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C3 Tuesday. Dece-D- 1, 1970 Tfe Da !v IV Her Case started it all ACC has proundl cas record I ; -.- 'ft- J T AM ' V '' N.C. State's Ed Leftwich scores winning layup in final game of ACC tournament last year, denying South Carolina a spot in the NCAA's in one of the dramatic moments in league history. 0 n Lotz, by Howie Carr Sports Writer When UNC head basketball coach Dean Smith said, "I think I have the finest assistant coaches of any school in the country," he was referring of course to John Lotz and Bill Guthridge. These two coaches handle many of the chores of recruiting, coaching the freshmen and assisting Smith in coaching the varsity. Lotz was familiar with Carolina long before he became an assistant coach in 1965. His brother, Danny, played for the Tar Heels from 1957 through 1959. "When Danny played at Carolina Coach Smith was the assistant here," said Lotz once, explaining the events that brought him to Chapel Hill. "The two of them developed a very close player-coach relationship. It was through Danny that I met Coach Smith, who I grew to respect very much." Lotz, a New York City native, who played college basketball at East Texas State, began his coaching career at a Norwich, N.Y. high school which had won only one game the previous year. Under his direction, it won fifteen games. The next year Lotz moved to a new high school in Massapequa, Long Island. Its first senior class won the South Shore championship. Called "Pope John" or "John the Baptist" by Bill Currie, Lotz is the son of a Baptist minister and is active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. "John is definitely head coaching material because he is so versatile," Smith has said. "He recruits, he scouts, he coaches. I guess one of his major assets in everything he does is the fact that he gets along so well with people." Coach Guthridge, the head freshman coach, came to Carolina when then-assistant coach Larry Brown decided to play in the fledgling American Basketball Association. Guthridge, a Parsons, Kansas native, was a starting guard for Kansas State during the years it reigned as Big Eight champs-1958, 1959, and 1960. After coaching at Scott City High School for two years following his graduation in 1960, he returned to KSU as an assistant coach. During the summer of 1967, Guthridge coached an AAU team in Puerto Rico, and was subsequently invited to coach the Puerto Rican team in the 1968 Olympics. He declined the offer because of the pressure of his work in Chapel Hill. As freshman coach, Guthridge bears much of the responsibility for recruiting, which he describes as "a long process." "We find out about boys in different Jones leads by Howie Carr Sports Writer Tom McMillen is in College Park, but four other scholarship players remain m Chapel Hill, giving Coach Bill Guthndge s freshman basketball team a fairly good outlook as they begin the 1970-71 season tonight. Perhaps Guthridge's brightest prospect is 6-9, 205-pound center Bobby Jo, who played for South Mecklenburg High in Charlotte. He was Player of the Year in Charlotte in both his junior and senior seasons, and made All-State last year as he led his team to the 4-A championship of North Carolina. Jones was also an outstanding high-jumper .during tne spring. One of the starting slots will be occupied by John O'Donnell, a 6-6, 190-pound forward from Fordham Prep in New York City. He was selected to the All-New York City team both in 1969 and 1970. mairlni liauids assistants Guthridge among ways-from students, coaches, alumni, newspapers," he says. "The first thing we do is to find out if they qualify academically. If they do, we try to watch them play, then meet them, and if we think they are the kind of person suited for Carolina, visit them." Once the recruit arrives here, it is Guthridge's job to prepare them for playing ACC basketball. "Our number one goal is to prepare the freshmen for the varsity, and our number two goal is to win our games," 'Four 'wal. by David Zucchino Sports Writer All basketball players are athletic gods who are cajoled and flattered" by coaches and anxiously awaited by hordes of drooling fans. Right?Wrong. Believe it or not, four members of Carolina's 1970 basketball team were once ordinary freshmen just like the rest of us. Unlike the rest of us, however, Dale Gipple, Bill Chambers, John Cox, and John Austin were high school basketball whizzes, and made the most of their basketball talent to gain membership on the Tar Heel squad, although none of the four boys were actively recruited by coach Dean Smith and his staff. Gipple, a 6-2 senior guard, has made the most conspicuous rise out of the student body and is the non-recruited player who is most likely to win a starting position. After a sparkling prep career in Burlington, Dale played for the Tar Heel freshman squad, made the varsity as a sophomore and was rewarded with a basketball scholarship. "Dale is going to play a lot of basketball for us this season," claims coach Dean Smith. "His only weakness is something which he has no control over-his speed, although he's not all that slow. Either Dale or George Karl will start at our quarterback position." promising UNC freshmen Darrell Elston, a 6-3, 196-pound swingman from Tipton, Indiana, could start either at forward or in the backcourt. In addition to being an outstanding basketball star, he was also an All-State football player at Tipton High School, where he played both offensive and linebacker. The fourth scholarship player, 5-11, 173-pound Ray Hite, is the brother of Tar Heel football player Billy Hite. Playing at one of the best basketball high schools in the country, De Matha, (the only school to defeat Power Memorial while Lew Alcindor was a student there and where ex-UNC star Eddie Fogler is now coaching) Hite was selected to the All-Metropolitan team in Washington, D.C. during his last two seasons. "I don't know who the fifth starter will be," says Guthridge, adding though, that he has narrowed the field to three: 6-3, 185-pound John Cameron, who by Mark Whicker Sports Writer Success breeds work, and harder work breeds more success. The theory has taken the ACC to the top in basketball, and has driven conference coaches to distraction. They may have to know as much about the top high school seniors as they do about other college personnel. They have Everett Case to thank for it, with a toast of Alka-Seltzer on the rocks. Case came to State in 1948, and by the time the ACC was founded in 1954 his Wolf pack had one of the country' 's best teams. They rolled to a 23-7 regular season, and nipped UNC and Duke to gain the tournament finals. Ronnie Shaviik's 18 points gave Case the first victory over Wake Forest. best Guthridge explains. "We try to prepare the team in the North Carolina style." "I'm real happy," says Guthridge. "Carolina is a great place to be and Coach Smith is a great person to work for. My ambition this year is to see the varsity win the ACC championship." "I recognized long ago that Bill has an outstanding basketball mind," says Smith, returning the compliment. "That's why I brought him to Carolina. He's a winner and we're happy to have him on our side." Gipple leads non-recruits Although Chambers, Cox, and Austin will probably not see as much action as will Gipple, Smith acknowledges their value to the squad. "Chambers is a real hustler and stands a good chance to see a lot of action," Smith says. "Cox and Austin are a couple of good sophomores and they will play the role that Chambers played for us last year. They'll primarily contribute in practice." Just how does a non-recruited player go about getting his name on the varsity roster? "All boys trying out for the team, whether they have basketball scholarships or not, must first prove their worth to freshman coach Bill Gutheridge," explains Smith. This sounds easy enough, but one immediately wonders whether there may be a natural tendency on the part of the coaches to give a great deal more consideration to scholarship players, who after all represent a considerable athletic investment. Coach Smith is quick to discount this notion. "This is a far-fetched idea of the part of many people,' he explains. "All players are treated exactly the same and each boy receives an equal amount of attention from the coaches. There is absolutely "no difference in this respect between a player like Charles Scott and the last man on the team. played forward at Ashley High School in Gastonia; former Myers Park guard Alan Mayfield, a 6-2, 190-pounder and 6-3, 182-pound Richard Mendel, from Northside High School in Atlanta. If Mayfield becomes one of the starting guards, Elston will play forward, while if either Cameron or Mendel wins a regular spot at forward, Elston will start in the backcourt. "Other players with a good chance of seeing some action," says Guthridge, "are Robert Evans, Moses Parker, and Chris Reigert." Evans is a 5-9, 150-pounder from Rocky Mount, while 6-0, 168-pound Parker played for Elm City High. From Forest City, N.C, 6-1, 152-pound Riegert was a starter for East Rutherford High last season. All three are guards. "It's impossible to compare teams from year to year," explains Guthridge, "but we should have a better team this season because of our four scholarship Shavlik and Vic Modolet did it aza-n the next year. The Wolfpack won "the regular season at 12-2, then beat second-place Duke in the tourney finals 87-77. Shavlik got 24. Modolet 17. Duke's best was Joe Belmont, who until recently was the coach of the .Denver Rockets. By this time the other schools were recruiting heavily to keep up with Case. Frank McGuire had a nucleus of stars at UNC in 1956, and the Tax Heels tied State for the league championship with an 11-3 record. After the Tar Heels shocked Kansas and Wflt Chamberlain in the NCAA finals, the nation's best recruits came pouring in. Enough were already there to deny the Tar Heels the conference title in 1958. Duke beat out Carolina and State for the regular season title, but Maryland beat Duke in the semi-finals and the Tar Heels topped State 64-58 with Pete Brennan scoring 23. In the finals, Maryland overcame a seven-point Tar Heel lead and won 86-74. Case returned with a flourish in 1959. The Wolfpack and Tar Heels tied for the title at 12-2, but in the tournament showdown the Wolfpack took command from the beginning. State won 80-56 behind the magic of 5'8" Lou Pucillo, who scored 23. McGuire must have started having second thoughts about the tournament after what happened in 1960. Carolina and Wake Forest tied for the regular season championship at 12-2, with Maryland third and Duke fourth. But Carroll Youngkin, a sharp-shooting 6'6" forward, scored 30 points in the semi-finals and the Blue Devils beat Carolina 71-69. Bones McKinney was happy, since Wake beat State and appeared to have the title in the bag. Duke's balanced attack, however, wore down the big Deacons in the second half and Vic Bubas had the ACC championship in his first try. No team Anyone who comes out for the squad has a chance of making it." Smith admits that the number of non-recruited players making the squad has increased in the last few years, and he sees this as a blessing for the Tar Heels. "This has helped to improve our teams," he says. "No other team that I . know of has more than one non-recruited . player. State has only Al Heartley and Duke has fifteen highly-recruited players. ' The value of recruiting may possibly be over-rated." There exists the possibility that a potentially outstanding ball-handler or shooter in the student body may fail to try out for the basketball squad due to a lack of confidence or time, and thus be missed by the coaching staff, but Smith feels the chances of this occurring are very slight. "Every school in the nation has a basketball program, so it's most unusual for a player to be missed," he insists. "In football, for example, a boy who is aggressive and who likes to hit can gradually be taught to play on the line, but this sort of thing is rare in basketball. "Basketball is a highly skilled game,' and it takes years for a player to learn the necessary skills. If a player has acquired these skills, it's almost impossible for him not to be noticed by someone." Dale Gipple, Bill Chambers, John Cox and John Austin have most definitely been noticed. players. We lack size other than Jones and O'Donnell,' and this hurts us in practice. Our big man depth isn't very good." The frosh open their rugged sixteen-game schedule tonight against William & Mary in Carmichael at 5:55. The success of the Tar Babies' season will probably be decided in the six games they must play against N.C. State and Duke. "State has six scholarship players," says Guthridge, "including 7-4 Tommy Burleson, two big forwards and a couple of tall guards. Of Duke's five scholarship boys, four are between 6-6 and 6-8. They both should be very good freshman teams. . "We also play Wake Forest and Virginia twice each, but we don't know much about their personnel," he continues. "I think well have a good team, but how well compare with the others, I don't know," says Guthridge. "Hopefully we'll be competitive. It'll be an interesting season." below second mace in the recu'ar season has won the tournament str.ce the-, and the rest of corner: easily divided into eras. THE MCKINNEY ERA: Red sewks. red seatbehs. hellfire and brimstone to the omcials. and Lenny Chippc'.!. After Carolina was eliminated from the tournament because of recruiting indiscretions. Wake battled it out with Duke and marvelous so t lit'. .- Art neyman. iteyman got 2b m tr TV t. finals. but ChappeiTs 33 and some great assists from Billy Packer won it for Wake e-SI. After the Deacs nipped Duke and State in a red-hot 2 regular season. Gemson and Press Maravich stepped into the picture. The Tigers had a 4-10 conference record, but eliminated State and Duke in the tournament's first two rounds, svith Jim Brennan and the Mahafley boys leading the way. Chappell. who averaged 30 points that year, got 31 in the finals and Wake bumed Gemson 77-66. The Deacons got all the way to Jerry Lucas and Ohio State in the national semi-finals, then rebounded for third place. THE BUBAS ERA: Bubas and the Blue Devils won the regular season four years in a row, going undefeated in the ACC in '63. Heyman and Jeff Mullins ended the McKinney era in the finals 68-57, the fourth time they beat Wake Forest that year. They eventually finished third in the country. Bubas best team was in 1964, when he came in second to UCLA in the nationals. The Devils' average victory margin in the tourney was 23 points. Mullins averaged 24 a game. Jay Buckley and Hack Tison rebounded and Sieve Vacendak made the key plays. Bob Verga replaced Mullins in "65, but the conference kept getting better. Maryland, Carolina and State finished a game behind the Devils, and the Tar Heels beat Bubas twice in Billy Cunningham's last appearance. Wake whipped UNC in the first round, then yielded 101-81 to Duke. State's bald eagle, Larry Lakins, beat Maryland by nine, but had a rough night in the finals, getting only 10 points. As Press Maravich, the successor to Case who had retired in December, chewed his towel nervously, substitute forward Larry Worsley gunned in 30 points and State upset Duke 91-85. Sophomore center Mike Lewis arrived at Durham" from -Montana in '66 and finished third in the country. He and Jack Marin cleared the boards and Verga kept shooting. But the era ended with Duke's win r . : .... ! - f I 1.?- ( Carolina's Bill Chamberlain drives under the basket for a reverse layup attempt. Defending is Duke's center Randy Denton. Both return for more action this season. and UNC n the before. Four Tar Heels stationed themsehes in four different corners and held on to the bill for dear hie. Duke survived 21-20. Dean Smith took over. THE BLUE HEAVEN ERA: Carolina had Bob Lewis, the country's best shooter in and Larry Miller, who specialized in the impossible layup. Rusty Clark. BUI Bunting and Dick Grubar were sophomores, but treated pressure as a tool instead of succumbing to it. The Tar Heels went fourth, second, and fourth in the country in 1967-69. They were 1 2-2 in the ACC regular season all three years, and became the first team to win three straight conference and Eastern regional tournaments. Muler and Lewis combined for 5S in the 82-73 win over Duke in the 67 finals. Charlie Scott, never "player of the year" but the conference's all-time best player, joined Miller in '68 to lead UNC to second place in the country. Carolina ripped State 87-50 in the tourney finals, but Duke, the team that should have been there, was outstalled by the Wolfpack 1 2-10 the night before. Although Carolina fell apart in the NCAA finals in '6l. Scott decimated Duke in the tournament. He popped in 40 points from all angles, and Bunting added 17 in the 85-74 victory. THE MCGUIRE ERA?: Fr3nk McGuire is building another dynasty at South Carolina, but the Gamecocks have no title to show for it. After swimming through the tough ACC schedule undefeated, they bowed to State 42-39 in the tournament. 1970 was probably the strongest year in conference history. Duke, Wake Forest, Carolina and State took turns beating each other in regular season, and Scott won the conference scoring title. John Roche of South Carolina got "player of the year" honors for the second straight year with some smooth political maneuvering and a deadly outside shot. He injured an ankle in the tournament semi-finals and shot four-for-17 against State. The hustle of Vann Williford gave State the title, although the Wolfpack got nowhere in the nationals. So the ACC is still the only conference in the country that picks its NCAA representatives after the season ends. It's also the only conference with four or five teams worthy of NCAA participation year after year. And with each winter it keeps getting better. a ,., r over State $: provided an Mm ) 'A s 1 ' 7 HfiHf -r "1 y"
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Dec. 1, 1970, edition 1
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