1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
| 1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball season | |
|---|---|
| Preseason AP #1 | Duke Blue Devils[1] |
| NCAA Tournament | 1979 |
| Tournament dates | March 9, 1979 – March 26, 1979 |
| National Championship | Special Events Center Salt Lake City, Utah |
| NCAA Champions | Michigan State Spartans |
| Helms National Champions | Michigan State Spartans |
| Other champions | Indiana Hoosiers (NIT) |
| Player of the Year (Naismith, Wooden) | Larry Bird, Indiana State |
| Player of the Year (Helms) | Larry Bird, Indiana State |
Season outlook
Pre-season polls
The top 20 from the AP Poll during the pre-season.[2]
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Conference membership changes
The 1978–79 season was most notable for the expansion of the Pacific-8 Conference to 10 members with the addition of the men's athletic programs of Arizona and Arizona State (the conference did not sponsor women's sports until the 1986–87 school year). The conference duly renamed itself the Pacific-10 Conference.
| School | Former Conference | New Conference |
|---|---|---|
| Arizona Wildcats | WAC | Pac-10 |
| Arizona State Sun Devils | WAC | Pac-10 |
| William & Mary Indians | Southern | Independent |
Regular season
Conference winners and tournaments
Of 22 Division I basketball conferences, 13 determined their league champion with a single-elimination tournament, while seven leagues sent their regular-season champion to the NCAA Tournament. The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) did not receive an automatic tournament bid until the 1979–80 season, while the Trans America Athletic Conference (TAAC) received their automatic bid in 1980–81.
From 1975 to 1982, the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC), a loosely organized sports federation of Northeastern colleges and universities, organized Division I ECAC regional tournaments for those of its members that were independents in basketball. Each 1979 tournament winner received an automatic bid to the 1979 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament in the same way that the tournament champions of conventional athletic conferences did.[3]
Statistical leaders
| Player | School | PPG | Player | School | RPG | Player | School | FG% | Player | School | FT% | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lawrence Butler | Idaho St. | 30.1 | Monti Davis | Tenn. St. | 16.2 | Murray Brown | Florida St. | 69.1 | Darrell Mauldin | Campbell | 92.1 | |||
| Larry Bird | Indiana St. | 28.6 | Bill Cartwright | San Francisco | 15.7 | Jeff Ruland | Iona | 67.1 | Kurt Kanaskie | La Salle | 91.7 | |||
| Nick Galis | Seton Hall | 27.5 | Lionel Garrett | Southern | 15.5 | Steve Johnson | Oregon St. | 66.1 | Jim Krivacs | Texas | 91.0 | |||
| James Tillman | Eastern Kentucky | 26.9 | Larry Bird | Indiana St. | 14.9 | Jonathan Green | Tennessee St. | 65.6 | Tom Orner | Butler | 90.9 | |||
| Paul Dawkins | Northern Illinois | 26.7 | Larry Knight | Loyola-Illinois | 14.3 | Wiley Peck | Mississippi St. | 64.4 | Ron Perry | Holy Cross | 90.8 | |||
Post-Season Tournaments
NCAA Tournament
Final Four
| National Semifinals | National Finals | ||||||||
| E9 | Penn | 67 | |||||||
| ME2 | Michigan State | 101 | |||||||
| ME2 | Michigan State | 75 | |||||||
| MW1 | Indiana State | 64 | |||||||
| MW1 | Indiana State | 76 | |||||||
| W2 | DePaul | 74 | |||||||
National Invitation Tournament
Semifinals & Finals
| Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||
| Indiana | 64 | ||||||||
| Ohio State | 55 | ||||||||
| Indiana | 53 | ||||||||
| Purdue | 52 | ||||||||
| Purdue | 87 | ||||||||
| Alabama | 68 | ||||||||
- Third Place – Alabama 96, Ohio State 86
Awards
Consensus All-American teams
| Player | Position | Class | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Larry Bird | F | Senior | Indiana State |
| Mike Gminski | C | Junior | Duke |
| David Greenwood | F | Senior | UCLA |
| Magic Johnson | G | Sophomore | Michigan State |
| Sidney Moncrief | G | Senior | Arkansas |
| Player | Position | Class | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Cartwright | C | Senior | San Francisco |
| Calvin Natt | C | Senior | Northeast Louisiana |
| Mike O'Koren | F | Junior | North Carolina |
| Jim Paxson | G/F | Senior | Dayton |
| Jim Spanarkel | G | Senior | Duke |
| Kelly Tripucka | F | Sophomore | Notre Dame |
| Sly Williams | F | Junior | Rhode Island |
Major player of the year awards
- Wooden Award: Larry Bird, Indiana State
- Naismith Award: Larry Bird, Indiana State
- Associated Press Player of the Year: Larry Bird, Indiana State
- UPI Player of the Year: Larry Bird, Indiana State
- NABC Player of the Year: Larry Bird, Indiana State
- Oscar Robertson Trophy (USBWA): Larry Bird, Indiana State
- Adolph Rupp Trophy: Larry Bird, Indiana State
- Sporting News Player of the Year: Larry Bird, Indiana State
Major coach of the year awards
- Associated Press Coach of the Year: Bill Hodges, Indiana State
- Henry Iba Award (USBWA): Dean Smith, North Carolina
- NABC Coach of the Year: Ray Meyer, DePaul
- UPI Coach of the Year: Bill Hodges, Indiana State
- Sporting News Coach of the Year: Bill Hodges, Indiana State
Other major awards
- Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award (Best player under 6'0): Alton Byrd, Columbia
- Robert V. Geasey Trophy (Top player in Philadelphia Big 5): Tony Price, Penn & Rick Reed, Temple
- NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in NYC): Nick Galis, Seton Hall
Coaching changes
A number of teams changed coaches throughout the season and after the season ended.[27]
| Team | Former Coach |
Interim Coach |
New Coach |
Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arkansas-Little Rock | Happy Mahfouz | Ron Krestenbaum | ||
| Austin Peay | Ed Thompson | Ron Bargatze | ||
| Dartmouth | Gary Walters | Tim Cohane | Walters left for Providence. | |
| Detroit | David Gaines | Willie McCarter | ||
| East Carolina | Larry Gillman | Dave Odom | ||
| Eastern Michigan | Ray Scott | Jim Boyce | ||
| Florida A&M | Ajac Triplett | Josh Giles | ||
| Hofstra | Roger Gaeckler | Joe Harrington | ||
| La Salle | Paul Westhead | Lefty Ervin | Westhead left to become an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers. | |
| Louisiana Tech | J. D. Barnett | Andy Russo | ||
| Loyola Marymount | Dave Benaderet | Ron Jacobs | ||
| Marshall | Stu Aberdeen | Bob Zuffelato | Aberdeen died of a heart attack during the offseason, replaced by associate head coach Zuffelato. | |
| Massachusetts | Jack Leaman | Ray Wilson | ||
| Memphis State | Wayne Yates | Dana Kirk | ||
| Middle Tennessee State | Jimmy Earle | Stan Simpson | ||
| New Mexico | Norm Ellenberger | Charlie Harrison | Gary Colson | Ellenberger was fired following a recruiting scandal. Charlie Harrison served as interim coach for the 1979–80 season and Colson was hired as permanent coach in the 1980 offseason. |
| New Mexico State | Ken Hayes | Weldon Drew | ||
| New Orleans | Butch van Breda Kolff | Don Smith | ||
| North Carolina A&T | Gene Littles | Don Corbett | ||
| Northeast Louisiana | Lenny Fant | Benny Hollis | Fant retired, turning the program to top assistant Hollis. | |
| Oklahoma City | Paul Hansen | Ken Trickey | ||
| Oklahoma State | Jim Killingsworth | Paul Hansen | ||
| Oral Roberts | Lake Kelly | Ken Hayes | ||
| Pacific | Stan Morrison | Dick Fichtner | Morrison left for USC | |
| Pepperdine | Gary Colson | Jim Harrick | Colson resigned. | |
| Providence | Dave Gavitt | Gary Walters | Gavitt left to concentrate on launching the new Big East Conference. | |
| Robert Morris | Tom Weirich | Matt Furjanic | ||
| St. Francis (NY) | Lucio Rossini | Gene Roberti | ||
| Saint Mary's | Frank LaPorte | Bill Oates | ||
| Saint Peter's | Bob Kelly | Bob Dukiet | ||
| Samford | Fred Crowell | Cliff Wettig | ||
| San Diego State | Tim Vezie | David Gaines | ||
| San Jose State | Ivan Guevara | Bill Berry | San Jose State tapped Michigan State assistant Berry fresh off the Spartan's national championship. | |
| Southern California | Bob Boyd | Stan Morrison | ||
| Tennessee–Chattanooga | Ron Shumate | Murray Arnold | ||
| Tennessee Tech | Cliff Malpass | Tom Deaton | ||
| TCU | Tim Somerville | Jim Killingsworth | ||
| UCLA | Gary Cunningham | Larry Brown | ||
| Utah State | Dutch Belnap | Rod Tueller | ||
| Vanderbilt | Wayne Dobbs | Richard Schmidt | ||
| Virginia Commonwealth | Dana Kirk | J. D. Barnett | ||
| Western Michigan | Dick Schiltz | Les Wothke | ||
| Xavier | Tay Baker | Bob Staak | Xavier brought in Penn assistant Staak. |
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References
- "1979 Preseason AP Men's Basketball Poll". AP Poll Archive. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
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- ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. ISBN 0-345-51392-4.
- Varsity Pride: ECAC Men's Basketball Tournaments
- "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-14.
- 2008–09 ACC Men's Basketball Media Guide – Year by Year section, retrieved 2009-02-14
- 2008–09 Big 12 Men's Basketball Media Guide – Awards section, Big 12 Conference, retrieved 2009-02-04
- Men's Basketball Award Winners, Big Sky Conference, retrieved 2009-02-14
- 2008–09 A-10 men's basketball media guide – Awards section, Atlantic 10 Conference, retrieved 2009-02-01
- "UConn Men's Huskies: Men's Basketball Huskies of Honor Announced, December 26, 2006". Archived from the original on February 3, 2010. Retrieved March 26, 2014.
- Men's Ivy League Outstanding performers Archived 2008-04-29 at the Wayback Machine, Ivy League, retrieved 2009-02-01
- 2008–09 MAC Men's BAsketball Media Guide – Records Section, Mid-American Conference, retrieved 2009-02-14
- 2008–09 MVC Men's Basketball Media Guide – Honors Section, Missouri Valley Conference, retrieved 2009-02-06
- 2008–09 MVC men's basketball media guide – Tournament section, Missouri Valley Conference, retrieved 2009-02-14
- 2008–09 OVC men's basketball media guide, Ohio Valley Conference, retrieved 2009-02-06
- 2008–09 OVC men's basketball media guide, Ohio Valley Conference, retrieved 2009-01-24
- 2008–09 Pacific-10 Men's Basketball Media Guide- Honors Section, Pacific-10 Conference, retrieved 2009-02-06
- 2008–09 Big West Men's Basketball Media Guide Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine, Big West Conference, retrieved 2009-02-14
- 2008–09 SEC Men's Basketball Record Book, Southeastern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-06
- 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Honors Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09
- 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09
- 2008–09 Southland Conference Men’s Basketball Media Guide, Southland Conference, retrieved 2009-02-07
- 2006–07 SWAC Men's Basketball Media Guide
- 2007–08 Sun Belt Men's Basketball Media Guide, Sun Belt Conference, retrieved 2009-02-07
- "Sun Belt Men's Basketball Previous Champions". Sun Belt Conference. May 31, 2007. Archived from the original on 2011-03-07. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
- Atlantic Sun men's basketball record book, Atlantic Sun Conference, retrieved 2009-02-07
- 2008–09 WCC Men's Basketball Media Guide, West Coast Conference, retrieved 2009-02-07
- "NCAA Division I Men's College Basketball 2000 Coaching Changes". CNN/SI. 2000-09-13. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
- Statistical Leaders and Coaching Changes from 1980 NCAA Basketball 84th Annual Guide, (Copyright 1979, NCAA)
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