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grossbus
04-03-2014, 04:15 PM
The mar 24-apr6 issue of New York magazine has a photo from the 1964 championship game, where Duke inexplicably lost to ucla (I was there). The two page spread notes what became of each player in the photograph. I am pretty sure this was from early in the game when the starters were still on the court. All 5 bruins are in the photo, but only four Blue Devils: Mullins (shooting, appropriately), Harrison, Tison, and Ferguson. How many of you know the missing player? I, of course, do.

Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15
04-03-2014, 04:18 PM
The mar 24-apr6 issue of New York magazine has a photo from the 1964 championship game, where Duke inexplicably lost to ucla (I was there). The two page spread notes what became of each player in the photograph. I am pretty sure this was from early in the game when the starters were still on the court. All 5 bruins are in the photo, but only four Blue Devils: Mullins (shooting, appropriately), Harrison, Tison, and Ferguson. How many of you know the missing player? I, of course, do.

Can't answer that, but I did grow up going to Jeff Mullins basketball camp at UNC-Charlotte. Lovely gentleman. Good times.

Tappan Zee Devil
04-03-2014, 04:19 PM
The mar 24-apr6 issue of New York magazine has a photo from the 1964 championship game, where Duke inexplicably lost to ucla (I was there). The two page spread notes what became of each player in the photograph. I am pretty sure this was from early in the game when the starters were still on the court. All 5 bruins are in the photo, but only four Blue Devils: Mullins (shooting, appropriately), Harrison, Tison, and Ferguson. How many of you know the missing player? I, of course, do.

Jack Marin?

Henderson
04-03-2014, 04:25 PM
Link (http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/03/march-madness-memories-1964-championship.html)

Atlanta Duke
04-03-2014, 04:33 PM
Liked the update for this Bruin:)

Jack Hirsch

Hirsch coached some after college but became wealthy thanks to his family’s businesses: bowling alleys and pornography. Of the latter, Hirsch told Sports Illustrated, “It’s infinitely cleaner than recruiting.”

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/03/march-madness-memories-1964-championship.html

jv001
04-03-2014, 05:08 PM
Steve Vacendak or Jack Marin would be my guess. GoDuke!

hurleyfor3
04-03-2014, 05:54 PM
I guessed Verga (I have an affinity for Duke guys who wore 11, after all), but apparently his sophomore year wasn't until 1965.

SoCalDukeFan
04-03-2014, 05:56 PM
I was a Duke student at the time.

I would say Jack Marin was a starter for sure. I thought Steve Vacendak started also but it was a long time ago.

I would confident Duke would win, but UCLA played great and overcame Duke's height advantage.

Dick

grossbus
04-03-2014, 08:04 PM
the correct answer is Jay "Bird" Buckley

roywhite
04-03-2014, 09:24 PM
the correct answer is Jay "Bird" Buckley

Here's an old newspaper clip that talks about the semifinal game in the 1964 NCAA Championships, which featured:

Duke vs Michigan (http://oldnews.aadl.org/taxonomy/term/7323)

My dad's best friend was the uncle of Denny Ferguson; that's how I was introduced to Duke basketball and eventually became interested in going to Duke. Hurleyfor3 will recognize Ferguson's hometown -- Springdale, PA, which later produced Dick DeVenzio (who moved and played his senior year with Dennis Wuycik on the Ambridge state champ team.)

Denny has been gone for a while...passed away from pancreatic cancer, and cancer also took down DeVenzio.

SoCalDukeFan
04-03-2014, 11:06 PM
the correct answer is Jay "Bird" Buckley

Buckley did start but I am sure Jack Marin did also and I think Steve Vacendak. I think neither Ferguson nor Harrison were starters then.

SoCal

Tappan Zee Devil
04-03-2014, 11:07 PM
the correct answer is Jay "Bird" Buckley

a physics major and PhD!

like me :) - (although mine is in a hyphenated version of physics)


Marin and Vacendak did not start for that team - Wow!

roywhite
04-03-2014, 11:18 PM
Buckley did start but I am sure Jack Marin did also and I think Steve Vacendak. I think neither Ferguson nor Harrison were starters then.

SoCal

Pretty sure you are confusing 1964 with 1966, when Marin and Vacendak both started.

Here is the boxscore of the 1964 championship game from the UCLA site, where the first five players listed for UCLA are:

Goodrich 9-18 9-9 3 1 27
Slaughter 0-1 0-0 1 0 0
Hazzard 4-10 3-5 3 5 11
Hirsch 5-9 3-5 6 3 13
Erickson 2-7 4-4 5 5 8

and the Duke players are:

Ferguson 2-6 0-1 1 3 4
Buckley 5-8 8-12 9 4 18
Tison 3-8 1-1 1 2 7
Harrison 1-1 0-0 1 2 2
Mullins 9-21 4-4 4 5 22

1964 championship game (http://members.tripod.com/ucla_hoops/box%20scores%20of%20past%20championships.htm)

Both Marin and Vacendak played significant time in the 1964 finals, but did not start.

ricks68
04-03-2014, 11:26 PM
the correct answer is Jay "Bird" Buckley

Imagine my surprise upon arrival on the Duke campus for my freshman year, after heading past the Dope Shop and then checking my mailbox for the first time---------lo and behold, a draft card within that I might be able to use as a fake ID! Let's see, age is right as being over 21. I'm in! No, I'm not.:(

(I guess I could carefully change the height from 6'11", easily to 5'11". But now I have a big, big problem-------I think that it would be too coincidental for me to also be named Jay Buckley. Sigh.)

ricks

Olympic Fan
04-04-2014, 12:28 AM
Roywhite has the right starting lineup --

You have to understand Mullins, Buckley and Harrison came in together in 1960, moved to the varsity together in 1961-62 and started almost every game together for three seasons (62-64).

We mostly have a clear memory of Mullins, a sweet shooting All-American forward from Lexington, Ky., who was also a good rebounder and defender. Harrison was just a smart, tough guard who averaged just under 10 points a game as a soph and a senior (a bit less as a junior). Buckley was a tall, thin center who always rebounded and defended well, but for most of his career, was not much of a scorer.

Tison was a year younger, who came in as a soph in 1962-63 and moved into the starting lineup as a junior in 1963-64. He was a lot like Buckley -- tall and thin.

Duke was a unique team in that era with the two twin towers.

Vacendak and Marin were sophs on that 63-64 team. Vacendak started early in the season while Marin was more of a sixth man. Both got a lot of time and played well.

But the team sputtered just a bit in December, losing a close game at Vanderbilt, a lopsided game at Michigan and another close game to No. 1 Kentucky in New Orleans. Bubas played around with his lineup (I think Marin got a couple of starts during this stretch), but finally settled on Denny Ferguson as the fifth starter. Ferguson was a junior guard who had played little as a soph, but even though he rarely scored (5 ppg in '64) he was like a modern point guard. They didn't keep assists in that era, but he was the playmaker that made the team take off. Duke won 19 of 20 games after the Kentucky loss.

The other thing that happened late that season was the transformation of Jay Buckley from a solid big man into a superstar. It was very similar to what happened with Brian Zoubek in 2010 (except that Buckley was a more productive player before his turnaround). A very harsh preview of the Feb. 15 Duke-Davidson game (which called Buckley Duke's weakest link) sparked his surge. He had 17 points and 16 rebounds that night against All-American Fred Hetzel. From that point on, he was awesome -- like 17-18 points, 12-14 rebounds a night. He averaged 20 points 12 rebounds in the ACC Tourney (which Duke has to win to get an NCAA bid). He was the difference in the national semifinals against Michigan. In the December game, he was manhandled by Oliver Darden (built like Kennedy Meeks) and Bill Buntin (built like Robert Carter Jr.) He had seven points and two rebounds in the loss ... in the Final Four rematch, he went for 25 and 14. Mullins later said that he knew Duke would win when on the first rebound, Darden tried to push Buckley out from under the basket and Buckley responded with an elbow to his face.

That was the '64 team down the stretch. Marin and Vacendak were great subs, but Buckley, Ferguson, Harrison, Tison and, of course, Jeff Mullins were the starters.

FWIW: That was one of the smartest, most academically accomplished Duke teams ever. Almost every player, except Mullins (who went to the NBA) ended up with a postgrad degree. Buckley was the proverbial "rocket scientist" -- literally ... he worked much of his life for NASA.

Henderson
04-04-2014, 12:39 AM
Great review. Thanks.

Really good thread.

jv001
04-04-2014, 07:26 AM
In 1964 title game, Gail Goodrich led the Bruins with 27 points but Walt Hazzard won MVP. In 1965, Goodrich scored 42 points in the title game. He was one of my favorite non-Duke players during that era. GoDuke!

roywhite
04-04-2014, 07:44 AM
In 1964 title game, Gail Goodrich led the Bruins with 27 points but Walt Hazzard won MVP. In 1965, Goodrich scored 42 points in the title game. He was one of my favorite non-Duke players during that era. GoDuke!

Yeah, Wooden also had an ace off the bench in Kenny Washington. He was an African-American guard out of Beaufort, SC but pre-ACC integration, he went out west to play for UCLA (as did Henry Bibby from North Carolina).

Washington had a devastating 26 points vs Duke in the 1964 finals, and then also played well in the 1965 finals with 17 off the bench against a Michigan team led by Cazzie Russell.

sagegrouse
04-04-2014, 08:49 AM
Roywhite has the right starting lineup --

You have to understand Mullins, Buckley and Harrison came in together in 1960, moved to the varsity together in 1961-62 and started almost every game together for three seasons (62-64).

We mostly have a clear memory of Mullins, a sweet shooting All-American forward from Lexington, Ky., who was also a good rebounder and defender. Harrison was just a smart, tough guard who averaged just under 10 points a game as a soph and a senior (a bit less as a junior). Buckley was a tall, thin center who always rebounded and defended well, but for most of his career, was not much of a scorer.

Tison was a year younger, who came in as a soph in 1962-63 and moved into the starting lineup as a junior in 1963-64. He was a lot like Buckley -- tall and thin.

Duke was a unique team in that era with the two twin towers.

Vacendak and Marin were sophs on that 63-64 team. Vacendak started early in the season while Marin was more of a sixth man. Both got a lot of time and played well.

But the team sputtered just a bit in December, losing a close game at Vanderbilt, a lopsided game at Michigan and another close game to No. 1 Kentucky in New Orleans. Bubas played around with his lineup (I think Marin got a couple of starts during this stretch), but finally settled on Denny Ferguson as the fifth starter. Ferguson was a junior guard who had played little as a soph, but even though he rarely scored (5 ppg in '64) he was like a modern point guard. They didn't keep assists in that era, but he was the playmaker that made the team take off. Duke won 19 of 20 games after the Kentucky loss.

The other thing that happened late that season was the transformation of Jay Buckley from a solid big man into a superstar. It was very similar to what happened with Brian Zoubek in 2010 (except that Buckley was a more productive player before his turnaround). A very harsh preview of the Feb. 15 Duke-Davidson game (which called Buckley Duke's weakest link) sparked his surge. He had 17 points and 16 rebounds that night against All-American Fred Hetzel. From that point on, he was awesome -- like 17-18 points, 12-14 rebounds a night. He averaged 20 points 12 rebounds in the ACC Tourney (which Duke has to win to get an NCAA bid). He was the difference in the national semifinals against Michigan. In the December game, he was manhandled by Oliver Darden (built like Kennedy Meeks) and Bill Buntin (built like Robert Carter Jr.) He had seven points and two rebounds in the loss ... in the Final Four rematch, he went for 25 and 14. Mullins later said that he knew Duke would win when on the first rebound, Darden tried to push Buckley out from under the basket and Buckley responded with an elbow to his face.

That was the '64 team down the stretch. Marin and Vacendak were great subs, but Buckley, Ferguson, Harrison, Tison and, of course, Jeff Mullins were the starters.

FWIW: That was one of the smartest, most academically accomplished Duke teams ever. Almost every player, except Mullins (who went to the NBA) ended up with a postgrad degree. Buckley was the proverbial "rocket scientist" -- literally ... he worked much of his life for NASA.


This is a timely thread. The Class of 1964 will have its 50th Reunion next weekend. Jay Buckley will certainly be there, and Jeff Mullins has regularly attended these events.

Just a slight adjustment to OF's post. While Jay worked space programs for his entire career (and still continuing, I believe), he was in industry, not NASA, working in suburban Philadelphia before moving to the DC area a few years ago.

Sage Grouse, Official Codger
'At our 25th reunion, when Clay Buckley was a student, one of our classmates walked up to him at a reception and said, "Jay, you haven't changed a bit!" True, father and son looked alike, but....'

SoCalDukeFan
04-04-2014, 10:05 AM
I went and found this on the Internet - says starters were Mullins, Buckley, Marin, Tison and Vacendak.

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/boxscores/1964-03-21-duke.html

I certainly should have remembered Jay Buckley because he and Tison gave Duke a tremendous height advantage.

Maybe someone needs to ask Jack or Steve,

SoCal

Olympic Fan
04-04-2014, 12:48 PM
I went and found this on the Internet - says starters were Mullins, Buckley, Marin, Tison and Vacendak.

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/boxscores/1964-03-21-duke.html

I certainly should have remembered Jay Buckley because he and Tison gave Duke a tremendous height advantage.

Maybe someone needs to ask Jack or Steve,

SoCal


This is incorrect ... here's another part of sportsstats that has the right lineup (it has every postseason boxscore for Duke that year):

http://www.sportsstats.com/bball/boxlines/DUKE/1964

Beyond the conflicting info on the same mega-site, I can tell you because I was there. I guarantee you that Buzzy Harrison and Denny Ferguson were the starters -- while Marin and Vacendak came off the bench.

Sage: The comment about Clay looking just like his father -- Clay was a dead ringer facially ... but he was much, MYCH stockier than Jay (at least during his playing days).

BTW: The box score SoCal sites also lists Ken Washington of UCLA as a starter and he clearly came off the bench. Indeed, for years he was famous for having one of the great off-the-bench performances in NCAA Final Four history.

SoCalDukeFan
04-04-2014, 01:00 PM
Well I guess clears it up.

SoCal

grossbus
04-04-2014, 02:13 PM
"A very harsh preview of the Feb. 15 Duke-Davidson game (which called Buckley Duke's weakest link)"

Leading to a new nickname within the team: Link


I was there. Buckley started. Slaughter, their tallest player at 6'5", injured his back early and did not play much after that. Washington just killed us. After getting past Michigan in the semi's (with an injured Cazzie Russel), I was sure we would win the championship. Alas, not.

jv001
04-04-2014, 02:22 PM
[1965) QUOTE=Olympic Fan;723491]This is incorrect ... here's another part of sportsstats that has the right lineup (it has every postseason boxscore for Duke that year):

http://www.sportsstats.com/bball/boxlines/DUKE/1964

Beyond the conflicting info on the same mega-site, I can tell you because I was there. I guarantee you that Buzzy Harrison and Denny Ferguson were the starters -- while Marin and Vacendak came off the bench.

Sage: The comment about Clay looking just like his father -- Clay was a dead ringer facially ... but he was much, MYCH stockier than Jay (at least during his playing days).

BTW: The box score SoCal sites also lists Ken Washington of UCLA as a starter and he clearly came off the bench. Indeed, for years he was famous for having one of the great off-the-bench performances in NCAA Final Four history.[/QUOTE]

I'm sure you're correct regarding Duke's starting five. I know that Jay Buckley and Hack Tison were in the starting lineup, but had forgotten about Denny Ferguson. I was sooooo convinced Duke was going to win their first NCAAT Championship and was rooting hard for the Blue Devils. The very next year(Jan 15th, 1965) I was inducted into The US Army. Spending 1 year in Hawaii and 1 year in Viet Nam with the 25th Infantry, headquarters company. My company commander was a huge Duke fan and I became one of his favorites. Man, that was a long time ago. God has been good to me. GoDuke!