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40 years later, Indiana State celebrates 1979 national runner-up team

Robby General
Special for IndyStar

TERRE HAUTE – There was a time where thousands of fans flocked to Terre Haute every time the Sycamores took the court.

That was 40 years ago, when the Indiana State basketball team captured the hearts of so many, going undefeated through the regular season and becoming the first mid-major basketball program to reach the National Championship game.

"It was amazing," former player Alex Gilbert said. "You've heard the stories about the toilet paper and all that. It was everything you would think college sports should be. It was packed every game, kids went crazy every night.

"Sometimes, I don't even have words to describe it."

For the first time in more than 13 years, the Hulman Center recorded a sellout of 10,200 fans Saturday. Although a winter weather advisory left a few seats unclaimed, thousands came out to celebrate the magical run of the 1978-79 men's basketball team.

While Indiana State, who trailed by as many as 11 points, was able to cut its deficit against Loyola Chicago to three on Saturday, its magic fell just a bit short. Even after the Sycamores 75-67 loss, thousands of fans — young and old — stayed in their seats to hear from members of the team from four decades ago.

Thousands reminisced, watching moments like Bob Heaton’s half-court shot against New Mexico State, Alex Gilbert’s monstrous slam on the road against Kansas and the endless highlight reels Larry Bird and Carl Nicks produced while in a Sycamore uniform on the four-panel screen at center court.

After the game, a couple players spoke, each receiving cheers. No one received quite the ovation that Bird did. As he took the mic, everyone in the Hulman Center, including his former teammates, rose to their feet to honor the hall-of-famer.

When Bird played, he used to tell the athletic information staff at Indiana State to focus the media attention on his teammates. Saturday was no different, and Bird — being the last one to speak — offered thanks to his teammates.

“Every level that I played that I had success in, I had great teammates. Guys that knew their role, come to play every day, come to get better every day,” Bird said. “… I’ve been fortunate to have a lot of teammates who wanted a lot out of it and that’s why I’ve had success.”

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When asked about that season, former players and coaches alike couldn't believe that it was four decades ago.

As fans found their seats, music from 1979 blared on the loudspeakers, pretzels were sold for $1.79 and the Sycamores men’s basketball team wore the same baby blue jerseys with white trim that were worn 30 years ago.

Some students started lining up as early as four hours before tipoff. Many said they wanted to be one of the first 100 students to get a free jersey, but all said they were staying for the game and the ensuing celebration.

When Steve Reed, a sophomore on the 1978-79 team, walked onto the court, he said seeing the fans brought back some of his fondest memories. Memories when he and his teammates brought in an average attendance of 9,980 fans per game.

“Terre Haute was rockin’ and rollin’ back that year and it was just a great time to be in Terre Haute, to be at Indiana State,” Reed said. “What we accomplished, no one really could’ve imagined or would’ve predicted at the start of the 78-79 season. … It just kind of came together. I guess it was just meant to be.” 

During each media timeout different players and coaches went to midcourt to be honored.

Players like Bird, Nicks, Gilbert, Heaton, Reed, Brad Miley and Leroy Staley of the infamous “Magnificent Seven,” former head coach Bill Hodges along with players Bob Ritter, Scott Turner, Rod McNelly, Rick Nemcek, Tom Crowder and Eric Curry all received the same ovation. Thousands of fans stood clapping or waving their horrible hankies.

Indiana State star Larry Bird makes his way through the crowd of players and fans getting congratulations after his team defeated Arkansas, 73-71, to win the NCAA Midwest Regional tourney crown in Cincinnati, March 17, 1979.

“It’s nice to be remembered for something,” Gilbert said. “That more than anything else is what makes me happy about this. People won’t let this go and it’s like you’re a part of something that’s a lot bigger than yourself.”

With members of that team spread across the country, just getting everyone back together was special. Bill Hodges, now retired to Florida, says he hasn’t seen some of his former players in as many as 30 years.

When asked about what it was like to coach a team that will likely live on at Indiana State, Hodges — who took over as head coach after Bob King suffered a brain aneurysm and heart attack in July leading into that season — said the task was relatively easy.

“We had tremendous chemistry and the guys really got along and we shared the basketball,” Hodges said. “Larry was a heck of a practice player and when he was, so was everybody else. All that really, it was really an easy job and coach King was around when I needed advice.”

As the postgame celebration ended, more than an hour after the final buzzer sounded, current and former players walked over to the student section at the north side of the gym.

Then a couple hundred remaining students doused them in toilet paper as they did during that historical 1978-79 season.