Largest home crowd in FU Basketball history

[gofu]

Remember that game i was there

[greenvegas]

During the DePaul game, I remember George Singleton had 2 straight blocks of DePaul's Terry Cumming's (NBA player) shots. The game was carried nationally by WGN TV Chicago and the play-by-play was done by none other than former Atlanta Braves announcer Milo Hamilton.

[FUBeAR]

Remember that game i was there

Ditto - FUBeAR was there as well - they had only lost to UCLA - Terry Cummings & Tyrone Corbin were their stars. Shoulda beat the Regional #1 seed with 8 future NBA draft choices on their roster. Lost by 1 - don’t recall, but would imagine the Refs musta screwed us out of winning. CBS wouldn’t want a 1 loss Team losing to a Furman that close to March Madness time.

[Affirm]

In trying to find attendance numbers for back in the day at The Brown Box, I came across this jewel of a find, the 1977-1978 media guide.https://scdl.contentdm.oclc.org/digital ... 30/id/3369

Here is a link to the S.C. Digital Library for many of Furman's athletic media guides. https://scdl.contentdm.oclc.org/digital ... l30/search

By the way, remember the sold out crowd for the February 24, 1982 game against DePaul? Great game, but we lost 75-74. The attendance was listed at 5,287. The January 31, 1981 home game against Clemson had an announced crowd of 5,500. That is the largest crowd numbers I could find. It's been fun taking the time to look into our rich basketball history.

I did find this in the media guide. Largest home crowd 6,127 Jan. 14, 1970 SC 59 FU 56. That was the game I had bern thinking about.

That 1/14/70 is the most memorable Furman basketball game I ever attended. USC was ranked #3 in the nation at the time. As far as I know, it is also the most hyped Furman game, the most exciting, and by far the loudest Furman game I ever attended. Yes, I knew the place was packed. It WAS a disappointing loss, but it got Furman a lot of attention. Unfortunately, that game was the beginning of a 7-game losing streak for Furman. Furman finished that season 13-13.
I am blessed to have attended the highest-attendance game in Greenville Memorial Auditorium and also the highest-attendance game so far in BSWA.

[Affirm]

By the way, USC was #3 in 1970 when they came to GMA, and they were #6 at the end of the regular season.
They were 25-3 that season.
Their second game of the season that year was a 1-point loss to Tennessee.
They lost a home game against Davidson by 6 points on February 16. (Davidson finished the regular season ranked #16 nationally.)
Their final game of the season was a 3-point double overtime loss to NC State in the ACC Tournament final. No post-ACC tournament play.
It was First Team All-American John Roche's junior year. The next year, Roche set the all-time USC single game scoring record of 56 points in their game against Furman as a senior. Roche also finished his senior season with the all-time USC career scoring average..

[FUBeAR]

By the way, USC was #3 in 1970 when they came to GMA, and they were #6 at the end of the regular season.
They were 25-3 that season.
Their second game of the season that year was a 1-point loss to Tennessee.
They lost a home game against Davidson by 6 points on February 16. (Davidson finished the regular season ranked #16 nationally.)
Their final game of the season was a 3-point double overtime loss to NC State in the ACC Tournament final. No post-ACC tournament play.
It was First Team All-American John Roche's junior year. The next year, Roche set the all-time USC single game scoring record of 56 points in their game against Furman as a senior. Roche also finished his senior season with the all-time USC career scoring average..

Oh…these guys…

Player Class Pos Height Summary
John Roche JR G 6-3 22.3 Pts, 2.5 Reb
Tom Owens JR C 6-10 15.9 Pts, 14.0 Reb
Tom Riker SO F 6-10 13.8 Pts, 9.0 Reb
Bobby Cremins SR G 6-2 7.3 Pts, 5.4 Reb
John Ribock JR F 6-8 5.2 Pts, 6.8 Reb

…with Frank McGuire as their Head Thug.

As an NC State fan in Raleigh, young FUBeAR loathed the dirty play of Roche, Riker, and Ribock. Ribock was primarily just a hatchet man, FUBeAR recalls. When his Wolfpack heroes -Ed Leftwich, Al Heartley, Van Williford, Rick Anheuser, and Paul Coder (all 5 from memory - now to check the records…

BANG!

Player Class Pos Height Summary
Vann Williford SR F 6-6 23.7 Pts, 10.0 Reb
Paul Coder SO C 6-9 16.8 Pts, 9.8 Reb
Ed Leftwich SO G 6-5 16.4 Pts, 4.0 Reb
Rick Anheuser SR F 6-6 10.1 Pts, 6.9 Reb
Dan Wells JR F 6-6 7.5 Pts, 4.6 Reb
Al Heartley JR G 6-1 3.8 Pts, 3.3 Reb

…don’t remember Dan Wells, but he wasn’t 1 of the starting Forwards) beat that sorry lot of gamecock and New York criminals, we celebrated playing hoops in our driveways for days…recreating a critical steal that Leftwich made to go in fora layup to win the game…if memory serves…

FUBeAR is on a ROLL!…

Leftwich may be best remembered for his performance at the end of the ACC Championship game against South Carolina on 7 Mar. 1970. The game was tied 35-35 at the end of regulation play and went into double-overtime. With NC State trailing by 1 point and 23 seconds remaining on the clock, Leftwich stole the ball from South Carolina, sped down the court, scored, and pushed the Wolfpack into its final lead.

MAN…College Basketball used to be something special!!!

[FU Hoopla]

Fun times!

[FurmAlum]

By the way, USC was #3 in 1970 when they came to GMA, and they were #6 at the end of the regular season.
They were 25-3 that season.
Their second game of the season that year was a 1-point loss to Tennessee.
They lost a home game against Davidson by 6 points on February 16. (Davidson finished the regular season ranked #16 nationally.)
Their final game of the season was a 3-point double overtime loss to NC State in the ACC Tournament final. No post-ACC tournament play.
It was First Team All-American John Roche's junior year. The next year, Roche set the all-time USC single game scoring record of 56 points in their game against Furman as a senior. Roche also finished his senior season with the all-time USC career scoring average..

Oh…these guys…

Player Class Pos Height Summary
John Roche JR G 6-3 22.3 Pts, 2.5 Reb
Tom Owens JR C 6-10 15.9 Pts, 14.0 Reb
Tom Riker SO F 6-10 13.8 Pts, 9.0 Reb
Bobby Cremins SR G 6-2 7.3 Pts, 5.4 Reb
John Ribock JR F 6-8 5.2 Pts, 6.8 Reb

…with Frank McGuire as their Head Thug.

As an NC State fan in Raleigh, young FUBeAR loathed the dirty play of Roche, Riker, and Ribock. Ribock was primarily just a hatchet man, FUBeAR recalls. When his Wolfpack heroes -Ed Leftwich, Al Heartley, Van Williford, Rick Anheuser, and Paul Coder (all 5 from memory - now to check the records…

BANG!

Player Class Pos Height Summary
Vann Williford SR F 6-6 23.7 Pts, 10.0 Reb
Paul Coder SO C 6-9 16.8 Pts, 9.8 Reb
Ed Leftwich SO G 6-5 16.4 Pts, 4.0 Reb
Rick Anheuser SR F 6-6 10.1 Pts, 6.9 Reb
Dan Wells JR F 6-6 7.5 Pts, 4.6 Reb
Al Heartley JR G 6-1 3.8 Pts, 3.3 Reb

…don’t remember Dan Wells, but he wasn’t 1 of the starting Forwards) beat that sorry lot of gamecock and New York criminals, we celebrated playing hoops in our driveways for days…recreating a critical steal that Leftwich made to go in fora layup to win the game…if memory serves…

FUBeAR is on a ROLL!…

Leftwich may be best remembered for his performance at the end of the ACC Championship game against South Carolina on 7 Mar. 1970. The game was tied 35-35 at the end of regulation play and went into double-overtime. With NC State trailing by 1 point and 23 seconds remaining on the clock, Leftwich stole the ball from South Carolina, sped down the court, scored, and pushed the Wolfpack into its final lead.

MAN…College Basketball used to be something special!!!

Remember those USC teams well and being from N.C. they were fun to hate too. We used to have a fake postgame interview with Coach McGuire that went something like this..."Coach, Rick Aydolette had 25 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists off the bench, what do you think about that? And Coach McGuire would reply in that Noo Yawk accent..."John Roche is the best ballplay-eh I ev-eh saw!"

Saw the 1971 Gamecock team play at Wake Forest and I never heard booing so loud when they took the court. There was a sign in the stands that said "CHARLIE DAVIS, THE ACC'S ONLY REAL ALL-AMERICAN."

Went to basketball camp in the mid-1960's at Carolina Military Academy in Maxton, N.C. which was run by the Coach at the Naval Academy. I was only 10-11 years old and I remember Van Wiliford was at that camp as a senior in high school. He was the best player in the camp by far and had already signed with State.

[cavedweller2]

The 70 robbery by Fwank and his yankee muscle ended 59-56 if I remember correctly. Maybe not on the exact score. Once again; with possible clouded memory, I saw Coach Selvy’s wife warp Harry Bushkar in the head with a balled up drink cup. At least I remember it being Harry Bushkar. Those drink cups in the box in 1970 were pretty stout.

[FU Hoopla]

Fun times!

Thanks to Pete Yanity for posting that game!

[FU Hoopla]

The next great opportunity to break the record attendance in a landslide will be when we land a Top 25 P6 program to come play us at Bon Secours downtown, guessing that would be 8k range or more depending on who we lure here

[Affirm]

The 70 robbery by Fwank and his yankee muscle ended 59-56 if I remember correctly. Maybe not on the exact score. Once again; with possible clouded memory, I saw Coach Selvy’s wife warp Harry Bushkar in the head with a balled up drink cup. At least I remember it being Harry Bushkar. Those drink cups in the box in 1970 were pretty stout.

My memory may be clouded too, but as I recall, my student seat was somewhat directly above
the USC bench, front row, on the rail. Was able to heckle McGuire the whole game, especially near the end when it could have gone either way and especially after the finally buzzer when McGuire and company were slinking out of the auditorium floor to go hide in their locker room. I was very hoarse the next day, and pretty disappointed that Furman did not pull off a miracle.

[saltyshaker]

my favorite furman game ever was maybe the lowest attended furman game ever.vrs south carolina at the palestra in philadelphia.south carolina rated 5th in nation,had alex english brian winters and mike dunlevy.they led us by about ten at the half.
but bruce grimm got hot,clyde mayes threw in everything bruce missed and owned the defensive board as well.fessor leonard and eddie kelly were big contributors as well.it wqs our only ncaa win ever;
being in philadelphia only about 1000 people showed up.we sat on the front row mid court.

i think it was 1974.

[apaladin]

my favorite furman game ever was maybe the lowest attended furman game ever.vrs south carolina at the palestra in philadelphia.south carolina rated 5th in nation,had alex english brian winters and mike dunlevy.they led us by about ten at the half.
but bruce grimm got hot,clyde mayes threw in everything bruce missed and owned the defensive board as well.fessor leonard and eddie kelly were big contributors as well.it wqs our only ncaa win ever;
being in philadelphia only about 1000 people showed up.we sat on the front row mid court.

i think it was 1974.

March 9, 1974. Hard to argue that one. Mayes had 21, Grimm 19, Lynch 14, Kelly 10 and Leonard off the bench only played 19 mins but had 11 points. Actually FU led 39-38 at half. Will never forget that day. Saw Elvis in Charlotte that afternoon and got home to watch FU’s biggest basketball victory ever. Whatta day!!!

[Affirm]

The next great opportunity to break the record attendance in a landslide will be when we land a Top 25 P6 program to come play us at Bon Secours downtown, guessing that would be 8k range or more depending on who we lure here

It would have to be a very well known, popular P6 team or extremely highly ranked. For example, I’m not so sure the present Creighton team or the present Providence team or certain others would bring a new record. A relatively low-ranked but well-known popular brand name opponent may be about as successful or more successful in bringing in a big crowd.