Month: February 2022

2003 Top 50 List: No

Dan Collins List: No

John Richter was a big man for the late 1950s NC State teams under Everett Case.  He was in fact one of the tallest players in the league at 6’8”.  Richter and Lou Pucillo were the leaders of the 1959 NC State team that finished #6 in the AP poll.  They tied for the regular season championship and won the ACC Tournament but were ineligible for the NCAA Tournament due to probation.  Richter received 25 votes to Pucillo’s 43 in ACC Player of the Year voting.  He was named second team All-American by the NABC and the NEA and finished 16^th in the AP balloting, just missing third team.

Richter was also MVP of the 1959 Dixie Classic.  On back-to-back-to-back days, the Wolfpack beat Louisville, who eventually went to the Final Four; Oscar Robertson and Cincinnati, who also went to the Final Four; and seventh-ranked Michigan State, with Jumpin’ Johnny Green.  You gotta love the Dixie Classic.

Richter was the first round pick of the Boston Celtics and spent one year in the NBA backing up Bill Russell and winning an NBA championship with Russell, Bob Cousy, Tom Heinsohn, and the rest of Red Auerbach’s Celtics.  In the offseason, he developed a blood clot in his arm, and doctors advised him to take a year off. When he did return, it was with the Sunbury Mercuries in the Eastern Professional Basketball League, or what eventually became the CBA.

Richter ranks fourth in NC State school history in career rebounds, behind Ronnie Shavlik, Tom Burleson, and Richard Howell.

Players to Lead the ACC in Scoring and Rebounding in the Same Season:

• 1957, Grady Wallace, South Carolina
• 1958, Pete Brennan, UNC
• 1959, John Richter, NC State
• 1961-62, Len Chappell, Wake
• 1964-65, Billy Cunningham, UNC
• 1978, Rod Griffin, Wake
• 1987, Horace Grant, Clemson
• 1997, Tim Duncan, Wake
• 1998, Antawn Jamison, UNC
• 2008, Tyler Hansbrough, UNC
• 2018, Marvin Bagley, Duke

Most basketball fans have heard of 3-point plays but John Richter, North Carolina State’s 6-foot-8 freshman center, has come up with something new – a 5-point play.  In a recent game against the Duke frosh, the Philadelphian came up with, not one, but two 5-point plays.  The oddity goes like this: Richter was fouled in the act of shooting a field goal.  He made the goal, accounting for two points.  He was given one free throw, which he missed.  But Richter grabbed the rebound after missing and scored a field goal, accounting for four points.  He was fouled again and this time made the free throw, thereby accounting for five points.  Richter scored 32 points and grabbed 32 rebounds during the game, to pace a 71-64 win for the Wolflets. – The Charlotte News, January 14, 1956

2003 Top 50 List: No

Dan Collins List: No

Mike Lewis (not to be confused with UNC’s Bob Lewis, who played at the same time) was an outstanding big man who played at the tail end of the Vic Bubas era at Duke.  He had a monster year in 1968, averaging 22 points and 14 rebounds.  He was unanimous first team All-ACC, received a lot of support for ACC Player of the Year (won by Larry Miller), and made third team All-American.  He had 24 double-doubles (Tim Duncan holds the ACC record in that category with 29 in 1997).

Lewis was a similar player to Randy Denton, who succeeded him as Duke’s big man in residence.  I rate Lewis a bit higher because he achieved a level as a senior that was slightly better than Denton’s best.  Lewis’s 14.4 rebounds per game average in 1968 has been exceeded only three times since then: Tom Owens in 1970 (14.9), Len Elmore in 1974 (14.7), and Tim Duncan in 1997 (14.7).

Lewis played a major role in the two most famous “slowdown” games in the ACC Tournament.  In the 1966 semifinal, UNC held the ball and didn’t shoot unless they got a layup.  It almost worked, as the Tar Heels built a 17-12 lead in the second half, but Duke managed to claw back.  Lewis sank a late free throw to secure a 21-20 win for the Blue Devils, who went on to win the ACC championship and advance to the Final Four for the third time in four seasons.  In 1968, NC State tried it, and this time Duke was not so fortunate as the Wolfpack pulled out a 12-10 win to advance to the final against UNC.  Lewis was Duke’s high scorer with four points. 

If these slowdown games sound like a desperation tactic, that’s because they were.  Duke was the dominant program in the ACC in the 1960s, and their program at the time was known for size and rebounding, kind of like Roy Williams’ North Carolina teams.  Lewis was at the center of that, but Duke had other quality big men as well.  Dean Smith in 1966 and Norm Sloan in 1968 were honest in saying that they didn’t think they could deal with Duke’s size in a normal game, hence the spread out/slow down tactic.  Interestingly, Duke coach Vic Bubas didn’t complain or criticize their tactics at all.  He said in effect, it’s not against the rules, so I don’t have a problem with it.  For some reason, it took the NCAA 18 more years to figure out that this was gimmickry, not basketball, and institute a shot clock.

Lewis was also involved in a fascinating home-and-home series with John Wooden and UCLA.  In December 1965, the Bruins came to North Carolina and played the Blue Devils on back-to-back days; in December 1966, Duke went out to California and returned the favor.  Wouldn’t it be cool if a few of the top teams still did that?  Both the 1965 games were won by Duke; both the 1966 games were won by UCLA.  The difference?  Lew Alcindor.  1966 was Alcindor’s first year on varsity, and not coincidentally, the first year of the Bruins’ 10 year run of dominance.  Poor Mike Lewis, standing at 6’7”, didn’t stand a chance, and nobody else that played Alcindor did either.  That 1966-67 UCLA team is arguably the most dominant team in the history of college basketball, and Alcindor is arguably the greatest player in the history of college basketball.

2003 Top 50 List: No

Dan Collins List: No

Charlie Scott was the best player in the class of 1970.  Vann Williford was the second best.  A two-time first team All-ACC selection, Williford received significant support for ACC Player of the Year in 1970, finishing behind Scott and John Roche. He was also named MVP of the ACC Tournament – an exciting tournament won by NC State in a double overtime final over South Carolina.

The Wolfpack then advanced to the NCAA Tournament to take on Bob Lanier and third-ranked St. Bonaventure.  Williford had 35 points and 12 rebounds in a losing effort.  The Bonnies went on to the Final Four.  Williford’s last college game was the regional third place game.  He had 36 points and 11 rebounds in a win over Calvin Murphy and #17 Niagara. 

Looking back at that 1970 ACC Tournament, Williford’s performance really stands out. I did a quick study of ACC Tournament MVPs to see which of them scored the greatest percentage of their team’s points over the course of the tournament. As far as I can tell, only three players have scored 40% or more:

• Lennie Rosenbluth, 1957: scored 106 out of 237, 44.7%
• Randolph Childress, 1995: scored 107 out of 246, 43.5%
• Vann Williford, 1970: scored 73 out of 176, 41.4%

Next in line are Albert King, 1980 (37.9%), James Forrest in 1993 (37.3%), Len Chappell in 1962 (35.4%), and Zion Williamson in 2019 (35.1%).

So if you combine the stellar ACC Tournament with the two monster games in the NCAAs, that’s a pretty strong finish to a college career. I wonder if Williford would have received some All-America support if the vote had been held after the season.

Williford was a high school teammate of Carolina’s Rusty Clark at Fayetteville (NC) High School. He was not highly recruited but wound up at NC State in a roundabout way. Pistol Pete Maravich was the son of NC State coach Press Maravich but was unable to make the ACC’s minimum SAT score. As a result, Press and Pete moved on to LSU and left the cupboard somewhat bare for new coach Norm Sloan. Williford had signed with Pfeiffer but was hoping to get an better offer. When he got one from Sloan, he jumped at the chance.

20+ point, 10+ rebound average in a season since 1970:

• Vann Williford, 1970, 23.7/10.0
• Randy Denton, Duke, 1971, 20.4/12.8
• Tom Burleson, NC State, 1972, 21.3/14.0
• Kenny Carr, NC State, 1976, 26.6/10.3
• Rod Griffin, Wake Forest, 1978, 21.5/10.0
• Mike Gminski, Duke, 1978, 20.0/10.0
• Mike Gminski, Duke, 1980, 21.3/10.9
• Joe Smith, Maryland, 1995, 20.8/10.6
• Tim Duncan, Wake Forest, 1997, 20.8/14.7
• Antawn Jamison, UNC, 1998, 22.2/10.5
• Tyler Hansbrough, UNC, 2008, 22.6/10.2
• Marvin Bagley, Duke, 2018, 21.0/11.1