Before Showtime at the Los Angeles Forum in the 1980s with Magic Johnson, James Worthy and Kareem Abdul Jabbar, there was Showtime in the Desert.
Before Michigan’s Fab Five were trend-setting fabulous in the early 1990s, there was a bright star in the desert in 1977 known as the "Hardway 8" of Nevada Las Vegas and its own run to the Final Four.
It's the 35th anniversary of coach Jerry Tarkanian's first Final Four team and the current Rebel team plays its NCAA opener tonight.
2012 and Before: The current Nevada-Las Vegas hoopsters open the tournament tonight (9:50 p.m. EDT, truTV) as a No.6 seed facing No.11 Colorado in Albuquerque, NM. The winner takes on the No.3 Baylor-No. 14 South Dakota State winner on Saturday.
Most say take the odds and roll the dice that UNLV will make it to Saturday, but will they earn a spot in the Sweet 16 of March Madness?
Four previous UNLV teams have made it to the Sweet 16 and beyond (all four made it to the Final Four; 1977-87-90-91), including the 1977 squad – the first to do it 35 years ago.
And a great 1977 team it was.
The names are legendary and the accomplishments have yet to be matched.
Reggie Theus, Robert Smith, Sam Smith, Glen “Gondo” Gondrezick , Eddie Owens, Jackie Robinson, Larry Moffett, Lewis Brown. All went in the first four rounds of the NBA draft, including Theus who went in the first round in 1978.
Up-tempo and high-scoring, with run-you-out-of-the-gym speed. Your gym. Their gym. The Forum. The Garden (New York or Boston, take your pick) The Palestra. And anywhere in between.
The ’77 Rebs ran their way to NCAA records for points in a season (3,426), most 100-point games (23) and most consecutive 100-point games (12). Three of their 100-point games came in the NCAA tournament, including a triumph against UNC-Charlotte and Cornbread Maxwell for third place.
“When you realize there was no 3-point line in 1977, what UNLV did that year, offensively, was incredible,” said Dick Calvert who has been the UNLV basketball public address announcer for four decades.
“The 1977 team was my favorite and maybe it was because it was the first great Rebel team and one with all those future NBA players. They were special.”
Parlaying their talents before sellout crowds at the Las Vegas Convention Center, whose front row high rollers – with their high-fashioned furs and diamonds ready to rock-and-roll in their Gucci and Ralph Loren attire – took a back seat to no one, including Jerry Buss’s1980s glitz-and-glamor, courtside crowd.
And a masterful, towel-chewing, sad-eyed coach in Jerry Tarkanian who with NBA talent down to the eighth and ninth man made a March Madness run to the Final Four before losing to North Carolina by one point, 84-83, in the semis.
“We were a veteran team and most of us had played together for three years so we were ready for our big year in 1977,” said Robert Smith, a senior in 1977, who came to UNLV from an undefeated Los Angles City Champion Crenshaw High School squad which included Marquis Johnson who played at UCLA.
“The key to our success was that our coaches demanded excellence from us every day in practice, we were a close-knit team and we held each other accountable.”
UNLV Met Its Match: But while UNLV was among the elite college teams and possible surprise of March Madness, it had met its match in an exhibition game in late January.
Jan. 29, 1977 – Anaheim Convention Center … AIA 104, UNLV 77
Vegas rolled into town at 16-1 and a No.5 ranking, but faced a veteran, battled-tested Christian amateur team based in Orange County, Calif. called Athletes in Action.
The AIA squad comprised of college graduates (mostly from NCAA D-I programs) was a mirror image of Vegas with its own man-to-man pressure defense and interchanged three centers of 6-10 or taller to help dominate the boards.
Along with strong forward play and sharp-shooting guards, AIA stunned the basketball world with a 104-77 win before a near-sellout crowd.
Guards Eldon Lawyer (Oral Roberts) with his game-high 23 points and Brad Hoffman (North Carolina) with seven assists ran the offense to near perfection.
Forward Tim Hall (6-8, Colorado State) had 17 rebounds and center Bayard Forrest (6-10, Grand Canyon College) contributed with 18 points.
As a team AIA shot a blistering 58% from the field, while Vegas shot 40.3%.
“UNLV was a dangerous team with great speed and good shooters so we had to crash the boards (AIA won that battle, 64-33) on both ends of the court and neutralize their guard play,” said AIA head coach Bill Oates.
“They had a great point guard in Robert Smith who liked to penetrate the lane and then pass out to good shooters in Eddie Owens and Glen Gondrezick, but we were able to clog the lane and for the most part slowed down that part of their offense.”
The banners – Bankrupt Vegas and Run Rebels Ragged – hung prior to the opening tip proved to be prophetic.
But if some thought the win was a fluke all they had to do was ask the No. 1 team in the land, the San Francisco Dons.
Nine days prior to beating Vegas, AIA upset USF, 104-85, also at Anaheim Convention Center.
Jan. 20, 1977 – Anaheim Convention Center - AIA 104, USF 85
Marquee Win Was Needed: AIA had registered some good wins against solid D-I teams over the years leading up to the USF game – including Maryland, Vanderbilt, San Diego State, Oklahoma, Cincinnati, Houston and Arkansas – but the team needed that one big marquee win to give them national recognition.
“We had a good team and with the national AAU championship from the year before we thought it was time to play a couple of home games for the 1976-77 season,” said coach Oates.
Prior to the USF game, AIA had played 364 straight games on the road in a nine- and-a-half year span since the first team was formed in Nov. 1967.
“USF and UNLV agreed to play us in Orange County and for both of them to be highly ranked excited our players,” Oates stated. “Those two wins gave us national coverage and credibility.”
USF was a talented team – 16-0 and No.1 prior to the AIA game – with All-American center Bill Cartwright, (first round pick, 1979) who had 27 points and seven rebounds against AIA, Winford Boynes (first round, 1978), James Hardy (first round, 1978), Marlon Redmond (third round, 1977) and Chubby Cox (8th round, 1978)
The Dons went 29-0 and held the No.1 spot, until a late season loss at Notre Dame and a first round NCAA tournament loss to UNLV.
Hoffman, who had led the UNC Tar Heels to the ACC title in 1975, had a double-double – 13 points, 12 assists – and five rebounds against the Dons, while five other teammates also scored in double figures; Tim Hall (20), Irvin Kiffin (18), Ralph Drollinger (18), Eldon Lawyer (12) and Tery Larrew (11).
Near the end of the game, two fans unrolled a banner that aptly described the action:
USF is #1 in the Country ... But #2 in Orange County
Wooden Offense: “Coach Oates used a great deal of John Wooden’s philosophy as we ran the UCLA high post offense,” said Hoffman “The key was to have big men who could pass well and we did in Ralph Drollinger (7-2) and Bayard Forrest (6-10).
“We were not fastest team, nor the most talented team in the land, but we believed in Coach Oates’ system, we worked hard and worked well as a team.”
But don’t tell UNLV, USF, Maryland (AIA won, 77-71 in Dec. on the road) and Florida (AIA won 93-77 on the road in Feb.) about any supposed shortage of talent on the AIA bench.
“AIA was the best team we played all year, including UNC in the Final Four” said Smith who handles color commentary for UNLV basketball radio broadcasts.
“We had played AIA in previous years so we knew they were a strong opponent and with a roster of players two and three years older than college players that made a huge difference.”
Hoffman, Lawyer and Kiffin were AAU All-Americans the year before as AIA won the 1976 AAU national title.
Forrest was a three-time All-American and led Grand Canyon College (Ariz.) to the 1975 NAIA national championship, while Drollinger as a key member of John Wooden’s last NCAA champion ship team in 1975.
Freeman Blade was an All-American guard for Eastern Montana College and Tim Hall was two-time All-WAC second team at Colorado State.
Forrest, Drollinger, Blade and Scott Thompson were all drafted by NBA teams out of college.
One Shining Moment: While AIA was not eligible to play in March Madness, it still had its One Shining Moment (make that, two) in January 1977.
More Than Basketball: AIA has been more than fielding successful teams in a variety of sports from basketball to wrestling to gymnastics to softball and baseball who travel this country and the world to improve their win-loss records, but the players and coaches shared their faith in Jesus Christ with the audience and players and coaches on the opposing teams.
“We not only shared our testimonies at halftime of games, but several coaches set up team meetings with their players before the game,” said Hoffman who played with AIA from 1976-1980.
More Than One Great Year
Under the guidance of coach Bill Oates, AIA posted an incredible 156-24 (87%) win-loss record over a four year period, 1976-1979 … AIA was 139-22 on the road and 17-2 at home.
Wins were over such top D-I teams as Arkansas, Illinois State, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada-Las Vegas, Oregon, San Francisco, Syracuse and West Virginia, plus international wins against the Soviet Union, Brazil and Canada.
1975-76 … 37-8, National AAU champions
1976-77 … 54-7, beat No.1 USF and No.5 Nevada Las Vegas … won 26 straight
1977-78… 37-4, South America tournament champion
1978-79 … 28-5
4 Year Total: 156-24 (87%)
AIA’s Start: AIA was formed in 1966 by former Oklahoma State football player Dave Hannah, who is currently the founder and chairman of Lift Up America.
He felt that the ready-made platform that sports gives to athletes was an excellent way to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ with people who would come to an athletic event, but might not attend a church service.
The first basketball team took the floor in 1967 and within a decade AIA had national team championships in wrestling and basketball.
For four and a half decades, AIA athletes and coaches in a variety of sports have traveled the world sharing their faith in Christ.
A handful of Olympians have competed for AIA, including Olympic gold and silver medalist John Peterson and bronze medalist Gene Davis, both in freestyle wrestling.
Due to an NCAA ruling in 2003, D-I schools were no longer allowed to play exhibition games against amateur teams such as AIA, yet an AIA team does have a fall schedule against NCAA D-II and D-III schools each year.
Outreach to the Pros: AIA has also worked with pro athletes for years, and currently sponsors banquets at the Super Bowl and NBA All-Star Game as well as the “Legends of the Hardwood” breakfast the weekend of the NCAA Men’s D-I Final Four.
AIA website: athletesinaction.org
The 1976-77 AIA Team
Freeman Blade (Guard, Eastern Montana College). .. assistant strength and conditioning coach at Case Western Reserve
Ralph Drollinger (Center, UCLA) … founder of Capital Ministries
Bayard Forrest (Center, Grand Canyon College) ... founder of Focus Ministries in Colorado
Tim Hall (Forward, Colorado State) … is a missionary in Italy
Brad Hoffman (Guard, North Carolina) … is vice president of a furniture company in Hickory, N.C.
Irv Kiffin (Forward, Oklahoma Baptist) … lives in southern California
Tery Larrew (Forward, Colorado State) … founder partner, Caddis Capital and lives in Colorado
Eldon Lawyer (Guard, Oral Roberts) … lives in Memphis and is the founder and director of NoXcuses Basketball
Mike Lederman (Guard, Florida) … lives in Indiana and runs the family insurance company
Dave Lower (Guard, Linfield College) ... has been with AIA for 38 years ... is the AIA director of special projects and events.
Doug Oxsen (Center, Oregon State) ... works for the Oregon State athletic dept. in fund raising
Scott Thompson (Guard, Iowa)
AIA Founder/National Director: Dave Hannah
Head Coach: Bill Oates (Occidental College)… works for Bishop Alemany High School in southern California
Assistant Coach: Mike Gratzke (Stanislaus State, Calif.)
Athletic Trainer: Ed Gold (Michigan) … lives in Memphis
Speakers Bureau Director: Brian Dameier
TV/Radio: Dave Burchett, Dave Iverson, John Wooden
Executive Producer, AIA TV: Earl Dyer
contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net