Throwback Thursday: Ross' move to PG boosted TU in 1984

For those who get panicked about not having a true point guard on the roster, or worry about players transferring, one only has to go back to the fall of 1983 at Tulsa as one place to find solace.

There was real worry about TU losing Mike Smith.

Who, you say?

Exactly.

Mike Smith was a solid starting point guard who was supposed to be returning off a talented team that made it to the NIT in 1983. TU had beaten defending national champion North Carolina (led by Michael Jordan), and OU on the road (led by Wayman Tisdale) in a two week span.

But Smith, who was at TU in the summer, mysteriously did not come back. No other true point guard was returning.

But there was this guy named Ricky Ross.

As one of the most talented players to ever play at TU, Ross was coming off an outstanding junior season where he led Tulsa in scoring. Not to mention, he was one of the top five players nationally coming out of high school.

But Ross was not considered to be a point guard. A shooting guard or wing, but not a point guard.

Nolan Richardson had other ideas.

In his fourth year as TU's coach that had resurrected a dying TU basketball program, Richardson made perhaps his best strategic move on the court. Although it may have been by necessity, moving Ross to point guard was exactly what was needed.

The 6-foot-7 Ross was and still is an enigma. As one of the top five players in the nation coming out of high school in Wichita in 1979 (the other four were Ralph Sampson, Dominique Wilkins, Clark Kellogg and Isaiah Thomas), Ross had signed with Kansas and had a good freshman year, averaging over 11.7 points per game playing for Ted Owens.

But Ross left KU along with two teammates after a minor phone use scandal where they used an assistant coach's credit card for long distance phone calls. After transferring to his hometown Wichita State, which was loaded at the time with the likes of longtime NBA players Antoine Carr and Cliff Levingston, he never made it to the court while sitting out a year.

Ross did witness TU's 1981 NIT champs beat the Elite Eight bound Shockers both times in 1981 while sitting out the season. And he became impressed with Richardson. After stops at two junior colleges, the last one at College of Marin (CA), where he led all juco scorers in the nation at 30.5 points, he was looking for a college, and gave Richardson a call.

Of course Richardson jumped at the opportunity, and Ross had a terrific junior season, as he and future first round pick Steve Harris both averaged 18.5 points per game. But it was a somewhat disappointing 1983 season because, after beating North Carolina at ORU's Mabee Center and winning at OU, the middle of the season didn't turn out well, and Tulsa, despite making the MVC tourney finals, barely missed the 48 team NCAA field.

TU finished 19-12 and lost in the first round of the NIT to a TCU team that then won in the second round at a Byron Scott led Arizona State.

The slump in the middle of the 1983 season was due to Smith missing four games in the middle, and talented 6-10 center Bruce Vanley having personal issues that caused him to miss nine games. Not having Vanley, considering he had 23 points and 11 rebounds against the Tar Heels (outplaying NBA standout big men Brad Daugherty and Sam Perkins), was a major blow as well.

When Smith was out of the lineup for those four games, Tulsa was lost. So when it was learned that Smith was not coming back, many Golden Hurricane fans panicked.

In the four games Smith missed in 1983. Tulsa lost by an average of 11 points. Granted, it was a brutal four-game road stretch of Drake, Wichita State, Bradley and Illinois State. But still, those games were ugly.

Smith, although not great, was competent, averaging 6.3 points per game as well as playing solid defense and running the offense well. Without Smith, Tulsa had turned to unheralded Jim King recruit Ty Nilsson and quick 6-2 freshman Herb Suggs at point. And also to Ross, who wasn't ready at the time. Tulsa was 19-8 with Smith in the lineup.

With Ross, who already had terrific dribbling and passing skills to go along with a deadly shot, as the starting point guard in 1984, the other starters in 1984 were Harris, 6-6 junior defensive specialist Vince Williams, 6-10 junior Herb Johnson (who later was still playing pro ball in Europe at age 50), and Vanley.

An incredible all freshman recruiting class of David Moss, Carlton McKinney, Brian Rahilly, Byron Boudreax, and Anthony Fobbs ensured another four years of NCAA tournament bids for the Golden Hurricane, and all showed they could play right away.

The 6-7 Moss was the best of the bunch (6.4 ppg as a freshman), but Boudreaux was important as well. The 6-3 Boudreaux provided Ross with relief at the point, and even allowed Ross to slip back to the two or three positions while in the lineup at the same time as Ross. Boudreaux only averaged 1.7 points in 9.4 minutes a game as a freshman, but showed he belonged.

Fobbs (3.7 fr. ppg) was a raw 6-9 center who was valuable in spelling Vanley while Vanley was injured during the first round of the MVC Tourney. McKinney was the most talented, averaging 5.2 points after missing the first 10 games due to an injured foot. The 6-5 McKinney was athletic and could shoot, but transferred after two seasons due to losing playing time as a sophomore and Richardson subsequently leaving to be replaced by J.D. Barnett. He ended up having a cup of coffee in the NBA.

The 6-11 Brian Rahilly (4.8 ppg in 9 games as freshman) became a very good player his last two seasons for Tulsa after being injured for most of his first two seasons. Other scholarship players on the roster were Rahilly's older brother, 6-9 sophomore Jeff Rahilly (redshirted due to an injury), Suggs, and little used 6-9 senior Warren Shephard.

With Tulsa loaded, and Ross adjusting well to his new role, the 1984 Golden Hurricane was dynamic. If not for a late season injury to Vanley, it could have been remembered as Tulsa's best team of all time. As it was, the 1984 Golden Hurricane should certainly be in the top five.

TU in 1984 was as exciting a team as Tulsa has ever fielded. The full-court pressing squad led the nation in scoring at 90.8 points per game in the non three-point and non shot clock era. (Note: the MVC used the three-pointer in regular season conference play in 1983 along with a 45-second shot clock that was turned off in the final four minutes of the game. The three-pointer and shot clock were adapted full-time in 1987).

Everything about the team was fun. Richardson, wearing his trademark polka dots, was always entertaining. Whether he was storming off the court before halftime to show his players why he was fuming at their play, or being his charismatic normal self, Nolan knew how to entertain.

Burger King lost a lot of money that year with its promotion of a free Whopper for scoring 100 points in a home game. TU scored 100 or more eight times that season - all at home. All that was needed for the free Whopper was half of a ticket stub. If a ticket was unused, tear the ticket in half, and that was two free Whoppers. Burger King never again had that promotion.

Savvy ticket scalpers were making money. Attendance averaged 8,735 at the downtown Convention Center out of a capacity of 9,200. So with many sellouts, tickets were in demand.

If someone could secure a student pass from a student who didn't go to games, student passes allowed students to get free tickets. There were some student scalpers who had collected as many as 40 student passes. So even if sold at the bottom level regular face value of $8, or even half that, ticket scalpers raked in the money. And for the big games, prices rose significantly.

With a very favorable non-conference schedule and stacked roster, Tulsa burst out to a 15-0 start before falling to rugged Illinois State for its only home loss of the season. The Golden Hurricane was 11-0 in non-conference, 13-3 in regular season MVC play, and won all three home games in the Missouri Valley tourney. Higher seeds got home games in the conference tourney back then.

Starting the season unranked, Tulsa rose as high as 9th in the AP poll before finishing the season ranked 12th.

The non-conference schedule had only one road game, at 91-79 win at OSU. Two wins over ORU were impressive considering ORU was an NCAA team that year winning the regular season and Midwestern City tournament championships. The Mark Acres led Titans were good. Beating a San Diego State team led by future NBA power forward and OKC Thunder announcer Michael Cage was noteworthy.

The MVC was still strong, as Illinois State (NCAA 2nd round), Wichita State, and Creighton (NIT) highlighted the opponents. Bradley had future NBA point guard Jim Les. Two of the top four players from the 1985 NBA draft were from the Valley: 7-footer Benoit Benjamin - a shot blocking machine, and the X-man - Xavier McDaniel of the Shockers.

Playing at the Roundhouse in Wichita and the Illinois State airplane hanger were as tough of road spots as you could imagine.

Highlights of the conference season included an overtime win at Creighton where TU overcame 11 blocked shots by Benoit Benjamin, and a 105-97 home shootout over the Shockers. The win over the Shockers was one of the most entertaining games ever played at the Convention Center. The sound level of the fans was never surpassed.

The first round 110-99 MVC tourney win over Indiana State ended up hurting TU, as Vanley, who had averaged 15.4 points in MVC play, injured a knee. Vanley missed the final two conference tourney games, a 86-80 semifinal win over Wichita State, and a 70-68 finals win over Creighton.

Fittingly, Ross won it for the Golden Hurricane, hitting a buzzer beater over Benjamin. On the play, everyone knew Ross was going to shoot. He dribbled around, and drove to the bucket, hitting a 7-foot bank shot. Ross had made a similar buzzer beating game winners in the MVC semi's at New Mexico State in 1983 over NBA-bound Steve Coulter, and in overtime in 1983 against Illinois State.

Tulsa entered the still 48-team NCAA tournament 27-3, losing only to Illinois State (twice), and at Wichita State. But without Vanley, TU would be hampered.

Like in 1982, TU got a first-round bye, which turned out to hinder the Golden Hurricane. With Louisville getting an easy first round win, just as Houston did in 1982, the Cardinals, like the Cougars, were warmed up and ready. TU entered both the 1982 and 1984 games tight, and fell behind in double digits in the first half in both games, and well into the second half.

Vanley, with his knee wrapped up like a mummy, tried to play, lasting a minute, but clearly couldn't go. With virtually no inside game, and Johnson playing out of position at center in the second half, Tulsa still came back in Milwaukee at the Mecca.

With Harris and Ross putting on a clinic, the two willed Tulsa back into a tie at 67-67 in the last minute. The spectacular display of off balance shots by Ross and Harris in the second half were as good of performances in a half by a guard tandem in TU history.

Unfortunately, Louisville's Milt Wagner scored in the closing seconds, and with no timeouts left (the clock didn't stop back then after a made shot in the last minute), TU could only manage a desperation 75-footer at the buzzer, which Ross' heave hit the backboard.

The amazing 1984 TU team had seven NBA draftees (Harris, Ross, Johnson, Vanley, Moss, Rahilly, McKinney), with Harris averaging 21.1 points to lead the team in scoring. Ross averaged 17.1 points and 6.2 assists and led the MVC in assists in what is still the TU record for average assists for a season. Johnson, who mostly played the four but had outstanding perimeter shooting and dribbling skills, averaged 15 points.

Harris went on to average 7 points in five years in the NBA, still is Tulsa's second leading scorer, and had his #20 jersey retired.

Surprisingly, Ross never made it to the NBA. Poor performances in pre-draft All-Star games caused him to fall to the third round in the draft. RIchardson used to tell the story that Ross's handlers gave him bad advice and told him to jack the ball up a lot in those games, instead of showcasing his point guard skills. Richardson had begged Ross not to play in the games, as Ross was widely considered to be a first round choice before the games.

Rosters were only 12 in the NBA back then. Developmental leagues (the CBA back then) only had minimal influence. As the fifth player drafted by the Washington Bullets, Ross never had a chance to make an NBA roster as a rookie.

But Ross still had two stellar seasons for the Golden Hurricane, and his transition to point guard in 1984 was one of the great stories in TU history on one of the Golden Hurricane's greatest teams.