The 1975 LeMoyne-Owen College national championship team basketball team gathered to spend a night together to remember the grandest season of their lives. More important, they were remembered with a moment that was about 35 years late in coming.
On a night when the current Magicians squad received rings for last year's conference tournament title, the '75 team finally got rings for their NCAA Division 3 title at halftime of Saturday's 95-89 victory over Rust.
"It's like that final hole was filled. I thought I might die before it happened," said Robert Newman, a star guard on that squad and the longtime girls coach at Melrose. "I won't wear it, but there's been a spot in my little trophy case where it's going to go. I think I'm going to feel as excited as the night we won the title."
The '75 Magicians (27-5) won the first NCAA Division 3 championship, 57-54, over Glassboro (N.J.) State College, now Rowan University. It came on the heels of Memphis State reaching the NCAA Division 1 finals against UCLA two years before.
"We had 200 come to the airport to meet us, not 10,000 like the Tigers," said Newman, whose No. 24 hangs from the rafters at Bruce Hall. "But it was enough to know we did something important."
Morris Atkins loves to remind his University of Memphis alumni buddies that the Magicians are still the only Tennessee team ever to win an NCAA men's basketball title.
"And I remember that year a lot of Tiger fans would pack our gym, because we were the most entertaining team in town," he said with a laugh.
The ring ceremony was conceived two years ago in discussions with alumni, according to current coach William Anderson, a Magicians player in the '90s. "When we decided to get rings for last year's championship, the local alumni chapter stepped up, and we were able to order for the '75 team at the same time. They're so much a part of our history. Many of them continue to support us."
Nine squad members came back, including Cleveland residents Ernest Ross and Milton Stephens.
"It's nice that they remembered us with this, and really nice to see friends I've tried to stay in touch with over the years," Stephens said.
They talked about the night their clothes were stolen while they played a game in New Orleans -- and went on a 13-game winning streak after that. Or the night Clint Jackson hit a halfcourt shot to force overtime against Lambuth in a conference tournament game.
"Somebody had to take the shot," said Jackson, now the principal at Fairley High School. "And if I didn't hit it, our season could have been over."
By Pete Wickham
