DES MOINES, IOWA ? Members of the 1968-69 Drake basketball team, which finished third in the NCAA Championships, are returning to the Drake campus for a weekend festivities.
It all will start Friday night with a banquet celebrating a 40-year reunion at All-Play located in downtown Des Moines. A social will start at 6 p.m. followed by dinner at 6:45 p.m.
Fans are encouraged to arrive early for Saturday's game between Drake and Austin Peay.
Special pregame ceremonies will start at 6:45 p.m. with the unveiling of a new 1969 Drake Final Four banner recognizing all the players on the team along with a new banner honoring Maury John, Drake's all-time winningest basketball coach.
During halftime Drake will retire the jerseys and numbers of basketball greats, Willie McCarter (#15), Dolph Pulliam (#5) and Willie Wise (#42), who were instrumental in guiding the Bulldogs to a then school record 26-5 mark.
“I'm excited and honored on behalf of our coaches and our entire basketball team,” said Pulliam. “Those were a special group of guys...I'm so appreciative that the university has chosen to honor us this way.”
“Without Coach John (Maury) being present in my lifetime none of this would have happened,” said McCarter from his home in Michigan.
“As I've said before, Drake University never owed a little city kid from the projects (Gary, Ind.) anything. Everything I've received all my life is because of Drake. This is just the icing on the cake for me and I'm really blessed and honored.”
“I echo what my teammates have said,” Wise stated from his home in Seattle, Wash. “I'm so appreciative to Maurice John. He came out and got this little kid from San Francisco and brought me to Iowa. I had never been in the Midwest, never been out of California. Yet he took a chance on me and inserted me into the starting lineup alongside these two guys (McCarter, Pulliam) and from there everything else is history. I owe basically what I am today because of Maurice John and Drake.”
The 1968-69 Bulldogs were one of the greatest comeback teams in college basketball history ? finishing last in the Missouri Valley Conference in 1967 to an NCAA finalist spot in 1969 ? from no national recognition on March 1, 1969 to a strong No. 3 national ranking on March 22 1969.
Under the guidance of John, Drake shared the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title with Louisville and then defeated the Cardinals in a playoff for the league's bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Drake defeated Texas A&M and Colorado State in the 1969 NCAA Midwest Regional to advance to the Final Four. In the semifinal round the Bulldogs gave two-time defending NCAA champion UCLA everything it could handle before dropping an 85-82 setback.
Drake rebounded to overwhelm North Carolina, 104-84, in the consolation championship behind 28 points and 10 assists from McCarter.
Drake finished third in the final 1969 Associated Press college basketball poll. John was named the national coach of the year in 1969 by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association of America.
McCarter earned All-American honors by the Helms Athletic Foundation and was the leading scorer (20.4 ppg) on the 1968-69 team. He was named to the 1969 All-NCAA Final Four Tournament team and also named the most valuable player in the 1969 NCAA Midwest Regional. He was a two-time All-Missouri Valley Conference choice and set school records for field goals in a season (272) and field goals in a career (694). The Gary, Ind., native departed Drake ranked second on the school career scoring charts with 1,626 points for a 21.1 average. He was a 1969 first-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Pulliam ranked as one of Drake's best all-around performers, renowned as a defensive star in addition to his scoring and rebounding abilities. The vocal leader of the 1968-69 NCAA Final Four team, Pulliam left Drake ranked No. 11 on the career scoring list and No. 9 on the career rebounding charts. After a loss at North Texas State on Jan. 30, 1969, Pulliam gathered his teammates for a “no holds barred” meeting which resulted in 12 straight victories, a Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title and the historic trip to the NCAA Final Four. He was drafted by the Boston Celtics and also turned down a free agent contract with the Dallas Cowboys.
Wise was a standout performer on the 1968-69 team and would go on to achieve stardom with the Utah Stars of the American Basketball Association. Despite his 6-foot 5-inch frame, the forward shot 52 percent from the floor and grabbed a then school single-season record 343 rebounds in 1968-69 for an 11.4 average. He also ranked fourth on the school career rebounding list with 626 boards, despite playing only two years. Wise was named to the 30-member all-time American Basketball Association team in 1997.
