1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball season | |
---|---|
Preseason AP No. 1 | Duke Blue Devils[1] |
NCAA Tournament | 1979 |
Tournament dates | March 9 – 26, 1979 |
National Championship | Special Events Center Salt Lake City, Utah |
NCAA Champions | Michigan State Spartans |
Helms National Champions | Michigan State Spartans |
Other champions | Indiana Hoosiers (NIT) |
Player of the Year (Naismith, Wooden) | Larry Bird, Indiana State |
Player of the Year (Helms) | Larry Bird, Indiana State |
The 1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began in November 1978, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1979 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Championship Game on March 26, 1979, at the Special Events Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Michigan State Spartans won their first NCAA national championship with a 75–64 victory over the Indiana State Sycamores.
Season headlines[]
- Indiana State senior forward Larry Bird and Michigan Spartans sophomore point guard Earvin "Magic" Johnson emerged as two highly popular and successful players during the season, and their rivalry — culminating in a meeting in the national championship game — captured national attention of basketball fans and the sports media during the year.[2]
- In the Pacific 10 Conference, UCLA won an NCAA-record 13th consecutive conference title.[2]
- The first Great Alaska Shootout took place.[2] The long-running Shootout would become one of the premier early-season tournaments[2] before it was discontinued after its 2017 edition.
- On February 24, North Carolina trailed Duke 7–0 at halftime. It was the first scoreless half for an NCAA basketball team since 1938.[2]
- At Boston College, players took part in a point-shaving scheme which was revealed in 1980.[2]
- The NCAA Tournament expanded from 32 to 40 teams and used seeding for the first time, and the championship game enjoyed the highest television rating in college basketball history.[2]
- The National Invitation Tournament expanded from 16 to 24 teams.
- The growing fan appreciation and financial success of college basketball during the season prompted planning for the creation of the ESPN network and the original Big East Conference, both of which launched the following season and would push the sport to greater prominence in the years to come.[2]
Season outlook[]
Pre-season polls[]
The top 20 from the AP Poll during the pre-season.[3]
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Conference membership changes[]
The 1978–79 season was most notable for the expansion of the Pacific-8 Conference to 10 members with the addition of the men's athletic programs of Arizona and Arizona State (the conference did not sponsor women's sports until the 1986–87 school year). The conference duly renamed itself the Pacific-10 Conference.
School | Former Conference | New Conference |
---|---|---|
Arizona Wildcats | Western Athletic Conference | Pacific-10 Conference |
Arizona State Sun Devils | Western Athletic Conference | Pacific-10 Conference |
Virginia Tech Hokies | Division I independent | Metro Conference |
William & Mary Indians | Southern | Independent |
Regular season[]
Conference winners and tournaments[]
Of 22 Division I basketball conferences, 13 determined their league champion with a single-elimination tournament, while seven leagues sent their regular-season champion to the NCAA Tournament. The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) did not receive an automatic tournament bid until the 1979–80 season, while the Trans America Athletic Conference (TAAC) received their automatic bid in 1980–81.
From 1975 to 1982, the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC), a loosely organized sports federation of Northeastern colleges and universities, organized Division I ECAC regional tournaments for those of its members that were independents in basketball. Each 1979 tournament winner received an automatic bid to the 1979 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament in the same way that the tournament champions of conventional athletic conferences did.[4]
Conference | Regular Season Winner[5] |
Conference Player of the Year |
Conference Tournament |
Tournament Venue (City) |
Tournament Winner |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Atlantic Coast Conference | Duke & North Carolina | Mike Gminski, Duke[6] | 1979 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament | Greensboro Coliseum (Greensboro, North Carolina) |
North Carolina |
Big Eight Conference | Oklahoma | John McCullough, Oklahoma[7] | 1979 Big Eight Conference Men's Basketball Tournament | Kemper Arena (Kansas City, Missouri) (Semifinals and Finals) |
Oklahoma |
Big Sky Conference | Weber State | Lawrence Butler, Idaho State[8] | 1979 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament | Dee Events Center (Ogden, Utah) |
Weber State |
Big Ten Conference | Michigan State, Purdue & Iowa | None Selected | No Tournament | ||
East Coast Conference | Temple (East) Bucknell (West) |
Michael Brooks, La Salle | The Palestra (Philadelphia) |
Temple | |
Eastern Athletic Association (Eastern 8) | Villanova | James Bailey, Rutgers[9] | 1979 Eastern 8 Men's Basketball Tournament | Civic Arena (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) |
Rutgers |
Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) |
Division I ECAC members played as independents during the regular season |
Nikos Galis, Seton Hall; Corny Thompson, Connecticut[10] |
1979 ECAC Metro Region Tournament | Nassau Coliseum (Uniondale, New York) |
Iona |
1979 ECAC New England Region Tournament | Providence Civic Center (Providence, Rhode Island) |
Connecticut | |||
1979 ECAC South-Upstate Region Tournament | Cole Field House (College Park, Maryland) |
Georgetown | |||
Ivy League | Penn | Tony Price, Penn[11] | No Tournament | ||
Metro Conference | Louisville | Pat Cummings, Cincinnati | 1979 Metro Conference Men's Basketball Tournament | Mid-South Coliseum (Memphis, Tennessee) |
Virginia Tech |
Mid-American Conference | Toledo | Paul Dawkins, Northern Illinois[12] | No Tournament | ||
Missouri Valley Conference | Indiana State | Larry Bird, Indiana State[13] | 1979 Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Tournament | Hulman Center (Terre Haute, Indiana) |
Indiana State[14] |
Ohio Valley Conference | Eastern Kentucky | , Eastern Kentucky[15] | McBrayer Arena (Richmond, Kentucky) (Semifinals and Finals) |
Eastern Kentucky[16] | |
Pacific-10 Conference | UCLA | David Greenwood, UCLA[17] | No Tournament | ||
Pacific Coast Athletic Association | Pacific | , Pacific[18] | 1979 PCAA Men's Basketball Tournament | Anaheim Convention Center (Anaheim, California) |
Pacific |
Southeastern Conference | LSU | Reggie King, Alabama[19] | 1979 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament | Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex (Birmingham, Alabama) |
Tennessee |
Southern Conference | Appalachian State | Jonathan Moore, Furman[20] | 1979 Southern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament | Roanoke Civic Center (Roanoke, Virginia) (Semifinals and Finals) |
Appalachian State[21] |
Southland Conference | Lamar | David Lawrence, McNeese State[22] | No Tournament | ||
Southwest Conference | Texas & Arkansas | Sidney Moncrief, Arkansas (Consensus) | 1979 Southwest Conference Men's Basketball Tournament | The Summit (Houston, Texas) |
Arkansas |
Southwestern Athletic Conference | Alcorn State | Larry Smith, Alcorn State[23] | No Tournament | ||
Sun Belt Conference | South Alabama | Rory White, South Alabama[24] | 1979 Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Tournament | Charlotte Coliseum (Charlotte, North Carolina) (Semifinals and Finals) |
Jacksonville[25] |
Trans America Athletic Conference | Northeast Louisiana | Calvin Natt, Northeast Louisiana[26] | 1979 TAAC Men's Basketball Tournament | Ewing Coliseum (Monroe, Louisiana) |
Northeast Louisiana |
West Coast Athletic Conference | San Francisco | Bill Cartwright, San Francisco[27] | No Tournament | ||
Western Athletic Conference | BYU | None Selected | No Tournament |
Informal championships[]
Conference | Regular Season Winner |
Conference Player of the Year |
Conference Tournament |
Tournament Venue (City) |
Tournament Winner |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Philadelphia Big 5 | Penn & Temple | None selected | No Tournament |
Statistical leaders[]
Points Per Game |
Rebounds Per Game |
Field Goal Percentage |
Free Throw Percentage
| |||||||||||
Player | School | PPG | Player | School | RPG | Player | School | FG% | Player | School | FT% | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lawrence Butler | Idaho St. | 30.1 | Monti Davis | Tenn. St. | 16.2 | Florida St. | 69.1 | Campbell | 92.1 | |||||
Larry Bird | Indiana St. | 28.6 | Bill Cartwright | San Francisco | 15.7 | Jeff Ruland | Iona | 67.1 | Kurt Kanaskie | La Salle | 91.7 | |||
Nick Galis | Seton Hall | 27.5 | Southern | 15.5 | Steve Johnson | Oregon St. | 66.1 | Jim Krivacs | Texas | 91.0 | ||||
Eastern Kentucky | 26.9 | Larry Bird | Indiana St. | 14.9 | Tennessee St. | 65.6 | Butler | 90.9 | ||||||
Paul Dawkins | Northern Illinois | 26.7 | Larry Knight | Loyola-Illinois | 14.3 | Wiley Peck | Mississippi St. | 64.4 | Ron Perry | Holy Cross | 90.8 |
Post-Season Tournaments[]
NCAA Tournament[]
Final Four[]
National Semifinals | National Finals | ||||||||
E9 | Penn | 67 | |||||||
ME2 | Michigan State | 101 | |||||||
ME2 | Michigan State | 75 | |||||||
MW1 | Indiana State | 64 | |||||||
MW1 | Indiana State | 76 | |||||||
W2 | DePaul | 74 |
Third Place – DePaul 96, Penn 93 (OT)
National Invitation Tournament[]
Semifinals & Finals[]
Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||
Indiana | 64 | ||||||||
Ohio State | 55 | ||||||||
Indiana | 53 | ||||||||
Purdue | 52 | ||||||||
Purdue | 87 | ||||||||
Alabama | 68 |
- Third Place – Alabama 96, Ohio State 86
Awards[]
Consensus All-American teams[]
Player | Position | Class | Team |
---|---|---|---|
Larry Bird | F | Senior | Indiana State |
Mike Gminski | C | Junior | Duke |
David Greenwood | F | Senior | UCLA |
Magic Johnson | G | Sophomore | Michigan State |
Sidney Moncrief | G | Senior | Arkansas |
Player | Position | Class | Team |
---|---|---|---|
Bill Cartwright | C | Senior | San Francisco |
Calvin Natt | C | Senior | Northeast Louisiana |
Mike O'Koren | F | Junior | North Carolina |
Jim Paxson | G/F | Senior | Dayton |
Jim Spanarkel | G | Senior | Duke |
Kelly Tripucka | F | Sophomore | Notre Dame |
Sly Williams | F | Junior | Rhode Island |
Major player of the year awards[]
- Wooden Award: Larry Bird, Indiana State
- Naismith Award: Larry Bird, Indiana State
- Helms Player of the Year: Larry Bird, Indiana State
- Associated Press Player of the Year: Larry Bird, Indiana State
- UPI Player of the Year: Larry Bird, Indiana State
- NABC Player of the Year: Larry Bird, Indiana State
- Oscar Robertson Trophy (USBWA): Larry Bird, Indiana State
- Adolph Rupp Trophy: Larry Bird, Indiana State
- Sporting News Player of the Year: Larry Bird, Indiana State
Major coach of the year awards[]
- Associated Press Coach of the Year: Bill Hodges, Indiana State
- Henry Iba Award (USBWA): Dean Smith, North Carolina
- NABC Coach of the Year: Ray Meyer, DePaul
- UPI Coach of the Year: Bill Hodges, Indiana State
- Sporting News Coach of the Year: Bill Hodges, Indiana State
Other major awards[]
- Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award (Best player under 6'0): Alton Byrd, Columbia
- Robert V. Geasey Trophy (Top player in Philadelphia Big 5): Tony Price, Penn & , Temple
- NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): Nick Galis, Seton Hall
Coaching changes[]
A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.[28]
Team | Former Coach |
Interim Coach |
New Coach |
Reason |
---|---|---|---|---|
Arkansas-Little Rock | Happy Mahfouz | |||
Austin Peay | ||||
Dartmouth | Gary Walters | Tim Cohane | Walters left for Providence. | |
Detroit | David Gaines | Willie McCarter | ||
East Carolina | Dave Odom | |||
Eastern Michigan | Ray Scott | Jim Boyce | ||
Florida A&M | ||||
Hofstra | Joe Harrington | |||
La Salle | Paul Westhead | Westhead left to become an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers. | ||
Louisiana Tech | J. D. Barnett | Andy Russo | ||
Loyola Marymount | Ron Jacobs | |||
Marshall | Stu Aberdeen | Bob Zuffelato | Aberdeen died of a heart attack during the offseason, replaced by associate head coach Zuffelato. | |
Massachusetts | Jack Leaman | |||
Memphis State | Wayne Yates | Dana Kirk | ||
Middle Tennessee State | ||||
New Mexico | Norm Ellenberger | Charlie Harrison | Gary Colson | Ellenberger was fired following a recruiting scandal. Charlie Harrison served as interim coach for the 1979–80 season and Colson was hired as permanent coach in the 1980 offseason. |
New Mexico State | Ken Hayes | Weldon Drew | ||
New Orleans | Butch van Breda Kolff | |||
North Carolina A&T | Gene Littles | Don Corbett | ||
Northeast Louisiana | Fant retired, turning the program to top assistant Hollis. | |||
Oklahoma City | Paul Hansen | Ken Trickey | ||
Oklahoma State | Jim Killingsworth | Paul Hansen | ||
Oral Roberts | Lake Kelly | Ken Hayes | ||
Pacific | Stan Morrison | Dick Fichtner | Morrison left for USC | |
Pepperdine | Gary Colson | Jim Harrick | Colson resigned. | |
Providence | Dave Gavitt | Gary Walters | Gavitt left to concentrate on launching the new Big East Conference. | |
Robert Morris | ||||
St. Francis (NY) | Lucio Rossini | |||
Saint Mary's | Bill Oates | |||
Saint Peter's | Bob Dukiet | |||
Samford | ||||
San Diego State | David Gaines | |||
San Jose State | Bill Berry | San Jose State tapped Michigan State assistant Berry fresh off the Spartans' national championship. | ||
Southern California | Bob Boyd | Stan Morrison | ||
Tennessee–Chattanooga | Murray Arnold | |||
Tennessee Tech | ||||
TCU | Jim Killingsworth | |||
UCLA | Gary Cunningham | Larry Brown | ||
Utah State | ||||
Vanderbilt | Wayne Dobbs | Richard Schmidt | ||
Virginia Commonwealth | Dana Kirk | J. D. Barnett | ||
Western Michigan | ||||
Xavier | Tay Baker | Bob Staak | Xavier brought in Penn assistant Staak. |
References[]
- ^ "1979 Preseason AP Men's Basketball Poll". AP Poll Archive. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Hartzell, Larry, "The 1978-79 Season," Hardwood History, March 22, 2011 Accessed April 6 , 2021
- ^ *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. ISBN 0-345-51392-4.
- ^ Varsity Pride: ECAC Men's Basketball Tournaments
- ^ "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-14.
- ^ 2008–09 ACC Men's Basketball Media Guide – Year by Year section, retrieved 2009-02-14
- ^ 2008–09 Big 12 Men's Basketball Media Guide – Awards section, Big 12 Conference, retrieved 2009-02-04
- ^ Men's Basketball Award Winners, Big Sky Conference, retrieved 2009-02-14
- ^ 2008–09 A-10 men's basketball media guide – Awards section, Atlantic 10 Conference, retrieved 2009-02-01
- ^ "UConn Men's Huskies: Men's Basketball Huskies of Honor Announced, December 26, 2006". Archived from the original on February 3, 2010. Retrieved March 26, 2014.
- ^ Men's Ivy League Outstanding performers Archived 2008-04-29 at the Wayback Machine, Ivy League, retrieved 2009-02-01
- ^ 2008–09 MAC Men's BAsketball Media Guide – Records Section, Mid-American Conference, retrieved 2009-02-14
- ^ 2008–09 MVC Men's Basketball Media Guide – Honors Section[permanent dead link], Missouri Valley Conference, retrieved 2009-02-06
- ^ 2008–09 MVC men's basketball media guide – Tournament section, Missouri Valley Conference, retrieved 2009-02-14
- ^ 2008–09 OVC men's basketball media guide, Ohio Valley Conference, retrieved 2009-02-06
- ^ 2008–09 OVC men's basketball media guide, Ohio Valley Conference, retrieved 2009-01-24
- ^ 2008–09 Pacific-10 Men's Basketball Media Guide- Honors Section, Pacific-10 Conference, retrieved 2009-02-06
- ^ 2008–09 Big West Men's Basketball Media Guide Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine, Big West Conference, retrieved 2009-02-14
- ^ 2008–09 SEC Men's Basketball Record Book, Southeastern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-06
- ^ 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Honors Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09
- ^ 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09
- ^ 2008–09 Southland Conference Men’s Basketball Media Guide, Southland Conference, retrieved 2009-02-07
- ^ 2006–07 SWAC Men's Basketball Media Guide
- ^ 2007–08 Sun Belt Men's Basketball Media Guide, Sun Belt Conference, retrieved 2009-02-07
- ^ "Sun Belt Men's Basketball Previous Champions". Sun Belt Conference. May 31, 2007. Archived from the original on 2011-03-07. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
- ^ Atlantic Sun men's basketball record book, Atlantic Sun Conference, retrieved 2009-02-07
- ^ 2008–09 WCC Men's Basketball Media Guide, West Coast Conference, retrieved 2009-02-07
- ^ "NCAA Division I Men's College Basketball 2000 Coaching Changes". CNN/SI. 2000-09-13. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
- Statistical Leaders and Coaching Changes from 1980 NCAA Basketball 84th Annual Guide, (Copyright 1979, NCAA)
- 1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball season