A.J. Moye continues to be a hit with the Hoosier faithful because of his spirited play. He’s a throwback player of sorts, the type of player IU’s McCracken Court saw some 25 years ago.
That player? Wayne Radford, who remains one of the truly underrated performers in the history of Indiana basketball.
Radford played high school basketball at Indianapolis Arlington and was a member of the 1974 Indiana All-Star team. He chose Coach Bob Knight’s Hoosier program over Louisville, and made valuable contributions off the bench his first two years.
During that two-year run, Indiana went a glittering 63-1, with the lone blemish being the devastating loss to Kentucky in the 1975 Regional final in Dayton, Ohio.
It’s a setback that Radford still remembers vividly.
“Even though (All-America forward) Scott May was a lot less than 100 percent, we thought we still had enough firepower to beat the Wildcats,” said Radford.
Helping to fuel that optimism was the fact IU defeated the ‘Cats by 24 points earlier in the year. Since John Laskowski had replaced May in the starting lineup, Indiana also owned a five-game win streak, including a pair of wins in the tournament by an average of 14 points.
But in the rematch with Kentucky, Knight decided to start May in hopes he would be able to provide a spark. But the move backfired and upset the cohesiveness that had developed in the short time since his injury.
Kentucky took full advantage of May’s limitations and played the junior physical. Still, Indiana matched the ‘Cats blow for blow before losing by two, 92-90.
Since that time, IU fans have gone back-and-forth about whether the 1975 team was actually better than the 1976 team that would go undefeated and win the national title. Radford is among those that thinks the 1975 team was the better of the two powerhouse squads.
“During the 1974-75 season, rarely did we play in a close game,” said Radford.
In fact, only five of IU’s 31 wins that season were decided by less than 10 points. In contrast, 11 of IU’s 32 wins in 1975-76 were by less than 10.
“Opponents couldn’t match-up with our offensive power of Steve Green, Scott May and Kent Benson,” said Radford. “Plus, John Laskowski was instant offense off the bench.”
That was coupled with the fact opponents had difficulty running their offenses against IU’s backcourt. Quinn Buckner and Bobby Wilkerson were arguably the best defensive backcourt in the country, and they started smothering opposing guards well before the ten-second line.
More often than not, that meant most of Indiana games were over by halftime during the 1974-75 season.
“In 1976, we no longer had the offense that Green and Laz gave us and as a result we had to play better defense to be successful,” said Radford.
That magical season’s success, though, also had to have a little luck thrown in for good measure.
Indiana’s 20-point season-opening win over UCLA certainly wasn’t a prelude of things to come during the 1976 championship run. In the season’s third game, IU escaped with a 63-60 win over Notre Dame. Indiana followed that up with an overtime win against Kentucky.
The league slate also included a handful of nail-biters. The Hoosiers slipped by Ohio State 66-64 in the conference opener. Michigan fell to IU 73-67 in overtime in early February to move Indiana to 19-0. Indiana trailed by two late in regulation in that contest, and needed Jim Crews to tip a ball to Kent Benson, who somehow got the ball to go through the hoop to extend the contest.
IU knocked off intrastate rival Purdue twice, but the combined margin of victory was only seven points.
The drama continued right through the national championship game against Michigan, a game in which Radford played a pivotal role. Wilkerson was dazed by an unintentional elbow from the Wolverines’ Wayman Britt early on, and Knight called on Radford to take his place when it was learned Wilkerson was through for the evening with a concussion.
Radford wouldn’t score any points against the Wolverines, but his contributions of passing the ball and setting screens and other intangibles helped the Hoosiers to an 18-point win and the national championship.
At the championship celebration in Bloomington, Knight told the IU faithful to enjoy what they had seen over those two seasons, because it wasn’t likely that a stretch like that would happen again.
Still, optimism reigned supreme the following season with the arrival of several heralded recruits, including Glen Grunwald, the first player in the history of the state of Illinois to be an all-state performer for four years. Fellow Illinois-native Derek Holcomb was billed as a shot-blocking and rebounding machine. Butch Carter and Mike Miday were both highly-touted out of Ohio. Indiana All-Star Mike Woodson was a highly-regarded point producer from Indianapolis Broad Ripple.
Those five newcomers, along with returnees Jim Wisman, Radford and Benson, had most IU fans talking about the possibility of another a deep run in the postseason. That kind of talk heightened after the Hoosiers routed South Dakota in the season opener, but quickly died down after Indiana dropped three in a row.
The first of those losses came at the hands of Toledo. The Rockets were playing for the first time in their new arena. Facing the defending national champions, and energized by a packed house, Toledo stunned the Hoosiers, 59-57.
“The effects of that loss would be felt the rest of the season,” said Radford. “Coach Knight had raised the expectations on how he thought his freshmen should be performing, and as a result it had an effect on their confidence level.
“He also raised the bar of responsibility for the returning players and at times it affected our play as well.”
Opponents quickly learned that if they surrounded Benson inside and forced IU to shoot the ball from the perimeter, the Hoosiers could be beaten.
After winning 62 of 63 games during the last two campaigns, Indiana went just 14-13 in 1976-77 and didn’t earn a postseason berth. (Note: Because of NCAA violations, two losses to Minnesota were later credited to IU as victories, and history now shows IU’s record as 16-11).
While Indiana’s youthfulness played a big part in IU’s struggles during the 1976-77 season, it should also be pointed out the strength of schedule was another factor. Six of the losses were against opponents ranked in the top 20, including five that were ranked No. 7 or better at the time they squared off against the Cream and Crimson.
During his senior season in 1977-78, Radford would form a formidable scoring combination with Mike Woodson where “Woody” did his work from the perimeter and Radford conducted most of his business inside. A typical Radford sequence on offense was to get him the ball inside, allow him to muscle his way to the hoop, where the result was either a basket with the opportunity for a three-point play, or at the very least go to the line with two free-throw opportunities.
Radford averaged 15.6 points as a senior while shooting 57.9 percent (158-of-273) from the floor.
Also helping to fuel Radford’s senior season success was his decision to not take what Knight was telling him personally. After three years, Radford began to realize that the objective of Knight’s criticism was to make him a better basketball player.
“Part of Coach Knight’s philosophy was to get on his older players in hopes that his younger players would catch on, that those areas were ones they should be improving on too,” said Radford.
That maturation point, along with the determination that his basketball skills were such that he could be an effective player, resulted in a season where his scoring average nearly doubled. Radford’s 453 points as a senior nearly equaled the 469 that he scored in his first three seasons in Bloomington.
Radford also had a few memorable moments during his senior season. The first came in a game against Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish were ranked No. 2 in the nation, and Irish Coach Digger Phelps was still smarting over the 94-29 loss IU handed his team six years earlier.
At the time, Radford was a resident of Bob Knight’s doghouse, and as a result didn’t see his first action until there was less than one minute was showing on the clock. But his contribution would be key to the game’s outcome.
The game had been played close throughout and the score was tied at 66.
“We were running a play for Woodson, and Notre Dame guessed right,” said Radford. “I was the second option, so I ended up with the ball and was fouled in the act of shooting. Coach Phelps called time-out in an effort to ‘ice’ me and I missed my first attempt. Notre Dame then called another time out and I went over and sat on the bench waiting for the second opportunity.”
There was also more on Radford’s mind than just the upcoming free throw. On the previous night, a DC-3 airliner crashed on take-off at the Evansville airport, killing all 29 on board, including the entire 14-member Evansville Aces men’s basketball team. One of the players was John Ed Washington, Radford’s best friend from Indianapolis.
“Sitting there on the bench during the final time-out I was trying anything I could to relax,” said Radford. “My thoughts turned to John Ed and that seemed to calm me down and it allowed me to focus at the free-throw line and the second shot went right in.”
But it was still too soon to start the post-game celebration.
“There was still three or four seconds left on the clock and the Irish in-bounded the ball to Kelly Tripucka, my responsibility on defense,” said Radford.
Tripucka managed to get off a shot, but it missed. It took Radford a while before the thrill of victory would sink in.
“All I could think about was had Tripucka’s shot gone in I would have been the goat,” said Radford.
Another memorable moment was when he got to match his skills against an oddity at the time – a 6-foot-9 point guard who was already well on his way to becoming a household name.
Radford always prided himself on his defense, but may have met his match the first time he guarded Michigan State’s Earvin Johnson.
The scouting report on “Magic” in those days was his perimeter shooting was suspect. But don’t tell Radford that.
“He scored several baskets on me, and I told Woodson after the game that the freshman had the makings of being a dominant player,” said Radford.
After IU, Radford continued his basketball career after being drafted in the second round by the Indiana Pacers in 1979. As is the case today, any player not taken in the first round faces an uphill climb to find a spot on an NBA roster, but Radford persevered and was still around after the final cut.
In fact, he had impressed Pacer head coach Bob “Slick” Leonard enough that he was the first man off the bench and even started a few games during his rookie season. But that all came to a screeching halt during a public appearance at a YMCA.
“I was there along with teammate Mike Bantom,” said Radford. “The people there wanted to see the two of us go one-on-one, so we complied with their wishes.”
Radford injured his ankle during the demonstration, hurting it badly enough that it sidelined him for two months.
His rookie season ended with him averaging four points while playing 12 minutes per contest and 52 games.
He looked to resume his career the following year, but encountered a crowded backcourt when he arrived at training camp. Billy Knight had been re-acquired the previous season after Radford’s injury. Also in camp was the Pacers’ top draft choice, Dudley Bradley, out of North Carolina.
Radford was released in the final cut, and almost caught on with Cleveland before being caught up again in the numbers game. Europe beckoned, but Radford decided family was more important and retired.
Always a good student (Radford was both an Academic All-American and All-Academic Big Ten selection in 1978) he sought work in the real world and has been employed by Bloomington-based Cook Incorporated for the past two decades.
Radford’s name is sprinkled in the records section of the IU media guide. Heading into the 2003-04 season he was 43rd on the all-time scoring list with 922 points. His career scoring high was 30 points against Michigan in February of 1978. His 57.9 field goal percentage in 1978 is the seventh best marksmanship in school history. His 55.3 overall is the third best overall.
So what did he take away from his four years under Bob Knight at Indiana University?
“Coach Knight instilled in us that in basketball, as in life, one should not take anything for granted and whatever the task, you should always perform at the best of your ability every single day,” said Radford. That’s a philosophy Radford continues to follow, and one that many more should do the same.
----
• Talk about it inside The Hoops Forum or The Football Forum
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Follow us on Twitter: @IndianaRivals
• Like us on Facebook.
