Final look at anniversary weekend

The alums have all flown home now. The snow has all but melted. And the basketball team is off in Cullowhee thinking about the next set of bodies that the SoCon will throw at them. The once in a lifetime moment came and went...but thankfully, we are left with more than just a ticket stub and maybe a few autographs. Here's a look at all of the different takes from the weekend of Davidson basketball.

Just recently published here on the blog, Michael Kruse put up the caution sign in this article about the Hall of Fame panel that gathered on Saturday morning. Kruse argues that Saturday was not the best time for the politics of John Gerdy and yet firmly believed that the high-flying act of the 2007-2008 Wildcats all but erased any bruised feelings between members of different generations and worldviews.

Over on the Wildcats' Roar blog, Lauren Biggers gave a nice take on how the Wildcats were finally having fun on the court. From Jason Richards' several fist pumps and exhortations of competitive fury to Stephen Curry's smooth pointing to the crowd, the entire game felt like an unleashing of Wildcat fervor that came from somewhere very deep down inside. I will also have an article on the athletic website's blog page in the near future.

Throughout the afternoon basketball game, Lefty Driesell sat with John Kilgo at the press table and talked about the game and his experiences as the Wildcat coach in the 1960's. He repeatedly said that Curry was one of the best guards that he had ever seen play basketball, and that McKillop had coached his team to play great defense. Even in the 1960's when defenses were less physical, Driesell always taught his Wildcats how to play shut-down D and force turnovers.

As pointed out by AppFan over on his blog, Davidson's celebration was not without its ironic humor. This poorly deluded youngster was getting an autograph from Driesell while wearing an App State hoody. This photo by Marty Price appeared in the Charlotte Observer slideshow of photos from the basketball weekend.

In another bit of irony more pleasing to Davidson fans, the Chattanooga Free Times' David Uchiyama wrote that Chase Allred, a local 8-year old was happier to have gotten Stephen Curry's autograph than Driesell's. "I can't believe I got Stephen Curry's autograph."

One of the darker moments of Saturday came late in the game against Chattanooga when the Mocs' Matt Gwynne intentionally fouled Davidson's Thomas Sander. The Davidson bench was irate and Sander refused to comment on the incident after the game. As you can see by the footage, Gwynne was ferocious with his elbow and nearly broke Sander's nose. Sander had been punched in the groin earlier in the game by Chattanooga's Kevin Bridgewaters.



Sander seemed to be without any permanent damage after the game, as he was cheerfully signing autographs for kids on the court. The Wildcats return to Chattanooga on February 2, and if this video continues to be played over and over, it is a guarantee that some more sparks will fly.

Kruse Thoughts

Michael Kruse is a staff writer for the St. Petersburg Times and friend of Will's World. A graduate of Davidson and former editor of the Davidsonian, Kruse was in town to enjoy the 100th anniversary festivities and kindly wrote up an article for the blog.

Good, rich weekend for the Wildcats, was it not?

So much to just fill you up: old friends and familiar faces, the 100th anniversary festivities, beers at the Brick House, a big, dominant win over the "other" best team in the league, and the much-anticipated panel discussion with greats like Lefty, Snyder, Gerdy and others. But my favorite thing about the whole weekend was that the panel discussion wasn't my favorite thing about the whole weekend.

Not because it wasn't interesting.

It was.

A little TOO interesting at times, actually, thanks to Gerdy, the program's all-time leading scorer who grew up, of course, to write books with titles like Sports: The All-American Addiction.

"I'm very proud of Davidson that we've readjusted our expectations," he said at one point.

(Uh oh.)

"I've never been more proud of the program than over the last 10 years," he said, with Lefty and Jerry Kroll sitting a few feet to his right.

(Uh oh.)

And then this: "The bottom line," he said. "The basketball program is not essential to the mission of the college."

(Yikes.)

It's maybe a worthwhile if tired debate, the Division I vs. Division III thing at Davidson, and all that goes with it, but it's best had almost in an intellectual vacuum in a coffee shop somewhere.

Thing is, I don't disagree with a bunch of the stuff Gerdy likes to talk about, and you can make the argument that what McKillop has done over the last, say, 15 years, in some ways, and at this point in College Sports, Inc., has been even harder than what Lefty did in his nine years in the '60s. And that's no knock at all on what Lefty did here. What he did that decade at Davidson adds up to absolutely one of the most amazing stories in the history of the college hoops.

But on a panel on a weekend celebrating 100 years of Wildcat basketball? Not totally the time and place to have snippets of that conversation, or to raise the kinds of issues that beg a back-and-forth on the complicated, pretty much impossible comparison between the program's two most successful eras. Too many things have changed. Everyone here knows what they are.

Lefty on the panel?

Lefty was Lefty. Gravelly voice, folksy showman, big man, big presence. People can't not listen and watch. There's just something about him. Anyway, he told some of his stories from the '60s, some of which might actually have been true.

"Lefty," Kilgo told him at the end, "I want to, in deference to you, to give you the last word."

But here was the best part of the weekend.

Lefty's word wasn't the last word.

The vibrant present took over from there.

Practice like you play, play like you practice, and the 27-point win over Chattanooga rolled out like a natural extension of the workout I watched Friday afternoon. So much purpose and precision within all that sweat and heavy breathing.

"We're gonna kick their ass," first-rate, first-row fan Jim Richards said before tip.

And so we did.

McKillop's teams, when they're right, they play with such a level-headed fury.

Jason did his thing, all angles, intellect and body control.

Max was Max. That kid, and I don't know that I fully understood this before, at least not to such an extent, but sitting press row at Belk for the whole game for the first time in years and years made me appreciate his play more than ever. He plays, defense in particular, with an utter ferocity. You can practically hear his exertion.

Steph was awesome, of course, he of the light that's as green as green can be. You always know he's going good, though, when you notice, just as much as the threes, the floaters, the runners, the pull-ups, the crafty little dribble drives that turn into layups that lead to him piling up all those twos like he does all those threes.

No wonder middle-aged men in the stands at Belk wear those No. 30 jerseys. The part of me that's a sensible adult thinks that's kind of ridiculous, but I've got to be honest here: The proud, almost primal part of me kind of digs the hell out of it.

Steph aside, though, the tenor of Saturday's game was established just as much by the whole team's sticky fingers and active hands. Thomas Sander had SIX steals. All of it was a 40-minute reminder that being in the right place at the right time doesn't have to be an accident, and shouldn't be.

After the game, in the little press get-together, Thomas said this succinct thing about Steph: "Seeing him feel like he can do anything makes us feel like we can do anything."

Steph, asked about his 37 points, said this: "We played our best game of the year."

The kid said we.

'Cats win big in front of alums, 85-58

***photo by Marty Price***

Davidson extended its conference winning streak to 18 games on Saturday afternoon by defeating North Division leader Chattanooga 85-58. The Wildcats have now started the conference season at 8-0. Davidson has only opened the conference season with eight straight in three different seasons: they finished undefeated each time.

Davidson was led by the incredible talent of Stephen Curry. Curry fed off the raucous crowd of 5,361 to lead Davidson from the opening tip. The crowd had an especially emotional feel as scores of Davidson basketball alumni, including Lefty Driesell, were in town for Davidson's 100th anniversary celebration.

Curry hit three-pointers from all parts of the court, scoring 27 points in the first half. That was one point short of Fred Hetzel's Davidson record of 28 set back in the 1964. Curry finished with 37 points, one short of a career high, with eight three-pointers. His last three came from well beyond the three-point arc with a hand in his face.

Curry was not alone in harnessing the fever pulse of the crowd. Boris Meno finished with 12 points off the bench, including several big thunder dunks that brought the crowd to its feet.

"It was good to get the crowd going and my team going," said Meno. "Steph was making shots like crazy, so I had to do something."

"The crowd was extraordinary," said Coach McKillop. "It was emotional for me to have all these people assembled that have allowed me to be here. They built the foundation of this program, and I wanted us to play well in front of them. I was incredibly proud of our guys because it was such a special day."

Andrew Lovedale and Thomas Sander joined Meno in dominating Chattanooga in the frontcourt. Lovedale made several fallaway jumpers to finish with 12 points in his sixth game as a starter. Sander set several impenetrable ball screens to set up Curry threes. He finished with six assists and six steals, leading Davidson's defense all night.

"Sander was flawless out there today," said McKillop.

McKillop and his players had the opportunity to interact with Davidson basketball alums at Friday's practice and Saturday's dinner.

"Those guys are proud to be a part of a program that has the excitement we have now. They are all part of that foundation," said McKillop.

On Saturday afternoon, that foundation seemed impenetrable.

Weekly Wrap-up

As many of you have already seen from the Dson Bball Blog and the message board, there is a new 'Cat in town. The blog's name is Lefty's Legacy and it is run by some Davidson alums from 4th Watts and Base Rich. Although the blog is still in its infancy, I still like its tumbling format. The quote feature is pretty cool.

I want post that, unless otherwise noted, all images used on the site now come from Davidson volleyball coach, Tim Cowie. You can find some of Cowie's photos that are available to purchase here.

This week all eyes turn to Raleigh, N.C. for Davidson's game with the N.C. State Wolfpack. I won't be doing a live writeup, but I will post some observations on Saturday at some point. Although Davidson suffered a 4-5 record from a very tough front end of a schedule in November and December, it means the Wildcats get to relax a little throughout most of their holiday break. In the past 5 years, Davidson has sported a less-than-stellar 10-11 record against D-I opponents over the holiday break. If you take out last year's 5-0 mark, that number becomes even more discouraging. This year's holiday break extends so far into January that the Wildcats will have already played six games before students get to see them again on January 19th against Chattanooga.

Speaking of the Chattanooga game on the 19th, fans should begin to make plans to come to Belk Arena for both that game and the Feb. 16th game against Furman. On the 19th, Davidson will honor players and coaches that have helped build the Davidson basketball program over the last 100 years. While legendary coaches Lefty Driesell and Terry Holland will be in attendance, fans will miss out on seeing Davidson legends Mike Maloy, Fred Hetzel and Derek Rucker who will not be attending. On Feb. 16th, Davidson will honor another class of inductees into its Hall of Fame. The class of 2008 includes soccer goalie Alex Deegan '95, Steve Heckard '65, Rodney Knowles '68, and Carolyn Kirsch '97.

1969-1970 was the end of the "glory years"

I have asked many Davidson alums of the 1960's about their experiences in one of the most tumultuous decades of the 20th century. Some have said that small Davidson was often isolated from the decade's craziness. Others dispute that claim by pointing to several student protests against the Vietnam War. But nearly all of the alumni remembered those days for a completely different reason. Davidson had one of the best basketball programs in the country.

When Dick Snyder and Fred Hetzel packed their bags and headed for the NBA in '65 and '66, Driesell didn't abandon his goal of making Davidson a national title contender. By 1968, Davidson had not only rebuilt, it had reloaded.

That year, the Wildcats had one of their best season to date, finishing with 24 wins and advancing to the NCAA Tournament Regional Finals, where they lost their bid for a Final Four appearance to the North Carolina Tarheels. Leading the team was a host of impressive stars like Rodney Knowles, Mike Maloy, Jerry Kroll and Doug Cook. For the latter three players, this would be the first of three consecutive NCAA tournament appearances. Maloy, Kroll and Cook still hold prominent places in the Davidson record books.

The story of Maloy might be more interesting than that of Driesell. Maloy was one of the first prominent African-American athletes at Davidson at a time when North Carolina still upheld many Jim Crow laws. Maloy became one of Davidson's most prolific scorers and rebounders during his three years at the school.

In the winter of 1968, Maloy became the first Davidson athlete to grace the cover of "Sports Illustrated." He was one of three players heralded as "Challengers to UCLA." By the end of that season, Maloy found himself facing off against the player sitting in front of him for that SI cover shoot: Charlie Scott.

At that time, Scott was a star forward for the Tar Heels. He owns the distinction of being UNC's first black scholarship athlete, yet the history books leave out one important footnote: he wanted to come to Davidson. The legend goes that Scott attended Davidson for a recruiting visit but a local restaurant refused to serve his family because of his skin color. Scott ended up attending Chapel Hill. On March 15, 1969, Scott left one more indelible mark in the history books of Wildcat basketball.

Davidson set a new high water mark in 1969 by recording 27 wins en route to another Southern Conference Championship. After rolling over St. Johns and Villanova in the tournament's first two rounds, Davidson faced a rematch with North Carolina in a rematch of the Regional Final game from the year before.
With under a minute to play and a tie ballgame, Davidson had a chance to use up the clock and hit the game-winning basket. But Kroll was whistled for an untimely charging foul and North Carolina got the ball back.

After a timeout, everyone in the arena knew that Scott would be taking the final shot. With the final seconds ticking away, Scott dribbled to the foul circle and put up a jumper. The ball rippled the net as the final buzzer expired. North Carolina advanced to the Final Four. Davidson's "glory years" effectively ended.

By the end of that week, Driesell had accepted a new job at the University of Maryland. Although the Wildcats were very successful under replacement Terry Holland over the next two years, they faltered in the 1970 NCAA Tournament's first round. During that spring, Maloy left school early to enter the NBA but was cut before the season even started.

A 1972 "Charlotte Observer" article claimed that nearly all of Holland's initial success was due to the remnants of Driesell's recruiting. That same article also noted that many members of Davidson's faculty were not unhappy to see Driesell leave because they were not pleased by the academic sacrifices that seemed to have accompanied major college basketball. It was time, it seemed, for Davidson basketball to head in a new direction.

Between 1974 and 1991, Davidson had a combined record of 177-301. Davidson briefly dropped out of the Southern Conference in 1988. The program needed a major change. It needed a vision once again. That change came with the hiring of a high school coach from Long Island. The coach's name was Bob McKillop, and he would go on to become the winningest coach in Davidson basketball history.

***This is the third article in a four-part Davidsonian series on the 100th anniversary of Davidson basketball.***