By Bill Koch
When the players gathered on Oct. 13, 2010 to reminisce about UC's national championship basketball teams, Bob Wiesenhahn still had the gold medal coach Ed Jucker gave his players in 1961.
It read, “Believe, believe, believe.”
Wiesenhahn pulled the medallion out of his pocket at UC’s Tangeman University Center when the team gathered for a luncheon to celebrate the 1961 and 1962 national championship teams.
“I believed we could do it all along,” Wiesenhahn said.
I attended that luncheon and talked to several of the players for a story I wrote in the next day’s Enquirer. Another 10–plus years have passed, and as of today it’s been 60 years since the Bearcats upset top-ranked Ohio State, 70-65 in overtime, on March 25, 1961, at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City.
Ten players who played on one or both of those teams - Tony Yates, George Wilson, Larry Elsasser, Dale Heidotting, Larry Shingleton, Carl Bouldin, Tom Thacker, Fred Dierking, Bill Abernethy and Wiesenhahn – attended the luncheon, along with assistant coach Tay Baker, who later became the Bearcats’ head coach.
Maybe Wiesenhahn, the leading scorer on the 1961 team at 17.1 points per game, always believed the Bearcats could win the 1961 national title, but there were many who didn’t believe after they started the season with a 5-3 record.
That was the first season after the graduation of Oscar Robertson, who led the nation in scoring for three straight years and helped UC reach the Final Four in 1959 and 1960, only to lose in the semifinals both times.
George Smith, the head coach of those teams, had moved up to become the school’s athletic director. His assistant Jucker took over and scrapped the up-tempo style the Bearcats employed under Smith in favor of a more deliberate offensive approach with an emphasis on defense and rebounding.
“What Juck did was copy California’s offense, and we stressed defense more,” Wiesenhahn said. “It was a change and it took us a while to get adjusted.”
Said Thacker: “I thought it was a bunch of crap. We always played fast-paced ever since high school. That’s the only way I knew how to play. You have to buy into the system, and it was hard for any of us to buy into the system. Nobody likes change.”
Jucker remained steadfast in his approach, even after the mediocre start. Eventually the new system began to work and the Bearcats won 21 straight games heading into the national championship game.
“(Jucker) was great at getting players to buy in,” said Yates, the point guard on those teams. “He made a complete change in the style of play, and we had to buy in…There was a magical moment that occurred when everybody bought in.”
The 1961 team was loaded with talent, including Thacker, Wiesenhahn, Bouldin and Hogue, the dominating center. But Yates was the glue that held it together on and off the court. He not only distributed the ball to the scorers, he pushed his teammates in practice and set a positive example off the court.
“You can’t have success as a basketball team unless you have that type of leadership,” Baker said.
After the second-ranked Bearcats eliminated Utah, 82-67, in the semifinal game, they were face-to-f ace with the mighty Buckeyes, who were 27-0, led by future Hall of Famers Jerry Lucas and John Havlicek. They also had future NBA players Larry Siegfried and Mel Nowell, and future Indiana coach Bob Knight, who would be voted into the Hall of Fame as a coach.
Both teams had to wait anxiously for the game to start because the consolation game, a relic that no longer exists, lasted through four overtimes before St. Joseph’s defeated Utah.
Jucker told his players before the game that if they could just stay close in the first half, they’d have a chance to win. The Bearcats trailed by only one at halftime.
“We went into the locker room all fired up because we actually stayed close to them,” Thacker said. “We figured we’d be down 10 or 12 points because that’s all you would read about was Jerry Lucas and Ohio State and the little team from Southern Ohio called Cincinnati. It sort of built our confidence up at halftime.”
Here’s what the Enquirer’s Dick Forbes wrote in the next day’s paper:
KANSAS CITY, March 25 - “University of Cincinnati won the National Collegiate Basketball championship tonight with a dazzling 70-65 upset victory over previously undefeated Ohio State.
“A last-second jump shot by Tom Thacker provided the coup d’etat that ended the Buckeyes’ 31-game winning streak and at the same time provided Cincinnati with its 22nd straight triumph.
“Completely outfoxing and outhustling the mystified Buckeyes with a dazzling display of ball control and amazing defense, the Bearcats finally achieved two long-awaited dreams.
“They finally got the ‘big apple’ after three years of reaching the semifinals and did it by getting their long-awaited crack at the Buckeyes after 39 years of waiting.”
The score was tied with 1:49 remaining in regulation when the Bearcats called timeout with 56 seconds left. UC then held the ball for one last shot. With three seconds left, Thacker’s 10-foot jump shot was short. Lucas grabbed the rebound and called timeout with two seconds left. When play resumed, Siegfried threw a long pass down court to Havlicek, who immediately called timeout with one second left.
“Never was there such drama in a tournament,” Forbes wrote.
Hogue then intercepted a lob pass intended for Lucas under the basket as regulation expired.
UC led, 65-64, with 2:59 left in overtime after a Lucas jump shot from the corner. The Bearcats held the ball until the 1:55 mark and took another timeout. A Yates free throw gave UC a 66-64 lead. Siegried made one free throw to make it 66-65. Two more Yates free throws gave the Bearcats a 68-65 lead. Thacker’s jump shot at the buzzer accounted for the final score.
Lucas led OSU with 27 points and 12 rebounds. Wiesenhahn scored 17 to lead UC, followed by Bouldin with 16, Thacker with 15 and Yates with 13.
As the years went by, the players from the title teams remained close, and their memories flowed freely on that day in 2010.
“It seems more important now than it was then,” Wiesenhahn said. “Back then, we just did our job.”
Baker talked at the luncheon about each of the players from those teams. Near the end of his presentation he summarized why they were so good: They played great defense, controlled the boards, took care of the ball, and made the most of every possession.
“That’s what these teams were all about,” Baker said. “They were good people. They were good family people and they were concerned about education. There were no one-year wonders in that group.”
When the players gathered on Oct. 13, 2010 to reminisce about UC's national championship basketball teams, Bob Wiesenhahn still had the gold medal coach Ed Jucker gave his players in 1961.
It read, “Believe, believe, believe.”
Wiesenhahn pulled the medallion out of his pocket at UC’s Tangeman University Center when the team gathered for a luncheon to celebrate the 1961 and 1962 national championship teams.
“I believed we could do it all along,” Wiesenhahn said.
I attended that luncheon and talked to several of the players for a story I wrote in the next day’s Enquirer. Another 10–plus years have passed, and as of today it’s been 60 years since the Bearcats upset top-ranked Ohio State, 70-65 in overtime, on March 25, 1961, at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City.
Ten players who played on one or both of those teams - Tony Yates, George Wilson, Larry Elsasser, Dale Heidotting, Larry Shingleton, Carl Bouldin, Tom Thacker, Fred Dierking, Bill Abernethy and Wiesenhahn – attended the luncheon, along with assistant coach Tay Baker, who later became the Bearcats’ head coach.
Maybe Wiesenhahn, the leading scorer on the 1961 team at 17.1 points per game, always believed the Bearcats could win the 1961 national title, but there were many who didn’t believe after they started the season with a 5-3 record.
That was the first season after the graduation of Oscar Robertson, who led the nation in scoring for three straight years and helped UC reach the Final Four in 1959 and 1960, only to lose in the semifinals both times.
George Smith, the head coach of those teams, had moved up to become the school’s athletic director. His assistant Jucker took over and scrapped the up-tempo style the Bearcats employed under Smith in favor of a more deliberate offensive approach with an emphasis on defense and rebounding.
“What Juck did was copy California’s offense, and we stressed defense more,” Wiesenhahn said. “It was a change and it took us a while to get adjusted.”
Said Thacker: “I thought it was a bunch of crap. We always played fast-paced ever since high school. That’s the only way I knew how to play. You have to buy into the system, and it was hard for any of us to buy into the system. Nobody likes change.”
Jucker remained steadfast in his approach, even after the mediocre start. Eventually the new system began to work and the Bearcats won 21 straight games heading into the national championship game.
“(Jucker) was great at getting players to buy in,” said Yates, the point guard on those teams. “He made a complete change in the style of play, and we had to buy in…There was a magical moment that occurred when everybody bought in.”
The 1961 team was loaded with talent, including Thacker, Wiesenhahn, Bouldin and Hogue, the dominating center. But Yates was the glue that held it together on and off the court. He not only distributed the ball to the scorers, he pushed his teammates in practice and set a positive example off the court.
“You can’t have success as a basketball team unless you have that type of leadership,” Baker said.
After the second-ranked Bearcats eliminated Utah, 82-67, in the semifinal game, they were face-to-f ace with the mighty Buckeyes, who were 27-0, led by future Hall of Famers Jerry Lucas and John Havlicek. They also had future NBA players Larry Siegfried and Mel Nowell, and future Indiana coach Bob Knight, who would be voted into the Hall of Fame as a coach.
Both teams had to wait anxiously for the game to start because the consolation game, a relic that no longer exists, lasted through four overtimes before St. Joseph’s defeated Utah.
Jucker told his players before the game that if they could just stay close in the first half, they’d have a chance to win. The Bearcats trailed by only one at halftime.
“We went into the locker room all fired up because we actually stayed close to them,” Thacker said. “We figured we’d be down 10 or 12 points because that’s all you would read about was Jerry Lucas and Ohio State and the little team from Southern Ohio called Cincinnati. It sort of built our confidence up at halftime.”
Here’s what the Enquirer’s Dick Forbes wrote in the next day’s paper:
KANSAS CITY, March 25 - “University of Cincinnati won the National Collegiate Basketball championship tonight with a dazzling 70-65 upset victory over previously undefeated Ohio State.
“A last-second jump shot by Tom Thacker provided the coup d’etat that ended the Buckeyes’ 31-game winning streak and at the same time provided Cincinnati with its 22nd straight triumph.
“Completely outfoxing and outhustling the mystified Buckeyes with a dazzling display of ball control and amazing defense, the Bearcats finally achieved two long-awaited dreams.
“They finally got the ‘big apple’ after three years of reaching the semifinals and did it by getting their long-awaited crack at the Buckeyes after 39 years of waiting.”
The score was tied with 1:49 remaining in regulation when the Bearcats called timeout with 56 seconds left. UC then held the ball for one last shot. With three seconds left, Thacker’s 10-foot jump shot was short. Lucas grabbed the rebound and called timeout with two seconds left. When play resumed, Siegfried threw a long pass down court to Havlicek, who immediately called timeout with one second left.
“Never was there such drama in a tournament,” Forbes wrote.
Hogue then intercepted a lob pass intended for Lucas under the basket as regulation expired.
UC led, 65-64, with 2:59 left in overtime after a Lucas jump shot from the corner. The Bearcats held the ball until the 1:55 mark and took another timeout. A Yates free throw gave UC a 66-64 lead. Siegried made one free throw to make it 66-65. Two more Yates free throws gave the Bearcats a 68-65 lead. Thacker’s jump shot at the buzzer accounted for the final score.
Lucas led OSU with 27 points and 12 rebounds. Wiesenhahn scored 17 to lead UC, followed by Bouldin with 16, Thacker with 15 and Yates with 13.
As the years went by, the players from the title teams remained close, and their memories flowed freely on that day in 2010.
“It seems more important now than it was then,” Wiesenhahn said. “Back then, we just did our job.”
Baker talked at the luncheon about each of the players from those teams. Near the end of his presentation he summarized why they were so good: They played great defense, controlled the boards, took care of the ball, and made the most of every possession.
“That’s what these teams were all about,” Baker said. “They were good people. They were good family people and they were concerned about education. There were no one-year wonders in that group.”
Bill I'm pretty sure UC lost the game to Ohio University 60-48 in 1968. I remember the game well I was a junior in college.
ReplyDelete