I’ve argued that same point many times. His commitment was both a blessing and a curse wrt Crean.
5 favorite IU player since you have been a fan
- Thread starter kurt cloverdales
- Start date
Regarding Benson's lack of recognition here, think about who he played with and one can see why he was overshadowed. Plus, there wasn't anything flashy about his game which comes with being a big, lumbering white guy lacking in colorful personality.
For me it is probably McGinnis, May, Edwards, Isiah, Alford...dang, the list could go on... the beauty of IU basketball. With Alford at the free throw line, it was like putting money in the bank. He was kind of a prissy-looking kid topped with that coiffed hair but man did he have a consistently nice stroke. What's not to like about that?
1. AJ Moye
2. Calbert Chaney
3. Chris Reynolds
4. Dane Fife
5. Alan Henderson
possibly, and also it was going on 40 years ago which is hard to believe
few others I thought of were Steve Eyl , jarred Odle, Jim Thomas and Matt Nover , all put in the time and became very important contributors on very good teams. seems like the days of guys developing over time have passed. always appreciated guys that when the were fresh or sophs you said hell no when they got in the game but as juniors and seniors became mainstays
McCracken and Bobby years were memory making.
Don Schlundt (never saw him play, but on radio he was magic)
Walt Bellamy
Jimmy Rayl
Bobby Wilkerson (my all time favorite IUBB player, Mr. Versatile, jumped center, many games the leading rebounder, guard every position and repeatedly assigned to defend opponents best player)
Steve Alford (The Hoosier model of the All American Boy with a sharpshooters eye)
Lots of props to Honorable Mention IU ballers:
Bobby Leonard
Big George
May
Woodson
Isaiah
Kitchel
Wittman
Tolbert
Henderson
Calbert
Bailey
Both Grahams
Lewis
Coverdale
Trayce Jackson Davis
Don Schlundt (never saw him play, but on radio he was magic)
Walt Bellamy
Jimmy Rayl
Bobby Wilkerson (my all time favorite IUBB player, Mr. Versatile, jumped center, many games the leading rebounder, guard every position and repeatedly assigned to defend opponents best player)
Steve Alford (The Hoosier model of the All American Boy with a sharpshooters eye)
Lots of props to Honorable Mention IU ballers:
Bobby Leonard
Big George
May
Woodson
Isaiah
Kitchel
Wittman
Tolbert
Henderson
Calbert
Bailey
Both Grahams
Lewis
Coverdale
Trayce Jackson Davis
Last edited:
Not a burnt bridge for me..
Benson was really good for the "motion" game at that time. A bridge between the old immobile centers and the new mobile big man who could shoot.
But top 5 guys who you liked to watch? Gotta look for the scorers, the movers, the 3-point hitters.
Stew Robinson
Uwe Blab
Steve Eyl
Calbert
Smart
My grandma passed this past year and Stew was her favorite, so he gets bumped up my list, she never missed a game during that time, before retiring to Florida.
She also loved to tell the tale of meeting Uwe, and how she was only tall enough that her eye level was his waist. Lol
Uwe Blab
Steve Eyl
Calbert
Smart
My grandma passed this past year and Stew was her favorite, so he gets bumped up my list, she never missed a game during that time, before retiring to Florida.
She also loved to tell the tale of meeting Uwe, and how she was only tall enough that her eye level was his waist. Lol
regarding my Benson comment...was just curious as to why a two time AA, member of the 76 squad, and (as far as I can recall) the ONLY NBA #1 draft choice EVER from IU, doesn't even get one mention. I don't think it's age/years gone by, as I see a lot of older names being mentioned. He was not the most exciting player to watch so maybe that had something to do with as well as being on a 76 team loaded with other familiar names.
Gold sweater or not...ultimately, he was right about the Sampson hiring. And Murray Sperber.
Gold sweater or not...ultimately, he was right about the Sampson hiring. And Murray Sperber.
was a dick to the greatest iu player who never played a game
Benson had a large presence in Campus Crusade for Christ, which set him apart from many others. It wasn't a bad thing by any means, just a different image than a lot of the IU party people. I think he and Knight might have had a rocky relationship there for a while. Benson almost quit the team at one time. Generally speaking though, he was always well liked, as most Mr Basketball's are.
Benson was featured on the cover of SI in their preseason college bball issue. IU was rated #1, an honor they never relinquished that season. Sadly, Benson will always be remembered as one of the biggest NBA #1 draft pick busts. Then there was the punch to the jowls from the closed fist of Lou Alcindor, aka Kareem Abdul "JaBLUNT". Bennie's jaw was broken and I don't think he ever recovered mentally. He was burnt toast no one wanted after that.
Last edited:
May
Woodson
Thomas
Cheaney
Henderson
Alford was during a time when it was tough for me to keep up with IU basketball so I didn't watch him as much, but he led us to a title so he's honorable mention (though my favorite on that team was Daryll Thomas).
Vic is also honorable mention, took us as far as he could given the era. Loved everything about him at IU.
Woodson
Thomas
Cheaney
Henderson
Alford was during a time when it was tough for me to keep up with IU basketball so I didn't watch him as much, but he led us to a title so he's honorable mention (though my favorite on that team was Daryll Thomas).
Vic is also honorable mention, took us as far as he could given the era. Loved everything about him at IU.
I'm now 71 and hoping to see the 50 year undefeated streak obtained. That will be quite a celebration at my place and, hopefully, yours. The new portal transfer rule and NIL payments could change the playing field for this feat. It seems like it is now easier to create a super team. Players can be bought easier without a one year waiting period.
Benson was surrounded by greater players on the 76 team, so his role was “seen as less” even though he was one of the early “mobile” “scoring” “athletic” centers as that position progressed and changed, especially in a motion offense. But a list of guys people like to watch wont have the workmen/support guys, it will have the stars. Shooters and scorers.
Plus, the Knight firing and subsequent years …
Its a popularity contest
Victor, Keith Smart, Bobby Wilkerson, Alford, and Calbert. Honorable mention: Will Sheehey and Isiah .
Woodson (from the day I saw him in the IN-KY high school series you could tell he was a stud)
Olidipo
Wittman
Kitchell
Evans
My favorites were Scott May, Kent Benson, Quinn Buckner, Bobby Wilkerson and Craig Morris. I liked May, Benson, Buckner and Wilkerson because they helped lead IU to an undefeated season and NCAA Championship my senior at IU. I also knew May, Benson and Wilkerson well because we all lived in McNutt Quad. Buckner spent a lot of time at McNutt with May and Wilkerson, by the way. May played on an intramural softball team with me our sophomore year. He, Wilkerson and I also used to play pinball together at the McNutt center building.
Are any of you familiar with Morris? He wore No. 23 and was Don Noort's roommate our freshman year. He also played on our intramural softball team our sophomore year.
I initially met Morris my first day at IU during freshman orientation. There were four of us on the basketball court near McNutt Quad, so we played a two-on-two game. Ironically, Morris was my teammate and we thumped our opponents.
Morris and I really became close friends after that basketball game. He lived on the same floor as my dentist buddy and me. The three of us and a couple of other friends would play euchre together until midnight almost every night during the week. We also would play basketball and softball together. Those two guys helped make college fun for me!
Unfortunately, Morris got married after our sophomore year and transferred to Morehead State where he eventually became the starting point guard and team captain. Three members of our euchre group attended his wedding, by the way.
My wife and I got married in August, 1976. Morris and my dentist buddy were among the numerous groomsmen in our wedding.
We had a blast playing euchre and partying at a motel walking distance from my parents' home the night before the wedding. The morning of our wedding, we went swimming in the motel pool. A couple of the guys mooned drivers on a nearby highway as they dove off the diving board.
There also were disadvantages to being close to the players on IU's basketball team. Once it was time for the faculty to announce which two reporters were going to cover the 1975-76 IU basketball team, they awarded it to a sophomore and a junior instead of the two seniors (another guy and me) who covered IU football that fall. When I asked why I didn't get assigned IU basketball, one of the faculty members said I was too close to the players to be objective. I asked how objective I would need to be because they would go unbeaten and win it all?
I was so angry, I hustled across the street to the HPER Building and lifted weights to prevent me from getting in a fight with somebody. It was the worst day of my senior year!
Bob Knight also was upset that the other senior and I weren't going to cover IU basketball. When the sophomore and junior reporters arrived at the airport to fly with the team to the first away game, Knight wouldn't allow them on the plane because they weren't wearing suits or sports coats with ties. They hustled back to their apartments, put on sports coats and ties and barely arrived in time to board the plane.
I saw one of the team trainers a couple of days later and he said Knight did that to exact revenge because the other senior and I weren't covering IU basketball. When I saw Knight later, I asked if that was true and he confirmed it.
Obviously, I still have fond memories regarding IU basketball the four years I was at IU. They would have even been better if I had been allowed to cover it for the IDS.
Are any of you familiar with Morris? He wore No. 23 and was Don Noort's roommate our freshman year. He also played on our intramural softball team our sophomore year.
I initially met Morris my first day at IU during freshman orientation. There were four of us on the basketball court near McNutt Quad, so we played a two-on-two game. Ironically, Morris was my teammate and we thumped our opponents.
Morris and I really became close friends after that basketball game. He lived on the same floor as my dentist buddy and me. The three of us and a couple of other friends would play euchre together until midnight almost every night during the week. We also would play basketball and softball together. Those two guys helped make college fun for me!
Unfortunately, Morris got married after our sophomore year and transferred to Morehead State where he eventually became the starting point guard and team captain. Three members of our euchre group attended his wedding, by the way.
My wife and I got married in August, 1976. Morris and my dentist buddy were among the numerous groomsmen in our wedding.
We had a blast playing euchre and partying at a motel walking distance from my parents' home the night before the wedding. The morning of our wedding, we went swimming in the motel pool. A couple of the guys mooned drivers on a nearby highway as they dove off the diving board.
There also were disadvantages to being close to the players on IU's basketball team. Once it was time for the faculty to announce which two reporters were going to cover the 1975-76 IU basketball team, they awarded it to a sophomore and a junior instead of the two seniors (another guy and me) who covered IU football that fall. When I asked why I didn't get assigned IU basketball, one of the faculty members said I was too close to the players to be objective. I asked how objective I would need to be because they would go unbeaten and win it all?
I was so angry, I hustled across the street to the HPER Building and lifted weights to prevent me from getting in a fight with somebody. It was the worst day of my senior year!
Bob Knight also was upset that the other senior and I weren't going to cover IU basketball. When the sophomore and junior reporters arrived at the airport to fly with the team to the first away game, Knight wouldn't allow them on the plane because they weren't wearing suits or sports coats with ties. They hustled back to their apartments, put on sports coats and ties and barely arrived in time to board the plane.
I saw one of the team trainers a couple of days later and he said Knight did that to exact revenge because the other senior and I weren't covering IU basketball. When I saw Knight later, I asked if that was true and he confirmed it.
Obviously, I still have fond memories regarding IU basketball the four years I was at IU. They would have even been better if I had been allowed to cover it for the IDS.
1. Calbert
2. Damon
3. Alan Henderson
4. Jeffries
5. Cody
Honorable mention: Gordon, Greg Graham, Vic, Yogi, Haston, Coverdale
2. Damon
3. Alan Henderson
4. Jeffries
5. Cody
Honorable mention: Gordon, Greg Graham, Vic, Yogi, Haston, Coverdale
Thanks for the interesting read. I remember Craig Morris, but it's only his face and the fact he was about as good as Don "Nordt, Nordt, Nordt" Nordt. Did he leave IU because he felt unwanted by Knight? Did he later regret foregoing his chance to be part of the historical season? As a retired "tooth jockey" of the same general era, I"ve always wondered who your dentist buddy is. He's included in quite a few of your fond memories over the years.
If I remember correctly, Craig left IU because his wife landed a job as a nurse near Morehead State. He does regret leaving IU after his sophomore year, but sometimes we have to do things regarding our marriage.
As far as my dentist buddy, his initials are W.W. We have been great friends since third grade. He originally went to Miami (Ohio) College to play baseball, but transferred to IU for the second semester. I still remember him telling me over the Thanksgiving weekend that he was moving into a room next door to me at Bocobo One. It made my night!
My buddy joined Phi Gamma Delta shortly after moving into our dorm, but remained in our dorm until the start of our sophomore year. He and I worked together for a landscaping company that summer, by the way. He helped me get the job and we had a blast mowing the grass at the Cummins Tech Center.
He just retired the other day, but his wife still is a practicing dentist because she is a few years older than him. I couldn't have had a better dentist than my buddy. His dad was my dentist before him and he also was great.
Larry took it out on Kent in the NBA, whenever Kent was up against the Celtics. There was one game when Kent was a Piston and he was guarding McHale. Bird made sure to set up McHale every time and just torch Kent. That was the game where McHale set the Celtics points in a game record (56?) that Bird then broke like 9 days later.
My understanding is Bird went to IU believing he would not have to go to class and he would get his grades given to him. He lived in McNutt the short time he was at IU and nobody seemed to like him.
What he accused Kent Benson of was nonsense! I know Kent well and he merely was pranking him. In my opinion, Bird used that for an excuse when he left IU.
My wife knows people who were students at Indiana State when Bird played basketball there. They said Bird didn't go to class and had his grades given to him.
Do you remember what Bird did when he was on the Indiana All-Star team the summer after his senior year of high school? He cussed out the all-star coach and refused to go into the game when the coach tried to put him in the game. It was late in the game and Bird was upset that he didn't get in sooner.
The great ones are normally dickheads. Bird fits the bill, but boy could he play basketball.
for a former journalist, you sure repeat a lot of unsubstantiated gossip and personal opinion about events. I'd think you'd not do that just based on your background. I don't think Benson's contempt and treatment of Bird was a secret, seems I've seen former players acknowledge he rode him like a mule before too. And I doubt Larry was too thinned skin to such stuff, having been in locker rooms for most of his life. Although, I would guess it was likely his humble background made him feel uneasy around players and students at IU. I"d say things worked out OK for all involved.
Bird baby sat the couple's child while they went to classes at Indiana State. He would do it for about eight hours a day. When would he have gone to class?
