Feb. 18, 2009

By Jim Sumner
theACC.com

When Bobby Stevens was growing up in Norfolk, he used to pretend he was Jerry West, dribbling the ball, with the clock counting down. He’d launch the game-winning jumper. It always went in.

If you’ve ever picked up a basketball, you’ve probably done something very similar. It’s such a common fantasy, that it’s even a TV-commercial cliché.

But Stevens had a more unusual training method. He and a friend would turn out the gym lights and Stevens would practice shooting in the dark. “I wasn’t very big,” Stevens recalls, “and I figured that someday I would have to shoot over somebody so big that I wouldn’t be able to see the basket.”

Shooting in the dark has never really caught on. But in 1973 that foresight would help Bobby Stevens make the most important buzzer-beater in Virginia Tech history.

Virginia Tech was an independent in 1973. Don DeVoe was in his second year as head coach, only 31 years old. The 6’8” DeVoe started for Ohio State’s national powers in the middle 1960s.

DeVoe spent five years as an assistant coach at Army under Bobby Knight and left as a full-fledged devotee of Knight’s defensive philosophies. “Man-to-man defense, all the time... get out and play defense.”

DeVoe also put together a cracker-jack staff that included future VCU coach Sonny Smith and Jim Hallihan, who would head the program at East Tennessee State. His graduate assistant was Kevin O’Connor, currently in the Utah Jazz front office. Stevens said, “We had a tremendous staff that understood the game, understood people. Everybody-- the trainers, the team physician, the manager--knew their job. We thought we worked harder on conditioning than anybody and we were in better shape than our competition.”

Allan Bristow was DeVoe’s top player. A 6’7” lefty from Richmond, Bristow almost went to Indiana on a swimming scholarship. Bristow says, “DeVoe brought a defensive intensity to Virginia Tech that we hadn’t seen before. We always thought we could score with anybody but we couldn’t stop anybody. But with Devoe, 75% of our practices were devoted to defense.”

Bristow also says that “we really didn’t know what we had going into the season.” That was a common sentiment in 1973. Freshmen were eligible for varsity competition for the first time since the Korean War. That meant teams were absorbing both the players from the previous season’s freshman team and the incoming freshmen.

Tech made it even more complicated. They recruited the starting backcourt from Ferrum (Va.) Junior College’s NJCAA runner-up, 5’10” Stevens and 6’3” Charlie Thomas, who DeVoe called “one of the best defenders I ever coached.” Tech added a third junior-college transfer, Calvin Wade, from North Carolina’s Mount Olive Junior College.

DeVoe adds, “Bobby and Charlie had played together so long that they just knew what the other was thinking. They had great chemistry.”

But no one doubted that Bristow was the team’s go-to-guy. He had flirted with going pro after 1972, when he led Tech with 25 points and 13 rebounds per game. Barely recruited out of high school, Bristow was a self-made star. Stevens remembers, “Alan was in incredible physical condition. He was in perpetual motion. If he wasn’t open, he would keep moving until he was. He wore down defenders, just outworked them. Defenders would get tired of chasing him around the floor, fighting through screens. Then Alan would get his second wind and it was all over.”

DeVoe adds, “Alan was the consummate team player. He was good on the team bus, good in the locker room, and was a great passer. ”

Bristow spent much of his time as an under-sized center, although 6’8” freshman Kyle McKee occasionally allowed Bristow to move to his natural forward spot. Juniors Craig Lieder and Ed Frazier usually played forward, while Wade played both forward and guard. Freshman Charlie Sensibaugh backed up Stevens.

Tech had the wide-ranging schedule typical of a 1970s independent. The Hokies won 10 of their first 11 games, losing only to UNC but posting wins over such notables as Ohio State, Stanford, St. Bonaventure and South Carolina. Florida ended Tech’s nine-game winning streak 92-75 but the Hokies responded with three more wins. At 13-2, Tech was positioning itself for an NCAA bid. It even made the AP poll for two weeks, ranked 19th.

Then there came an inexplicable late-season swoon, with losses to Eastern Kentucky, Richmond, and Toledo. The Richmond loss was especially vexing, a double-overtime road loss in which several close calls went against Tech down the stretch. Virginia Tech ended the regular season at 18-5 and held their breath. Twenty-five teams were invited to the NCAA Tournament that year. According to DeVoe, Tech was 26th. Southwestern Louisiana got the final spot, winning one game before going on a two-year NCAA probation for recruiting violations.

Tech was invited to the 16-team NIT, along with such high-profile programs as North Carolina, Minnesota, Alabama, Louisville, Southern Cal, and Notre Dame. Remember, only conference champions could go to the NCAAs in those days.

Tech lacked the pedigree of many of those programs and was not given much chance of sticking around long. The conventional wisdom was that the Hokies were “too small, too slow, and too Virginian” to win.

The New York basketball crowd might not have been certain about the Tech basketball team but they certainly were glad to have the cheerleaders around. Channeling their inner-Nancy Sinatra, the Tech cheerleaders dazzled in what Sports Illustrated called “orange knee-length high-heel boots, super-tight body shirts and white hot pants." Stevens laughs, “Sometimes the game was half over before anybody noticed us.”

Tech opened with favored New Mexico. Tech led 51-42 with 11:21 left. New Mexico tied it at 55-55 but a McKee lay-up put the Hokies up for good with 4:33 left. New Mexico missed a shot that would have tied and Frazier grabbed the clinching rebound.

The final was 65-63.

Tech had three days off before their next game. They spent the time getting acquainted with the Big Apple. “Most of us didn’t even bother to bring a change of underwear or socks,” laughs Bristow. “We had to buy what we could find. We were a bunch of small-town Virginians. We were awe-struck at New York City. I still remember going to Mama Leone’s for a meal.” Stevens remembers that same meal. “We weren’t used to places like that. They had a seven-course meal. We didn’t even know which forks to use. But we were having such a good time, nobody cared.”

Fairfield was next, a first-round winner over Marshall. Located in nearby Fairfield, Connecticut, the Stags were an overwhelming crowd favorite. They rode that momentum to a 43-34 halftime lead. But Tech made a 20-10 run early in the second half and the two teams fought tooth-and-nail down the stretch. Lieder made two free throws to put Tech up 75-74 with 1:55 left. Stevens extended the lead to three with two foul shots. Fairfield scored with six seconds left but Tech played keep away and won 77-76. Bristow remembers Fairfield “throwing a lot of stuff at us, zones, a box and one. It took some time to figure them out. A lot of people stepped up.”

Bristow led Tech with 26 points, three fewer than Fairfield’s Phil Rogers. The win was Tech’s 20th of the year, their first 20-win season since 1967 and only the third at that point in the program’s history. Alabama, North Carolina, and Notre Dame also advanced to the semi-finals.

To the delight of the crowd, Notre Dame shocked 11th-ranked North Carolina 78-71 in one semi-final. Virginia Tech was matched against 22-6 Alabama in the other. Alabama was led by forward Wendell Hudson, the school’s first African-American athlete and the SEC Co-Player of the Year (with Kentucky’s Kevin Grevey). Hudson was supported by 6’5” All-SEC forward Charles Cleveland and Leon Douglas, a powerful 6’10” freshman center who gave Alabama a post presence that Tech simply couldn’t match. In fact, most observers agreed that the Hokies were overmatched in size and athleticism.

Bristow says, “You have to accept the challenge against bigger guys. Alabama was our toughest game. We played as well as we could down the stretch.”

They had to. After a first-half that ended tied at 39, Alabama led most of the second half. Tech fought back and Frazier gave them a 72-71 lead with 2:12 left. Stevens made it 74-71 with a pair of foul shots but Alabama made it 74-73 with five seconds left.

Alabama called timeout. Tech had to inbound under the Alabama basket. Bristow was knocked down and Frazier’s in-bounds pass went awry. It was about to go out of bounds untouched. The clock hadn’t started and Alabama was poised to take possession under their basket. But Lieder dove for the ball and kept it alive at the last instant. Alabama recovered but couldn’t get off a shot.

After the game, Lieder quipped that he had to make the play. “The consolation game is at 11 a.m. and nobody wants to get up that early.”

Bristow had one of his finest games, 29 points and 8 rebounds against Alabama’s trees. Lieder added 15; Frazier, 12. Cleveland and Hudson led the Crimson Tide with 20 and 18 points respectively.

A giant banner reading, “Yes, NIT, there is a Virginia Tech,” greeted the Hokies as they took the floor for the title game.

Notre Dame was 18-11 but they were a sophomore-dominated team that hit its stride late in the season. In fact, the following season then-juniors John Shumate, Gary Brokaw and Dwight Clay would keep the Fighting Irish in the top five most of the season and lead Notre Dame to the upset that ended UCLA’s 88-game winning streak. Both teams had their runs in the title game. Lieder and Bristow were hot early and Tech led 44-40 at intermission.

Notre Dame came back using the full-court press. Stevens struggled. “Coach had to sit me down so that I could calm down. I was out of control.” The Irish led 70-58 with six minutes left. But Tech returned the favor. The Hokies stopped turning over the ball and went to a press of their own. Notre Dame started fumbling the ball and momentum shifted. “I never thought we were going to lose,” says Bristow. “We had a knack for just hanging in there. I just hoped we had enough time.”

They did… barely. Frazier had a big three-point play, Bristow followed his own miss, Stevens hit a couple of jumpers. Notre Dame led 78-77 with 32 seconds remaining when Brokaw was fouled. He made both foul shots but Notre Dame’s Pete Crotty was called for a lane violation on the second shot. The lead was only two.

Tech dodged another bullet. The ball was knocked loose with nine seconds left and a jump ball ensued. Frazier won the tap, Tech called timeout, and Lieder hit a 15-footer at the buzzer to send the game into overtime. Notre Dame jumped on top early but Stevens kept bringing Tech back. He cut a four-point lead in half with a jumper and his three-point play made it 91-90 Notre Dame with 40 seconds remaining.

Brokaw was fouled with 18 seconds left and missed the front end of the one-and-one. Tech set up the potential winner. Lieder was hot and the play was designed to go to him; Bristow was a decoy. But, Stevens says, “They were overplaying him. I didn’t think I could get him the ball.” Stevens shot and missed. Then instinct took over.

“The ball was batted out. I had no idea how much time was left. But I got to the ball first and put it up.” Notre Dame’s Willie Townsend was in Stevens’ face. Townsend was 6’3”, a football star in the fall. “I don’t know how he didn’t block the shot,” muses Stevens. “He was all over me. I couldn’t see a thing.”

So, all that practice in the dark actually paid off. The desperation shot swished through the nets, the buzzer went off, and Virginia Tech was the 1973 NIT champions, 92-91. Four wins by five total points. Bobby Stevens had lived every man’s dream.

Lieder led Tech with 27 points. Bristow had 24, Shumate 28, Brokaw 23. Shumate had 95 points for the tournament, four more than Bristow, and surprisingly was named tournament MVP. Bristow suspects the voting was taken before the end of the game, when it looked like Notre Dame would be cutting down the nets. But Bristow will take the team title any day.

DeVoe compiled a 510-383 record at four schools but he doesn’t hesitate in calling this tournament “the highlight of my career. This was an opportunistic team that never quit.”

Stevens coaches at Rock Hill High School in South Carolina and has a state title to his credit. He uses this season as a teaching tool. “We weren’t outstanding athletes but we were outstanding basketball players. We were close off the court and on the court. We did the little things, fed off each other, understood the game.”

 Jim Sumner's articles on southern sports history have appeared in the ACC Handbook, the ACC Area Sports Journal, Blue Devil Weekly, Inside Carolina, the Wolfpacker, Baseball America, Basketball America, and other publications. His latest book, Tales From the Duke Blue Devils Hardwood, was published in 2005. In his bimonthly column "Looking Back... by Jim Sumner", he will examine the rich history of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

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