Preview of the 1968-69 Basketball Season

Courtesy of Jack Penhall

Welcome to the third "season" of "The Bells Must Ring," a Rutgers basketball history blog where throughout the current Rutgers men's basketball season, we explore different aspects of the program's past. In 2018-19, the focus will be on the 50th anniversary of the 1968-69 team, one of the most successful in school history. Unfortunately that team has never received the recognition it deserves perhaps to some extent because the records it set were eclipsed by the 1975-76 team which enjoyed an undefeated regular season. However, the 1969 team was the first Rutgers team to win 20 games (21 actually) in the regular season, including a then record 16 consecutive games in the process. And after the Final Four team, the 1969 team has the second highest winning percentage since World War II (.840) with only one loss at home and even more impressively, one road loss - again an achievement surpassed only by the 1976 team. Individual player achievements will be highlighted throughout the season, but it's worth noting that Bob Greacen and Dick Stewart went on to play in the NBA while Stewart, Lou Goetz and Bob Wenzel all became Division I head coaches. Other members of the team coached at the high school and college level including John McFadden who was a coach on the Final Four team.

Daily Home News - October 16, 1968

Bob Greacen was the leading scorer on the 1969 team averaging almost a double-double at 21.7 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. Looking back on that season Greacen, or "Greek" as he was known at the time, says the returning players were "a very determined group that sought redemption from a disappointing 14-10 record the season before and hoped to recreate the magic of the '67 team and its NIT run. There was reason for optimism: we returned four starters: Goetz and Stewart in the back court, Greacen and Britelle (leader scorer and rebounder) in the front court and Penhall, the sixth man. In an interesting coaching decision, Coach Foster kept Penhall as the sixth man and started the 5'9" sophomore McFadden, a quick and savvy play maker. His insertion into the lineup moved Goetz to more of a front court position, where his quickness, toughness, and defensive abilities were needed. Penhall, who had averaged nearly 10 points per game as a junior would come off the bench as "instant offense," a real asset. Jack had a great attitude about this and played his role well."

Daily Home News - October 27, 1968

Another strength was the coaching staff. As Greacen recalled, "What a great coaching staff: Foster, a great teacher and motivator, Dick Lloyd, another great teacher and was the cool head on the bench during games. Both men were super-organized and we were as well prepared as any team. Jim Valvano, who had been our teammate, was now an assistant coach. I remember him telling me, "If I were single, I could be living like a king. I could be driving a 'vette. The pay me nine thousand dollars a year!" It was 1968. Coach Foster seemed to be more relaxed. Whether he was mellowing or just trusted us now that we were seniors I do not know, but there was music in the locker room. Also, over the summer I had played against a guy in Philly who had these really cool sneakers. They were made of leather and had three stripes on them and a funny name, Adidas. I bought a pair and loved them. I was somewhere between shocked and surprised when Coach let me wear them during the season."

Newark Star Ledger - November 12, 1968

Besides good coaching, the starters got plenty of competition at practice every day from the "blue team" (so-called because they wore blue practice jerseys). Bob remembers how the blues "kept us sharp because they were so competitive. [Paul] Mayurnik and [James] Brown were big strong guys who made us work. [Joe] Carl, [Bob] Fiedler, and [the late Ted] Jasieniecki could all score, and Ray McAlarnen came to play every day and gave the guards fits. [Lou] Schrenko had started with McFadden on the freshman team and you knew [Bob] Wenzel would be a star. These guys all wanted to show Foster something every day and, as a group, were better than half the teams we played. Everyone got along. There was a good vibe on this team and I think it is interesting that seven of the players went into coaching after graduation."