were the pre-season scrimmages our teams in 1969 and 1970 had vs South Carolina. I've posted some of this before, but hopefully some will find it interesting UGA BB history. Our Coach, Ken Rosemond, had played for Gamecock's coach Frank McGuire at UNC and was the 13th man on a 12 man 1957 National Championship team that beast Kansas and Wilt Chamberlain in the final game. Rosemond coached JV a couple years and then became Dean Smith's first asst. at Carolina in 1961, before being named Head Coach at UGA in 1965. He had recruited the Northeast heavily for Carolina on the "underground railroad" for NYC players that McGuire established. Rosemond brought Ken Donahugh, a former, UNC palyer NY City cop and asst. with him to help recruit. It paid off with the signing of Bob Leinhard, a high school All-American from Rice High in the Bronx in 1967 and Barry Cohen an all NYC Public school league guard followed the next year. There was a strong Northeast presence on UGA teams for several years. Rosemond, in his typical charming style, told Atlanta sportswriters there were very few southern players worth recruiting ( of course this referred only to white players at the time). Interesting that by my senior year three of our starters came from high schools located within 60 miles of Athens. But, I digress.
In those years, to my understanding, pre-season scrimmages weren't exactly legal, but as long as they were kept secret the NCAA stayed quiet. So because of Rosemond's ties to McGuire, who had moved on to coach the Gamecocks we would spend a weekend in late Oct./early Nov. tangling with the Cocks. Both years in Athens. Maybe because there was less interest there. Anyway those USC teams were among their best ever. The '68-'69 team finished second in the ACC and 13th in the final AP poll. The next year they won the ACC at 14-0 and finished 6th in the AP poll. They blew Auburn out early in the season, but lost at home to UT, which gives you an idea of how good the Vols were. That team featured two really good and one great player. Jorn Roche was an All-ACC guard for two years and, imo, still one of the top five players in USC history. They also had All-ACC level big men in 6'11 Tom Owens and 6'10 Tom Riker. All three of those guys played multiple years in the NBA/ABA. Bobby Cremins and John Ribock rounded out their top five. Ribock, from Aquinas in Augusta, was rated at the top of Georgia HS players in 1968. John was a good kid coming out of HS and I was his chaperone on his recruiting trip. It didn't take long for those nasty, yankee sobs to turn him and by his JR year he was punching out Maryland Coach Lefty Driesell in an on-court brawl. The northern roots of multiple players on both teams brought HS rivalries south. Combine that with the fact that they all exhibited the typical, tough, dirty NYC style play and you can see what we were up against. It was just my style of play and I relished the games.
We didn't have time limits that I remember, but we did have local refs who called sec games. They let the play get almost out of hand before blowing the whistles, at the request of the coaches I'm sure. Other than some of the games I played in the Mexican league, when the fans would get involved, these were as tough as I've been in. Cheap shots and brawls were common. We had our share of talent as well and Cohen, Westbrook and a couple other guys weren't the kind to shy away from rough play. From what I remember, pretty much held our own in the mayhem. It definitely prepared us for conference play and some of the other games against top 20 teams we played those years. Gawd, what I wouldn't give for some video.
In those years, to my understanding, pre-season scrimmages weren't exactly legal, but as long as they were kept secret the NCAA stayed quiet. So because of Rosemond's ties to McGuire, who had moved on to coach the Gamecocks we would spend a weekend in late Oct./early Nov. tangling with the Cocks. Both years in Athens. Maybe because there was less interest there. Anyway those USC teams were among their best ever. The '68-'69 team finished second in the ACC and 13th in the final AP poll. The next year they won the ACC at 14-0 and finished 6th in the AP poll. They blew Auburn out early in the season, but lost at home to UT, which gives you an idea of how good the Vols were. That team featured two really good and one great player. Jorn Roche was an All-ACC guard for two years and, imo, still one of the top five players in USC history. They also had All-ACC level big men in 6'11 Tom Owens and 6'10 Tom Riker. All three of those guys played multiple years in the NBA/ABA. Bobby Cremins and John Ribock rounded out their top five. Ribock, from Aquinas in Augusta, was rated at the top of Georgia HS players in 1968. John was a good kid coming out of HS and I was his chaperone on his recruiting trip. It didn't take long for those nasty, yankee sobs to turn him and by his JR year he was punching out Maryland Coach Lefty Driesell in an on-court brawl. The northern roots of multiple players on both teams brought HS rivalries south. Combine that with the fact that they all exhibited the typical, tough, dirty NYC style play and you can see what we were up against. It was just my style of play and I relished the games.
We didn't have time limits that I remember, but we did have local refs who called sec games. They let the play get almost out of hand before blowing the whistles, at the request of the coaches I'm sure. Other than some of the games I played in the Mexican league, when the fans would get involved, these were as tough as I've been in. Cheap shots and brawls were common. We had our share of talent as well and Cohen, Westbrook and a couple other guys weren't the kind to shy away from rough play. From what I remember, pretty much held our own in the mayhem. It definitely prepared us for conference play and some of the other games against top 20 teams we played those years. Gawd, what I wouldn't give for some video.
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