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1978–79 Indiana State Sycamores Men's Basketball Team
The 1978–79 Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball team is considered the greatest in the school's history. The Sycamores competed as members of the Missouri Valley Conference during the 1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, playing their home games at the Hulman Center in Terre Haute, Indiana. Led by first-year head coach Bill Hodges and National Player of the Year Larry Bird, Indiana State was unranked to begin the season, but swept through the regular season unbeaten. Bird led the #1 ranked Sycamores to the national title game versus the Magic Johnson-led #3 Michigan State Spartans, and ended the season as National runner-up with a record of 33–1 (16–0 MVC). To date, the 1978–79 Sycamores are the only team to advance this far in their first-ever NCAA appearance. They had been the last unbeaten team to reach the national title game until Gonzaga in 2021. Roster The Sycamores were led by Bird, the NCAA Player of the Year, and his 28.6 scoring average. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Hodges
William Oscar Hodges (born March 9, 1943) is an American basketball coach. He was the head basketball coach at Indiana State University from 1978 to 1982, at Georgia College and State University from 1986 to 1991 and at Mercer University from 1991 to 1997. Career As an assistant basketball coach at Indiana State University, he recruited Larry Bird after Bird had dropped out of Indiana University. Before the start of the 1978–79 season, Hodges was hired as Head Coach at Indiana State University after head coach Bob King suffered a brain aneurysm. Hodges proceeded to lead Indiana State with Larry Bird to an undefeated regular season and a second-place finish in the 1979 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, losing to Michigan State University and Magic Johnson in the NCAA Final. During that year, after a 33-1 record, Hodges won several coach of the year awards, including the UPI's and AP's. The Sycamores were selected as the United Press International Collegiate Champio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |