The SU Hoops Run Started 50 Years Ago

[TexanMark]

I started to seriously follow SU during the 70-71 season. Bill Smith was our center. Their was no Freshmen eligibility. Tickets were $2 at Manley Fieldhouse. You showed up and stood in a line to buy tickets. The court sat on dirt. The stands were bleachers for the most part. Parking was scattered around the area. The old WW2 Quonset huts were still all over the area.

SJU, St Bona, Nova and LaSalle were eastern powers. Manhattan was a tough game. SU played schools like SJU, LaSalle, Penn St, Pitt, WVU, Niagara, Canisius, Colgate, Cornell, Manhattan, Fordham, American and George Washington. We played either a 2 or 3 game holiday festival tournament back then. Sometimes that was the only time we would meet a school further than a 6 hour bus ride.

We finished strong that year and received a NIT bid. The NCAA only took conference champions or independent at-large teams. The NIT was routinely filled with some Top 20 teams and the other teams that would be considered Top 50. All the games were played at MSG.

SU got a tough draw in the opening round versus Michigan. The game was on national TV (I think CBS)...that was huge for SU. I'm not sure we made another TV game that year. BTW we lost to Michigan by 10 points but we were very competitive in the game.

1971 National Invitation Tournament - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Roy Danforth really got this thing going...and started the Golden Era...nary a losing season since the 1960s.

 

[JustPherU]

I think it was a year or two later I caught the Orange fever. My earliest memories are of Sweet D doing his pre game routine and meeting Larry Csonka in the lobby where they used to have Ernie Davis Heisman trophy.I can remember always getting there early with my dad to watch the Tangerines play before the varsity game. I don’t remember how much tickets cost because I was a little kid, but we always sat right behind the basket. Great memories.