Feb. 19, 2005 Coach Gavitt's Comments

The Year of the Friar
(This season review was reprinted from the 1973-74 Providence College Men's Basketball Media Guide)

The history of Providence College basketball, rich in tradition and documented with the names of basketball greats such as John Egan, Jimmy Walker, Mike Riordan and Joe Mullaney, has added perhaps its most exciting dimension with the glorious season of 1972-73.

Feeding certain figures and letters into a computer would result in the addition of more records and a few more names to the Friar history cookbook. But feeding letters and numbers into the most complex computer available to man could not result in an accurate description of the Friars exciting saga and the beauty produced on the hardwood. It was a very good year - not merely because Providence won but rather for the way they won. They polished off team after team with the precision of a Swiss watch maker, the abandon of a mountain climber and with the grace of a Russian ballet troupe.

There were many reasons why the Friars posted their impressive 27-4 mark which included capturing the NCAA Eastern Regional Championship. But perhaps the greatest single factor which brought about PC's superlative campaign was the team's togetherness. That's right - togetherness! There were freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors, - all with distinct personalities, individual characteristics. And yet these distinctly different individuals melded together to form PC's most formidable team, gravitating toward a singular goal -winning. And win they did!

Under Dave Gavitt, who has brought Providence College back to the top echelon of the nation's collegiate basketball powers, the Friars not only won, but they entertained as well. They didn't run a countless number of time-consuming picks, nor did they rush the hoop like a band of kamikazes, but scored each basket with style and artistry. Like the harmony of a Mozart symphony - executed with brilliant orchestration to the tempo set by an Italian kid from around the corner called DiGregorio. You remember him - the one who was either too fat, too slow or not quite quick enough to perform the kind of job that was needed to win bravo's.

No, Ernie D didn't perform the way normal players are expected to play. But he played in a manner that delighted millions of fans who were brought to their feet by his magic. As personalities went during the 72-73 season, Ernie D stood alone. But to speak of Providence as only Ernie D would be blasphemous defiance of the "team" concept that led to PC's great success.

However, even thinking in terms of a "team effort", the Friar saga could not be told without singling out some of the memorable individual performances. With Maestro DiGregorio at the podium, the Friar team did not just score baskets, they created them. And one such team member, Marvin Barnes, reacted to the conductor's motions - poised and professional. Throughout the season, Marvin dominated, triggered and blended as few big men are able. Marvin ranked second nationally in rebounding, played defense second only to UCLA's Bill Walton and took a back seat to no one in terms of unselfishness. Marvin "Good News" Barnes tore the ball off the boards with ultimate authority and then spotted his teammates with his bullet-like passes and on-target precision.

Then there was the unheralded Kevin Stacom - the other guard. He was a true virtuoso; moving in strange ways until Ernie D spotted him through the maze of enemy defenders or Marvin caught him in one of his deep fly patterns. And remember Coach Gavitt jumping to his feet, cries of "Shoot the ball, Frannie." But when it came down to the moment of truth, Fran Costello came through from the outside or from the corner - Frannie always found his target.

And finally, Charlie Crawford and Nehru King - sharing the fifth spot, not as rivals but rather as comrades. Aware of their purpose and intent on succeeding, this senior duo complimented the team in their ever changing role as sixth man. These were the principal individuals and their "togetherness" as a team was hardly an overnight occurrence. It was a three year effort on the part of everyone. For the past three seasons, they suffered through their share of losses as well as enjoying their share of victories - always learning "why" something else didn't connect. And with this experience they armed themselves for the start of an incredible year.

Providence opened with a convincing victory over St. Francis as Ernie riddled the band box gym with seven straight jumpers. Then the Friars christened their home season in the new Civic Center with a solid win over Fairfield. The fans saw Ernie register 37 points and watched Marvin dominate the boards.

First indications of the destiny of the PC quintet occurred when they mauled nationally ranked South Carolina in the first round of the Utah Classic. But the victory could not be savored for long as PC fell to a tough Santa Clara club in the finals one night later.

If the season had a turning point, it had to be that Santa Clara loss. One lesson was learned - winning would not come easy. PC returned home with serious intent - the Friars would work even harder. They has tasted defeat and now their appetite for victory was even stronger than ever. Their fervor paid off. One by one, seven opponents were pushed aside with increasing confidence; first Oregon, then DePaul, followed by Brown, Rhode Island and Canisius. Western Kentucky met with the same fate, and finally Duquesne - its seemed as though no one could halt the Friar's incredible success.

Next stop - California and the tidal wave known as UCLA. The Bruins had 58 consecutive victories on their resume. PC became #59. Despite the loss, PC would not admit to UCLA's supremacy. The Bruins were certain to win a berth in the NCAA finals and the thought of a rematch in the "big arena" took over where the memory of Santa Clara left off.

Home again, Coach Gavitt's forces gunned down their next 14 opponents. The Friars romped up and down the East Coast like a ravaging flood, leaving behind a trail of shattered foes and an epidemic of "Friar Fever." Among those pushed aside was St. John's, in a memorable television tilt in the family-like confines of the Johnnies' home gym. New York's prodigal son, Kevin Stacom, returned home to the site where his basketball career had begun, while Marvin Barnes showed everyone what defense was all about and Ernie D made believers out of New Yorkers with an unprecedented 41-point performance. In the end, Fran Costello realized his "moment of truth" and ended the epic confrontation by hitting a 15-foot jumper that pushed the Friars over the top.

Then it was off to the NCAA tournament, with its jungle-like warfare which had proven to be PC's waterloo in the past. The stage was set for a rematch with Saint Joseph's. Despite witnessing Providence's magic earlier in the year, the Philadelphia club still questioned the Friars' superiority. Providence returned to St. John's, the site of its colossal triumph one week earlier. After shaking off the effects of a rusty start, Ernie D registered 25 second-half points, and Marvin Barnes notched 21. Before long, St. Joe's realized an 89-76 defeat that sent the Friars to Charlotte, N.C. for the Eastern Regionals.

Providence's first round foe was Ivy League champion Pennsylvania. The Friars had not forgotten their last experience with the Quakers. In the first round of the preceding year's NCAA contest, the Quakers exterminated the Friars, 76-60. With firm determination and a touch of revenge for good measure, Providence humbled the defense-oriented Philadelphia club, 87-65. For Marvin Barnes, the revenge could not have been sweeter. One year earlier, he had died against Penn. But on this summer-like night, he hit 10-of-10 from the floor and topped all rebounders in PC's gain for the finals.

Saturday afternoon in Charlotte brought a memorable battle between Providence and multi-talented Maryland. Curt Cowdy called the first half "the greatest half of collegiate basketball I have ever witnessed." The southern folk were given their first look at our little Italian maestro, Ernie D, who gave a virtuoso performance highlighted by an incredible 30 points. Victory, however, was still far from imminent. The PC All-American had four personal fouls threatening a continuation of his performance - and with the sound of the first-half buzzer, PC trailed 51-50.

The second half offered twenty of the most glorious minutes in Providence's basketball history. With Marvin Barnes immense on the boards and with Ernie D shuffling around with his exit impending, PC broke fast and opened up with a 12-point lead. Then the inevitable occurred! Ernie fouled out with nearly 12 minutes remaining on the clock.

Kevin Stacom and Fran Costello assumed the direction of this veritable masterpiece of a game, and Nehru King erupted with a superlative second-half performance. Once again, the "togetherness" which had embedded itself deeper with each victory and with each defeat, rallied the Friars and erased Maryland head coach Left Driesell's hopes of victory, by a score of 103-89.

NCAA Eastern Regional Champs has a nice sound to it. And a rematch with UCLA in the finals sounded even better. Now only Memphis State stood in the way of the one thing that had possessed the Friars for over two months.

If was time for the Maestro and his company to perform. With the eyes of the nation upon them, this "cinderella team," as dubbed by the press, met a bigger and stronger Memphis State team. For eight and a half minutes, Ernie and his colleagues performed as if they were on the stage of Carnegie Hall. Ernie spun for a jumper, hit Kevin with a half-court, behind-the-back pass, and went behind-the-back again - this time to Marvin. Kevin stuck a jumper, Marvin stuck a jumper and Ernie D had 19,000 St. Louis fans in absolute awe. There it was - the culmination of four years - his masterpiece. There was little doubt. PC was headed for the Bruins and the fans were gasping with anticipation.

And then it happened. Marvin Barnes, in a split-second collision with the Tigers' Ronnie Robinson, was felled with a knee injury, and along with his untimely departure from the game went the Friars' hopes for victory. Guts alone could not overcome the Memphis team - not even Ernie's heroics. Without the nall, the Maestro could not perform. The Friars' loss to Memphis has left some unanswered questions. A Friar-Bruin confrontation had appeared imminent. The result of such a confrontation, we'll never know. But one thing is certain. Dave Gavitt's "cinderella team" made believers out of an entire country.

Dave Gavitt's "cinderella team" showed the doubters what hard work, strong determination and a little bit of luck could do. There's very little else that hasn't been said about the '72-'73 season. Dave Gavitt and a team built on "togetherness" gave us a very good year.