He averaged almost 31 points on his way to National POY stature. Russell’s senior season should have been the continuation. Entrenchment in basketball lore would come later but John Wooden’s squad had lost just two games in two years and Goodrich’s 42 points overwhelmed the Wolverines. In the Final Four, they beat Bill Bradley’s Princeton Tigers before running into Gail Goodrich and the UCLA Bruins. Officially named Crisler Center, it’s known colloquially as The House That Cazzie Built. John’s, before dropping their final game at Ohio State, a meaningless contest since they’d locked up the league by then.Īlong the way, they took revenge at Duke, bested #1 Wichita State, and produced such over-flowing crowds at Yost that the university broke ground on an entirely new stadium. The only games they lost that year were by 1 point each, on the road at Nebraska and St. With Russell, Buntin, and Darden dominating the glass, they out-rebounded opponents by 13 a game while scoring 90 points a contest. The Wolverines beat Kansas State to finish in third. Russell finished with 31 points against the Devils but their balanced attack was too much. They pummeled Big Ten competition but couldn’t get past Duke in the Final Four. 1964Ī respectable team, lead by junior center Bill Buntin, became exceptional with the additions of Russell and Oliver Darden. In the fifty years since, they’ve only repeated five times. At a time when the only way to make the NCAA Tournament was to win your conference, Michigan won three straight years. All three years were so iconic, successful, and unprecedented for the Wolverines. But they took me to the football stadium instead, and you could see the whole city from up there.” And the track team.was practicing while we practiced. “If I had gone to Yost on my visit, I would’ve said, ‘Oh, my goodness, is this where I’m going to play?’ They had real bats flying around that place, with baseball bats cracking with that team working out in there, too. Evidently, Coach Strack lost––or claimed to have lost––the keys to Yost while showing Cazzie around. Years later, Russell recalled his recruiting visit. Yost Field House, an unattractive basketball local, didn’t help. In the time since their last conference title in ‘48, they’d mustered four winning records and failed to break double digits nine out of fifteen tries. In the early sixties, Michigan was the doormat of the league. Perhaps none of that is possible if Cazzie Russell doesn’t decide to play three illustrious seasons in Ann Arbor. F/C Oliver Darden, 13.8 PPG, 9.6 REB (1966)Ī number of outstanding moments line the rafters of the University of Michigan’s basketball history: the improbable appearance in the ‘76 title, the unexpected jaunt to the ‘89 championship, the Fab Five, and the recent dash to runner-up status with National POY Trey Burke.Three years that built the future of Michigan basketball.
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