Sunday's NIT match televised
KU to challenge Cousy's aura
To the Student Body of the University of Kansas:
I would like to thank you for the tremendous support that you have given to our program again this year. The players and coaches are terribly disappointed that we did not bring you a championship, for your support merits such honors.
We will certainly be attempting to represent you well in the National Invitation Tournament in New York on Sunday. I hope you will be watching.
Sincerely,
Ted Owens
An unbeatable combination?
Boston College's Bob Cousy, now almost as famous for his coaching as for his playing days with the Boston Celtics, takes his 21-3 Eagles into the NIT tournament against KU's Jayhawks. Terry Driscoll (50), averaging 23.2 points and 18.3 rebounds, and playmaker Billy Evans (14) head the BC club that takes a 16-game winning streak against Kansas.
By BOB KEARNEY
Kansan Sports Editor
Whether Kansas basketball devotees will be drinking the traditional green beer of St. Patrick's Day in New York or Lawrence will be decided Sunday.
Reeking with nostalgia—and an impressive 16-game winning streak—Boston College will be more than a sentimental challenger for KU's Jayhawks in the National Invitation Tournament. The schools meet in a 1:30 p.m. (EST) contest.
The Eagles will be hoping to make the final entry in Coach Bob Cousy's basketball log a memorable one. Cousy will complete his sixth and last season at the Boston College helm in the NIT.
That would seen to be enough inspiration, and combined with a 21-3 record and recent 93-72 drubbing of powerful Duquesne, Boston College will be especially formidable for the Kansans.
The Jayhawks will carry a 20-6 mark into the NIT but still smarting from back-to-back defeats that knocked them out of the Big Eight race. Bruised egos would be soothed with a respectable NIT showing.
Cousy has lifted Boston College to great heights in Eastern basketball. The Eagles of the pre-Causy era drew those "close friends and relatives" crowds. But with the 1963-64 season, people who didn't know if basket-balls were blown up or stuffed began to trickle into the gym.
KANSAN Sports
Mar. 14 1969 KANSAN 13
Boston College posted a 10-11 mark that year, then a 22-7 campaign and the start of a five-year string of post-season tournaments. The Eagles built records of 22-5, 23-3, and 17-8 before this winter's success story.
Stature Grows
The Cousy charisma gave Boston College teams characterized by speed, high scoring, great depth and slip-shod defense. BC's first All-American, backcourt ace John Austin, helped build basketball stature in Cousy's first three years.
Now the Eagles have the rebounding so important to the fast break—and the personnel so important to winning.
The central figures have been 6'7" Terry Driscoll and 5'11" Billy Evans, the pair whose basketball fortunes have been so intertwined since they entered BC. Driscoll's strong rebounding, his ambidextrous hooks, soft jumpers and cool foul shooting mesh with the
superb passing and ballhandling of Evans.
Driscoll, whose court-length passing has been vital to the run-and-gun style, has averaged 23.2 points and 18.3 rebounds with 54 per cent accuracy from the floor and 81 per cent at the charity stripe.
The agile BC center was voted MVP in the Gator Bowl tournament—when the Eagles were last defeated, 77-68, by Northwestern. Driscoll grabbed a school record 31 rebounds against Fordham, and his 29 points outdualed Detroit's phenomenal Spencer Haywood in a 99-72 victory.
Evans like Cooz
Evans' contributions don't appear in the boxscores, but the BC floor general makes himself known in the Cousy tradition of
playmaking. The senior speed demon, who was sidelined with mononeucleosis his junior year, has collected 176 assists while carrying a 10.0 scoring norm.
Joining them are 6'7" Frank Fitzgerald and 6'0" Jimmy O'Brien—both sophomores—and 6'-5" revelation Tom Verneau, who entered BC without a scholarship and became an integral part of the school's best team.
O'Brien gives the Eagles one of the best backcourt combos in the country. Attest his 13.4 scoring average, 177 assists, and blindside passing reminiscent of the days his coach was roaming the floors of the NBA.
With defenses giving multiple coverage to Driscoll, Veronneau's scoring (11.9 ppg) and rebounding have taken much of the pressure
off the Boston College star. His field goal accuracy reading of 717 is far and away the best in the country but won't be reflected in the national statistics since Veronneau is short of the required attempts (110 of 154) due to missing four games with injuries.
Fitzgerald, a solid outside shooter and above-average defensive player, has averaged 12.1 points and connected on 52 per cent of his shots.
Third BC trip
The NIT appearance will be No. 3 for Boston College—all under Cousy. The 1965 champion, St. John's, eliminated the Eagles in the first round, 114-92, and the 1966 club wrested a triple-overtime victory from Louisville, 96-.
(Continued to page 20)