The team's spirit, according to Patterson, was far superior to that exhibited in 1969.

"This wasn't because of Lew," the junior said. "He wasn't a detriment; there will never be a better team player than Lew. But we were all too concerned with points and playing time, not with winning. We would win. The main thing was contending with each other to get into games.

"We're so much more together this year."

Even Wooden appeared to be enjoying himself more. The pressure of having to win was lifted. The excitement of formulating strategy was restored.

"Now I feel like I have something to do," the coach said. "I feel more alive. It's been a long time."

Of course, it had seemed even longer to other championship hopefuls. Although UCLA still was winning with regularity on the West Coast, the absence of Alcindor made the Bruins appear vulnerable.

Several clubs were eager to meet UCLA in the NCAA Tournament and bring the Bruins down a notch or two because, for a change, the big man was on their side.

Burly Bob Lanier, a 6-11 consensus All-American and a tremendous offensive force, had led St. Bonaventure to a 22-1 regular season record. Kentucky, led by 6-9 consensus All-American Dan Issel, had lost only once and climbed to the top of the national rankings. At 6-10, Sam Lacey made New Mexico State (23-2) a dangerous opponent. And then there was Jacksonville (23-1), which had risen from basketball obscurity largely on the muscular shoulders of the 7-2 Gilmore.

Jacksonville even boasted a second 7-footer, Pembrook Burrows, and the two of them were too much for Issel and Kentucky in a rousing Mideast Regional final showdown won by the Dolphins, 106-100. Incredibly, in three regional games, Jacksonville averaged 106.3 points per game.

Although the Dolphins' defense was limited almost exclusively to Gilmore's shot-blocking, they had good outside shooters in 6-5 Rex Morgan and 5-10 Vaughn Wedeking to complement the big men inside and form a high-powered offense. The dynamic duo of Gilmore and Morgan was known as "Batman and Robin."

St. Bonaventure also qualified for the Final Four, but the Bonnies arrived at College Park, Md., without their most formidable weapon. In the course of a 97-74 rout of Villanova in the East Regional final, Lanier had been clipped accidentally by Chris Ford and fallen heavily to the floor. The center limped to the bench.

"I can't move," he told coach Larry Weise. The injury was diagnosed as a torn medial collateral ligament, which required surgery.

Without Lanier, the Bonnies were at Jacksonville's mercy in an uninspired semifinal at Maryland's Cole Field House. Gilmore tallied 29 points and four other Jacksonville players scored in double figures to lead the Dolphins to a 91-83 triumph.

In the other semifinal, UCLA's front line was much too quick for that of New Mexico State, which got good performances from guards Jimmy Collins (28 points) and Charlie Criss (19) but not from Lacey (eight points).

The Bruins coasted to a 93-77 victory after previous romps over Long Beach State and Utah State in the West Regional. The stage was set for a championship matchup of great contrast.

This game would bring together the most celebrated basketball program in the nation and one of the most surprising, a tradition vs. a happening. It would pair an esteemed and conservative older coach (Wooden) and a young man (Joe Williams), whose reputation to date was based mostly on a flashy wardrobe.

And it would pit a team that had claimed three consecutive national titles with a giant but now had no one taller than 6-9 against a team that featured two 7-footers as well as 6-10 reserve forward Rod McIntyre.

The Bruins certainly were not awed by the task.

"Steve, you ever have any practice against a 7-footer?" Wooden publicly asked Patterson after practice the day before the game.

Patterson, who knew the joy of scrimmaging against Alcindor every day during his sophomore season, smiled.

It was assumed Patterson would be assigned to defend Gilmore, but Wooden informed Wicks just before the game that he was the lucky individual. Wicks was UCLA's finest shot-blocker and, judging by his facial expression on the court, its fiercest competitor. A natural comedian away from the arena, Wicks received as much attention for his game face as his talent.

Even Wicks wasn't prepared for the tactic.

"I thought I was going to guard anybody but him (Gilmore)," he said.

And in the first few minutes, he might as well have been guarding the press table. Wooden had instructed Wicks to play on Gilmore's inside shoulder while the other Bruins pressured the passers, but the Jacksonville center scored three quick baskets, Wicks picked up two quick fouls and the Dolphins opened a 14-6 lead.

During a timeout, the coach adjusted, moving Wicks behind Gilmore and asking his other players to drop back on the big man.

"If Gilmore did get it inside," Wooden reasoned, "it would be in close quarters and difficult for him to get the shot. With men all around you with their hands up, it's just not that easy."

What happened shortly after the timeout changed the momentum of the game. Gilmore took a pass, turned for a short jump shot and had it slammed back into his chest by Wicks. Having delivered the message, the UCLA forward pumped his fist in momentary triumph. Although six inches shorter than Gilmore, Wicks used his leaping ability and exquisite timing to reject Gilmore's shots five times in the course of the afternoon. The big man became flustered.

"I tried to make him get the ball six or seven feet from the basket," Wicks said, "and I'd back off him. Then I had room to jump between him and the hoop."

With Gilmore under control, the Bruins started to battle back. They scored nine consecutive points late in the first half to move ahead and went to the locker room with a 41-36 halftime lead.

"We knew the first couple of minutes of the second half would determine the outcome," Patterson said. "They were down by five and could catch us, or we could move out by 10."

Gilmore's first five shots of the second half failed to drop and UCLA did indeed move out as Wicks' hot hand put his team up by 11. The UCLA lead was 16 when Gilmore, who had endured one 16 1/2-minute stretch without a basket, fouled out with less than two minutes remaining. He finished with only nine baskets in 29 attempts and 16 rebounds, compared with 18 rebounds by Wicks, who was named the Final Four's outstanding player.

The Bruins won, 80-69. They had seized another championship -- this time without Big Lew.

"Every time somebody mentioned the three in a row, they'd say Lew did it," said Rowe, who led UCLA's balanced scoring with 19 points. "Now we just proved that four other men from that team could play basketball with the best of them."

It was apparent that if the great UCLA dynasty was the work of one man, that man was not Alcindor.

It was John Wooden.