When March Went Mad is highly entertaining for those who love the ins and outs of college basketball. Seth Davis establishes his book with the vast impact of the match-up of Larry Bird and Earvin Johnson on March 26, 1979.
Larry bird had his sights on Kentucky coming out of high school but never received an offer then coach Bobby Knight of Indiana Hoosiers made an offer to the standout. Larry, reluctantly chose to attend Indiana because of the peer pressure . Later, Knight admitted his faults by not reaching out to Larry, and after 2 months Larry dropped out and went back home to French Lick, In. His mother being furious with his decision, didn't speak to him. He went to live with his Grandmother while attending a small junior college in a neighboring town. He soon dropped out because he wasn't going to classes and the competition was just too weak. When Bill Hodges, a recruiter from Indiana State University, found Larry he was working for the city riding a garbage truck. In time and persuasion, Hodges was able to get Bird to commit to the Sycamores. Larry led the Sycamores to the NIT tournament during the 1977-78 season but was ousted in the first round. The next year proving to be a different story. Bird was drafted by the Boston Celtics in the 1978 NBA Draft but because of rules at that time he elected to play his senior year at Indiana State if Bob King agreed to keep the media at bay. Bob told Larry He would do everything he could do to honor his request. Before the 1978-79 season began coach King developed a aneurysm in his brain and had emergency surgery. This left the coaching reins to Bill Hodges, who was recommended by King. Hodges who was an assistant at Tennessee Tech University took the assistant coaching gig with the Sycamores and became their top recruiter and King's top recommendation. He honored the Bird-King agreement with media but because of the season the Sycamores were exhibiting that was becoming very hard to live up to. By the end of the season he had to give in and Bird had to speak to the media. In part, because some of the sports periodicals that were putting out some bogus articles and fabricating stories. Bird did a very good job of dispelling the fabrications and stayed focused on the task at hand: Winning. And, winning they did just that. By the end of the regular season the Sycamore were undefeated and ranked #1 in the basketball polls, but not without criticism from commentators such as Billy Packer. Packer's argument was that ISU's resume just wasn't a proven one. Their schedule was weak and this was part because they were members of the Missouri Valley Conference, hardly the power conference of the ACC or the Big Ten's caliber. Nonetheless, the Sycamores were #1 in the polls.
Earvin Johnson hailing from East Lansing, Michigan was heavily recruited by the University of Michigan and Michigan State University. Johnson was almost certainly going to chose Michigan because he was good friends with current players and he wanted to play for a winner. Michigan lost to Indiana in the 1976 Men's NCAA Championship. Michigan State, on the other hand, did not have a winning culture. The Spartans had not won a conference title since 1967 and hadn't made a deep run in the tournament since 1957. Also, the Spartans fired their head coach, Gus Ganakas, in 1976 after violating NCAA rules. As a Result, Michigan State hired Jud Heathcote, head coach of the University of Montana. For a high Blue chip recruit such as Johnson, would help bring the stability and build a better culture Michigan State desperately coveted. Just like Larry Bird, Johnson dealt with peer pressure. So after a hard fought battle Johnson chose the to stay at home and play for the Spartans. Right out of the gate Johnson made his presence felt, he led the Spartans to the Elite Eight in 1978. The Spartans heading into the 1978-79 season had higher expectations and wanted to build upon their recent fortunes. As the season progressed the Spartans suffered some growing pains and had a lot disparity. Heading into the 1979 NCAA Tournament their record was 25 and 6.
The Sycamores secured the #1 seed in the Midwest bracket and cruised their way to victory over the Gobblers of Virginia Tech (later in 1982 the school changed the mascot to the hokies) 93 to 72. Spartans on the other hand received the #2 seed in the Mideast bracket and played their first round game against Lamar University in Murfreesboro, TN. Lamar proved to be unmatched against the Spartans and lost 95 to 64. Michigan State's next opponent: Coach Dale Brown's LSU Tigers, were almost as equally unmatched losing by 16, 87 to 71. The Larry Bird led Sycamores dispersed David Bliss' Oklahoma Sooners 93 to 72. ISU's next opponent didn't go out without a fight. Teammate Bob Heaton sank his 3rd game-winning shot of the season with 2 second remaining to win by 2, 73 to 71. They, as a result advanced to the Final Four for the first time ever. Michigan State, meanwhile had a premonition of them riding the plane back home to East Lansing after their Matchup with Digger Phelp's Notre Dame Fighting Irish. On contrary, Heathcote's masterful 3-2 defense proved to much for the bigs of Notre Dame and trumped them 80 to 68. For the first time since 1957 the Spartans found themselves within reach of a national title. The Spartans faced the Ivy League Pennsylvania Quakers and the Sycamores squared-off against the DePaul Blue Demons of Chicago. Coached by Ray Meyer, the Blue Demons scrapped their way to near victory but came up short. Down by one DePaul's Mark Aguirre heaved a desperation fall-away shot from the corner and missed badly. The Sycamores sealed the deal with a free throw with 4 seconds remaining to win 76 to 74. Pre game the Quakers Down played the athleticism of the Spartans. Jud using this as fuel to stoke his team, instrusted them to perform their acrobatic dunks during warm ups. By the intermission the Spartans had consumed the Quakers with a 50 to 17 lead. The second half was all but a technicality with Spartans punishing the Quaker 101 to 67.
According to the Neilson rating, the 1979 Men's NCAA Championship game received a rating of 24.1 making it the most watched basketball game in history even until this day. This can be attributed to the basketball Icons of Larry Bird and Earvin Johnson, but the story was well sold by the NBC Sports producers of this time.
Grab a copy of this book and read the rest of the this story and learn of the histories between Bird and Johnson and what became of their teams afterwards. What a great book that goes into detail of the lives of these two iconic basketball giants, not just for Larry Bird and Magic Johnson fans but for basketball fans in general.
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