The only year we really had a chance at the tournament was when we had Walter Downing, Tom Copa, Kerry Trotter, Mandy Johnson and Pops Sims was a freshman. We had a decent year and almost beat #1 North Carolina at home. That was the only year in my tenure at MU that Marquette had a legitimate shot at the NCAA tournament and most pundits felt we got screwed that year by not getting in. The rest, well, it was dismal and we celebrated a close NIT loss at Indiana.
My point and perspective is this.....to see the program come to this point....a not too distant final 4, joining the best hoops conference in the nation and being more than respectful, having top recruits looking and some signing at MU...and 6 straight NCAA tournament appearances (albeit some soul crushing losses), hell, I feel like ignoring all the negativity and just be thankful our program is where it is at. That is not bowing to lower expectations....just an appreciation for where we have been and where we are (which is NOT the likes of a DePaul, Bradley, or Loyola which were all pretty good competitors in my day).
Go MU!
We were there at the same time. Rod Grosse jumping center and then going out at the first dead ball never to return. Watching us finish that NIT game with only 4 players after everybody else fouled out. Worrying about beating Fordham and Niagara. Faculty saying that maybe we should drop out of D1. I still believe that UNC game was the turning point in that program for the deathspiral of the next 5 years.
As Hank Raymonds said...."he's created a monster". Expectations change with success. Good or bad, that's the reality. I had Dukiet and KO. Terrible years. When I worked there, Deane and Crean....NIT and NCAAs.
You get used to winning and that's why years like this where we are inconsistent, becomes frustrating at times.
Last year, by contrast, was an enjoyable team to watch for most of the season. This team is enjoyable, but infinitely more frustrating because they have more talent.
My years at MU as well. Great strides have been made and huge efforts moving forward to keep us at this level. I agree the UNC loss was start of the big downturn.
I'm lucky, I went to school during KO and Deane, so we had 3 NCAAs and the one non NCAA year we were an NIT Runner Up. Having grown up a MU fan though, I know that we went something like 25 years without 3 consecutive NCAA appearances so I will take 6 in a row, and not say one word, except for thanks.
Once you're in, anything can happen
Yes, as someone who attend MU for the last two years of Dukiet and the first two of O'Neill, I will take the 11 seed and enjoy watching the game on Friday. MU has come far since the days when Anthony Candelino played the point.
Anthony Candelino and Joe Nethen getting it on in a bench-clearing brawl with Northwestern. Both should have been playing at UW-Parkside.
N.D. also beat us all 4 years (both home and away) that I was at MU....at that time nobody really cared about UW.
Bring on the tourney...we are officially 0-0.
Hey! The goal was to make the NCAAs. We did it. I think we surprise Xavier with our defensive ferocity and jump out to a lead. I just hope we hold on to it.
Quote from: elephantraker on March 13, 2011, 08:09:24 PM
Hey! The goal was to make the NCAAs. We did it. I think we surprise Xavier with our defensive ferocity and jump out to a lead. I just hope we hold on to it.
We never do. :-\
Murobrob---Parkside would have turned those guys down. Will say there era was entertaining if nothing else.
Look at it this way, since MU has joined the Big East, they have made the tournament every year. Can UCONN say that? Can Syracuse say that? Georgetown, Louisville? (Actually I really don't know, too lazy to look it up)
I'm glad someone put this up.
I came in for years 2 through 5 of the KO era, so I essentially saw the reboot of the program, remembering the pain of watching Aamot and Anglavar trying to bring the ball up against a full-court press, the jokes of McIlvaine wearing a helmet during a practice and wondering why a team with three top-100 freshmen were 11-18 their freshman year and so on and so forth.
I remember them sneaking into the tourney as a 12 seed as a junior and watching in Indianapolis what a good team does when Oklahoma State pulled away. I remember sitting in St. Petersburg the next year with a giggle asking one of my friends, "So how do we get to Knoxville?" (Granted, this was after Kentucky probably gave me my first gray hairs at 21 trying to rally from 18 down in the second half).
Making the tournament means that since I stepped onto campus in the fall of 1990, Marquette has made 13 appearances. That means it's been in the NCAA tournament more than it's been out.
As maddening as this team has been to watch at times (and I'll admit, I went to the West Virginia game on New Year's and all but mentally buried them at one point in the second half when someone didn't dive for a loose ball and it led to a WVU basket), it also became a team that may have allowed this program another "turn the corner" moment.
Everyone can parse out an 11th-place finish in the most brutal conference in the history of mankind as they wish, but one of the things I take out of this is that a flawed, yet reloading team was still good enough to make the NCAA tournament. That says something to the talent levels of players Buzz Williams has brought and is bringing in. It says something to the fact Buzz Williams' philosophy through three years appears to be taking hold and that he is still progressing as a coach to a place he will be more comfortable.
Like I said, the team has flaws. I don't think I saw a contested 3-pointer defensively all three games in New York. There are times the offense stagnates. You see stretches of brilliance followed by stretches where you pull your hair out (Luckily, I don't have any left to pull out ;) ). You see the younger players starting to "get it" for longer and longer period of times and their play exceeds the potential of what they could bring.
I see this program trending upwards in the sense that we are reloading every year to compete every year as opposed to reloading to a point. While I don't think Tom Crean did the latter, I also think thus far Buzz has proven himself better at the former despite some of the same transfer issues Crean endured, whether each did by their own hand or outside forces.
you guys make me feel spoiled. I was there from 1968 to 1975 , the prime of the McGuire years . Was not there for the 77 championship, but saw alot of great teams and players and of course the coaching antics of McGuire.
Quote from: drbob on March 14, 2011, 07:03:12 AM
I was there from 1968 to 1975
John Blutarsky plan?
I was there 79-83, the Hank Raymonds years when we started trending in the wrong direction. 3 NCAA tournaments (1 win) and one NIT (0 wins) in my 4 years.
In retrospect...those were pretty dark days. People behind the scenes were afraid of losing Rick Majerus to another school. I strongly believe that pressure was applieds to Hank Raymonds to retire a year or two earlier than he had plannned. I respect Majerus skills as a coach and having a great basketball mind. However, it became clear quickly he just wasn't ready yet for the MU job.
He really needed the Ball State experience before going to a top program.
Dukiet...I still shudder. The powers that be tried to find a second Al McGuire & got a midgrade piano player instead.
Kevin O'Neil may have been a short tempered man with the language skills of a drunk teamster but he did save MU from DII or much worse.
Deane he had his positive points but he was willing to shoot for the NIT as a the yearly goal.
Crean & his lucky find of D Wade....gave MU its "cred" back.
Williams...has his issuies but he & MU just might be a very good fit for each other. Until he proves otherwise I am going to stick with him.
Quote from: alexius23 on March 14, 2011, 08:34:11 AM
In retrospect...those were pretty dark days. People behind the scenes were afraid of losing Rick Majerus to another school. I strongly believe that pressure was applieds to Hank Raymonds to retire a year or two earlier than he had plannned. I respect Majerus skills as a coach and having a great basketball mind. However, it became clear quickly he just wasn't ready yet for the MU job.
He really needed the Ball State experience before going to a top program.
Dukiet...I still shudder. The powers that be tried to find a second Al McGuire & got a midgrade piano player instead.
Kevin O'Neil may have been a short tempered man with the language skills of a drunk teamster but he did save MU from DII or much worse.
Deane he had his positive points but he was willing to shoot for the NIT as a the yearly goal.
Crean & his lucky find of D Wade....gave MU its "cred" back.
Williams...has his issuies but he & MU just might be a very good fit for each other. Until he proves otherwise I am going to stick with him.
Thanks for that history lesson...most informed post I've read in awhile.
Quote from: alexius23 on March 14, 2011, 08:34:11 AM
In retrospect...those were pretty dark days. People behind the scenes were afraid of losing Rick Majerus to another school. I strongly believe that pressure was applieds to Hank Raymonds to retire a year or two earlier than he had plannned. I respect Majerus skills as a coach and having a great basketball mind. However, it became clear quickly he just wasn't ready yet for the MU job.
It was fairly out in the open when he was flirting with the UW job back then. That was the big pressure for Hank to step down and hand it over to Rick. They made the announcement shortly after he met with Madison.
Rick admitted he was too close of a friend as an assistant coach and struggled being the head man and disciplinarian. People felt he might have been the best basketball mind on Al's staff and a great recruiter.
Six NCAA's in a row isn't too shabby. Hell, I was there when Al was in his priime, and one year it was the NIT. But that was Al.
Hank did not retire early in my opinion. Rick was ready for big time job, unfortunately it was elsewhere. He was a different guy his few years as MU HC and what we saw later was the real Rick. I think MU would have been better served going out of the family when Hank retired. We are falling quicker than many wanted to admit during Hank years and needed a change.
We were turned down by Mike Newell in 1986 when they looked for a replacement for Majerus and settled on Dukiet. I knew things were bad when I went to a media day in the late 80's and there was very little coverage from the media.
The top recruit and only recruit that fall was there with his parents and ended up committing that weekend and he simply wasn't a high major prospect and Marquette wasn't a high major school at that time and the coach was out of his league entirely. Just 10 years earlier MU was on top of the college basketball world, so think twice when you criticize because it can turn around in an instant.
I lived the Rod Gross/Dukiet years. You know times were lean when one of your basketball highlights was moving from the MECCA to the Bradley Center. Looking back though, I enjoyed the hell out of it. I was psyched to play Depaul and Dayton. Our campus was a total pit -- unsafe, worn down and grimy -- but is was OUR pit. We didn't know the difference and we didn't care. The holy grail was ND at home -- we used to get to the 'Lanch at 6am for pre-game. Yesterday, today -- there's an ebb and flow to MU basketball history and I'm enjoying the wave of NCAA appearances. I pretty confident we're going to lose Buzz soon, and that's ok too. We're f'n Warriors. No player, no coach, no team is bigger than the program. These are golden years, I suggest everyone enjoy them.
The Avalanche should have gone to the Smithsonian
Really enjoyed this stream. Historical Perspective is the last thing one expects to find on a fan site.
Thanks
CTWarrior---I was there from 81-89. Luckily my wife was daughter of Dean or I still would be there!!!
I was at Marquette for Hank's last two years and Majerus' first two. We were still getting some high level recruits - Kerry Trotter was a McDonald's All-American - and we still had a lofty place in the hoops world - 2nd high winning percentage the previous ten season behind UCLA - so it was a unique time in Marquette's hoops history.
However, my fondest MU hoops memory will be when we beat Louisville at their place the latter part of the 83-84 season. Louisville was ranked and we ended a fairly long home-court winning streak of theirs. Right when the game ended, my roommate and I were so excited we decided we were going to call Hank at his house - he was listed in the phone book. So we called and talked to Hank for about 5 minutes. He was very gracious and pretty excited too and told us we should meet the team bus at the Old Gym when they got back to town - we didn't. So, even though we were just starting to enter the dark times, we still had some highlights I'll cherish for a long, long time.
Quote from: drbob on March 14, 2011, 07:03:12 AM
you guys make me feel spoiled. I was there from 1968 to 1975 , the prime of the McGuire years . Was not there for the 77 championship, but saw alot of great teams and players and of course the coaching antics of McGuire.
Thats right Tommy Boy...they're called doctors (oops--like you Dr Bob!)
I also date to McGuire's time. We were spoiled like those under 50, couldnt imagine.
It is best looked at as a ten year run, from '68-'77
During that incredible ten year period:
-- MU posted the 3rd best 10 year reg season run EVER !(only UCLA and UK had better 10 year reg. season windows, and Duke has since joined this club);
and
-- MU was 20-9 (.690) in the NCAAs, with 2 final 4s, One NCAA champ, and one NIT Champ(8 0f the 10 years we were Sweet 16, or better).
-- MU, legitimately, was one of the great, top programs in the USA.
Excepting 2003, In the 32 other years since 1977:
-- MU is 6-15 (.286)in the NCAAs,and
--with the one final four, in 2003, improving MU to 10-16(.385) in the NCAAs, in the 33 year post Mcguire era( only 2 of the 33 years were Sweet 16, or better).
--MU , during the 33 years since MCGuire, has ranged from fair to very good, as programs go.
Because its tourney time, here is the all time MU NCAA breakdown:
SEASON W-L RESULTS
2010 0-1 Lost to Washington in first round, 80-78
2009
1-1 Defeated Utah State in first round, 58-57
Lost to Missouri in second round, 83-79
2008
1-1 Defeated Kentucky in first round, 74-66
Lost to Stanford in second round, 82-81
2007
0-1 Lost to Michigan State in first round, 61-49
2006
0-1 Lost to Alabama in first round, 90-85
2003
4-1 Defeated Holy Cross in first round, 72-68
Defeated Missouri in second round, 101-92
Defeated Pittsburgh in regional semifinal, 77-74
Defeated Kentucky in regional final, 83-69
Lost to Kansas in National Semifinal, 94-61
2002
0-1 Lost to Tulsa in first round, 71-69
1997
0-1 Lost to Providence in first round, 81-59
1996
1-1 Defeated Monmouth in first round, 68-44
Lost to Arkansas in second round, 65-56
1994
2-1 Defeated Louisiana-Lafayette in first round, 81-59
Defeated Kentucky in second round, 75-63
Lost to Duke in regional semifinal, 59-49
1993
0-1 Lost to Oklahoma State in first round, 74-62
1983
0-1 Lost to Tennessee in first round, 57-56
1982
1-1 Defeated Evansville in first round, 67-62
Lost to Missouri in second round, 73-69
1980
0-1 Lost to Villanova in first round, 77-59
1979
1-1 Defeated Pacific in second round, 73-48
Lost to DePaul in regional semifinal, 62-56
1978
0-1 Lost to Miami (OH) in second round, 84-81
1977
5-0 Defeated Cincinnati in second round, 66-51
Defeated Kansas State in regional semifinal, 67-66
Defeated Wake Forest in regional final, 82-68
Defeated Charlotte in National Semifinal, 51-49
Defeated North Carolina in National Championship, 67-59
1976
2-1 Defeated Western Kentucky in second round, 79-60
Defeated Western Michigan in regional semifinal, 62-57
Lost to Indiana in regional final, 65-56
1975
0-1 Lost to Kentucky in second round, 76-54
1974
4-1 Defeated Ohio in second round, 85-59
Defeated Vanderbilt in regional semifinal, 69-61
Defeated Michigan in regional final, 72-70
Defeated Kansas in National Semifinal, 64-51
Lost to North Carolina State in National Championship, 76-64
1973
2-1 Defeated Miami (OH) in second round, 77-62
Lost to Indiana in regional semifinal, 75-69
Defeated Austin Peay in third place game, 88-73
1972
1-2 Defeated Ohio in second round, 73-49
Lost to Kentucky in regional semifinal, 85-69
Lost to Minnesota in third place game, 77-72
1971
2-1 Defeated Miami (OH) in second round, 62-47
Lost to Ohio State in regional semifinal, 60-59
Defeated Kentucky in third place game, 91-74
1969
2-1 Defeated Murray State in second round, 82-62
Defeated Kentucky in regional semifinal, 81-74
Lost to Purdue in regional final, 75-73
1968
2-1 Defeated Bowling Green in second round, 72-71
Lost to Kentucky in regional semifinal, 107-89
Defeated East Tennessee State in third place game, 69-57
1961
0-1 Lost to Houston in second round, 77-61
1959
1-2 Defeated Bowling Green in second round, 89-71
Lost to Michigan State in regional semifinal, 74-69
Lost to Kentucky in third place game, 98-69
1955
2-1 Defeated Miami (OH) in first round, 90-79
Defeated Kentucky in second round, 79-71
Lost to Iowa in regional semifinal, 86-81
Thanks for the historical recap Houwarrior. Some of those were some great years.
2003 comes back as bittersweet. A great run to the Final 4 beating some highly ranked teams. Novak, a freshman hitting some big time threes in Minneapolis against Ky., Diener also, and DWade leading the team. The bitter part was the beatdown by Kansas---what a letdown after that run!
I was at MU from 84-88.....in retrospect, it is amazing how close to the 77 championship year that era was and, yet, how far the program fell. 7 years removed from the title and the program had begun a decent into a mid-major at best level in terms of talent and prestige. Even the rapid decline from my freshman to senior year was unbelievable. I remember painfully watching Roman Mueller in the Rec Center trying to actually catch a basketball under the hoop. I will say this...the dudes knew how to party back then, though.
I was there from 1986-90. Dukiet's three years, and O'Neill's first. It had gotten so bad that we actually joined the MCC (now the Horizon League) with the likes of Butler, Detroit and Loyola - DePaul would have never taken this step. I remember sitting at my student job, listening to us lose to Evansville in the first round of our first conference tournament game. It was so pitiful.
People here are right...it was 12 years after the national championship and we had fallen very far, very fast. It is damn near a miracle that 15 years later we were in a Final Four and soon afterward the Big East.
Marquette's downfall from 1978-1990--outside of errors of its own making--was largely due to the changing landscape in college basketball and the rise of ESPN. Many of the Midwestern teams that were not already part of the Big Ten-- like Marquette, Notre Dame, DePaul and Dayton, and to a lesser extent Detroit and Loyola--suffered in the search for a good conference to align with. Marquette and the others also saw a downturn in national exposure due to rise of the Big East (St. John's, Georgetown, Syracuse, etc..), the stratospheric explosion of Duke under Coach K (NC State has suffered with this as well), Lute Olson's reign in Arizona.
I would actually say that Bill Cords is probably under-appreciated in getting Marquette back on the map, hiring guys like O'Neill and Crean (and even Deane won 100 games quicker than any other Marquette coach at the time), and navigating MU though the MCC, Great Midwest, Conference USA and eventually the Big East.
Enjoyed this thread. Thanks. I'm a senior now and have had four years of NCAA tournament games. Will be in Cleveland on Friday.
Quote from: Norm on March 15, 2011, 10:59:06 AM
I would actually say that Bill Cords is probably under-appreciated in getting Marquette back on the map, hiring guys like O'Neill and Crean (and even Deane won 100 games quicker than any other Marquette coach at the time), and navigating MU though the MCC, Great Midwest, Conference USA and eventually the Big East.
Part of the problem was the Metro Conference refused to expand beyond 8 members. It would have been a perfect landing place for MU and Depaul. (It consisted of the likes of Louisville, Memphis, Cincinnatti, Florida State, etc.) And that is one of the reasons it no longer exists. (Well, technically it merged with the Great Midwest to form Conference USA.)
Quote from: Norm on March 15, 2011, 10:59:06 AM
Marquette's downfall from 1978-1990--outside of errors of its own making--was largely due to the changing landscape in college basketball and the rise of ESPN. Many of the Midwestern teams that were not already part of the Big Ten-- like Marquette, Notre Dame, DePaul and Dayton, and to a lesser extent Detroit and Loyola--suffered in the search for a good conference to align with. Marquette and the others also saw a downturn in national exposure due to rise of the Big East (St. John's, Georgetown, Syracuse, etc..), the stratospheric explosion of Duke under Coach K (NC State has suffered with this as well), Lute Olson's reign in Arizona.
I would actually say that Bill Cords is probably under-appreciated in getting Marquette back on the map, hiring guys like O'Neill and Crean (and even Deane won 100 games quicker than any other Marquette coach at the time), and navigating MU though the MCC, Great Midwest, Conference USA and eventually the Big East.
Actually....I think it correlates more to the decision to end "Block Party."
Seriously, great post.
Quote from: Norm on March 15, 2011, 10:59:06 AM
Marquette's downfall from 1978-1990--outside of errors of its own making--was largely due to the changing landscape in college basketball and the rise of ESPN. Many of the Midwestern teams that were not already part of the Big Ten-- like Marquette, Notre Dame, DePaul and Dayton, and to a lesser extent Detroit and Loyola--suffered in the search for a good conference to align with. Marquette and the others also saw a downturn in national exposure due to rise of the Big East (St. John's, Georgetown, Syracuse, etc..), the stratospheric explosion of Duke under Coach K (NC State has suffered with this as well), Lute Olson's reign in Arizona.
I would actually say that Bill Cords is probably under-appreciated in getting Marquette back on the map, hiring guys like O'Neill and Crean (and even Deane won 100 games quicker than any other Marquette coach at the time), and navigating MU though the MCC, Great Midwest, Conference USA and eventually the Big East.
I agree that Cords should be given a lot of credit. Side note - poor Bill was assigned the task of writing me a "pep talk" letter back when I suggested, in a letter of my own to Father "Buck" Raynor that "Jumping Jesuits" would be a good team name if the university insisted on changing it. ::) Said essentially that my suggestion was "shameful" but would be forwarded and given consideration. ;D
Quote from: Norm on March 15, 2011, 10:59:06 AM
Marquette's downfall from 1978-1990--outside of errors of its own making--was largely due to the changing landscape in college basketball and the rise of ESPN. Many of the Midwestern teams that were not already part of the Big Ten-- like Marquette, Notre Dame, DePaul and Dayton, and to a lesser extent Detroit and Loyola--suffered in the search for a good conference to align with. Marquette and the others also saw a downturn in national exposure due to rise of the Big East (St. John's, Georgetown, Syracuse, etc..), the stratospheric explosion of Duke under Coach K (NC State has suffered with this as well), Lute Olson's reign in Arizona.
I would actually say that Bill Cords is probably under-appreciated in getting Marquette back on the map, hiring guys like O'Neill and Crean (and even Deane won 100 games quicker than any other Marquette coach at the time), and navigating MU though the MCC, Great Midwest, Conference USA and eventually the Big East.
The problems of MU's making was the reluctance to admit independents were becoming a dinosaur in the eyes of the NCAA. The BE had wanted MU at the beginning. We declined. Being an independent back then was a big deal. You could schedule whom you wanted and you did not have to win a conference, or championship, to get in. Just be the best of the independents (or top group as the NCAA expanded).
MU waited a few years too late to join a conference. Had we joined the BE at the beginning, our history might have been different. It's IU might not have been a step up in the eyes of a coach.
Quote from: MUMac on March 15, 2011, 06:36:07 PM
The problems of MU's making was the reluctance to admit independents were becoming a dinosaur in the eyes of the NCAA. The BE had wanted MU at the beginning. We declined. Being an independent back then was a big deal. You could schedule whom you wanted and you did not have to win a conference, or championship, to get in. Just be the best of the independents (or top group as the NCAA expanded).
MU waited a few years too late to join a conference. Had we joined the BE at the beginning, our history might have been different. It's IU might not have been a step up in the eyes of a coach.
Wow, I never knew the Big East wanted Marquette as an original member in 1979. I thought only Rutgers and Holy Cross initially turned them down. I also think the Big East regrets turning down Penn State's application to join the conference in the early '80's (especially for its football conference).
Quote from: Norm on March 15, 2011, 07:50:01 PM
Wow, I never knew the Big East wanted Marquette as an original member in 1979. I thought only Rutgers and Holy Cross initially turned them down. I also think the Big East regrets turning down Penn State's application to join the conference in the early '80's (especially for its football conference).
When they were first forming, they approached MU. MU was the big independent and thought that joining a conference would be a big mistake. At that time, MU had a rivalry with St. Johns and had a large reputation on the East Coast.
I heard Al was in favor of joining the Big East after he left, and lobbied for it, but the Big East was lukewarm to the idea?
Quote from: Norm on March 15, 2011, 10:59:06 AM
Marquette's downfall from 1978-1990--outside of errors of its own making--was largely due to the changing landscape in college basketball and the rise of ESPN. Many of the Midwestern teams that were not already part of the Big Ten-- like Marquette, Notre Dame, DePaul and Dayton, and to a lesser extent Detroit and Loyola--suffered in the search for a good conference to align with. Marquette and the others also saw a downturn in national exposure due to rise of the Big East (St. John's, Georgetown, Syracuse, etc..), the stratospheric explosion of Duke under Coach K (NC State has suffered with this as well), Lute Olson's reign in Arizona.
I would actually say that Bill Cords is probably under-appreciated in getting Marquette back on the map, hiring guys like O'Neill and Crean (and even Deane won 100 games quicker than any other Marquette coach at the time), and navigating MU though the MCC, Great Midwest, Conference USA and eventually the Big East.
I think Cords and his hiring of O'Neill may have saved Marquette basketball from potential abyss. Kevin at least put MU basketball back on the map as best as could be done considering the situation he took over.
If Cords had made a mistake instead of hiring O'Neill when he did, there is a pretty good chance that the program wouldn't be in the good situation that it currently finds itself in.
I graduated in '77 and don't recall ever hearing or reading anything about the BE offering Marquette membership. Of course, that was a long time ago--maybe I've forgotten. If that's true and we turned them down, why didn't they offer DePaul? Or Notre Dame? Or other high level Midwestern independents?
It's impossible to overstate how much Al's retirement from coaching hurt Marquette. The instant success of the BE was certainly a factor. But Hank simply couldn't recruit the way Al could. As soon as Al left, Ray Meyer and DePaul got virtually all of the top Chicago talent--Doc Rivers the only exception--and became a national powerhouse.
1977–1978 DePaul 27–3
1978–1979 DePaul 26–6
1979–1980 DePaul 26–2
1980–1981 DePaul 27–2
1981–1982 DePaul 26–2
1982–1983 DePaul 21–12
1983–1984 DePaul 27–3
Ok, I am late to the party on this one, but I have been following Marquette since 1966 (when I was 12) and come from a deeply Marquette family. I've learned that your perspective on the basketball program is a function of when you first chanted "We Are Marquette."
The folks who are 50 or older have this strong notion that we're something special. We remember Al and we remember 1974 and 1977, conveniently wiping out everything from that 1969 missed free throw to that 1971 "out of bounds" call. Both cost us deep runs at the national title (the former preventing our first Final Four). We nonetheless equate Marquette with North Carolina, UCLA, Duke et al and wonder "why not?"
We talk about what caused the Dukiet years and the Deane Malaise. My view is it started in March 1978, when Marquette lost a very poorly played and badly coached game to Miami of Ohio. We were defending national champions and we lost to Miami of Ohio??? Give me a break. Father Raynor and Quentin Quade should have known something was wrong right then and there.
Hank was a wonderful guy and his family is a testament to the kind of person he was. But he had no business being a Division 1 head coach. We stayed with Hank way too long and failed to understand how the college landscape had changed. Quite simply, Hank could not consistently recruit. He was Al's Phil Bengston (the guy who replaced Vince Lombardi up to the north, for you young folks). In 1978, we could have had anybody -- and I mean anybody -- we wanted for our head coaching position. But we made the mistake we didn't make in 1964 and we paid for it for a decade.
There is a lot of postings on this board about Buzz leaving. I've griped a little, but I think it is too early. I hope he stays and I hope we made the right decision with him. But there is no reason to think yet, as there was in 1978, that it is time to cut the cord.
One other thought -- one reason for our success was that Al didn't discriminate. He recruited African American basketball players at a time when comparatively few schools did. Marquette was an open and I assume welcoming campus for African America players and Al treated them the same as he did anyone else. It's no secret that the powerhouse schools of the 1960s and 1970s, UCLA, Marquette, North Carolina, Texas- El Paso, Kansas, etc., actively recruited African America ballplayers and made them feel at home on campus.
One of the great contrasts in MU history happened in 1972 in a little remembered game at the Arena. Marquette was playing the University of Tennessee, which was part of the almost all-white Southeastern Conference (at the time). Tennessee was mostly if not all white and came into the Arena and got their heads handed to them. The game ended 56-30 and the only reason it wasn't 96-30 was that there was no shot clock or three-pointers and Marquette played a very deliberate style of offense. A year later, MU went to Knoxville and Tennessee, with a more integrated team, took us to overtime before we won.
By 1979, with Al gone and more schools seeing what Marquette, UCLA and other were able to do, began aggressively recruiting young men that heretofore had to choose between us, UCLA and maybe North Carolina. The depth of the pool was the same, but the talent became more disbursed.