Princeton men’s basketball’s 1975 NIT title run remembered 50 years later

March 23 marked the 50^th anniversary of an extraordinary moment in Ivy League basketball history, when Princeton University’s cagers shocked the college basketball world by winning the 1975 National Invitational Tournament. I fell in love with Princeton basketball that season as a 10-year old kid growing up in Princeton, N.J.

Armond Hill, Mickey Steurer, Barnes Hauptfuhrer, Tim “Speedy” van Blommesteyn, Peter “Mugsy” Molloy, Brian O’Neill, Ilan “Spider” Ramati — these Tigers were regular topics of dinner conversation in my house that year. I collected all of these heroes’ autographs on game programs marked with the players’ sweat.

Princeton upset archrival nationally ranked Penn 50-49 at Jadwin Gym in January. But Ron Haigler and the Quakers won the rematch at the Palestra, and the Tigers dropped a game at Brown, allowing Penn to win its sixth straight conference championship. The loss to Brown prompted my father to direct mild but memorable expletives at Penn coach Chuck Daly through the ancient clock radio that he listened to Princeton away games on. A surprise NIT invite came as a consolation prize for the Tigers.

Back then, the NIT meant a lot more than it does today. The NCAA Tournament accepted only 32 teams, and no more than two schools were invited from any conference. Unlike this year’s Big Dance, which is bloated with “power-conference” schools, in 1975 the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 (constituted as the Big Eight at that time), and Pac-12 (Pac-8 back then) had only two teams each in the NCAAs.

Today, the teams playing in the NIT are considered “also rans,” but 50 years ago, the tournament was stocked with national powers. Back then, all four rounds of the NIT were played at Madison Square Garden, adding to the luster of the tournament.

Princeton’s first opponent was Holy Cross, which sported a 20-7 record that included impressive wins over Boston College, UMass, Georgetown, and Seton Hall and a close five-point loss at Notre Dame. The Tigers crushed the Crusaders 84-63, setting up a second-round match against South Carolina.

South Carolina spent much of the year in the Associated Press rankings. With legendary coach Frank McGuire at the helm, the Gamecocks had blistered the Tigers 65-48 in December. Loaded with talent, including future NBA stars Alex English and Mike Dunleavy, South Carolina was a favorite to win the NIT. English would average 22 points a game in 15 seasons in the NBA, and Dunleavy would be a solid point guard in the NBA for a dozen years. But the Tigers put on a clinic and bested the Gamecocks 86-67.

There was no ESPN+ or other ready access to watch the games back then, so my family listened to the first two rounds on WHWH radio. Howard David was Princeton’s play-by-play man, and Herb Hobler provided color commentary. I recorded the first two games on an old Panasonic cassette tape player and relived the broadcasts a dozen times. (David’s career would eventually take off and he would be tapped to call Super Bowls, World Series, and other major sporting events with that same memorable voice that brought Princeton basketball and football to Central Jersey homes for nearly a decade).

The Tigers were matched against All-American Ron Lee and Oregon in the NIT semifinal. Unlike the first two rounds of play, the semifinals and final were broadcast on national television. Lee scored more than 2,000 points in his college career and lifted Oregon to No. 8 in the AP poll that year. My dad warned me that the Tigers’ amazing run would likely come to an end that day, but Princeton prevailed 58-57 and the miracle season continued. Hill’s two free throws provided the margin and Ramati’s sterling defense sealed the stunning victory.

With one of the greatest gifts my parents ever gave me, they decided to take my little sister and me to the Garden to see the Tigers play No. 20 Providence in the NIT final. The Friars were led by their own legendary coach, Dave Gavitt.

The train to the city was packed with excited Princeton fans and the train became more and more crowded as we picked up additional fans as it proceeded to New York. As we left the train and entered the arena, I was overwhelmed by the sights, sounds and smells of the place. Nearly 15,000 fans packed the smoke-filled Garden that day.

Before the game, Providence fans paraded around the perimeter of the court with a handmade sign reading “The Friars will beat the Pussy-Cats.” My horrified mother told my sister and me not to look, which of course cemented the sign in my memory for good.

The Friars had routed St. John’s in the semifinal but were no match for the Tigers, who prevailed 80-69. Eight years before Jim Valvano’s frenetic postgame run around the court after his North Carolina State Wolfpack won the NCAA Tournament, Pete Carril had his own wild post-victory celebration, hurling the ball high into the air and dancing a jig that was captured by an unidentified AP photographer:

After winning its four games in the NIT, Princeton was ranked No. 12 in the nation in the final AP college basketball poll.

That magical 1974-75 season captured my young heart and soul, and I have followed the Tigers closely ever since. With most of the team returning, the following year the Tigers ran through the Ivy League with a 14-0 record, spent several weeks in the AP Top 20 and had a near miss in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, losing to Final Four-bound Rutgers by a single point. (The ending of that game is too painful to repeat here.)

During my senior year of high school, I saw Princeton destroy Mike Krzyzewski’s Duke Blue Devils 72-55, helping clinch my decision to attend Princeton over Duke, with its inferior basketball team.

I’ve been blessed to see Princeton play hundreds of times over the years, including three additional games in the NIT and more than a dozen games in the NCAA Tournament: at the Palestra (three times), in Winston-Salem, N.C., Hartford, Conn., Denver, New Orleans, Tampa, Fla., Buffalo, N.Y., and most memorably, Sacramento, Calif. and Louisville, Ky.

But the hook was set 50 years ago with that unforgettable NIT championship.