Was 1975-76, the apex of high school basketball in KY? I'm inclined to think so. The season had a little of everything. I haven't done exhaustive comparative research, but the pieces all fit together to make 1975-76 the most compelling season ever: the preseason hype; the quality of teams; the quality of players; the in-season drama; and the upset-laden tournament. I'll start today with the hype and do a deeper dive of the teams, players, drama, and upsets in coming weeks.

Fifty years ago today, on November 23, 1975, the Louisville Courier-Journal published its preseason basketball preview. The paper noted that Male was the top ranked team in the nation by Street & Smith's magazine. It quoted St. Xavier coach Marty Donlan, who said Male "might even be No. 1 on the moon." Male was coming off a state tournament title in 1975, with its top two players--Darrell Griffith and Bobby Turner--returning for their senior seasons. Griffith would soon be profiled by Sports Illustrated as the top recruit in the country. Turner was not far behind in the preseason coaches' poll; between them, Griffith and Turner "received more than twice as many votes as the rest of the state's best players did cumulatively." 

Despite being tagged as heavy favorites, the state was loaded with good squads. Henry Clay returned eight players off the 1975 state runner-up team and was pegged in second place in the preseason poll; newly consolidated Shelby County was third, Shawnee was fourth, and Male's Seventh Region rival Ballard was in the fifth spot following a 30-2 campaign in 1974-75. Such were the expectations on Male that it was chosen "by a mile" over these other teams, any of which could have been favored to win the Sweet 16 in another season.

Furthermore, although it's easier to see in hindsight how strong the field was, that Griffith and Turner would far outpace truly great players like Durand "Rudy" Macklin and Jeff Lamp was due in no small measure to incredible hype. (For those who would like more on Macklin, please refer to this link at my Substack post titled "The Other Rudy" https://brenthouk1.substack.com/p/the-other-rudy?r=11w1ef)

The drama and the tournament upsets were, of course, unforeseeable. But the stage was set for a season where interesting story lines abounded. The hype, at least, was as high as it ever been, as high as it could possibly be. 

I'll go into more detail on the top teams in Part II, coming in December.

Brent Houk

www.brenthouk.com

 

 

Already intrigued for Part II! Good stuff!

45 minutes ago, gchs_uk9 said:

Already intrigued for Part II! Good stuff!

Moved to this great Commonwealth that very season.

I remember reading the sports page of the CJ each day and these names bring back memories. 

I BELIEVE (but not sure memory is correct) that both the 6th and 7th region tourneys were held at Freedom Hall that year.

I remember those days well.  Looking forward to Part II and your thoughts on why things might have changed.

 

Thanks for the supportive comments.

Completely coincidentally, a friend of mine sent me a link yesterday to a youtube interview of Jeff Lamp, Lee Raker, Terry Gates, and Jeff Jones--labeled the Four Kentuckians. These guys all went to UVA and changed the culture of the program. As Lamp said, the program didn't rise to national prominence until Ralph Sampson arrived, but he believes that he and the other Kentuckians laid the groundwork to make recruiting Ralph to Virginia possible. The first 20 minutes or so are devoted to their high school years. A little slow in spots, but pretty interesting nonetheless.