WORLD B. FREE & A BUNCH OF NAIA LOVE
World B. Free was the 1975 NAIA National Tournament MVP leading his unseeded Quakers of Guilford College to the championship, because of 2K even the young pups have heard of Lloyd Bernard. A historic college basketball tournament with a history of breaking the color line with a host of legends like Coach John Wooden and NBA players Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, and World B. Free.
With Texas and Mississippi just announcing the removal of mandatory wearing of mask, it brings more hope of returning to a world where we can be free once again of so many restrictions. In honor of World B. Free, I am dedicating this post to him and many of the other coaches and players who paved the way to college basketball as we know it today.
Lloyd Free, the versatile freshman guard from Brooklyn, and M.L. Carr, the 6-6 forward, were the key men as Guilford racked up its fifth victory of the week. Free, who showed no hesitancy in driving against rangy Eastern Shore, scored 30 points and locked up the Most Valuable Player honors for the tournament. Carr tallied 23 points and pulled off 16 rebounds. Not sure the odds were for two future NBA stars to be on the same team and to lead their unseeded Guilford Quakers to the 1975 NAIA Championship, but I think it is a story worth sharing.
This week commemorates the 84th Anniversary of the longest continuous national basketball tournament in any sport in the country, the NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship. The 2021 NAIA Basketball Tournament ramps up to begin on March 12th as the teams and bracket will be announced tomorrow at 7 PM. Let’s go down history lane and see what we find out about the powerful history of the NAIA Basketball Tournament.
It is not an easy challenge to reach the NAIA Tournament, must less win it. For three straight seasons beginning in 2000-01, my team suffered the disappointment of being one of the last bubble teams that the selection committee decided not to give an invitation to Kansas City. However, through the grace of God, I have been uncommonly blessed to be a part of qualifying in 17 of the last 18 NAIA Tournaments beginning in 2004. Like World B. Free and Guilford in 2005, as an assistant coach at John Brown University, our team became one of the few teams to ever win the championship as an unseeded team. After finally receiving that at-large-birth in 2003-04 after winning our last 5 games, we finally got to taste a piece of basketball heaven. It tasted so good that it put a hunger in us and we returned in 2005 to claim our first NAIA DI National Championship. We were led by a special young man named Brandon Cole, who still to this day owns the college basketball all-time career 3pt field goal record with 527 career threes. Brandon was selected as one of the top 60 NAIA Players All-Time. He is a missionary in Mali, Africa today, using basketball to share the love of Jesus Christ.
In 2007, I finally got my shot as a head college coaching position at Oklahoma Wesleyan University. God blew our minds as He took a struggling program and in just two years we won the 2009 NAIA National Championship setting an NAIA D2 record with 39 consecutive wins. This time we were led by a dynamic duo of Steve Briggs and Sadiel Rojas. Briggs, who was a freshman on the JBU 2005 team, led us to the 2009 championship claiming his second NAIA Championship and the NAIA National Player of the Year honor. Briggs learned a lot from Cole and out of uncanny humility, he chose not to break Cole’s 3pt career record. He finished his career third in college basketball history with 498 career 3pt field goals. He would honestly not shoot when we were easily winning games saying he would shoot when the team needed him. Sadiel Rojas was a sophomore on the 2009 championship team, he went on to lead the Eagles back to the Elite 8 without Briggs in 2011 and was honored as NAIA Player of the Year that season as he led NAIA in both scoring and rebounding that season. He is currently enjoying a tremendous professional career playing for UC Murcia in Europe. He started for the Dominican Republic in the Olympics and for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants when they won the NBA D-League Championship in 2014.
In my first season building the basketball program at Southwestern Assemblies of God University in 2011-12 we won 27 games, but barely missed out on an at-large bid to the NAIA Tournament that season. We used that frustration and a lot of powerful faith to climb all the way to the NAIA National Championship game in 2013. That team was led by another special young man, Dominque Rambo. Rambo became the first NAIA Player to ever be voted NAIA Player of the Year twice. An award that current Indiana Wesleyan standout Kyle Mangas has since accomplished as well.
This year the challenge of getting to Kansas City just returned to the more difficult challenge of yester year as the NAIA returns to one division instead of Division I and II. The NAIA divided into two divisions in 1992. During my senior season as a player in 1991 at John Brown University, the NAIA was still one division with 500 plus teams. Back then only one team out of your entire district went to the 32-Team NAIA Tournament in Kansas City in historic Municipal Auditorium. I grew up going to basketball camps as a kid at NAIA powerhouse programs like Oklahoma City University, Oklahoma Baptist University and Oklahoma Christian University. I heard amazing stories of the tournament from Hall of Fame Coaches like Dan Hays, Bob Hoffman, and Daryl Johnson. I have even blessed to meet and learn from bigger than life coaching legends John Wooden and Don Meyer. In 1991, we were in the same district that had recently turned out Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman. Despite competing well, we did not make the NAIA Tournament in 1991. We did win 25 games and won the equivalency of the current NIT tournament, winning the NCCAA National Championship in 1991 defeating legendary coach Mike Lightfoot at Bethel (IN) in the quarterfinals, NAIA top 25 ranked Malone (OH) in the semifinals, and NAIA Top 25 The Master’s College in the Championship Game. The Master’s was led another legendary coach, Mel Hankinson, that went on to be the head coach at Liberty University.
I could provide a long list of Hall of Fame and future Hall of Fame NAIA championship coaches that I have been blessed to coach against like Danny Miles, Kris Korver, Jim Kessler, Steve Jenkins, Steve Shepherd, Win Case, Bob Hoffman, Dan Hays, Harry Statham, Greg Tonagel, Mike Lightfoot, Rollie Massimino, Kim Elders, AL Waller, Terry Waldrop, Dave Holmquist, Rhett Soliday, John Moore and my former head coach John Sheehy. This list could go on and on of the amazing coaches that I can call friend today. I think it is noteworthy to mention just a few of the highly successful young NAIA coaches I have been blessed to become close friends with as well, like Austin Johnson, Garrett Jones, Josh Gamblin, Larry Cordaro, Kyle Blankenship, Chris Francis and Delton Deal. Some who have already won NAIA Championships and that are off to incredible career starts.
NAIA has some of the best basketball coach’s period. Coaches who often drive the bus, teach, recruit with small staffs, sweep the floor, and are all about changing young men and women’s lives for Jesus sake. So many of these coaches have chosen to remain at faith-based Universities that still today boldly represent Jesus Christ in the athletic arena. That is something definitely worth mentioning. There is nothing more important that Religious Freedom!
Before we look at former NAIA great players, let’s look at the best coach to ever coach the game, Coach John Wooden.
Wooden’s impact on collegiate athletics began in Terre Haute, Indiana, when he served as athletics director and head basketball and baseball coach at Indiana State Teacher’s College (1946-1948). In 1947, Wooden and the Indiana State Sycamores won the conference title and received an invitation to the NAIB, now the NAIA, national tournament at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. Wooden refused the invitation citing the policy that banned African American players from competing. Wooden declined to compete if a member of his squad, Clarence Walker, was not allowed to participate. The following year, the NAIB changed its policy, and Wooden with Walker, guided the Sycamores to the national championship game losing to Louisville, 82-70. Wooden’s involvement in breaking the color barrier in college athletics, and his story in doing so, signified his principles as a human being. Although his coaching career in the NAIA was limited to two years, his contribution and stance for justice remains a cornerstone of the NAIA legacy. Wooden went on to become the most successful men’s NCAA college basketball coach in history at UCLA, known above all for his character, morals, and faith.
Wooden’s star player, Clarence J. Walker, became the first African-American Collegiate Basketball player to appear in a post-season tournament. He would participate in three post-season tournaments, winning a NAIA National Title in 1950. He played basketball under head coach John Wooden (1946-47 & 1947-48) and John Longfellow (1948-49 & 1949-50). He helped lead the Sycamores to three consecutive IIC Championships and three NAIB (now NAIA) Tournaments. His Indiana State teams recorded a cumulative record of 95-31 (.754); a 30-4 (.882) in IIC play, including 4 conference titles, the 1950 NAIB National Title; the 1948 NAIB National Title-game and the 1949 NAIB National Title-final four during their four seasons of varsity play.
Let’s now take a look at some more basketball legends who have played NAIA Basketball beginning with World B. Free.
World B. Free played in the NBA from 1975 to 1988. Free was known as the “Prince of Midair” as well as “All-World”. Born in Atlanta, Free attended Canarsie High School in Brooklyn, New York before attending Guilford College in North Carolina. As a freshman, he led Guilford College’s basketball team to the 1975 NAIA National Championship and was named MVP. On December 8, 1981, a day before his 28th birthday, he legally changed his first name to World. According to Free, “the fellas back in Brownsville gave me the nickname “World” when I was in junior high… they just started calling me ‘all-world’, because all-city and all-county and things like that weren’t good enough. I’m still the same guy I was when I was Lloyd, though. I’ll say what I’m going to do, and then I’ll go out and do it.” Free played for the San Diego Clippers, Philadelphia 76ers, Golden State Warriors, Cleveland Cavaliers and Houston Rockets in the National Basketball Association. For both the 1978–79 and 1979–80 campaigns, George Gervin and Free were number 1 and 2 in the league in scoring. Free averaged 20.3 points per game over 13 seasons in the NBA. His best season was 1979–80 with the Clippers, averaging 30.2 points per game, as well as 4.2 assists per game and 3.5 rebounds per game in 68 games. He was an All-Star that season as well, although the Clippers failed to make the playoffs. During the 1984–85 season, Free became the 39th player in league history to surpass 15,000 career points. Free also played in the United States Basketball League (USBL) for the Miami Tropics after being waived by the Philadelphia 76ers in March 1987. He was USBL Man of The Year in 1987 and the Miami Tropics won the championship. His USBL stint took place the summer before Free went to the Houston Rockets for the 1987–88 season, which was his last NBA season. For Free, the highlight of that season was November 12, 1987, when he scored 38 points against the Sacramento Kings at ARCO Arena and brought the Rockets back to win the game.
Check out the actual 1975 Championship Game by clicking this link.
Michael Leon “ML” Carr was a teammate at Guilford with World B. Free. During the 1975–76 ABA season, Carr played for the Spirits of St. Louis, averaging 12.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, and was named to the ABA’s All-Rookie Team. The Spirits of St. Louis were one of two ABA teams (the Colonels being the other) that did not join the NBA in the ABA–NBA merger, and as a result Carr joined the NBA as a member of the Detroit Pistons from 1976–79. After being selected to the All-Defense second team during the 1979 season and leading the league in steals, Carr was signed as a free agent by the rebuilding Boston Celtics. Pistons coach Dick Vitale responded by saying, “We just had the heart and soul ripped from our team.” The Carr acquisition was one of the four major additions which immediately propelled the Celtics back to the top of the NBA standings after finishing near the bottom the previous season, along with majority owner Harry Mangurian, head coach Bill Fitch and rookie forward Larry Bird. Carr was instrumental in leading the Celtics’ defense past the favored Philadelphia 76ers in the 1981 Eastern Conference Finals, on the way to Boston’s 14th NBA championship. Playing for the Celtics until 1985, Carr averaged 9.7 points and 4.3 rebounds per game during his NBA career.
Scottie Pippen was a two-time NAIA All-American at the University of Central Arkansas and a six-time NBA champion with the Chicago Bulls. He was part of the Dream Team that dominated the 1992 Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain, and also played on the Dream Team II in 1996 in Atlanta. Pippen, a walk on manager from Hamburg, was “discovered” by former UCA head coach Don Dyer and turned into a two-time All-American and dominant player in the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference. Two stunning pre-draft camp performances made him the No. 5 player chosen in the 1987 NBA Draft. He was picked by the Seattle Supersonics, who immediately traded him to the Bulls. Teaming with legendary Michael Jordan, Pippen helped the Bulls win six national championships. Pippen is also a member of the Naismith Basketball and the University of Central Arkansas Halls of Fame.
Dennis “The Worm” Rodman SE Oklahoma State. Rodman is arguably the greatest role player in NBA history. He transferred to SE Oklahoma State from Cooke County College in Gainesville, Texas. Rodman became a 3-time NAIA All American and led the NAIA in rebounding in 1984/85 and 1985/86 seasons. He was drafted with the 3rd pick in the 1986 NBA draft by the “Bad Boy” Detroit Pistons. He won two titles in Detroit, in 1989 and 1990, before demanding a trade and ending up with the San Antonio Spurs for one year before being traded to Phil Jackson’s Chicago Bulls for the 1995/1996 season. He won another 3 championships in Chicago and finished his career with 5 NBA titles. He led the league in rebounding 7 consecutive years and made the All-Defensive First Team 7 times. Rodman was elected to the NBA Hall of Fame in 2011.
Willis Reed spent his entire professional playing career (1964–1974) with the New York Knicks. In 1982, Reed was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.[1] In 1996, he was voted one of the “50 Greatest Players in NBA History”. Reed attended Grambling State University, a historically black college. Playing for the Grambling State Tigers men’s basketball team, Reed amassed 2,280 career points, averaging 26.6 points per game and 21.3 rebounds per game during his senior year. He led the Tigers to one NAIA title and three Southwestern Athletic Conference championships.
Terry Porter played four years of men’s basketball at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (1981-1985) in which he was a four-time letter winner. Porter appeared in three NAIA national championship tournaments, was named NAIA First-Team All-American twice and in 1984 was named the Chuck Taylor MVP and NAIA Player of the Year honoree. Porter played in the NBA (Portland Trailblazers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs) for 17 years. In those years he was selected to play in the All-Star game twice and played in a total of 124 NBA play-off games. From player to coach, Porter helped guide the Sacramento Kings and the Detroit Pistons, and was head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns. He is a member of the UW-Stevens Point Athletic Hall of Fame and in 2008 the Portland Trailblazers retired his jersey.
Travis “Machine Gun” Grant played for Kentucky State form 1968-1972 and led the team to three consecutive NAIA National Championships (1970-1972). Grant finished his career as one of the most accomplished collegiate basketball players, at any level, of all-time. Grant walked out of Kentucky Sate as a three-time National Champion, two-time tournament MVP, and the all-time leading scorer in the history of college basketball. At the end of his senior year, Grant received the Lapchick Award as the Sporting News College Player of the Year. He is a member of the Kentucky State, the State of Kentucky and the College Basketball Halls of Fame. Grant was a first-round pick of the Los Angeles Lakers in 1972 and played professionally in the NBA and ABA from 1972-1976.
Jack Sikma played for Illinois Wesleyan from 1975-77. A seven-time NBA all-star who led the Seattle Super Sonics to the 1979 NBA championship, played in three NAIA tournaments, reaching the quarterfinals in 1977. He averaged 21.2 points and 13.1 rebounds as a collegian and was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame in 2012.After being drafted 8th overall by the Seattle Supersonics in the 1977, Sikma was named to the All-Rookie Team the same year. At 6’ 11” and 230 pounds, Jack was a multi-tool player averaging over 15 PG and 9 RPG in his career. He led the league in defensive rebounds in the 81-82 season and the 83-84 season.
Elmore Smith attended Kentucky State University. He is listed among the top rebounders in college basketball. He was a member of the 1970 and 1971 NAIA Championship teams. He holds the NAIA record for most rebounds in a season (799 rebounds in 1971). In 1968-1969, Smith averaged 14.8 points and 19.8 rebounds. In 1969-1970 he averaged 21.6 points and 22.7 rebounds and in 1970-1971, he averaged 25.5 points and 24.2 rebounds, leading Kentucky State to NAIA Championships his last two seasons. After compiling career averages of 21.3 points and 22.6 rebounds, Smith left for the NBA his senior year in 1971. Smith was drafted by the Buffalo Braves in the 1st round (3rd pick) of the 1971 NBA Draft on March 29, 1971. In his first season, Smith averaged 17.3 points per game and 15.2 rebounds per game, playing alongside Bob Kauffman, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team. His rebounding average for that season is the eighth-highest ever recorded by an NBA rookie. In 1972-1973, he averaged 18.3 points and 12.4 rebounds for the Braves. With the Lakers in 1973-74, Smith averaged 12.5 points with 11.2 rebounds and a league leading 4.9 blocked shots. The 1973-1974 season was the first in which blocked shots were officially recorded by the NBA, and Smith set a still-standing record of 17 blocks in a game against Portland on October 28, 1973. In 1974-75 Smith averaged 10.9 points and 10.9 rebounds with 2.9 blocks for the Lakers. On June 16, 1975 Smith was part of a historic trade. He was traded by the Los Angeles Lakers with Junior Bridgeman, Dave Meyers and Brian Winters to the Milwaukee Bucks for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Walt Wesley. Smith is best remembered for his shot-blocking, earning him the nickname “Elmore the Rejector”.
Earl “The Pearl’ Munroe. He played for two teams, the Baltimore Bullets and the New York Knicks, during his career in the NBA. Both teams have retired Monroe’s number. Due to his on-court success and flashy style-of-play, Monroe was given the nicknames “Black Jesus” and “Earl the Pearl”. Monroe was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1990. Monroe rose to prominence at a national level at NAIA Winston-Salem State University under Hall of Fame Coach Gaines, Monroe averaged 7.1 points his freshman year and Monroe tells a story of when he wanted to return to Philadelphia as a freshman. Coach Gaines called Monroe’s mother and after a stern talk, Monroe stayed in college. Monroe then averaged 23.2 points as a sophomore, 29.8 points as a junior and an amazing 41.5 points his senior year (1,329 points in that 1966–1967 season). During that 1966–1967 season, Jerry McLeese, a sportswriter for the Winston-Salem Journal, called Monroe’s points “Earl’s pearls.” Soon after, fans began to chant “Earl, the Super Pearl,” and the nickname was born. After he finished his collegiate career, Monroe graduated from Winston-Salem and passed the national teaching exam. Monroe wasn’t selected to the 1967 USA Basketball Team to represent the country at the 1967 Pan-American Games after trying out. The 40-person committee failed to select both Monroe and fellow future Hall of Fame player Elvin Hayes. Monroe has said that USA coaches said his style of play was “too street, too playground, too black.” adding, “It has always left a very, very bad taste in my mouth.” In 1967, the two-time All-American was drafted No. two overall by the Baltimore Bullets (now the Washington Wizards) in the first round of the 1967 NBA draft, behind Jimmy Walker, who was selected by the Detroit Pistons. Monroe then won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award in a season in which he averaged 24.3 points per game. He scored 56 points in a game against the Los Angeles Lakers, the third-highest rookie total in NBA history. It was also a franchise record, later broken by Gilbert Arenas on December 17, 2006. The Monroe-Frazier pairing is one of few backcourts ever to feature two Hall of Famers and NBA 50th Anniversary Team members. A four-time NBA All-Star, Monroe retired after the 1980 season due to serious knee injuries, which had plagued him throughout his career. In nine seasons and 592 games with the Knicks, Monroe averaged 16.2 points, 3.5 assists and 2.6 rebounds. Overall, Monroe played in 926 NBA career games, scoring 17,454 total points with 3,594 assists on 46% shooting. He averaged 18.8 points, 3.9 assists and 3.0 rebounds in his career. Monroe scored over 1,000 points in nine of his thirteen professional seasons (1968–71, 1973, 1975–78) including a career high 2,065 (25.8 points per game) in the 1968–69 season. Of his unique, flowing, fluid, silky-smooth on-court style of play, Monroe has said: “You know, I watch the games and even now I never see anyone who reminds me of me, the way I played.” “The ultimate playground player,” is how Bill Bradley once described Monroe.
Dick Barnett spent 14 seasons in the NBA (1959–73), but is mostly known for his nine seasons with the New York Knicks. Barnett played in the 1968 NBA All-Star Game and was a member of the 1970 and 1973 Knicks teams that won the NBA championship against the Los Angeles Lakers. He scored 15,358 regular season points in his career. A three-time All-American player at Tennessee A & I (now Tennessee State University), Barnett led his team to three consecutive NAIA national championships for Hall of Fame Coach John McLendon. Barnett was named back-to-back championship MVP in 1958 and 1959.
Zelmo Beaty played eight seasons in the NBA and four in the ABA. A three-time ABA All-Star, Beaty was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 2016. “From 1958–1962 at Prairie View A&M Beaty averaged 25 points and 20 rebounds per game and was a two-time first team NAIA All-American (1960 & 1962). The “Big Z” led Prairie View A&M to the NAIA national basketball title in 1962 and was named the Chuck Taylor Tournament MVP.”
Al Tucker With his brother Gerald, Al was recruited from Dayton to Oklahoma Baptist University, where he played 3 seasons. Although he played before the introduction of the 3-point shot, he set a number of records, some of which remain 50 years later. He had 27 rebounds in one game, 2,788 career points, 996 points in a season, 50 points in a game, a 31.1-point season scoring average, a 28.7-point career scoring average, 21 field goals in a game, 365 field goals in one season, 266 free throws in one season, 1,252 rebounds in a career, 467 rebounds in a season. A 6’8″ forward, Tucker played four seasons (1967–1971) in the National Basketball Association and one season (1971–1972) in the American Basketball Association as a member of the Seattle Super Sonics, Cincinnati Royals, Chicago Bulls, Baltimore Bullets, and The Floridians. He averaged 10.1 points per game in his career and earned NBA All-Rookie Honors at the end of the 1967–68 NBA season. Tucker is notable as the Seattle Super Sonics’ first ever NBA draft pick, selected sixth overall in the 1967 NBA draft.
Mike Penberthy played for The Master’s University made 444 threes in his Mustangs career. He holds the career points record for TMU with 2,616 points. He was on the 2000-01 Los Angeles Lakers championship team. I have met Mike, so wanted to include him on the list.
Jerry Anderson, Southwest Missouri State, 1952-53: Anderson made history as the first player to win consecutive tournament MVP awards, and the Bears, with former president Harry S Truman watching from the Municipal Auditorium stands in 1953, became the first school to win back-to-back titles in the grueling 32-team format.
Slick Watts played for Xavier University of Louisiana and played 7 seasons in the NBA with the Seattle Super Sonics, New Orleans Jazz and Houston Rockets respectively. He holds NBA career averages of 8.9 points, 3.2 rebounds, 6.1 assists, 2.2 steals and 0.3 blocks per game while shooting 41.3% from the field and 59.7% from the free throw line.
Sedale Threatt played at West Virginia Tech and had a solid 16-year NBA career with the Los Angeles Lakers, Seattle Super Sonics, Philadelphia 76ers, Chicago Bulls and Houston Rockets respectively. He holds NBA career averages of 9.8 points, 1.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.1 blocks per game while shooting 48.5% from the field, 29.3% from deep and 81.5% from the free throw line.
Zelmo Beaty played for the Prairie View A&M Panthers and then had a 12-year NBA career with teams including the St. Louis now Atlanta Hawks, Utah Stars and Los Angeles Lakers. He held career averages of 17.1 points, 10.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.8 blocks while shooting 49.4% from the field and 77.1% from the free throw line per game.
Travis “Machine Gun” Grant, Kentucky State 1970-72: Grant still owns the NAIA scoring records with 60 points in a game; 213 points in a tournament; 518 points in a career; and a 34.5-point average for 15 games. Grant, a first-round draft pick by the Los Angeles Lakers, led the Thorobreds to the 1970-71-72 championships.
Lucious Jackson, Pan-American (Texas), 1962-64: Jackson, the 1963 and 1964 tournament MVP, led the Broncs to the ’63 championship and second-place finish to Rockhurst in ’64. Jackson, who would star for the 1967 NBA champion Philadelphia 76ers, averaged 25.0 points and 16 rebounds in 12 tournament games and his 180 career rebounds are still the tournament career record.
Joe Pace, Coppin State (Maryland), 1975-76: Pace, a lanky 6-10 presence, dominated the 1976 tournament. He averaged 30.2 points and 13.8 rebounds in the tournament, including 43 points, 12 rebounds and six blocked shots in winning the championship game and MVP honors. Pace played for the 1978 NBA champion Washington Bullets.
Bevo Francis is probably the most famous NAIA basketball player to not play in the NBA. Born on his family’s farm in Hammondsville, Ohio, he became one of the most prolific scorers in college basketball history during his career at Rio Grande College (now known as the University of Rio Grande), topping over 100 points on two occasions. Standing 6 feet 9 inches (2.06 m) and known for his shooting touch, Francis held the NCAA record for points scored in a game from 1954–2012. In 1951, during his senior year in high school in Wellsville, Ohio, Francis scored 776 points in 25 games for an average of nearly 32 points per game. In the process, he led his team to a 19–1 regular season record and a berth in the state playoffs. He was a unanimous all-state performer. In 1953, Francis averaged 48.3 points a game, which is an NCAA record. He actually averaged 50.1 points per game over the season, but the NCAA excluded some of his best games because they were against lesser competition, such as junior colleges. One of the games that did not count in the official totals was a 116-point game against Ashland Junior College.In 1954, Francis averaged 48.0 points a game. He scored a then-record 113 in a single game. Bevo Francis, teammate Al Schreiber, and his coach Newt Oliver later signed with the Boston Whirlwinds, a barnstorming team that played against the Harlem Globetrotters. He was subsequently drafted by Philadelphia of the NBA, but opted to return home to his wife and family.
James W. Spivey was born in Rush Springs, Oklahoma on January 7, 1935. He graduated from Bray High School in 1953. James was truly a legend in his own time. He led Coach Bloomer Sullivan’s Savages to four straight trips (1954-55-56-57) to the NAIA National Tournament in Kansas City. In 1955 and 1957 Southeastern reached the finals of the 32-team tournament. Spivey’s play in the 1957 national tournament was phenomenal. He averaged slightly over 44 points per game for five consecutive nights in national tournament competition. He was selected as the Most Valuable Player in the tournament. Twenty years later he was still ranked fourth in career points scored in national tournament competition and was third in scoring average per game among the scoring leaders. He was named to the NAIA All-Time Basketball Team for the period of 1952-1970. Spivey was named to the Oklahoma Collegiate Conference All-Star team three times. He led the OCC in scoring his sophomore and junior years and missed by a single point his senior year. He was named to the NAIA All-American team in 1955, 1956, and 1957. In 1957 he also was named to the Chuck Taylor and Associated Press Small College All-American Teams. He was named to the Helms Foundation Hall of Fame in 1962. Following graduation, he played three years with the powerful Phillips 66 Team (in Bartlesville, OK) of the National Industrial Basketball League.
Hope you enjoyed just a small journey down NAIA Basketball’s history lane. I could not mention all the amazing players and coaches that have coached in the NAIA over the years, but I think you have a better respect for the tradition of the NAIA after reading the post. It’s time for March Madness NAIA style!