Before Mike Krzyzewski, there was Gene Banks, Jim Spanarkel, Mike Gminski, and Bill Foster

[Frobby]

7 hours ago, NashLumber said:

I grew up in Raleigh, a State fan. My uncle has season tickets for a few years in that era (and maybe before, I seem to remember Tate Armstrong being a Duke regular before that) and I got to see all those Duke guys in their early road games at Reynolds Coliseum. I remember Gminski doing something kind of impressive, maybe a hook shot or something, and someone yelling out with admiration "that was a senior move!" Duke had been so mediocre in the years before that lots of us Wolfpackers kind of adopted them as our poor cousin and would pull for them when they were not playing the Pack. In those days the intense rivalry was UNC and State (allegedly Roy Williams still has a special fire to beat NC State). Duke was an afterthought for UNC and State before those guys in this thread's subject line got here. 

Absolutely agreed.   I grew up as a Maryland fan during the years of McMillen-Elmore-Lucas et al., and Duke was absolutely an afterthought.   Foster did a great job getting Duke back on the map. It was a shock when he left, and then it took Coach K a few years to get any traction recruiting.   

[Frobby]

On 3/2/2019 at 6:20 PM, Frobby said:

The ACC was awesome in those days.  8-team league and they were all good or great.    

 

On 3/2/2019 at 10:33 PM, OFFNY said:

Believe it or not, the ACC was actually a 7-team league when you were a student there as a young man, and Banks, Spanarkel, and Gminski were returning the program to the elite status that it had previously enjoyed in the early-to-mid 60's.

I remember when I was a kid in the late 70's at the time, and the 1st place team in the regular season actually got a bye directly into the semifinals of the conference tournament, while the other 6 teams played each other for the remaining 3 spots in the semis.

It was until the 1979-80 season when Georgia Teach joined the conference, giving the ACC an even 8 teams overall (and no longer a bye for the regular season 1st-place team in the conference tournament.)

 

10 hours ago, backwardsk said:

You guys can reminisce all you want, but the ACC was best when Florida St was added as the ninth team (Sura, Cassell).  Sixteen game balanced schedule, Thursday night play in game.  That's when the league was best.

I’d have to think about when the ACC was at its best.    I didn’t mean to imply that the late 70’s was the top.    Just that it was really great then.     

I’m actually quite partial to the league in the mid-80’s.   In ‘83-84 the league had its highest winning percentage ever, .679.   That was followed by .658 and .664 the next two years.  The league put 5, 5 and 6 of its 8 teams into the NCAA tournament.   Some of the players in the league then:

Clemson - Horace and Harvey Grant

Duke - Dawkins, Amaker, Alarie, Ferry

Ga. Tech - Price, Sally, Ferrell, Dalrymple, Hammonds

Maryland - Bias, Branch, Gatlin, Coleman

North Carolina - Jordan, Perkins, Daugherty, K. Smith, Doherty

NC State - Charles, Webb, Washburn, Shackleford, Gannon

Wake Forest - Rudd, Green, Bogues

Virginia - Wilson, Carlisle, Polynice, Sheehey.

[NashLumber]

13 hours ago, backwardsk said:

Easy there.  I'm not trying to be antagonist, sorry if it came across that way.  Just saying the ACC was best in that format.  

Sticking to your topic, one man not to be forgotten is two-sport star, former number 3 overall pick, former NL MVP, Dick Groat.

I didn’t realize that about Groat (his Duke two sport heroics - even played a year in the NBA). Just did some reading about him this morning based on your post. Fascinating. 

[OFFNY]

16 hours ago, Frobby said:

 

I’d have to think about when the ACC was at its best. I didn’t mean to imply that the late 70’s was the top ........ just that it was really great then.     

I’m actually quite partial to the league in the mid-80’s. In the 1983-84 season, the league had its highest winning percentage ever, at .679. That was followed by a .658 and a .664 clip the next two years, in 1983-84 and 1984-85. The league put 5, 5, and 6 of its 8 teams into the NCAA tournament respectively in those 3 seasons. Some of the players who in the league then:

 

Clemson - Horace and Harvey Grant

Duke - Dawkins, Amaker, Alarie, Ferry

Ga. Tech - Price, Sally, Ferrell, Dalrymple, Hammonds

Maryland - Bias, Branch, Gatlin, Coleman

North Carolina - Jordan, Perkins, Daugherty, K. Smith, Doherty

NC State - Charles, Webb, Washburn, Shackleford, Gannon

Wake Forest - Rudd, Green, Bogues

Virginia - Wilson, Carlisle, Polynice, Sheehey.

 

o

 

The 1982-83 season also was the first in which there was a 3-point field goal in college basketball ........ and it was only done in the ACC and a handful of other

conferences, in intra-conference games.

 

4 years before the 3-point shot was universally inaugurated (the 1986-87 season), the ACC and a few other conferences had it for a one-year trial.

 

And the ACC's line/arc was actually shorter than was the 19' 9" arc that college basketball universally inaugurated in the 1986-87 season. 19' 9" meant

that the line was wrapped directly around the top of the key. The ACC's 3-point line in that 1982-83 season actually went inside of the top of the key, at only

17' 6"........ the other conferences that used it that season all had varying lengths for their one-year trial of the 3-point field goal.

 

 

 

o

[Frobby]

Spanarkel did both the LSU-Maryland and Kentucky-Wofford games on CBS today.   

[OFFNY]

4 hours ago, Frobby said:

 

Spanarkel did both the LSU-Maryland and Kentucky-Wofford games on CBS today.

  

o

 

In my rat's ass of an opinion, Mike Gminski did a really great thing as a color commentator several years back, during a 2014 NCAA tournament game between Gonzaga and Oklahoma.

 

Play-by-play man Andrew Catalon made the now infamous "Hack a Pollock" comment in regard to the strategy of intentionally fouling Gonzaga center Przemek Karnowski, who is from Poland. Gminski (who happens to be of Polish descent himself) said, "Easy now," and both announcers laughed nervously while Catalon said, "Sorry Mike." Realizing what a tremendously ignorant thing that he said, Catalon apologized to the audience less than a minute later. Still feeling very anxious, and that his single apology might not be sufficient, Catalon again apologized about 3 minutes later, saying "I want to apologize PROFUSELY for the comment that I made a few minutes ago in regard to Przemek Karnowski, and to any and all people of Polish descent that I offended in saying what I did." Gminski, sensing that his partner was extremely agitated and nervous about the potential backlash for his comment, immediately did his best to comfort him ........ he said, "You're OK. I'll take care of you."

 

To me, Gminski took the high road and instead of piling on Catalon for what he said. It would have been easy to act offended and annoyed with Catalon for the extremely stupid thing that he said. Instead, sensing the very deep waters that Catalon was in, Gminski threw a proverbial life raft to him. I believe that his "I'll take care of you" comment was Gminski's way of saying that he will vouch for Catalon in terms of his overall character, and that people ought to not necessarily condemn him outright for sticking his foot in his mouth at the worst possible time (on national television.) I don't have a personal stake in regard to Catalon's career one way or the other, but it did my heart good to see somebody like Gminski try to comfort the afflicted in what was an extremely stressful situation, in a society in which reactionary behavior is often what ensues.

 

o