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The 70s players

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  • The 70s players

    Need some help from people older than myself. I was looking up something on Roger McClendon and ventured into the media guide's 1000 pt scorer list. On that list are Steve Collier, Robert Miller and Bobby Austin. Miller is #14 on the scoring list and I've never heard a soul talk about him. Like ever. It's like the 70s became a black hole in UC history. Other than being on probation and Lloyd Batts going to the NBA doesn't seem like much happened. Help!
    Brent Wyrick
    92 Final Four Front Row
    @LobotC2DFW

  • #2
    That was a great team. Miller was 6'11 center from Louisville I think. Good shot blocker with minimal range. Kinda skinny and not real tough. He also is the guy who got us on probabtion for some perks that came his way. Great compliment to the burly Pat Cummings who was a stud and a really good player. Played a number of years in the NBA. Jones was a 6'6 wing and a solid player, Gary Kamstra was a great player and transferred in, and Steve Collier was a star from Indiana that everyone was shocked we landed. Brian Williams was really good until he got hurt. Mobby Austin was a great local player on pretty week teams. Same with McClendon, who had next to no help. Big Mike Williams played in the seventies.When did Derrick Dickey play, that was 70's also. Drawing a blank but who was the guy from Alliance that was a big scored (volume shooter) whos son we are currently recruiting. Those were some great teams. Back in those days when a kid tore an ACL his career was over (Ron Hightower was destined for greatness). Today they are back the next season.

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    • #3
      Kamstra was a 4-year player. The transfer was Gary Yoder, a 6'4" PG.

      Before the proliferation of recruiting services, the most popular site to learn recruiting information was Street & Smith's magazine. The class that included most of the names mentioned in Catlett's top group included 5 of the top 10 players ranked by S&S. UC was ranked #2 preseason, I believe for their junior years. They made the Dance, but lost to ND in the 1st round. I think only 32 teams made the field then.

      One of the problems they ran into was that Collier contracted mono, which really cut into his production.

      The Armory Fieldhouse, which seated about 8K, was deafening most nights back in the 70's. Al McGuire brought Marquette in there ... once. He refused to come back to the Armory. The student section wrapped around from behind the south end zone to a couple sections directly behind the visitors' bench. Merciless!

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      • #4
        You are correct, Kamstra was a nice player but Yoder was the transfer starter. The Fieldhouse WAS awesome!

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        • #5
          Originally posted by RedDog View Post
          That was a great team. Miller was 6'11 center from Louisville I think. Good shot blocker with minimal range. Kinda skinny and not real tough. He also is the guy who got us on probabtion for some perks that came his way. Great compliment to the burly Pat Cummings who was a stud and a really good player. Played a number of years in the NBA. Jones was a 6'6 wing and a solid player, Gary Kamstra was a great player and transferred in, and Steve Collier was a star from Indiana that everyone was shocked we landed. Brian Williams was really good until he got hurt. Mobby Austin was a great local player on pretty week teams. Same with McClendon, who had next to no help. Big Mike Williams played in the seventies.When did Derrick Dickey play, that was 70's also. Drawing a blank but who was the guy from Alliance that was a big scored (volume shooter) whos son we are currently recruiting. Those were some great teams. Back in those days when a kid tore an ACL his career was over (Ron Hightower was destined for greatness). Today they are back the next season.
          Pretty sure Mike Williams actually played in the 80's but transferred out when coach Badger was fired.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by longtimefan View Post

            Pretty sure Mike Williams actually played in the 80's but transferred out when coach Badger was fired.

            That is correct. He played for Badger from 1981 thru 1983, Ed's last year, then transferred to Bradley. Williams eventually played professionally, with a short NBA stint.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by RedDog View Post
              That was a great team. Miller was 6'11 center from Louisville I think. Good shot blocker with minimal range. Kinda skinny and not real tough. He also is the guy who got us on probabtion for some perks that came his way. Great compliment to the burly Pat Cummings who was a stud and a really good player. Played a number of years in the NBA. Jones was a 6'6 wing and a solid player, Gary Kamstra was a great player and transferred in, and Steve Collier was a star from Indiana that everyone was shocked we landed. Brian Williams was really good until he got hurt. Mobby Austin was a great local player on pretty week teams. Same with McClendon, who had next to no help. Big Mike Williams played in the seventies.When did Derrick Dickey play, that was 70's also. Drawing a blank but who was the guy from Alliance that was a big scored (volume shooter) whos son we are currently recruiting. Those were some great teams. Back in those days when a kid tore an ACL his career was over (Ron Hightower was destined for greatness). Today they are back the next season.
              I'm guessing you're talking about Kevin Gaffney. He hit a big shot in a Metro tournament game that got UC to the next round, which didn't happen often back then.

              Speaking of Bobby Austin, he was a great leaper and pretty fair player, a local guy, but what I mostly remember about him was how much potential he had. Which generally isn't bad, but we heard it every year, including his senior season. Then, after he graduated, I read an article about him (a couple years later), and the article mentioned his potential!

              Another favorite story was Brad Waller. He was a "great" HS scorer from IL, but one of the first quotes we hear from him after he's at UC is how hard he has to work on his shot.

              By and large, I enjoyed the Ed Badger years - he was a good coach that could change offenses in the middle of the season, he was a good interview and humorous, plus he always pronounced the school across town as "Egg-X-Zavier". It drove them nuts. But he was one of the most unlucky coaches when it came to recruiting as he was dealt several bad hands during his tenure, including the beginning when he had unofficial probation (before it became official) left over from the Catlett years.

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              • #8
                You're right, Gaffney was the name I couldn't remember. He never met a shot he didn't like and was a line drive shooter. His son is a raising Junior I think, maybe even only a sophomore, and is seriously considering us and is a monster.
                I can never remember Waller's name - probably because he didn't hang around long. He was a disappointment.
                Austin was a great local kid with tremendous untapped potential as you say.
                One of my greatest UC memories was the night McClendon went off on loserville in Freedom Hall. I think he had 40 or something close and we pulled a big upset. I was in attendance with some Louisville customers who weren't very happy with me. Heh, if ya can't take a joke.....

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Geaux Juan View Post

                  I'm guessing you're talking about Kevin Gaffney. He hit a big shot in a Metro tournament game that got UC to the next round, which didn't happen often back then.

                  Speaking of Bobby Austin, he was a great leaper and pretty fair player, a local guy, but what I mostly remember about him was how much potential he had. Which generally isn't bad, but we heard it every year, including his senior season. Then, after he graduated, I read an article about him (a couple years later), and the article mentioned his potential!

                  Another favorite story was Brad Waller. He was a "great" HS scorer from IL, but one of the first quotes we hear from him after he's at UC is how hard he has to work on his shot.

                  By and large, I enjoyed the Ed Badger years - he was a good coach that could change offenses in the middle of the season, he was a good interview and humorous, plus he always pronounced the school across town as "Egg-X-Zavier". It drove them nuts. But he was one of the most unlucky coaches when it came to recruiting as he was dealt several bad hands during his tenure, including the beginning when he had unofficial probation (before it became official) left over from the Catlett years.
                  Unlucky is right. The NCAA screwover of LaSalle Thompson cost Badger his highest ranked recruit. For those who don't remember, the NCAA ruled Thompson, a 6'10 dominant big man from Withrow, couldn't attend UC because a local man with no connection to UC bought him a suit of clothes. This was similar to the Damon Flint situation at O$U, but in this case UC knew nothing about it and did nothing wrong. By the time the NCAA apologized and said they made a mistake and Thompson could attend UC after all, he was already enrolled at Texas. Side notes, the UC "infraction" was reported to the NCAA by a Miami(OH) booster. Also, when Dennis Jansen asked Thompson if he would consider Eggs, Thompson laughed outloud at such a ridiculous question. Thompson played in the NBA for 15 years.
                  Last edited by longtimefan; 06-21-2017, 02:09 PM.

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