Joe Ford, part of Vanderbilt's F-Troop from '72-'76, dies in car crash

They beat an excellent Alabama team to win the '74 SEC title. That Vandy team was really a pleasure to watch. They simply didn't make any mistakes...one of the most fundamentally sound college basketball teams I ever saw.

quote:

---

I believe Vandy center was 7'2" named Steve Turner and also had a little white point guard, Dickie was his first I think.

---

Actually, Steve Turner was 7'4". He was not on Vanderbilt's 1974 Mideast Regional team having graduated after the 1973 season. Dicky Keffer played for Vandy a few years later.

I was there in March, 1974 at then Memorial Coliseum. May have gotten a program from you.

quote:

---

The F-Troop and Vandy were really good during that time. I sold programs at the NCAA regional tourney in Tuscaloosa as a 13 yr old. it was Vandy, Michigan, Notre Dame and Marquette. I believe Vandy center was 7'2" named Steve Turner and also had a little white point guard, Dickie was his first I think.

---

I, too remember it well. A bunch of us went out to watch Notre Dame practice. The team came walking in with coats and ties on, quiet and well behaved. They had about a 1 1/2 hr practice, showered and as they were leaving, Al McGuire brought his Marquette team in the front door of Coleman past the Notre Dame team. They looked like the enforcers for the Crips or the Bloods!....loud boomboxes, sunglasses..all doing that old ghetto shuffle right past the Notre Dame guys. IT was hilarious! Of course, Marquette won the regional there in Tuscaloosa, and I think reached the NCAA finals before getting beat. That damn McGuire was a helluva coach...best street-ball coach ever.

Those damn Marquette street kids (Bo Ellis, Lloyd Walton & Co.) just found a way to win. I think that they were the first basketball team that I'd seen wear their jerseys out of their pants....looked like real thugs, but could play the hell out of basketball!