The 1976–77 Detroit Titans men's basketball team represented the

University of Detroit The University of Detroit Mercy is a private Roman Catholic university in Detroit, Michigan. It is sponsored by both the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and the Sisters of Mercy. The university was founded in 1877 and is the largest Catholic universi ...

in the

1976–77 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 1976–77 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began in November 1976, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1977 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Championship Game on March 27 ...

. The team played at

Calihan Hall Calihan Hall is a 7,917-seat multi-purpose arena in Detroit. It is home to the University of Detroit Mercy Detroit Mercy Titans men's basketball, Titans basketball team. The arena opened in 1952. The building was dedicated on May 25, 1952 as the ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

. The Titans were led by head coach

Dick Vitale Richard John Vitale (; born June 9, 1939), also known as "Dickie V", is an American basketball sportscaster. A former head coach in the college and professional ranks, he is well known for his 41-year tenure as a college basketball broadcaster fo ...

, a former assistant coach at

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

, who came to Detroit in 1973. He had quick success at UD, finishing 17-9 in his first season (1973–74), and began to recruit talent to his rising program, bringing guard Dennis Boyd, guard John Long, forward

Terry Tyler Terry Christopher Tyler (born October 30, 1956) is a retired American basketball player. Amateur career A 6'7" forward from Northwestern High School, Tyler signed to play for Dick Vitale at the University of Detroit. Long established himself ...

and guard

Terry Duerod Terry is a unisex given name, derived from French Thierry and Theodoric. It can also be used as a diminutive nickname for the names Teresa or Theresa (feminine) or Terence or Terrier (masculine). People Male * Terry Albritton (1955–2005), A ...

to the Titans program, all of whom would eventually play in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

. The 1976-77 featured a 21-game Titans winning streak, starting on December 6, 1976 with a 113-45 win over

Oakland University Oakland University is a public research university in Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills, Michigan. Founded in 1957 through a donation of Matilda Dodge Wilson, it was initially known as Michigan State University-Oakland, operating under the Mi ...

, and the streak featured a win over #8

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

70-68, winning on a Boyd shot as time expired, a road victory, 99-94 over

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

East Lansing East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County with a smaller portion extending north into Clinton County. At the 2020 Census the population was 47,741. Located directly east of the state capital ...

, and entered the rankings at #19, winning over St. Bonaventure 78-62 on February 9, 1977. Gaining national attention, the highlight of the season came on February 16, 1977, as #15 Detroit went on the road to then #6 and eventual national champion Marquette. Boyd again performed the last second heroics, as he took the jump shot with two seconds remaining, scoring and giving Detroit a historic 64-63 victory. The Titans would finish the regular season 25-2 and received a bid to the

1977 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament The 1977 NCAA Division I basketball tournament involved 32 American schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the National Champion of Men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on Saturday, March 12, 1977, and ended with ...

. Detroit defeated

Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of the U.S. state of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the s ...

in the opening round, with a

double-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

of 29 points and 15 rebounds from Terry Tyler, and would then lose to the

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except women's water polo, which competes in the NCAA inter-divisio ...

86-81 in the regional semi-finals. The Titans finished with a stellar record of 26-3 and a final # 12

ranking A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than" or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak order or total preorder of o ...

on the season. (A December 1976 loss against

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

was subsequently turned into a win, when Minnesota forfeited the game, thus the official record is 26-3 and not 25-4). On the season, Tyler averaged a double-double of 17.4 ppg, 11.0 rpg, Long paced the team's scoring with 20.3 ppg, Duerod contributed 11.3 ppg, Boyd, 10.3 ppg, and forward Ron Bostick added 7.1 ppg. Vitale would be promoted to Athletic Director at the university after the season, and would leave to coach the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...

in the NBA in 1978. Smokey Gaines replaced him as head coach for 1977-78, and led Detroit to a stellar 25-4 record and a #18 ranking with Tyler, Duerod, and Long leading the team, but were denied a NCAA bid and played in the

1978 NIT The 1978 National Invitation Tournament was the 1978 edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition. Selected teams Below is a list of the 16 teams selected for the tournament.

. The Titans would return to the

1979 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament The 1979 NCAA Division I basketball tournament involved 40 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 9 and ended with the championship game on Ma ...

, with Duerod and future NBA center

Earl Cureton Earl Cureton (born September 3, 1957) is an American retired professional basketball player. His nickname was "The Twirl". Amateur career Cureton played high school basketball at Finney High School in Detroit, and signed to play college basketbal ...

leading the Titans. Detroit lost to Lamar 95-87 in the first round. Detroit finished ranked #20 on the season. With the Pistons, Vitale drafted Long and Tyler in the 1978 NBA draft, Duerod in the 1979 NBA draft and would add Boyd as a free agent in 1978 after he was drafted by the New Orleans Jazz in the

1977 NBA draft The 1977 NBA draft was the 31st annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on June 10, 1977, before the 1977–78 season. In this draft, 22 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players ...

. Tyler and Long had extensive careers in the NBA and Duerod won a championship playing for the 1980-81 Boston Celtics. Vitale would be fired by the Pistons and become a prominent college basketball announcer. At a team reunion, Vitale said, ""The stories get bigger and better. If you had an opportunity to see these guys play, you were in for an incredible thrill. They were special," adding "We had the

Motor City Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

in the palm of our hand. They were rocking and rolling. I'm so proud to say I had the golden opportunity to be your coach." Vitale was inducted in the University of Detroit Athletics Hall of Fame in 1993 alongside Terry Duerod. Terry Tyler and John Long were honored together in 2001.

Roster

Rankings

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1976-77 Detroit Titans Men's Basketball Team Detroit Mercy Titans men's basketball seasons

Detroit Titans men's b Detroit Titans men's b