jerseyshorejohnny
Well-known member
This Friday, March 20th, marks the final victory for Coach Lapchick as coach of The Redmen.
A 55-51 victory over Villanova in the NIT Finals.
A 55-51 victory over Villanova in the NIT Finals.
March 20, 1965 / 50th Anniversary
- Thread starter jerseyshorejohnny
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westchesterjoe
Active member
Proud to say, I was there. Old MSG at 50th Street and 8th Avenue.. i was a freshman in the Business School, CBA.. not all Student tickets were on the floor back then. Myself and frat brothers were in the upper deck..
We had the MciNTYRE bros, Sonny Dove, Jerry Houston, maybe Albie Schwartz? Hank Cluess..
NOVA/S star was Billy Melchionni, a great player.George Leftwich, and others I can't recall.
It was a exciting game.. Lew Alcindor was at the game.. When the game was over and fans filing out, everyone was yelling, "Next year for you, Lew." It did not happen and he went to UCLA.."
Freshman did not play Varsity back then.
The NIT still had some lustre back then, the NCAA was just beginning to take over as the Premier TOURNAMENT.
That game, the 84 Holiday Festival win over Michigan, the 85 win over Georgetown@ Washington and the 2011 win over Pittsburgh @ MSG are among the best games I have attended. All were upsets.
How old are some of you guys? (Sorry, couldn't resist
Really old, I graduated in 1961. Our class had commencement exercises in Alumni Hall. We were the the first official function held in it. The paint on the walls was wet, and we were warned not to touch the walls with our gowns. YEAH, really old!
I was there also, it was my senior year in high school. Villanova had Jim Washington who played in the NBA. They also had George Leftwich from DC who was there best player until a knee injury ruined his career. He continued to play but had to wear a big bulky brace. The Old Garden was rocking that day.
If I'm not mistaken, there was a Sporting Goods store at the entrance to the Garden.
Class of 72
Active member
How old are some of you guys? (Sorry, couldn't resist
Really old, I graduated in 1961. Our class had commencement exercises in Alumni Hall. We were the the first official function held in it. The paint on the walls was wet, and we were warned not to touch the walls with our gowns. YEAH, really old!
History Frank. God bless!
Class of 72
Active member
There was Nedicks at the entrance and courtside were $5 not $500.
jerseyshorejohnny
Well-known member
The Torch published a 4 page excerpt from Gus Alfierii's book "Lapchick" today.
Has anyone seen it ???
Thank you !
Has anyone seen it ???
Thank you !
Nothing much has changed in 50 years. The SJU "committee" which is now screwing up the coaching decision is probably made up of the same characters who threw Lapchick out and cost SJU any chance they had at getting the greatest college player of all time, Lew Alcindor.
If they can keep the current indecision process going for a month or so they can kill any chance of getting any recruits this year.
If they can keep the current indecision process going for a month or so they can kill any chance of getting any recruits this year.
That was a great game. I recall Kenny McIntyre was riding a streak of being perfect at the foul line for the entire NIT. He missed a couple during that game, but was still named tournament MVP. It was sad seeing the Big Indian go (The papers referred to Coach by that name). I don't remember any discussions back then calling for a coaching change, nor during the next coach's tenure. I've gotten caught up in current discussions on this site as well as among my cronies. The game has changed. Now, I'm told a coach can't do much to change a kid's style of play or alter his jump shot or even insist he shoot 100 foul shots at the end of practice. I don't love Lavin's "style" of coaching nor his recruiting. I miss having guys like McIntyre who were primarily shooters. All that being said, I'm not sure what posters on this site expect. Surely, we can't return to the days when St John's had its pick of all the talent available in New York. Even Louie saw the need for JC players,transfers and foreign players. My point is you could take Lavin's 5 years here (win loss percentage) and put them alongside Louie's. Is there a big difference? Louie lost a lot of games in the NCAA, and Joe Lapchick preferred playing in the NIT for the most part. What do posters here expect?
Back in '65, my senior year at SJU, the NIT was the PREMIER tournament in college basketball. The NCAA Tournament was still the step child of college basketball. After the team won the students did the unthinkable and had a motorcade around campus which lasted for several hours. Of course there were only 3 buildings on campus then and the old clubhouse still stood on the corner or Utopia and Union Tpke. Don't forget, the campus was a golf course before purchased by the University and more students were still at the downtown campus. Forgive me for carrying on; perhaps there are some younger posters who didn't know a few of these facts.
The 1965 NIT was a great win for SJU but to compare the NIT to the NCAA at that time is just wrong. In the 1940's the NIT was as good or even better than the NCAA because the NCAA only invited 8 teams and many teams preferred a week in NY.
In 1951 you had the shaving point scandal which made MSG taboo to many schools and the NCAA expanded to 16 teams. That is when the NIT demise began. In 1953 the NCAA wnt to 22-24 teams which again hurt the NIT. SJU won the 1959 NIT with two great players,Seiden and Jackson but only had 16 wins and was not in the running for a NCAA bid. Neither was the 1965 team.
In 1951 you had the shaving point scandal which made MSG taboo to many schools and the NCAA expanded to 16 teams. That is when the NIT demise began. In 1953 the NCAA wnt to 22-24 teams which again hurt the NIT. SJU won the 1959 NIT with two great players,Seiden and Jackson but only had 16 wins and was not in the running for a NCAA bid. Neither was the 1965 team.