jacknicholson
Well-Known Member
We have come close to playing for and winning the National Championship.....
As juniors, the "Fabulous Five" won the Big Ten outright and eventually finished fourth in the nation.[SUP][17][/SUP] In 1956, as seniors, they again won the Big Ten outright and finished second in the nation only to Bill Russell and the undefeated San Francisco Dons.
Connie Hawkins would have put us in contention for the Championship if we hadn't dropped the ball and legally represented him for bogus point shaving. A known gambler said Hello to Connie at MSG during the Christmas break. That was it. He was a freshmen and ineligible to play varsity sport......
During Hawkins' freshman year at Iowa, he was a victim of the hysteria surrounding a point-shaving scandal that had started in New York City. Hawkins's name surfaced in an interview conducted with an individual who was involved in the scandal. While some of the conspirators and characters involved were known to or knew Hawkins, none – including the New York attorney at the center of the scandal, Jack Molinas – had ever sought to involve Hawkins in the conspiracy.
Despite the fact that Hawkins could not have been involved in point-shaving (as a freshman, due to NCAA rules of the time, he was ineligible to participate in varsity-level athletics), Hawkins was kept from seeking legal counsel while being grilled by New York City Police Department detectives who were investigating the scandal. Hawkins never admitted to any wrongdoing.
As a result of the investigation, despite never being arrested or indicted, Hawkins was expelled from Iowa. He was effectively blackballed from the college ranks; no NCAA or NAIA school would offer him a scholarship. NBA Commissioner J. Walter Kennedy let it be known that he would not approve any contract for Hawkins to play in the league. At the time, the NBA had a policy barring players who were even remotely involved with point-shaving scandals. As a result, when his class was eligible for the draft in 1964, no team selected him. He went undrafted in 1965 as well before being formally banned from the league in 1966
In 1969, Hawkins hit the ground running in his first season with the Suns, when he played 81 games and averaged 24.6 points, 10.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game. In the final game of his rookie season, Connie had 44 points, 20 rebounds, 8 assists, 5 blocks and 5 steals. The Suns finished third in the Western Conference, but were knocked out by the Los Angeles Lakers in a great seven-game series in which Hawkins carried the Suns against a team that had future Hall of Famers Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor and Jerry West. For the series, Hawkins averaged 25 points, 14 rebounds and 7 assists per game.
Ralph Miller's 1969/70 team almost made the final four and could have won the whole thing. Problem was Artis Gilmore getting his fifth foul late in the second half and continuing to play. Pembroke Burroughs won the game with a last second basket. Of course that was during John Wooden's run.....
Lute Olsen's 1980 team could have won the championship if Louisville's Roger Berkman hadn't put Ronnie Lester on the floor shooting a layup, and out of the game. He had an almost season long injury in the last minutes against Dayton when we were up by 20 points.....
Lastly Mr. Davis's team was the best in the country his first year in my opinion. They lost to UNLV mainly because Kevin Gamble received a questionable foul early in the second half and had to sit a lot of the half. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer sports writer's headline said: Did the Best Team Lose, and he mentioned the Kevin Gamble foul as being the main reason.
Might have been our last chance to play for a National Championship, however I have a lot of faith in Fran.....
There is a reason we are considered the tenth best basketball program according to ESPN and Sagarin.....
http://assets.espn.go.com/photo/2009/1004/cbe1.pdf
As juniors, the "Fabulous Five" won the Big Ten outright and eventually finished fourth in the nation.[SUP][17][/SUP] In 1956, as seniors, they again won the Big Ten outright and finished second in the nation only to Bill Russell and the undefeated San Francisco Dons.
Connie Hawkins would have put us in contention for the Championship if we hadn't dropped the ball and legally represented him for bogus point shaving. A known gambler said Hello to Connie at MSG during the Christmas break. That was it. He was a freshmen and ineligible to play varsity sport......
During Hawkins' freshman year at Iowa, he was a victim of the hysteria surrounding a point-shaving scandal that had started in New York City. Hawkins's name surfaced in an interview conducted with an individual who was involved in the scandal. While some of the conspirators and characters involved were known to or knew Hawkins, none – including the New York attorney at the center of the scandal, Jack Molinas – had ever sought to involve Hawkins in the conspiracy.
Despite the fact that Hawkins could not have been involved in point-shaving (as a freshman, due to NCAA rules of the time, he was ineligible to participate in varsity-level athletics), Hawkins was kept from seeking legal counsel while being grilled by New York City Police Department detectives who were investigating the scandal. Hawkins never admitted to any wrongdoing.
As a result of the investigation, despite never being arrested or indicted, Hawkins was expelled from Iowa. He was effectively blackballed from the college ranks; no NCAA or NAIA school would offer him a scholarship. NBA Commissioner J. Walter Kennedy let it be known that he would not approve any contract for Hawkins to play in the league. At the time, the NBA had a policy barring players who were even remotely involved with point-shaving scandals. As a result, when his class was eligible for the draft in 1964, no team selected him. He went undrafted in 1965 as well before being formally banned from the league in 1966
In 1969, Hawkins hit the ground running in his first season with the Suns, when he played 81 games and averaged 24.6 points, 10.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game. In the final game of his rookie season, Connie had 44 points, 20 rebounds, 8 assists, 5 blocks and 5 steals. The Suns finished third in the Western Conference, but were knocked out by the Los Angeles Lakers in a great seven-game series in which Hawkins carried the Suns against a team that had future Hall of Famers Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor and Jerry West. For the series, Hawkins averaged 25 points, 14 rebounds and 7 assists per game.
Ralph Miller's 1969/70 team almost made the final four and could have won the whole thing. Problem was Artis Gilmore getting his fifth foul late in the second half and continuing to play. Pembroke Burroughs won the game with a last second basket. Of course that was during John Wooden's run.....
Lute Olsen's 1980 team could have won the championship if Louisville's Roger Berkman hadn't put Ronnie Lester on the floor shooting a layup, and out of the game. He had an almost season long injury in the last minutes against Dayton when we were up by 20 points.....
Lastly Mr. Davis's team was the best in the country his first year in my opinion. They lost to UNLV mainly because Kevin Gamble received a questionable foul early in the second half and had to sit a lot of the half. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer sports writer's headline said: Did the Best Team Lose, and he mentioned the Kevin Gamble foul as being the main reason.
Might have been our last chance to play for a National Championship, however I have a lot of faith in Fran.....
There is a reason we are considered the tenth best basketball program according to ESPN and Sagarin.....
http://assets.espn.go.com/photo/2009/1004/cbe1.pdf
