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9^-Q By Brett L. Friedtander Sports Editor Flr?t ol twop?ti As the end of an era in Gamecock basketball approaches, one canot help but look back to a time when coach Frank McGuire and his USC teams stood atop the world of intercollegiate athletics. For six consecutive seasons in the late '60s and early '70s, McGuire and his players won 20 or more games and earned a spot 1 among the nation's elite in the weekly basketball polls. But of all his successful players and teams, one group stands out above the rest as the greatest in the history. of the University of South Carolina. Ten years ago, McGuire took these talented players from New York and orchestrated them to an impressive 25-3 record and a national ranking as high as number-one. Gamecock fans across the state could hardly wait for the 1969-70 season to begin. Never before had USC been favored to take the (Athletic Coast Conference title and as a result, basketball fever hit an all-time high. So intense were the Gamecock fans that crowds of up to 5,000 people turned out to watch the team practice and the Carolina Coliseum was filled to capacity for the formal pre season intrasquad game. "The fans were really great," team member John Ribock remembered. "They definitely helped us, I think it psyched us up. I'd never seen anything like it before, in any sport, anywhere." \ The opening test of the season I was a road contest against a tough I Auburn team. For the first time A ever, the game was broadcast B back to Columbia via closed circuit television at the coliseum. I THE GAMECOCKS didn't let their fans down. Playing like the number-one team in the nation, they blitzed the Tigers 86-64 behind the play of 6-10 forward Tom I JET;.. i ftiii *? ? . w>- -;pjpi HI mw ? ? ? 4 V*-v-. * 1 Former Gamecock AU-Ai Roche begins to drive the Ian6 the foot of Wake Forest's Jc .. Only Frank M uwens. me junior trom Bronx, N.Y., had 27 points and 17 rebounds in the season opener, and was followed closely by teammate John Roche who had 25. At one point in the game, Auburn trailed by just six points, but the Gamecocks scored 10 unanswered points to put the game away. Full of confidence from their opening win, USC returned home to play Tennessee. Running into their coldest shooting night of the season (33.9 percent), the Gamecocks were upset by the Volunteers 55-54. Only Roche, Owens and sophomore center Tom Riker contributed to the atack as the trio combined for all but three of Carolina's points. According to captain Bobby Cremins, the team was as disappointed by the loss as their fans were. "I was very, very disappointed in myself and the team's performance," Cremins said recently. "I remember I stayed up all night and walked around the streets of Columbia trying to forget about it. This was a real low point for us, but it was a point in which we had to regroup and come back, which is what we did." After the loss to Tennessee, McGuire's troops went on to win their next 17 games. The first game of the winning streak was against small college rival Erskine. That night. Owens had perhaps the finest game of his career scoring 36 points, grabbing 28 rebounds and blocking 12 shots. USC ran away with a 95-44 win. The Gamecocks then embarked on a six game road trip that answered many important questions. The team got some help in the first game of the trip at East Carolina as sophomores Bobby Carver and Rick Aydlett came off the bench to contribute in a 68-49 win. With the addition of the two youngsters, McGuire now had "Seven Starters" to draw from. The previous I season, it was usually up to the five regulars to go all the way. Carolina coasted through its next few games by defeating Virginia, Maryland and Long Island with relative ease. With a 6-1 record, they traveled to New Orleans to rvarticinate in the Su?ar Bowl K I ?-? Tournament. The Gamecocks defeated New Mexico handily in the opening round and prepared for a clash with Notre Dame in the fl championship game. jl BEHIND THE great individual effort of All-American Austin Carr, the Fighting Irish led USC by four with about two minutes remaining to play. It was at this point that the Gamecocks began to go to an All American of tneir own. nocne, wno did not shoot well early in the V. game, sent it into overtime as he hit two straight jumpers and then a m eric an John and goes dov ), but trips over Gamecocks hi thn Lewcowlcx finals of the A s ^V^UII C O l/C pair of pressure packed free throws with 14 seconds left in regulation. USC eventually won the game in overtime. Gamecock play-by-play announcer Bob Fulton remembered the close win over Notre Dame for another reason. It was during this game that Riker came into his own as a college center, scoring 25 of his career-high 36 points in the first half to keep his team in it. "That was probably Riker's greatest game at Carolina," Fulton explained. "But still, it was Roche right down to the end. He just backed in toward the basket as he alwavs did. cleared out one side and got fouled. He made both, sent the game into overtime and then we beat them." February is normally the coldest month in South Carolina, but in the winter of 1969-70, January turned out to be the month of the "deep freeze." North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia and Furman all tried to stop the Gamecocks with slow-down tactics, and all failed. Against UNC, power forward John Ribock led the way with 14 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots. Ribock was the only member of the "Seven Starters" that was not from New York, but that mattered little as he fit into the system of Roche and company with his strong inside play and a unique ability for setting picks. During the period of the stall games, USC proved that it could handle any kind of situation and still win. The scoring averages were hurt a little by the opposition's tactics, but the Gamecocks cared little as . they began to rise back to the top of the national polls. "The slowdown made it much harder for us to win," Owens said. "We were basically a big, strong team and weren't very quick. So, the only chance a lot of teams had of beating us was to play that way. We felt that if the teams ran with us, it would be almost impossible for them to beat us." CREMINS, the elder statesman on the club, took over in USC's next game which was against Clemson. Holding the Tigers' high scoring Butch Zatezalo scoreless in the first half, the popular Cremins led a Gamecock outburst that resulted in a big 97-76 win over their crossstate rival. The team captain then followed that stellar performance by scoring 19 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in an 86-54 win over Virginia Tech and contributed 14 more in a key ACC road win over Duke. "The thing I remember most about the success of our team is the fact that Bobby Cremins did so much," Aydlett said. "He com vn with a shattered ankle. The 9Id on for the win, but lost in the CC tournament to N. C. State. de ago :si team rert n/< t Former Gamecock forward \ against C/emson. The 6-10 Oh the Gamecocks 25-3 team. plemented everybody so well. He led by example, kept most of us in line and was very serious about his basketball. Bobby was an outstanding captain that year, and he made us all play together." Although All-American John Roche was in the midst of another outstanding season (he had won ACC player of the year honors in 1968-69), his best performance may have come in a 79-71 USC win over HPnivi rvl n a f f V\ n .Da l/kr f i n i ciupic d l iuc a aicoii a 111 Philadelphia. With Roche taking only three shots in the first half, Temple enjoyed a five point advantage at the intermission. But Roche came out hot in the second half and in a span of 9:35, scored 25 points and helped send USC out to a commanding lead. Roche finished the game with 34 points, and his performance earned him the honor of being named the outstanding visiting player in Philadelphia for the year. "I controlled the ball a lot," Roche said. "It's a credit to the other players on the team that they allowed me to do that. We felt that was the best way to play in the ACC and we felt that it was important to get a lead, control the ball early in the game and not take many risks. That's pretty much what we did." Next, the Gamecocks easily took care of ACC foes Clemson and Wake Forest. Against the Tigers, Roche, as usual led the way with 25 points and seven assists. Owens followed closely with 22 points, 25 rebounds and 12 blocked shots as USC earned a 99-52 win. iiic L/uuiiiuii vii io i vi i in much the same manner, 81-54, as Owens came within one of outrebounding the entire Wake Forest team. Roche and Owens each had 24 points. The USC winning streak came to an end as Davidson defeated the Gamecocks 68-62 at the coliseum. Owens, Hiker and Ribock got into early foul trouble which limited the. fla fm " iR 1 Jlf Wfr< rspa j|L HrR Pa i \^-ns? f? Tom Owens goes up for two yens was an All-American on team's strength inside. The Wildcats hit 10 straight one-and one situations down the stretch to claim the victory. Roche scored 34 JJlt points including an amazing 16-16 from the free throw line for the Gamecocks. Carolina quickly returned to its winning ways by beating Duke 8263. Riker, Aydlett and Carver all played a major role in securing the win. WITH A 19-2 record, the Gamecocks traveled to Raleigh. N.C., for a critical ACC game with Il.V. UIUIC. " m\Z 11 iliv VI14 11 t LilUlC down with a bad case of the flu, assistant coach Donnie Walsh was forced to take over the team as it went up against the Wolfpack. Roche made things easy for Walsh as he connected for 38 points and Riker added 17 more to make the Gamecock assistant coach a winner, 71-69. "That was a sensational game," Walsh remembered ten vears later. "Roche and those guys knew the situation I was in and I really felt they gave a little bit extra so the game wouldn't be on my head. I remember after it was over Norm Sloan (N.C. State's coach) told me that I should have left Roche home instead of Frank." McGuire was back as his team traveled to Chapel Hill to play the team he coached to a national championship 11 years earlier. It was there that the Gamecocks clinched the ACC regular season championship with a 79-62 win over the Tar Heels. Roche was sen sauonai, scoring i? 01 ms zn poinis in the second half. The account of that game in the Durham Herald the next day is a classic. "Roche, the 1969 ACC player of the year, kept the 8.800 fans in shock," it read. "He not only provided most of the offense for coach Frank McGuires ACC ' champs; he also led the Gamecock defense which shackled AllSee Greafost T?*m, page 10