Monte Towe: Small but mighty

In 1974, the N.C. State Wolfpack put a brief, yet small dent in the UCLA dynasty led by head coach John Wooden...the Wolfpack upset the defending champion Bruins 80-77 in the national semi-finals...two days later N.C. State won the National Title by beating Marquette 76-64...

N.C. State had superstar David Thompson, but the engine of the team was a 5'7" point guard from Converse, Indiana named Monte Towe...during his time at N.C. State (1972-74), Towe was named to the 1974 All-Tournament team and was also an All-ACC selection...

The Wolfpack posted a 79-7 overall record during Towe's three-year career, including a 57-1 stretch from 1972-73 (27-0) and 1973-74 (30-1)...the Wolfpack won two ACC titles (1973 and 1974), and Towe did not lose a conference game until his senior season...

Because dunking was illegal in that era, Towe and Thompson are credited with "inventing" the alley-oop...Towe would throw the ball to Thompson while he was in the air and Thompson would gently drop the ball in the basket...

Towe was drafted by the Denver Nuggets in the third round of the 1975 ABA draft and by the Atlanta Hawks in the fourth round of the 1975 NBA Draft...he joined Thompson in Denver...

After his playing career, Towe got into coaching as he served as Norm Sloan's assistant at N.C. State (1979-80) and then at Florida (1981-89)...Towe later served as general manager and coach in the Global Basketball Association...

In 2000, Towe landed his first legitimate head basketball coaching job at the University of New Orleans....he compiled a 70-78 record over five seasons before leaving to become associate head coach at North Carolina State under current head coach Sidney Lowe (photo, above)...

All-Stiles Points Team

In 1982, CBS Sports took over broadcasting the NCAA Tournament from NBC...over the last 28 years there have been some remarkable players who have been part of college basketball...below is my All-Stiles Points college basketball team since 1982...

If I was comprising a team, these are the players who I would want...to make it fair, I have excluded Michael Jordan because everyone would select him...this team is built to win games and not be a squad of former Players of the Year...it doesn't matter what these players did in the NBA, if they even made an NBA team...I want a team that has an emphasis on scoring from the three point line, but decent enough to have an inside presence in case the jumpers were not falling...the one prerequisite is that they had to play at least two years of college basketball...

Starting Five
Small forward - Lenny Bias, Maryland - Bias (photo above) was a Jordan-like player who could score from anywhere on the floor...

Power forward - Christian Laettner, Duke - he may have been the most hated college player during his playing days, but Laettner was like money in the bank...he was the best clutch player that I have seen in college basketball...

Center - Patrick Ewing, Georgetown - the face of the Big East Conference...Ewing was a defensive stopper who led the Hoyas to the championship game three times, winning once...Georgetown has never been back to the finals since Ewing left...

Point guard - Bobby Hurley, Duke - best pure point guard I have ever seen in college basketball - period!!!...a floor general and a leader...

Shooting guard - Chris Mullin, St. John's - (photo, right) the best pure shooter in the Big East Conference during its heydays of the 1980s...he led St. John's to the Final Four in 1985...

Bench
Shooting forward - Glen Rice, Michigan - I need a forward who is a deadly pure outside shooter and Rice fits that mold...his role would be to shoot, shoot, and shoot from the outside...

Power forward - Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina - Psycho would be my Kurt Rambis-like player who would do all the dirty work yet still be a scoring threat...

Center/Forward - Wayman Tisdale, Oklahoma - Tisdale (photo, right) died last year of cancer...he was not a spectacular player in the NBA...but he was a great college player who could pull down rebounds and play either the 4 or 5 spot...

Point guard - Steve Alford, Indiana - if Hurley was to get injured, I would need another floor general...no one better than Mr. Alford...plus he may have been the best free throw shooter of his era...

Shooting guard - Stephen Curry, Davidson - his performance in the NCAA tournament two years was the most amazing I have seen in years...

Specialist

Three point specialist - Gerry McNamara, Syracuse - don't laugh at this selection...just ask Kansas how explosive G-Money can be from the three point arc...and who can forget his clutch shooting in Syracuse's memorable run to the Big East title in 2006...I could have went with J.J Redick, but G-Money is more my type of player because he has heart...

Defensive stopper - Gene Smith, Georgetown - another selection that will have people scratching their head...Smith was a guard for the Hoyas title teams during the Ewing-era...he was the best defensive guard ever...he would set up opponents and get them to commit a charge...he made it look so easy...I don't need any more scorers with this team...so that is why I went with defense...

Mateen Cleaves: his name is "magical" at MSU

When asking who is the second greatest player to ever wear a Michigan State basketball uniform (with Magic Johnson being the greatest) most often you will get the name Mateen Cleaves...

Cleaves, a native of Flint, Michigan, led the Spartans to the 2000 national title over Florida - their second in school history - and was named the tournment's Most Outstanding Player...Cleaves will be remembered for spraining his ankle early in the second half and limping to the lockers...with Florida closing in to take the lead, Cleaves returned four minutes later to help Michigan State go on a 16-6 run to put the game away...

Cleaves was the Spartans only three-time All-American and was named Big Ten Player of the Year twice...he is the Big Ten's all-time leader in career assists with 816...in his final home game on senior night, Cleaves dished out 20 assists, breaking the Big Ten single-game and career assist marks...

But Cleaves' success never translated at the NBA level...he was drafted 14th overall by the hometown Detroit Pistons...he lasted just six years in the NBA - mainly as a bench warmer...he then played for the U.S. D-League and for teams in Europe before finally calling it career after the 2009 season...

On March 14, 2010, Cleaves joined Fox Sports Detroit as a Detroit Pistons studio analyst...he is also involved in the music industry as an owner of the record label All Varsity Entertainment, featuring Jon Connor...it was reported in today's newpaper (March 24th) that Cleaves was recently arrested for drunk driving...

Ron Mercer: a flash and he was gone

When the Kentucky Wildcats hired Rick Pitino, his main objective was to bring Kentucky its first national title since 1978...in 1995, Pitino made good for the Big Blue faithful...one of the key players on that national title team was all-everything freshman Ron Mercer...

Pitino recruited Mercer from the state of Tennessee where he was a Parade and McDonald's All-American...during his freshman year, Mercer averaged 8 points per game but showed his talent during the Final Four as he was named to the All-Final Four team...

Mercer's stock rose during his sophomore season as he averaged 18.1 ppg...

Mercer left Kentucky after his sophomore year and was the 6th overall pick by the Boston Celtics...his growth on the court did not continue in the NBA as he played for seven different teams during his nine year career...his time in NBA ended after the New Jersey Nets cut him in August 2005...Mercer earned about $35 million during his time in the bigs...

Eric Montross: the Carolina giant

When coming out of high school in Indianapolis, Eric Montross the prize in a recruiting battle between Michigan and North Carolina...he was a big prize as he was selected as a McDonald's All American in 1990 and USA Today All-USA first Team...

Montross had a solid career at North Carolina as he helped the Tar Heels beat Michigan for the 1993 national title...he was named an All-American as a junior and senior...Montross was drafted with the 9th overall pick by the Boston Celtics...he played for six different NBA teams...during his career, he averaged 4.9 points and 4.6 rebounds...

Montross is now an announcer for North Carolina basketball...interestingly, Montross was the alleged "bag man" who paid off John Edwards' mistress during the early stages of that extra marital affair...

Corliss Williamson: a Razorback star

Corliss Williamson was the head hog for coach Nolan Richardson's 40 Minutes of Hell teams at Arkansas...

Williamson helped the Razorbacks get their only national title in 1994 as they beat Duke with newly elected and native Arkansasian President Bill Clinton in attendance...

Arkansas finished the year at 31-3 and Williamson was named Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament...Williamson almost led Arkansas to back-to-back titles but fell one game short by losing to UCLA in the 1995 title game...

In three seasons at Arkansas, Williamson was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team in 1993, and was 1st Team All-SEC from 1993 to 1995...he was also named the SEC Player of the Year for the 93-94 and 94-95 seasons

He spent 12 years in the NBA for four different teams...his career highlight came while he played for Detroit...in 2001-02 he was named the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year...in 2003-04 he helped the Pistons win the NBA Championship...

Williamson announced his retirement in September 2007 to become an assistant coach at Arkansas Baptist College...on March 11, 2010, Williamson was announced the men's head basketball coach at the University of Central Arkansas...he is married and has three sons...

Dereck Whittenberg: N.C. State survives

Many may say that Villanova's win over Georgetown in 1985 was the biggest upset in NCAA Championship game history...hogwash!!!...Villanova and Georgetown are both from the Big East and the Wildcats knew how to play the Hoyas as they already lost to them twice earlier in the season...

The greatest upset came in 1983 when the late Jim Valvano's N.C. State Wolfpack upset the dunking force of Houston...people often forget that N.C. State needed to win the ACC tournament to even secure a bid to The Big Dance...

The greatest upset is best remembered for Lorenzo Charles dunking home the winning points as the game clock expired...Charles' points would never have mattered if N.C. State guard Dereck Whittenberg was not off mark with his clock expiring heave...

Whittenberg, was the star of that Wolfpack team...he missed most of the conference games with a broken ankle which put the Pack on the outside of the bubble come ACC Tournament time...

He was drafted in the third round by Phoenix Suns (51st overall) in the 1983 NBA Draft...by 1985 he was back at N.C. State serving as an assistant coach...he also served as an assistant at George Mason, West Virginia, Colorado, Long Beach State, and Georgia Tech...

Finally in 1999 he got his first head coaching chance when the Wagner Seahawks hired him...after four seasons and a record of 66-50, Whittenberg moved on to coach the Fordham Rams...he coached six full season and five games into this season before being fired...he put up a 69-112 mark while at Fordham...

Tyus Edney: the miracle worker

The dream season looked over...the UCLA Bruins were favored to win the tournament...and at the very least, they were a lock to at least make the Final Four...

But it was only the second round and they were 4.8 seconds away from being eliminated by 8th seeded Missouri...the Bruins chance at their first title since the days of John Wooden looked hopeless -- until Tyus Edney took the ball...

Edney took the inbounds pass and shot up the left sideline...as he crossed midcourt, with the Missouri players closing in on him, Edney went with a behind-the-back dribble...with another player closing in to block the shot, the 5'10" Edney adjusted and banked the shot in at the buzzer...UCLA won 75-74...

UCLA went on to win its 11th NCAA basketball championship, defeating the defending champion Arkansas Razorbacks 89-78...

Edney was selected by the Sacramento Kings in the second round with the of the 1995 NBA Draft...he played for the Kings, Boston Celtics, and Indiana Pacers during his six year NBA career...

After his NBA was over, Edney played for several European teams including Benetton Treviso and Olympiacos fo the Greek League...

Miles Simon: Simon Says Championship

Miles Simon and Mike Bibby comprised a backcourt that led the Arizona Wildcats to the national title in 1997 over a stacked Kentucky team...this brought head coach Lute Olsen his long overdue national title...

Simon walked away with the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament...he returned for his senior season and was named First Team All-Amerocan...the fame of that tournament did not translate into an NBA career as he played briefly for the Orland Magic and made almost $700,000 during his stay in the league...

Simon managed to carve a niche for himself in the CBA as he became the league's most decorated player in 2002...he led the Dakota Wizards to the title and earned Player of the Week four times, CBA Newcomer of the Year, the CBA MVP, and the Play-off MVP...he also holds the CBA record for most free throws made in a row at 60...

His time in the CBA lasted just three years...with his playing career over, Simon was named an assistant coach at his alma mater...Simon served as an assistant until 2008...

Simon is now a television analyst for Fox Sports Net...as a sidenote, Simon's brother-in-law is Darryl Strawberry...

Bobby Hurley: the toughest true point guard

I'm 41-years-old and the best pure point guard that I have ever seen in college basketball was Duke's Bobby Hurley...Hurley was not flashy, but he was so consistent and determined...he is still the NCAA all-time leader in assists with 1,076...

Hurley was the engineer of Duke's back-to-back national titles in 1991 and 1992...in his four years at Duke, he led the Blue Devils to three NCAA Championship Games...Hurley was the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament in 1992 when Duke beat Michigan in the title game...his Duke jersey number 11 was retired in 1993...in 2002, Hurley was named to the ACC 50th Anniversary men's basketball team as one of the fifty greatest players in Atlantic Coast Conference history...

His NBA career was cut short after a near fatal car accident in 1993 during his rookie season with the Sacramento Kings...

Currently, Hurley is involved in the thoroughbred horse racing business...his stable, called Devil Eleven (named after his uniform number) had a horse, Songandaprayer, who won the 2001 Fountain of Youth Stakes...

In 2009, Hurley was interviewed by the Raleigh News Observer...he had this to say about his thoroughbred business, "It’s exciting. It gave me a way, when the basketball career ended, to still stay in sports competitively. With the races, I get into it when my horses are running, wherever they are. ... You get sort of those same feelings in the pit of your stomach for the races that you do for basketball. The down side is you have very little control over what’s going to happen in a race. It’s up to the jockey and the horse." ...

The worst team ever: 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers

The New Jersey Nets may set the record as the worst NBA team, record-wise, in the history of the league...the record they may break belongs to the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers who posted a 9-73 mark...Fred Carter (photo) was named the team MVP...

Phil Jasner of the Philadelphia Daily News has this interesting story about that 76ers team...1972-73 Philadelpia 76ers

Glen Rice: the leader of Michigan's miracle run

Just before the 1989 NCAA Tournament was to start, Michigan Athletic Director Bo Schembechler fired head basketball coach Bill Frieder after Schembechler found out that Frieder already accepted the job to coach Arizona State the following season...Schembechler wanted a "Michigan Man" to coach a Michigan team, so assistant coach Steve Fisher stepped in...and amazingly, the Wolverines won 6 straight games to win the national title...

The Wolverines top player was Glen Rice...during the six game run, Rice scored 184 points, a record that still stands, which earned him the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament...

Rice finished his college career as Michigan's all-time leading scorer with 2,442 points...at the time, he also became the Big Ten's all-time leading scorer...

Rice played for 6 NBA teams but is best remembered for his days with the Miami Heat, Charlotte Hornets, and Los Angeles Lakers...

Rice's son currently plays for Georgia Tech and wears number 41, the same number as his father...

In January 2008, Rice was arrested in Miami on suspicion of felony battery for allegedly assaulting a man that he found hiding in his estranged wife's closet...the charges were later dropped...

Michael Graham: Georgetown's enforcer

There may never have been a player with so much talent who performed so big in such a short amount of time than former Georgetown Hoya Michael Graham...Graham set the tone for the Hoyas to capture the 1984 national title with his animalistic offense and elbow flying rebounds...he was the epitome of Hoya Paranoia...

The Georgetown Basketball History Project website best describes Graham's play during the late season in 1984:

Graham's college statistics were not the stuff of legend: in his first 11 Big East games, Graham averaged 2.9 points and just over one rebound per game. Graham scored 11 points and seven rebounds off the bench in the season finale against Syracuse, but scored only one basket in the next two games, both of which were in the early rounds of the Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden. The conference final, on March 9, 1984, began the Michael Graham legend.

He only played seven minutes in the game, failing to score a field goal. But down the stretch, with Patrick Ewing in foul trouble and Syracuse seeking to put the favored Hoyas away, Thompson saw how Graham had handled himself in the season finale with the Orangemen and placed him down low to protect Ewing from a fifth foul. Graham stepped it up defensively, bottling up Andre Hawkins and, in one memorable exchange, with the two tangled under the basket, Graham took a wild swing at him. Immediately ejected by one official, the referees conferred and issued a personal foul instead--other than the Manley finale, few plays still arouse such anger from Orange fans. Graham stayed in the game (ironically, it was his only foul of the game), but the Hoyas caught a second wind, got the game into overtime, and pulled away in a classic, 82-71.

The national spotlight fell squarely upon Graham, whose shaved head became a symbol of Georgetown's take-no-prisoners persona. By month's end, his 22 points and 11 rebounds in the NCAA Final Four won him All-Tournament honors. His 7 for 9 shooting against Houston helped the Hoyas while Patrick Ewing was in foul trouble, and Graham's late dunk sealed the game with just over two minutes remaining. The following week, it was Michael Graham, not Patrick Ewing or John Thompson, on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

With Patrick Ewing coming back for his senior season, the future looked endless for Graham to build on his post-season success...but the sudden fame went to his bald head as he missed taking final exam...eventually coach John Thompson got tired of Graham's act and threw him off the team for the 1985 season...Graham eventually transferred to the University of District of Columbia but never played a game there...he entered the NBA draft and was selected by Seattle in the 4th round...but Graham never played a minute in the NBA...he bounced around in European and South American leagues and eventually just faded away...

In 2005, Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl found Graham...Graham had fond memories of that national championship season with Georgetown and still considered himself a Hoya - for life...but he wondered how many titles Georgetown could have won if he stayed on the team...would Villanova had beaten the Hoyas in that epic 1985 title game if Graham was on the team...

No one will ever know...but what is known, Graham played a major role in Georgetown securing its only national title during a four week run that started in the Big East tournament...

Jerry Tarkanian: the NCAA's least favorite coach

Throughout the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, it was a common site during tournament time to see a balding coach with hush puppy dog eyes in a short sleeved shirt and loosened necktie chewing on a towel...it was the one and only Jerry Tarkanian of UNLV...

During his career, Tark took four teams to the Final Four and 13 teams to the Sweet 16 but his name was always surrounded by controversy and NCAA investigations...for some he was "what was wrong with college basketball"...for others, like me, I cheered for Tark...one of Tark's biggest supporters is former coach Bob Knight...

In 1990, Tark finally broke through with a most deserving national title...after 22 years as a head coach, Tarkanian was finally a national champ as his Rebels thrashed Duke 103-73 in the finals...the Rebels finished the season 35-5...

Even though they were sure fired NBA lottery picks, All-Americans Larry Johnson and Stacey Augmon both returned for their senior season in a attempt to win back-to-back titles...with an impending NCAA probation facing the Rebels in 1991, in an uprecidented move, the NCAA agreed to a compromise which allowed UNLV to defend its title, but would see the Rebels banned from the 1992 tourney...

Johnson and Augmon's decision almost paid off as the Rebels went 34-0 before Duke got revenge on them from the previous year's shalacking...led by Bobby Hurley and Christian Laettner, Duke burst Tark's bubble of a perfrect season by winning 79-77 in the semi-finals...that would be the last time Tark would be on center stage in The Big Dance...Tark would coach the Rebels to a 26-2 mark in 1992 but was forced to resign amid all the NCAA problems...

Years later, Tark sued the NCAA, claiming it had harassed him for over two decades...he stated the harassment started after he wrote a newspaper column alleging that the NCAA was more willing to punish less-prominent schools than big-name schools...the NCAA never admitted guilt but settled out of court by paying Tark $2.5 million...

Tarkanian is married to Las Vegas city councilwoman Lois Tarkanian...his son Danny, is currently seeking the U.S. Senate seat held by Majority leader Harry Reid...Tark's granddaughter Dannielle Diamant plays for the Northwestern women's basketball team...

Tark also started a basketball school in Las Vegas, named The Tarkanian Basketball Academy...its mission is to provide opportunities for youth to develop leadership skills, work ethic, commitment, honesty and integrity through sport...it works with kids from kindergarten to 12th grade...

Jimmy Black: The 5th man on Carolina's title team

In 1982, North Carolina's Dean Smith finally won his first national title in a thrilling one-point win over Georgetown...the Tar Heels starting five was comprised of a freshman named Michael Jordan, two All-Americans in James Worthy and Sam Perkins, a blue-collor forward who later coached the Tar Heels in Matt Doherty...but most people forget the fifth member of this squad...the kid was point guard Jimmy Black (number 21 in above photo)...

People remember Jordan's game winning shot, but don't realize that Black was the player who got the assist on that play...

Black is now a financial advisor for Raymond James Financial Services...he also penned a book "Jimmy Black's Tales from the Tar Heels" along with Scott Fowler...

New York City to host NFL biggest game?

The New York Daily News has a feature in Sunday's paper about the chance of New York City hosting a Super Bowl at the new football stadium...New York to host Super Bowl?

Greg Kelser: the forgotten All-American from Michigan State

The 1979 NCAA Basketball Championship is most remembered for the match-up between Larry Bird of Indiana State and Earvin "Magic" Johnson of Michigan State...but the one player often overlooked in this game was Michigan State's Greg Kelser...

He was the first Big Ten player to ever score 2,000 points and grab 1,000 rebounds in a career...he was an All-American both athletically and academically...

After college, Kelser was drafted 4th overall by the hometown Detroit Pistons who were coached by some guy named Dick Vitale...Kelser's stay in Detroit was short as he was traded two years later to the Seattle Supersonics for the Microwave - Vinnie Johnson...Kelser completed his NBA career with the Indiana Pacers...

Since leaving the NBA, Kelser has worked as a sports announcer and/or commentator on radio and television...he is the commentator for Detroit Pistons games on Fox Sports Detroit...

Butch Lee: The man who helped make McGuire cry

Most remember the 1977 NCAA Championship for the moment of Al McGuire winning the national title over North Carolina in his last game as head coach...but many forget that a Puerto Rican kid named "Butch" Lee was the reason behind sending McGuire out as a champion...as the clock ticked away in the final seconds, McGuire broke down in tears...

In the title game, Lee scored 19 points and was named Most Outstanding Player as the Warriors beat Carolina 67-59...

Lee was drafted in the first round of the 1978 NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks...he became the first Puerto Rican-born player to play in the NBA...Lee's NBA career was cut short because of injuries...he lasted four years in the league, but managed to win a championship ring as part of the Los Angeles Lakers 1980 title run...

After his playing career, Lee returned to Puerto Rico and became a head basketball coach...as of 2004, he was still a coach in Puerto Rico's professional basketball league...

Purdue Pete: his days are numbered

Dan McFeely of the Indianapolis Star reported last week that Purdue Pete - the mascot of the Purdue Boilermakers will soon be gone in order to make way for a more fan friendly looking mascot...

Purdue Director of Athletics Morgan Burke said that he gets numerous calls about Purdue Pete scaring young children...

The 70-year-old mascot last got a makeover about 30 years ago...many of the Purdue faithful are upset about the soon-to-be change of Pete...some are afraid that the new mascot will be "too cute" instead of fierce and rugged...

What should the Cleveland Browns do at quarterback?

The Cleveland Browns have a new era again...new team president Mike Holmgren stated this past weekend that there will not be a quarterback competition in training camp this year and that Brady Quinn or Derek Anderson will be gone by the time July rolls around...

There has also been talk that Holmgren may make a trade for a veteran quarterback who can step in right away...the name bantered around is Philadelphia's Donovan McNabb...

So what should the Browns do?...who should be their starter next season -- Quinn or Anderson...or should the Browns give up a second round pick for McNabb...your thoughts???