SMU Basketball Nostalgia

[SMU Section F]

On such a great day for SMU basketball (and SMU athletics, in general) I thought I'd ask: What got you into SMU basketball to begin with?

For me it's two things:

1) When Matt Doherty came to visit my fraternity house during a chapter meeting (in 2006) right after he'd been hired and invited us all to come to the games. I'd already been to a quite few games my first couple years at school, but he seemed passionate about bringing real basketball culture to SMU. I've missed very few games since that day. It's too bad it didn't end well with him, but I think it's hard to argue that he didn't lay some of the groundwork for what we're seeing now...

2) When Jon Killen and SMU almost knocked off the then #1 Memphis Tigers in 2008. This is the first game I took my wife (then girlfriend) to. She's been an avid SMU basketball fan pretty much ever since. Until very recently this was the most fun I'd ever had in Moody.

Just feeling a bit nostalgic today.

[sadderbudweiser]

I was there during the IT years. Rarely missed a game.

[WorldStang]

Chad Allen and the 3 pointer he hit to beat Rice at Moody in '93. Loved that team. Gatewood, Mason, Allen, Lewis, Mike Smith and his Knucckleball shot.

[Arkpony]

Well guys, I was there during the Doc Hayes years when we were virtually unbeatable and went to the final four losing to U ofvWan Francisco and Bill Russell and Casey Jones. THAT was great!

[Stallion]

Baptized on the end of the Doc Hayes era-SMU was actually the Powerhouse of the SWC with 8 Championships in 13 years, First BB hero was Gene Phillips which was convenient because my first Football hero was Jerry LeVias and both wore No. 23

[The Falcon]

I arrived at SMU in 1968 which is the year of Chuck Hixson and Jerry Levias. That was excitement.
And that same year on the BB court I watched Gene Phillips, Lynn Phillips, Bill Voight, and Donny
Berg that was great fun. Gene Phillips was absolutely incredible - he once hit 51 points at UT
Austin and he didn't have a 3 pt line in those days or he would have had 75 points. Seeing Bob
Prewitt blend a bunch of good basketball players with no superstars into a SW Conference
winning team was amazing with Larry Dalzell and Bobby Rollins leading the way. Sonny Allen's
arrival at SMU brought fast breaking, speed basketball that was fun for a while. I'll never forget
SMU's assault on the NCAA tournament with Kato Armstrong, Todd Alexander, and Larry Davis.
If Larry Davis had boxed out Patrick Ewing on a free throw with only a few seconds left in the
game, we would have beaten Georgetown and moved into the final rounds. I have to say before
turning off my verbal wandering that Jerry Levias was still the most elusive, change-of-direction
receiver that I have ever seen and he led us to a win over Oklahoma in the Blue Bonnet Bowl.

But having said all of that - Larry Brown and the team he has already assembled is making
me laugh all over. How good is this?

[OhioBrownFan]

So mine was, well about 2 years ago when Larry Brown got hired. Following ever since

[Mustangsabu]

I came to SMU in 1999, first BBall game I remember clearly was Tulsa, I think they were ranked. Moody was bouncing and I've loved it ever since. The Bob Knight game. Doh's wins over Memphis. Driving 600 miles round trip to see us lose to rice in El Paso. Memories.

[Harry0569]

I've never seen us win a conference tourney game.

[2ndandlong]

I guess I first started going to SMU basketball games with my church basketball team at HPUMC in the 80's.

More modern times, the Jarrell Sasser advertisements comparing his numbers with the size of his hair.

[Pony ^]

My first game was when Chris Heren and Fresno St came to Moody. I was young but realized how special Moody was. That game was rocking.

[shadowman]

Chad Allen and the 3 pointer he hit to beat Rice at Moody in '93. Loved that team. Gatewood, Mason, Allen, Lewis, Mike Smith and his Knucckleball shot.

One of my favorite games as well, SMU was down 10 points with under 3 minutes to go. Allen's 3 pointer actually only tied the game at the buzzer. SMU then dominated overtime and won going away.

Victory was made even sweeter when the great Tony Barone's Aggies upset Rice in the last game giving SMU the outright title. Was a bummer to get upset by Baylor in the first SWC tournament game, but we still got rewarded with an at large bid.

[PonyFan32]

Attended games with my dad beginning when I was really little. First real lasting memories, though, are around the last time we were in the tourney (93). Then the Troy Matthews, Jay Poerner years and on and on and on.

What struck me most about the building at the Cincy game, though was how different my perspective on the building size was as a kid vs as an adult. I know the building has changed substantially, but I also noticed on Saturday how low the ceiling is. When I was little, I used to race around the top walkway of the arena and think about how big Moody was and how far I was from the court. Now, it doesn't seem nearly as far up there.

[sadderbudweiser]

What struck me most about the building at the Cincy game, though was how different my perspective on the building size was as a kid vs as an adult. I know the building has changed substantially, but I also noticed on Saturday how low the ceiling is. When I was little, I used to race around the top walkway of the arena and think about how big Moody was and how far I was from the court. Now, it doesn't seem nearly as far up there.

Enjoy that feeling while you can. 20/20 don't last forever.

[redpony]

As a student I missed very few bball games. Doc Hayes always seemed to manage to put competitive teams on the floor. Loved watching Maxie Williams and the others. Also had some good friends that played- Jan Loudermilk, Jim Hammond, Steve Jordan etc.