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Half a century ago in October the US Olympic team won the gold at the Mexico City Olympic Games after a troublesome process of selection, trials and preparation.
Year 1968 was loaded with great collegiate talents, both from the seniors ranks (PoY Elvin Hayes, Wes Unseld, Don May, Larry Miller, Bob Kauffman etc) and from juniors/underclassmen (Lew Alcindor –later Abdul Kareem Jabbar- Lucius Allen, Neal Walk, Jo Jo White, Calvin Murphy, Rick Mount and Pete Maravich who had averaged an amazing 43.8 ppg in his sophomore year at LSU).
Many believed that an Olympic team with the best college players (no pros were allowed!) would have been equal or even superior to the famed 1956 and 1960 teams. However, the selection process proved to be a nightmare, trials were marred by problems and the final roster raised a lot of perplexities among critics.
Teams Trials Selection
Trials were set to be held at the beginning of April in Albuquerque, NM, in front of a 45-man selection committee chaired by former NYU head coach Ben Carnevale. Henry “Hank” Iba (Oklahoma State) had been named the Olympic team head coach for the second time.
The political, social turmoils and racial tensions that shook America (and partly Europe) during 1968 affected the sports environment as well, in form of an Olympic games boycott threat that spread through the whole country.
Citing academic engagements, invitations to the basketball trials were declined by three UCLA top stars, Alcindor, Allen and Mike Warren, who implicitly favored the boycott. But refusals came by many other basketball stars in form of academic issues, fatigue, early pro commitments, etc.
Here’s what Sports Illustrated wrote on April 15, 1968 under the title “The Team that went over the hill” by Curry Kirkpatrick:
Up to 1964 Olympics senior stars would forego signing with NBA until after completing their duties with the national team, but by 1968 the pros had got an additional franchise, the ABA, who had declared war in the signing race of top college players. At the same time of the Olympic trials, both Hayes and Unseld, NBA’s #1 and #2 draft picks, had received even better offers by ABA’s Houston Mavericks and Kentucky Colonels but finally chose the well established NBA opting for multi-year contracts with San Diego Rockets and Baltimore Bullets.
To add even more confusion, also the Harlem Globetrotters, under new ownership after the death of their founder/mentor Abe Saperstein, had entered the race for an early signing of Elvin Hayes, making offers that however didn’t match those of the two main pro leagues.
Participants were selected after pre-trials exhibitions and all-star meets. From NCAA side four squads were invited: three university teams (named Blue, Red and White as per tradition) and one College Division. Other collegiate teams came from NAIA, the surprise winner of the 1967 Pan American games trials, and for the first time a NJCAA (Junior Colleges) squad was invited. AAU and Armed Forces all stars, both established trials presence, completed the rosters, in total 88 players spread among eight teams.
Interestingly, among the early invitees was the only high school player, All-American Ralph Simpson, a 6’5 guard-forward from Pershing HS, who turned down the invitation. Simpson’s former teammate at Pershing was the US Olympic team eventual member and top scorer Spencer Haywood. (Simpson would drop from college after his sophomore year, 1970, to start a fine pro career with ABA’s Denver Rockets).
NAIA top choice for the trials, f/c 6’8 Bob Kauffman of Guilford College withdrew to finish his studies and pursue a pro-career. Kauffman was selected by Seattle Supersonics as the #3 overall pick of 1968 Draft.
Other notable players who ultimately turned down invitations were Winston-Salem State scoring record holder 6’6 forward Bill English and Abilene Christian all-time great John Ray Godfrey, a 6’3 guard, both from the NCAA College Division ranks.
Henry Logan, Western Carolina guard and NAIA national leading scorer with 36.2 ppg (and former member of the 1967 Pan American Games team) was in the initial roster but finally didn’t make the trials team.
Despite being mainly tagged for their missing stars, the 1968 trials rosters included several college scoring aces:
However, all these talents were guards or small forwards and it was everybody’s perception that a dominant big man was terribly lacking.
Top scorers Maravich and Murphy played brilliantly in NCAA pre-trials games.
(Albuquerque Journal, March 30, 1968, p.26).
In another pre-trials game, Rick Mount and Jo Jo White led the West over the East 95-88 in Indianapolis. Mount led all scorers with 24 points, while Maravich scored 16 for the East and was named the game outstanding player. (Albuquerque Journal, March 31, 1968).
Since the trials were to be played under Fiba rules, AAU and Armed Forces teams had an edge over colleges since several of their members had already earned international experience. Only NCAA players with international experience were White and Russ Critchfield of the Red team.
Trials were held at the new University of New Mexico underground facility “The Pit”, with a capacity of 14,800.
Players were expected teasing fans with dunking, that had been forbidden in the 1967-68 NCAA season (so called “anti-Alcindor” rule) but was allowed by international rules. However, attendance rarely attained 1,000 during the 3-day trials.
Adding more troubles, several players were hit by flu right on the eve of trials.
From Silver City Daily Press, NM, April 4, 1968, page 7:
Herald-Journal, April 4, 1968, page 20:
From the 88-man roster announced 85 appear to have actually played at the trials. John Vallely, a 1969 & 1970 backcourt star at UCLA, had to leave the Juco squad because of the flu (The Kokomo Tribune, April 4, 1968, p 25), while future NBA All-star Bob Dandridge of NCAA College Division and Ron Kornegay of NAIA teams were also missing, either for illness or whatever other reason.
Rare image of 1968 NJCAA trials team:
Source: http://njcaa.org/about/history/75_an...ses/2012-11-15
End of part 1 of 3
Year 1968 was loaded with great collegiate talents, both from the seniors ranks (PoY Elvin Hayes, Wes Unseld, Don May, Larry Miller, Bob Kauffman etc) and from juniors/underclassmen (Lew Alcindor –later Abdul Kareem Jabbar- Lucius Allen, Neal Walk, Jo Jo White, Calvin Murphy, Rick Mount and Pete Maravich who had averaged an amazing 43.8 ppg in his sophomore year at LSU).
Many believed that an Olympic team with the best college players (no pros were allowed!) would have been equal or even superior to the famed 1956 and 1960 teams. However, the selection process proved to be a nightmare, trials were marred by problems and the final roster raised a lot of perplexities among critics.
Teams Trials Selection
Trials were set to be held at the beginning of April in Albuquerque, NM, in front of a 45-man selection committee chaired by former NYU head coach Ben Carnevale. Henry “Hank” Iba (Oklahoma State) had been named the Olympic team head coach for the second time.
The political, social turmoils and racial tensions that shook America (and partly Europe) during 1968 affected the sports environment as well, in form of an Olympic games boycott threat that spread through the whole country.
Citing academic engagements, invitations to the basketball trials were declined by three UCLA top stars, Alcindor, Allen and Mike Warren, who implicitly favored the boycott. But refusals came by many other basketball stars in form of academic issues, fatigue, early pro commitments, etc.
Here’s what Sports Illustrated wrote on April 15, 1968 under the title “The Team that went over the hill” by Curry Kirkpatrick:
The Olympic Trials were chiefly distinguished by the absence of 20 of our best college players.
The intrusive priorities of school work, pro contracts, tired bones and a threatened boycott having taken their toll, the U.S. Olympic basketball trials finally reached the showdown stage last week... True enough, the Olympic Committee had coaxed and cajoled sufficient players into coming to Albuquerque for the tournament. ... But most of the interest centered around those who didn't appear.
The Big E had taken money (to sign a contract with the San Diego Rockets), Big Lew had taken a stand (he admits his decision included implicit approval of the boycott) and many others had just taken a powder of undetermined origin.
In addition to Houston's Hayes and UCLA's Alcindor, among the missing were Louisville's Westley Unseld, who said he was tired, Dayton's Don May, who said he was exhausted, and North Carolina's Larry Miller, who said he was injured. Some, by sheer silence coupled with their absence, seemed to be saying best wishes, Olympics, but drop dead.
"We sat down the other day and figured it out," said Pete Newell, coach of the 1960 Olympic team and a member of the selection committee. "We've lost 20 to 25 of the country's top college players, including the six best centers."
Since a great majority of the absentees were seniors interested in a professional basketball career, it was thought that fine old standard, money, was rearing its ugly head again. Harsh as the judgment may seem, some players obviously were passing up the old red, white and blue for some long green. Olympic Coach Henry Iba went so far as to call the dropouts "bad citizens."
The intrusive priorities of school work, pro contracts, tired bones and a threatened boycott having taken their toll, the U.S. Olympic basketball trials finally reached the showdown stage last week... True enough, the Olympic Committee had coaxed and cajoled sufficient players into coming to Albuquerque for the tournament. ... But most of the interest centered around those who didn't appear.
The Big E had taken money (to sign a contract with the San Diego Rockets), Big Lew had taken a stand (he admits his decision included implicit approval of the boycott) and many others had just taken a powder of undetermined origin.
In addition to Houston's Hayes and UCLA's Alcindor, among the missing were Louisville's Westley Unseld, who said he was tired, Dayton's Don May, who said he was exhausted, and North Carolina's Larry Miller, who said he was injured. Some, by sheer silence coupled with their absence, seemed to be saying best wishes, Olympics, but drop dead.
"We sat down the other day and figured it out," said Pete Newell, coach of the 1960 Olympic team and a member of the selection committee. "We've lost 20 to 25 of the country's top college players, including the six best centers."
Since a great majority of the absentees were seniors interested in a professional basketball career, it was thought that fine old standard, money, was rearing its ugly head again. Harsh as the judgment may seem, some players obviously were passing up the old red, white and blue for some long green. Olympic Coach Henry Iba went so far as to call the dropouts "bad citizens."
To add even more confusion, also the Harlem Globetrotters, under new ownership after the death of their founder/mentor Abe Saperstein, had entered the race for an early signing of Elvin Hayes, making offers that however didn’t match those of the two main pro leagues.
Participants were selected after pre-trials exhibitions and all-star meets. From NCAA side four squads were invited: three university teams (named Blue, Red and White as per tradition) and one College Division. Other collegiate teams came from NAIA, the surprise winner of the 1967 Pan American games trials, and for the first time a NJCAA (Junior Colleges) squad was invited. AAU and Armed Forces all stars, both established trials presence, completed the rosters, in total 88 players spread among eight teams.
Interestingly, among the early invitees was the only high school player, All-American Ralph Simpson, a 6’5 guard-forward from Pershing HS, who turned down the invitation. Simpson’s former teammate at Pershing was the US Olympic team eventual member and top scorer Spencer Haywood. (Simpson would drop from college after his sophomore year, 1970, to start a fine pro career with ABA’s Denver Rockets).
NAIA top choice for the trials, f/c 6’8 Bob Kauffman of Guilford College withdrew to finish his studies and pursue a pro-career. Kauffman was selected by Seattle Supersonics as the #3 overall pick of 1968 Draft.
Other notable players who ultimately turned down invitations were Winston-Salem State scoring record holder 6’6 forward Bill English and Abilene Christian all-time great John Ray Godfrey, a 6’3 guard, both from the NCAA College Division ranks.
Henry Logan, Western Carolina guard and NAIA national leading scorer with 36.2 ppg (and former member of the 1967 Pan American Games team) was in the initial roster but finally didn’t make the trials team.
Despite being mainly tagged for their missing stars, the 1968 trials rosters included several college scoring aces:
- Pete Maravich, 6’5, NCAA Blue, Louisiana State 1970, 43.8 ppg (top NCAA 1967-68)
- Calvin Murphy, 5’9, NCAA White, Niagara 1970, 38.2
- Rich Travis, 6’1, NCAA Blue, Oklahoma City 1969, 29.9
- Bob Portman, 6’5, NCAA White, Creighton 1969, 29.5
- Rick Mount, 6’4, NCAA Red, Purdue 1970, 28.4
- Fred Foster, 6’5, NCAA Blue, Miami OH 1968, 26.9
- John Rinka, 5’9, NCAA College Div, Kenyon Coll. 1970, 31.3
- Larry Jeffries, 6’3, NCAA College Div, Trinity 1968, 27.1
- Glynn Saulters, 6’2, NAIA, NE Louisiana 1968, 31.3
- Dwight Durante, 5’8, NAIA, Catawba Coll. 1969, 28.3
- Ollie Taylor,6’2, NJCAA, San Jacinto Coll. 1968 (Houston 1970), 30.7
- Johnny Johnson, 6’6, NJCAA, NW Wyoming CC 1968 (Iowa 1970), 29.5
However, all these talents were guards or small forwards and it was everybody’s perception that a dominant big man was terribly lacking.
Top scorers Maravich and Murphy played brilliantly in NCAA pre-trials games.
Maravich got loud cheers for his snazzy ball-handling, including behind-the-back and blind-side passes…Murphy managed to score 20 points but he also got in some fancy dribbling and passing to assist others in scoring . But Iba wasn’t dazzled for the vast array of talents …. “Just because we’ve got names doesn’t mean we have a ball club…The biggest problem here is to put them together as a unit” he said.
In another pre-trials game, Rick Mount and Jo Jo White led the West over the East 95-88 in Indianapolis. Mount led all scorers with 24 points, while Maravich scored 16 for the East and was named the game outstanding player. (Albuquerque Journal, March 31, 1968).
Since the trials were to be played under Fiba rules, AAU and Armed Forces teams had an edge over colleges since several of their members had already earned international experience. Only NCAA players with international experience were White and Russ Critchfield of the Red team.
Trials were held at the new University of New Mexico underground facility “The Pit”, with a capacity of 14,800.
Players were expected teasing fans with dunking, that had been forbidden in the 1967-68 NCAA season (so called “anti-Alcindor” rule) but was allowed by international rules. However, attendance rarely attained 1,000 during the 3-day trials.
Adding more troubles, several players were hit by flu right on the eve of trials.
From Silver City Daily Press, NM, April 4, 1968, page 7:
Flu Hits Olympic Cage - Altitude and adaptation to international rules took a back chair today as No. 1 problems confronting U.S. Olympic basketball hopefuls. Flu and tardiness hindered final practice sessions Wednesday for the 88-man, eight-team tournament opening today in Albuquerque's 5,000-foot altitude. Stress is being placed this year on trials and training at altitude for the 1968 Olympic Games at 7.500-foot Mexico City.
Confusion in practice times and flu harassed final preparations on the eve of the US Olympic basketball trials. LF Diehm, trainer at the U. of New Mexico said 12 players from the eight teams had some form of intestinal flu. Most cases were minor, he said. But John Bach coach of the NCAA blue team said Rick Adelman of Los Angeles Loyola was too ill to attend practice. Oklahoma City’s Rich Travis also complained of stomach pains at practice.
And All-American Pete Maravich of Louisiana State and Bud Ogden of Santa Clara, also NCAA blue players were 30 minutes late to a workout. Maravich said “no one told us what time it started”.
Pan American’s 6-foot-11 Otto Moore missed the NCAA College Division team practice saying he thought it was scheduled four hours later. Moore practiced alone on his own.
And All-American Pete Maravich of Louisiana State and Bud Ogden of Santa Clara, also NCAA blue players were 30 minutes late to a workout. Maravich said “no one told us what time it started”.
Pan American’s 6-foot-11 Otto Moore missed the NCAA College Division team practice saying he thought it was scheduled four hours later. Moore practiced alone on his own.
Rare image of 1968 NJCAA trials team:
Source: http://njcaa.org/about/history/75_an...ses/2012-11-15
End of part 1 of 3
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