Sun Dome Finally Opens, 12/2/80

Last week, the University of South Florida marked the 40th anniversary of the first intercollegiate men’s basketball game in school history. When the basketball program began in 1970, however, it had yet to find a suitable place to call home. At the time, the only venue on campus to watch basketball was a 1,500-seat gym more suitable for pick-up games and intramural competitions than spectator sports.

In the beginning, the Golden Brahmans -- as the Bulls were known in those days -- played against community college and freshman teams. The team called Curtis Hixon Hall, located on Ashley Drive and some 10 miles south of the school's campus, its temporary home. During the first decade of the program, USF would also host "home" games at the Ft. Homer Hesterly Armory, the Civic Center in Lakeland and the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg. This would change once and for all with the construction of a multipurpose arena located on the southeast corner of the school's campus.

In 1977, the Florida Board of Regents agreed to approve funding for the 10,000-seat facility that would serve as home for USF's basketball programs. Ground-breaking for the $7 million arena took place late in 1977, with a targeted opening date of fall 1979.

Not all was perfect with the Sun Dome – as it eventually would be named -- as construction problems and cost overruns delayed the project. By March 1980, the roof had been completely installed, but the building remained a work in progress.

With the third floor still under repair, a capacity of 6,000 fans per game would initially be allowed into a building designed to hold 10,000. The show had no choice but to go on, however, as the Sun Dome would be open for business, ready or not.

Although the Bulls officially opened the Sun Dome against the Florida A&M Rattlers on November 29 – a 65-63 defeat in front of 5,213 fans – the official dedication of the new building would not come until December 2 in a nationally-televised game on ESPN against the Duke Blue Devils.

The Blue Devils were led by Mike Krzyzewski, in his first season at Duke after serving as head coach at Army from 1975-1980. The Bulls had a new coach as well, with Lee Rose coming to USF from Purdue where he compiled a 50-18 record in two seasons. Rose had a proven record of success, having taken two different schools (Purdue and UNC-Charlotte) to the Final Four in a five-year span.

Rose would have his work cut out for him in trying to prepare his Bulls for the heavily-favored Blue Devils. With the national spotlight on their team and new building, the Bulls could be forgiven if they suffered a bit of stage fright, which is exactly what happened.

Before they knew what hit them, the USF-record crowd of 6,030 found the home team down 21-6 after Duke went on a 19-point run in a span of about five minutes. The Bulls clawed their way back into the game, however, with a spurt of their own.

Contributions from Tony Grier, Willie Redden and Rob Rutledge helped bring USF within two points of Duke, 28-26, with 2:55 left in the half. After trailing by 19 early, the Bulls were fortunate to only be down by seven points at the half 39-32.

Duke refused to let up in the second half, shooting 71% from the field. Despite USF’s best efforts, they simply could not match Duke basket- for-basket.

Despite having outscored the Blue Devils 66-62 after trailing 19-6, USF fell to Duke 83-72. The Bulls fought hard against a college powerhouse and showed plenty of promise for the season ahead, though the outcome hardly mattered in the grand scheme of things.

“It was great to finally get a place to call home,” says former USF play-by-play announcer Jack Harris. “Opening the Sun Dome was a tremendous step forward for the basketball program.”

Birth of a Basketball Program, 12/4/70

On June 12, 1969, the University of South Florida announced that the school would begin playing intercollegiate men's basketball beginning with the 1970-71 season. This week, the university celebrates the 40th anniversary of the first game in school history.

Although today the school is a proud member of the Big East conference, USF did not jump into the deep end of college basketball right away. Instead, the school would begin by fielding only a freshman team. Games against junior colleges and other freshman teams would have to come before they could reasonably take on similar-sized universities.

It was, of course, an extraordinary effort to make it to that point. The university president, John S. Allen, made himself perfectly clear on his lack of enthusiasm for intercollegiate sports, once vowing that USF would never field a football team. Other administrators and even faculty members voiced their concerns about having an intercollegiate sports program.

Frank Winkles, a member of the student senate who worked tirelessly to bring basketball to USF, recalls that Allen thought sports would compromise his grand vision for USF.

"Allen wanted to have what he called a 'scholastic' university," Winkles says. "There weren't going to be intercollegiate sports, especially football and basketball. He was very much opposed to them."

When the State Board of Regents put their seal of approval on the basketball program in July, the countdown to tip-off could officially begin. This meant finding a head coach to put together a program and start recruiting players.

Dick Bowers, the head of the school's physical education department, hired Don Williams from Milliken University in Illinois to lead the program.

Williams, who had coached basketball at Hillsborough High from 1953 to 1962, set his sights high right from the start.

"This is a major college and it is the aim of every coach to take his team and his school to the top, and no where short of it," he said. "We will go just as far as the philosophy of this school will allow us."

Williams brought in Hillsborough High head coach Bob Shriver to be his top assistant, reuniting the duo who had worked together during Williams’ tenure with the Terriers.

While Williams and Shriver worked hard to build a team together, USF experienced a change at the top when, on July 4, 1970, John Allen resigned as president. When Dr. Harris Dean took over as the acting-president, it became clear that the man who fought for so many years to stifle intercollegiate sports at USF would not be around to see the first basketball game in school history.

The big day came on December 4 against the freshman team from the University of Florida. Without an on-campus facility large enough to host a game, the Bulls were forced to seek refuge in downtown Tampa at the Curtis Hixon Convention Center. University officials were hopeful for a crowd around 2,000-3,000. Instead, they got 4,500.

Dean and Winkles were both on-hand for the historic game and took part in a ceremonial tip-off at center court prior to the game.

On their opening possession, John Kiser scored the first basket in USF history -- a free throw -- to give the Brahmans a 1-0 lead. Tommy Davis hit the first field goal a few minutes later on a jump shot. With the scored notched at 7-7, Lear put USF ahead with his second basket and the Brahmans wouldn't relinquish the lead again.

USF took the lead into the half and the Brahmans were ahead by ten points, 43-33. Although they were outscored 45-42 in the second half, USF held on for an 85-78 victory.

Bill Lear, the Indiana native and first player to sign a scholarship with USF, led all scorers with 21 points, while Kiser dominated underneath with 17 rebounds.

The following week, Williams received a letter from Dean congratulating his team on the victory.

"Not only were you magnificent as a team," Dean wrote, "but the whole affair seemed to represent a new dedication to accomplishment at USF."

These were baby steps for the burgeoning university, and although the game was not officially recognized by the NCAA nor acknowledged in the USF record books, nobody can ever take away the moment 40 years ago when USF basketball went from dream to reality.

Chip Conner Ousted at USF, 1/15/80

Due to the recent firing of head coach Jim Leavitt, the University of South Florida football program finds itself at a crossroads. This week 30 years ago, the basketball program was in a similar situation: looking to find a new head coach and right a sinking ship.

On January 13, 1980, the Bulls traveled to Mobile, Alabama, to play in a regionally televised game against the defending Sun Belt Conference champions, the University of South Alabama. A rare TV appearance afforded the 4-7 Bulls a chance to answer critics who said the team played too soft and without emotion, and were just plain poorly prepared.

Instead, the Bulls seemed to confirm those criticisms by laying an absolute egg, dropping an 84-55 contest that was not even as close as the 29-point deficit might indicate. Head coach Chip Conner, who called the game "the worst we've played all year for 40 minutes," seemed to believe his team had quit playing hard in the second half.

After the game, the embattled Conner was despondent and dejected, unsure of his own future or of how to fix his team. His words were spoken by a man all too aware of his impending fate.

"I am at the low point of my life," he said. "I have never felt worse than I do right now. If they were to go ahead and fire me, based on today's performance, I couldn't blame them."

Of his team, Conner said, "I just can't seem to evoke any emotion in them. They just don't fight back. I can't understand how they can go out on the court like they did today and just get intimidated the way they were. I can't understand how they can play with no intensity."

He cited a lack of chemistry, experience and leadership among his players as reasons for the Bulls struggles.

"There are going to be some changes," Conner said. "I can promise you that." He could not have been more correct.

On January 15, university president John Lott Brown also came to the decision that a change had to be made, and that Conner would not be part of the solution. Dan Walbolt, vice president of student affairs, announced the decision to terminate Conner after four seasons in which he posted an overall 59-62 mark.

The change came not only because of the team's poor record, but because of the effect it had on attendance and overall interest in the program.

"It is apparent to me," Walbolt said, "that we have lost a significant amount of community and university support for our basketball team, and that we must make immediate efforts to regain that support. We have been concerned about the fact that our team has not performed as well as we hoped and expected."

The Bulls were expected to contend for the Sun Belt championship during the 1979-80 season. Coming off a second-place 14-14 finish the previous year, and with several key players returning, the team severely underachieved to open the season. Blowout losses to North Carolina, Florida State and Auburn, while disappointing, were somewhat understandable. Losses to schools like the University of Richmond and Florida Southern College, however, were not so easily excused. The crushing loss to South Alabama -- a game Walboldt called a "disgrace" -- proved to be the tipping point for Conner's career at USF.

In the wake of the well-liked Conner's firing, his former players came to his defense. Tony Grier objected to the decision, saying, "He wasn't given a chance. I think it stinks."

Hiram Green expressed disappointment at losing a coach the players felt close to: "He was a great man and we all had respect for him. I didn't expect anything to happen like this."

The university chose assistant coach Gordon Gibbons as Conner's replacement on an interim basis. The day after Conner's ousting, the Bulls responded to the change in a manner that hinted at a reversal in fortunes.

In front of 1,008 fans at Curtis Hixon Hall, the Bulls rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit to top the University of New Orleans, 70-67. The team hustled, played with emotion and refused to quit. Did the team turn a corner that night? Not exactly.

The Bulls would go on to drop their next 12 games, and not win again until Feb. 18 against Stetson. USF finished the season 1-13 in the Sun Belt Conference and 6-21 overall, by any measure the worst campaign in the nine-year history of the program.

Better times were just around the corner, however, as the hiring of Purdue's Lee Rose for the following season -- as well as the long-awaited opening of the Sun Dome -- signaled the beginning of a new and exciting era in South Florida basketball.

USF Basketball is Born, 6/12/69

On June 12, 1969, the University of South Florida took an important step towards becoming a major athletic power. University President John S. Allen announced that the school would play intercollegiate men's basketball in time for the 1970-71 season, pending approval by the State Board of Regents.

The USF athletic committee had submitted their request for Allen's approval on March 11. After determining that the program could be financed through a student service and athletic fee, Allen said that the school could begin building a basketball team.

"As our enrollment grows," Allen said, "our income from the activity and service fee grows, and we can now finance the addition of basketball to the list of intercollegiate sports."

USF had just completed its first season competing in the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The school fielded entries in baseball, men's and women's tennis, swimming, cross country, golf and soccer. It would take the addition of basketball, however, to begin legitimizing USF's athletic program. With an enrollment of nearly 14,000 heading into the 1969 fall semester, the school could no longer justify not being big enough to support a basketball team.

Still, USF could not and would not jump right into the deep end of college basketball at the beginning. Instead, the school would begin by fielding a freshman team. Games against junior colleges would follow, before eventually squaring off against other similar sized universities.

The journey to basketball began innocently enough in the early 1960s. A group of former high school basketball players created a non-sanctioned traveling team that played against other small schools and community colleges around the state. The day after a game against Manatee Community College, the final score made the newspaper and their identities were revealed. USF's administration found out and forced the group to cancel its remaining games.

Then in 1967, a student named Frank Winkles made bringing basketball to the school a priority while serving on the USF Senate.

Together with fellow student and future Student Body President Steve Anderson, they worked together to conduct a poll of USF students and faculty. Their poll determined that a majority were in favor of basketball and football programs.

"Our strategy was to make a presentation to the Board of Regents in a scholarly way," Winkles recalls. "We did a sophisticated polling and statistical analysis, and all the statistics and polling supported the desire for intercollegiate basketball at USF."

Winkles further led the charge by engaging Allen, as well as other regents, on this issue. Realizing that football was financially infeasible at the time -- and knowing Allen's long-standing opposition to football -- basketball became the primary focus of Winkles and other student leaders.

"Allen wanted to have what he called a 'scholastic' university," Winkles says. "There weren't going to be intercollegiate sports, especially football and basketball. He was very much opposed to them. We decided at the time that the most economically feasible sport to pursue would be basketball."

Opposition to an intercollegiate basketball program was not limited just to President Allen. Winkles remembers a humorous story of a university employee whose objection to basketball had nothing to do with financial concerns.

"There was a librarian on the athletic committee," he says. "His argument against voting for basketball was that the noise on campus would bother students who were trying to study."

It took some time, but eventually the group had their day in front of the university's athletic council. Despite Allen's protestations, the council approved the plan by an 8-4 margin on March 11.

The Board of Regents finally gave its approval for the basketball program in July, clearing the way for the hiring of the team's first coach and recruitment of its first players. Opening tip-off at Curtis Hixon Hall, after all, was just 510 short days away.

Today, Winkles believes that despite Allen's opposition to intercollegiate athletics, USF's first president would approve of the school's emerging role as both a research center and major player in college sports.

"Let's not forget, President Allen did some really admirable things in the beginning," he says. "He helped establish a very solid university that is well regarded today for its scholastics. I think he'd be very proud of USF today."

"But," Winkles adds," he still probably wish they didn't have intercollegiate athletics."

How The Sun Dome was Named, 4/9/79

When the University of South Florida debuted its basketball program in 1970, it had yet to find a suitable place to call home. At the time, the only venue on campus to watch basketball was a 1,500-seat gym more suitable for pick-up games and intramural competitions than spectator sports.

In the beginning, the Golden Brahmans -- as the Bulls were known in those days -- played against community college and freshman teams. The team called Curtis Hixon Hall, located on Ashley Drive some 10 miles south of the school's campus, its temporary home. During the first decade of the program, USF would also host "home" games at the Ft. Homer Hesterly Armory, the Civic Center in Lakeland and the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg. This would change once and for all with the construction of a multipurpose arena located on the southeast corner of the school's campus.

In 1977, the Florida Board of Regents agreed to approve funding for the 10,000-seat facility that would serve as home for USF's basketball programs. Ground-breaking for the $7 million arena took place late in 1977, with a targeted opening date of Fall 1979.

First, however, the arena needed to be named. In April 1979, WLFA's Jack Harris -- who also served as the basketball team's play-by-play announcer -- came up with the idea to have a contest to determine the facility's name. The "Whatchamacallit" contest, as it came to be known, promised to deliver a unique name for the unique arena featuring an air-supported, fiberglass Teflon-coated roof.

As with any contest of this nature, the entries ranged from the unimaginative to the creative to the self-referential. Such entries included the "Cecil Mackey Snap Judgment Center," in reference to former university president Dr. Cecil M. Mackey; wordplay names based on the school mascot such as "Brahman Common," "Bull Pen," "Full O' Bull Hall" and the "Angus Arena"; bizarre submissions such as "Circus Maximus," "Gama Rama," "Campus Pollywog," "Omnipod" and "Xanadu" also dotted the nearly 600 entries received.

On April 9, 1979, the University of South Florida "Whatchamacallit" finally received its name. A committee headed by USF President John Lott Brown, determined the winner based on a Final Four selection of entries.

Brown announced the name on Harris's morning radio show, revealing the name that has stuck for the last 30 years: The Sun Dome. Other finalist names included the Brahman Coliseum, Sun Arena, Suncoast Coliseum and Suncoast Spectrum. Richard Bowers, the university's athletic director, called the Sun Dome an "ideal name."

"We're on the Suncoast, in the Sun Belt Conference," Bowers said. "We're going to start hosting the Big Sun Tournament, and the sun is a dominant feature of this area. Put it together with the fact the facility is covered by a Teflon dome, and what else could you call it?"

USF student Gini David, as the first person in the contest to submit The Sun Dome as a suggestion, earned two passes for every event at the arena for 10 years. Men's basketball coach Chip Connors called the selection of the name "perfect."

Not all was perfect with the Sun Dome itself, however, as construction problems and cost overruns delayed the project for two more years. By March 1980, the roof had been completely installed but the building remained a work in progress. In March 1981, USF director of facilities planning Mike Patterson predicted it would take another year to fully complete the project.

The Sun Dome opened Nov. 29, 1980, as the Bulls took on the Florida A&M Rattlers. The roof leaked and the Bulls lost by two points, 65-63. The official dedication game, however, would come later on Dec. 3, 1980, in a nationally televised ESPN contest against the Duke Blue Devils. The Bulls lost that one too, 83-72, but a new era in South Florida athletics had begun.

Jack Harris remembers that despite the glitches, just being in a permanent facility made all the difference.

“It was great to finally get a place to call home,” he says. “The Sun Dome was a tremendous step forward for the basketball program. Those were exciting times, to say the least, and we saw some pretty good basketball on that brand spanking new floor.”

As for the “Whatchamacallit” contest, Harris reveals now that it wasn’t really as wide-open as some might have believed.

“We pretty much knew from the beginning that the name was going to be The Sun Dome,” he recalls. “We put the contest out there, nevertheless, to allow someone to suggest it and win, and make sure we hadn’t overlooked an even more impressive name.”

Regardless of how the dome earned its moniker, the name hit the mark as evidenced by its continued use. In an era of soulless corporate sponsored arenas, it's good to know that The Sun Dome still shines on to this day.

Hillsborough Terriers Reach Hoops Finals, 3/15/69

On March 7, 1969, a local version of "March Madness" captured the attention of local sports fans. Hillsborough High School, in search of its first state title since 1959, prepared for the state Class AA Region 3 basketball tournament after completing a 21-1 regular-season mark. The Terriers, no strangers to high-stakes basketball, had swept through districts and were poised to begin an exciting run to glory.

Up first for the Terriers would be the crosstown rival Plant Panthers. Hillsborough, the state's top-ranked team, topped Plant twice during the regular season and fully expected to complete the hat trick. The game served as little more than a tune-up for Hillsborough, as the Terriers spanked the Panthers, 79-44, in front of over 3,000 fans at the Tampa Catholic High School gym. Earlier in the day, guard Charlie Green learned he had earned a unanimous selection to the all-state high school basketball team. Green, a senior, finished the game with 27 points and put a once-close game out of reach with his hot shooting.

Green saved some bullets for the following night's tournament finals against the Clearwater Tornadoes. In front of another packed house, Green again delivered. Behind a stellar effort that featured a tenacious full-court press, the Terriers were able to control the state's fourth-ranked team despite several scares.

Green led the way with 15 of his team's 23 first-quarter points en route to a 34-point night. The Tornadoes stayed within four points of the Terriers until Hillsborough pulled away with under a minute left in the game. Trailing, 60-57, with time running down, the Tornadoes needed to foul to get the ball. The Terriers made them pay by converting six straight free throws to put the game out of reach, ultimately wining by a comfortable ten-point margin, 69-59. The win earned Hillsborough a fourth trip to the state finals in seven years.

After the game, Clearwater head coach Jack Wilson praised Green's effort.

"Green was the best I've ever seen," the coach said. "He's not fancy, he does everything he's supposed to do except that he does it better than anyone else."

Plaudits aside, Green and the Terriers still had unfinished business. Since defeating Miami High for the title in 1959, recent trips to the finals had left the Terriers and their fans unfulfilled. In 1964, Hillsborough fell to eventual state-champion Pensacola in the semifinals. The following two seasons in 1965 and 1966 resulted in devastating finals defeats to Jacksonville Paxon and Pensacola. The Terriers did not want to go so far and come up empty yet again.

On March 14, as the astronauts of Apollo 9 were welcomed back to Houston after their four-million mile space voyage, the Terriers were welcomed to the Jacksonville Coliseum for an evening showdown against Coral Gables High School. Hillsborough played like a team determined not to let history repeat. Still, it took a pep talk at the half by head coach Bob Shiver to get his team in gear.

Trailing, 40-34, at the half -- the first time it had trailed at the intermission all season long -- Shiver challenged his team by reminding them of this fact and urging his team to be more aggressive on defense.With their playoff lives on the line, the Terriers responded with a 25-point third quarter to erase the lead while holding Coral Gables to only four points in the quarter. Charlie Green -- who else? -- added 12 points in the quarter en route to his 31 for the game. The rout was on and the Terriers pulled away, disposing of Coral Gables 84-62 to reach the state finals.

Standing in the way of Hillsborough were the Gainesville Hurricanes, led by multi-sport star Eddie McAshan. Named the state’s outstanding football player in 1968, McAshan earned a scholarship to attend Georgia Tech and a chance to compete for the starting quarterback position. The Terriers would have their hands full trying to stop McAshan, who registered 30 points and 22 rebounds in Gainesville’s semifinal win over Jacksonville Raines.

On March 15, in front of a crowd of 5,026 at the Jacksonville Coliseum, Hillsborough once again found itself down at the half. Green rallied the Terriers late and sank two free throws with 1:25 left to tie the score at 50. The Terriers took their first lead of the game when Ron Mitchell added two more free throws to give Hillsborough a 52-50 advantage.

McAshan proved clutch for Gainesville by hitting a short jump shot with just seconds left to tie the game at 52. In what turned out to be a costly mistake, Charlie Green committed an offensive foul – his fifth of the game – while driving to the basket with two seconds left. The game went into overtime, and Hillsborough played a version of “four corners” to control the ball and run down the clock. The Terriers held the ball for 2:45 of the three-minute overtime until the Hurricanes pressured Charley Henderson, in for the fouled-out Green, at mid-court to force a jump ball. McAshan controlled the tip and sank the game-winning shot from eight feet out with 13 seconds left in overtime. His 15th and 16th points of the game sealed the deal for Gainesville, sending the Terriers to yet another heartbreaking defeat in the finals, 54-52.

Despite a magnificent 28-2 season and the unforgettable play of their leader, Charlie Green, the Terriers fell just short in their bid for another state title. In a strange twist, the championship was the first for Gainesville since 1922, when it defeated none other than the Hillsborough Terriers by an identical two-point margin.

Stroh's Basketball Challenge, 6/18/83

On May 31, 1983, the Philadelphia 76ers completed a dominating post-season by sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers in four games in the NBA Finals. The MVP of the regular season and the Finals, Moses Malone famously predicted before the playoffs that the Sixers would win "Fo, fo, fo," intimating that his team would sweep each of the three rounds of the playoffs. Malone nearly hit the mark, as the 76ers won 12 of 13 games en route to the title.

Remarkably, less than a month after wrapping up the season, Malone, along with 17 other NBA stars, were scheduled to appear in an exhibition game on June 18 at the USF Sun Dome. Officially called the Stroh's Basketball Challenge, the game boasted an impressive list of stars, such as Artis Gilmore, Darryl Dawkins, Darrell "Dr. Dunkenstein" Griffith, and Adrian Dantley. The exhibition game was meant to promote the sport of basketball in Tampa, at the time seen as a possible future location of an NBA expansion franchise.

On the morning of the game, Sally Ride made history by becoming America's first woman in space as a crewmember of the space shuttle Challenger. While Ride described her experience as "definitely an E-ticket," back on Earth a few hundred basketball fans in Tampa would soon be demanding refunds on their own tickets.

Prior to the game, Stephen Greenberg, spokesman for game promoter Leisure Entertainment, announced to the crowd of 7,000 that Malone had backed out of the game and would not play because of a knee injury. In fact, Malone had not even made the trip from his home in Houston to Tampa. Showered by boos, Greenberg offered refunds to anyone wishing for their money back. Nearly 400 patrons took advantage of the offer.

"We tried to get him to at least come in and make an appearance, but he declined," Greenberg said. "We don't want to be known as fly-by-night promoters. This really upsets us from a credibility standpoint in the area."

For his part, Malone said he suffered the knee injury playing in a game of pick-up basketball a few days earlier, and severe swelling prompted his doctor to advise him not to play. Malone expressed regret at disappointing the fans in Tampa, but felt optimistic about perhaps bringing the 76ers down for an exhibition game in the fall.

Malone wasn't the only player, however, to pull out at the last minute. Other no-shows included Calvin Natt, Tom McMillan, Bill Garnett and Eric "Sleepy" Floyd. Leisure Entertainment scrambled at the last minute and were able to bring in Gene Banks, Danny Schayes, and Malone's teammate in Philadelphia, Maurice Cheeks.

Although the game would have to go on without its headliners, fans were still treated to a high-tempo performance featuring end-to-end action showcasing some of basketball’s finest playmakers.

Guard Darrell Griffith of the Utah Jazz, the 1981 NBA Rookie of the Year, led all scorers with 36 points, including three 3-pointers, to spark his West stars to a 154-150 triumph over the East.
"These summer games are definitely made for the guards," Griffith said after the game. "Everyone's trying to get themselves in shape for the regular season so they want to run the transition game during the summer. Quickness was the big factor. (The East) definitely couldn't keep up."

Charles Bradley of the Boston Celtics, who tallied 24 points and played for the West to even up the rosters, said of the fast break-heavy game that he'd never "been involved in anything that required this much running."

The no-shows not withstanding, the event promoters could not have been more pleased with the level of play or the turnout at the Sun Dome, nearly 3,000 more fans than were needed to break even on the event.

Now twenty-five years later, the NBA still comes back to Tampa nearly every October for exhibition games at the St. Pete Times Forum. The league has settled on Miami and Orlando as its permanent outposts in the state, so it remains unlikely that Tampa will ever become anything more than an occasional host. A visit from Moses Malone, however, would still be most welcome.

Team Florida vs Soviet Union, 5/13/83

Gordon Gibbons, head coach of the men's basketball team at Clayton State University in Georgia, still recalls details of the game as if it were played yesterday. In a lifetime of memorable championship games, this exhibition basketball contest still stands out twenty five years later.

"Their overall size. Five seven-footers. Every guard six-foot-six or six-foot-seven," Gibbons says. "They were a huge team."

On May 13, 1983, the Soviet Union Junior National Team made Tampa its fourth stop on an 11-city, 15-day tour of the United States. Their opponent for the exhibition at the USF Sun Dome: Team Florida, a 19-and-under AAU team helmed by Gibbons and stocked with some of the state's top prospects.

"When we put the team together, we wanted to do it big time," Gibbons recalls. "Expose basketball in the state and get the top players. It snowballed from there."

The coach points out that in the 1980s, long before the University of Florida won back-to-back NCAA basketball championships, basketball in this state wasn't taken seriously.

"Florida basketball hadn't been anything prior to Team Florida," Gibbons says. "Team Florida made basketball in this state. We felt like the quality of basketball here had been underexposed, and was one of the best kept secrets in the country. There was no question though about the talent on our roster."

The roster included six players whose distinguished college careers would help them earn selection in the NBA draft: Ronnie Murphy, Randy
Allen, Ricky Blanton, Andrew Moten, Frank Ford, and Will Perdue.

The Soviets, no slouches themselves, featured a talented team that included future NBA draftees and 1988 Olympic gold medalists Valery Tikhonenko and Aleksandr Volkov.
Joel Canfall, who played guard for USF, believed wholeheartedly that Team Florida could match up with the Soviets.

"I bet we have just as much skill, if not more, than (they) do," Canfall said prior to the game. "We don't know that much about what we're getting into here, but we're not intimidated by them."

If they weren't intimidated, Gibbons still made sure that his team respected the Soviets going into the game.

"Our biggest challenge was at that point in time, American kids didn't respect the quality of international basketball," Gibbons says. "They didn't think that a bunch of big white guys from Europe would be very good."

Prior to the team's arrival in Tampa, Gibbons and his coaching staff scouted a game in New York between the Soviets and the New York Riverside Hawks, a renowned team that featured future NBA stars Kenny Smith and Olden Polynice. Although the Soviets lost by 17 points, they left quite an impression on the Team Florida staff.

"They were quick and fast," Gibbons says. "It really surprised me how well they passed and handled the ball. They were physical and could fast break better than I expected. I told the team when we got back, 'Hey, these guys are real good.' So there's no way I was going to let us take them lightly."

A crowd of 3,500 at the Sun Dome watched the Soviets race out to an early 22-10 lead. While Team Florida struggled to find its rhythm on offense, the Soviets were patient and controlled the tempo of the game. Eventually, Team Florida's full court attack would wear down the Soviets.

Trailing 56-48 with just over 13 minutes left in the game, Team Florida mounted a comeback behind the strength of guard Frank Ford. The future Auburn University standout scored eight points on a 13-0 run that propelled Team Florida to a 61-56 lead. Team Florida would never trail again in the game.

Ford scored a game-high 31 points and registered 11 rebounds in a performance neither the Soviets, nor Gibbons, would forget.

"Ford was unbelievable," Gibbons recalls. "He out-quicked their big guys around the basket and was such a great offensive rebounder. He was the difference in that game."

The game remained in doubt until the final minute, but guard Jimmy McCrimmon stole a pass from Igor Kornishin and finished off the game with a slam dunk to provide the final margin in a 82-76 victory.

Ford earned Most Valuable Player honors for leading Team Florida to the win over the Soviets. Battered and bruised after the game, Ford said that he had "never played against any team that big. It was very physical, but I just think we had more adrenalin flowing."

If Ford seemed like a player on a mission, it’s because in order to play in the game Ford had to miss out on another very important event.

"I had to miss my senior prom and was kind of upset," Ford recently said. "I’d just started dating a young lady and it was all set up. Then the game came along, and you just couldn’t miss it because it was the Russians coming to town. Who wouldn’t want to play for the pride of the U.S.A.?"

Despite being played prior to the end of the Cold War, the game featured no animosity or ill feelings by either team. On the contrary, Gibbons remembers a feeling of sportsmanship by both sides that transcended ideology.

"The neatest thing I remember about the experience was the respect the players had for each other. It wasn't like 'They're Russians! They're Commies!' Sports transcends that a bit."
"After the game, our teams got together at their hotel. The players hung out watching television, and our coaching staff met with theirs to talk, with help of their interpreter of course. It was kind of cool."

The Soviet team's brief exposure to Florida included such quintessentially American activities like lunch at McDonald's and a day trip to Disney World. Later that summer, Gibbons returned the favor and embarked on a 15-day tour of the Soviet Union with an AAU All-Star team. In a career that is fast approaching the 400-win mark, where does his stint as coach of this international team rank?

"It was a really great experience for all of us and something I know I'll never forget."