By Bill Koch
For UC basketball fans, the name Jerry Harkness, an All-American forward who will forever be remembered because of the shot he made in the 1963 national championship game the Bearcats lost to Loyola of Chicago, 60-58, in overtime, denying them the honor of becoming the first school to win three straight national titles. Harkness’ shot sent the game into overtime after the Bearcats held a 15-point lead with 13:56 left in the game.
In perusing the New York Times this morning, I noticed that Harkness died last Tuesday in Indianapolis at the age of 81.
The UC-Loyola game was the first national title game that featured a majority of Black players in the starting lineups – three from UC, four from Loyola. What I didn’t realize until reading Harkness’ obit this morning was how difficult it was for Loyola just to reach the championship game.
According to the Times, “(Loyola coach) George Ireland had been irritating rival coaches by starting four Black players, including Harkness, violating a practice at the time of playing no more than three.”
The Ramblers’ second-round game at East Lansing, Mich., was against Mississippi State’s all-white team. The Bulldogs had chosen not to go three previous NCAA tournaments to avoid facing Black opponents.
“Mississippi State wanted to play in the tournament – the team had won the Southeastern Conference title – but a state senator persuaded a judge to issue a temporary injunction to keep the team from traveling to East Lansing,” the Times wrote.
“But Mississippi State’s president, Dean Colvard, concocted a plan to avoid being served with the injunction, according to ESPN account. He told Babe McCarthy, the team’s coach, to drive to Memphis while he went to Alabama for a speaking engagement.
"An assistant coach then took the freshman players and some reserves to a private plane. Once they appeared safe from a process server, he summoned the rest of the team for the flight, from Starkville to Nashville, where McCarthy met them. The team, united again, flew to Michigan to face Loyola. By that point the injuction had been suspended."
Loyola beat Mississippi State, 65-51, behind 20 points from Harkness, but his greatest heroics were still to come. The Ramblers beat Illinois and Duke in the next two rounds to set up their showdown with the top-ranked Bearcats.
Harkness’ game-tying basket occurred with six seconds left in regulation. The score was tied, 58-58, with four seconds left in overtime when Les Hunter missed a shot that was rebounded by Vic Rouse, who banked in the follow shot for the game-winning basket.
It was a crushing loss for UC, a loss that still stings to this day. The Ramblers not only upset the top-ranked team in the country, they struck a blow for integration at the same time, with an assist from the Mississippi State president..
For UC basketball fans, the name Jerry Harkness, an All-American forward who will forever be remembered because of the shot he made in the 1963 national championship game the Bearcats lost to Loyola of Chicago, 60-58, in overtime, denying them the honor of becoming the first school to win three straight national titles. Harkness’ shot sent the game into overtime after the Bearcats held a 15-point lead with 13:56 left in the game.
In perusing the New York Times this morning, I noticed that Harkness died last Tuesday in Indianapolis at the age of 81.
The UC-Loyola game was the first national title game that featured a majority of Black players in the starting lineups – three from UC, four from Loyola. What I didn’t realize until reading Harkness’ obit this morning was how difficult it was for Loyola just to reach the championship game.
According to the Times, “(Loyola coach) George Ireland had been irritating rival coaches by starting four Black players, including Harkness, violating a practice at the time of playing no more than three.”
The Ramblers’ second-round game at East Lansing, Mich., was against Mississippi State’s all-white team. The Bulldogs had chosen not to go three previous NCAA tournaments to avoid facing Black opponents.
“Mississippi State wanted to play in the tournament – the team had won the Southeastern Conference title – but a state senator persuaded a judge to issue a temporary injunction to keep the team from traveling to East Lansing,” the Times wrote.
“But Mississippi State’s president, Dean Colvard, concocted a plan to avoid being served with the injunction, according to ESPN account. He told Babe McCarthy, the team’s coach, to drive to Memphis while he went to Alabama for a speaking engagement.
"An assistant coach then took the freshman players and some reserves to a private plane. Once they appeared safe from a process server, he summoned the rest of the team for the flight, from Starkville to Nashville, where McCarthy met them. The team, united again, flew to Michigan to face Loyola. By that point the injuction had been suspended."
Loyola beat Mississippi State, 65-51, behind 20 points from Harkness, but his greatest heroics were still to come. The Ramblers beat Illinois and Duke in the next two rounds to set up their showdown with the top-ranked Bearcats.
Harkness’ game-tying basket occurred with six seconds left in regulation. The score was tied, 58-58, with four seconds left in overtime when Les Hunter missed a shot that was rebounded by Vic Rouse, who banked in the follow shot for the game-winning basket.
It was a crushing loss for UC, a loss that still stings to this day. The Ramblers not only upset the top-ranked team in the country, they struck a blow for integration at the same time, with an assist from the Mississippi State president..
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