Beginning of the Season Basketball Quiz
Ahhh, it's basketball time in Memorial Gymnasium. Vanderbilt has a long, storied history on the hardwoods. The Commodores have enjoyed many seasons of success and have had several fantastic players wear the black and gold.
Here is a quiz to get your mind into the indoor sport for winter. Caution: There could be a trick or two in this one. Before choosing what looks to be the obvious answer, take an extra second to verify you have the right one.
1. Which one statement is FALSE?
a.) Vanderbilt holds the all time best single season FT% in NCAA Division I history with 80.2% in the 1973-74 season.
b.) Since the SEC tournament
returned in March of 1979, Vanderbilt is the only team to fail to make it to the finals.
c.) No Commodore player has ever been "officially" credited with a triple double in an SEC game. (Officially means when assists, blocks, and/or steals were officially kept)
d.) Vanderbilt once defeated Kentucky four consecutive times.
e.) On a prime time TV game, Vanderbilt once
defeated Tennessee by 40 points
2. In what year did Vanderbilt play in its first official NCAA playoff game?
a.) 1967
b.) 1965
c.) 1963
d.) 1961
e.) 1951
3. Which of these famous coaches never applied for nor was interviewed for the head coach opening at Vanderbilt?
a.) Mike Krzyzewski
b.) Del Harris
c.) Tom Heinsohn
d.) Mike Brey
e.) Lefty Driesell
4. In what season did Vandy enjoy its highest scoring margin advantage?
a.) 1993
b.) 1974
c.) 1965
d.) 1957
e.) 1927
5. When was the last season Vanderbilt finished undefeated against both Tennessee and Kentucky?
a.) 1965
b.) 1956
c.) 1930
d.) 1927
e.) Never
6. What Commodore hit a 55+ foot shot at Memorial Gym?
a.) Drew Maddux
b.) Barry Goheen
c.) Bo Wyenadt
d.) Bobby Bland
e.) Billy Joe Adcock
7. Vanderbilt has beaten a top10 team twice in a season only one time. Which team was it and what year?
a.) Alabama in 1973-74
b.) Davidson in 1967-68
c.) Tennessee in 1965-66
d.) Kentucky in 1964-65
e.) Georgia Tech in 1960-61
8. For a couple of times in one season, Vanderbilt's lineup for a few minutes consisted of five players with last names beginning with the same letter. The correct year is one of the choices below. Can you pick the correct year and the players' names?
a.) 1958
b.) 1963
c.) 1967
d.) 1973
e.) 1975
9. In what season did Vanderbilt top 100 points six different times and 80 points 20 times?
a.)
1964
b.) 1965
c.) 1970
d.) 1971
e.) 1972
10. When was the last time Vanderbilt won a game by more than 50 points?
a.) 1998-99 against Army
b.) 1973-74 against Vermont
c.) 1969-70 against Portland
d.) 1963-64 against TCU
e.) 1957-58 against Southwestern (now Rhodes)
11. When was the last time two different Commodores scored more than 30 points in the same game?
a.) Billy McCaffrey and Ronnie McMahan in 1992-93
b.) Will Perdue and Derrick Wilcox in 1987-88
c.) Charles Davis and Mike Rhodes in 1977-78
d.) Jeff Fosnes and Butch Feher in 1974-75
e.) Clyde Lee
and John Ed Miller in 1963-64
12. What 5-10 guard tried to pick a fight with 6-07 Charles Davis in a game at Memorial Gym?
a.) Tom Schuberth, Mississippi State
b.) Rodney Woods, Tennessee
c.) Robert Scott, Alabama
d.) Jay Shidler, Kentucky
e.) Stan Pietkiewicz, Auburn
13. What Commodore who rarely scored more than five points in any game for 3 1/2 seasons, erupted for 59 points in a three-game stretch on 21 of 27 shooting, but then finished his career with just 28 more points in his last six
games?
a.) Morgan Wheat
b.) Les Yates
c.) Carl Crain
d.) Steve Turner
e.) Chris Woods
14. Four Vanderbilt head coaches played for coaches that took at least one team to the Final Four. Name the Commodore coaches and the corresponding final four coaches they played for?
No multiple choices here. You have to know this one without help.
15. Who was the last non-scholarship player to start a game for Vanderbilt?
a.) Aubrey Hammond
b.) Deandre Moore
c.) Chris Rucker
d.) Hal Bartch
e.) Bill
LaFevor
16. Who replaced Clyde Lee as starting center at Vandy?
a.) Ron Green
b.) Bob Bundy
c.) Snake Grace
d.) Kenny Gibbs
e.) Garner Petrie
17. Which two statements are true (one, two-statement letter)?
a.) Vandy once went 30 for 30 at the foul line in a game in 1968 at Ole Miss and then connected on 20 for 22 two nights later at Mississippi State.
b.) Vandy has actually failed to connect on a three-pointer two times in games with a three-point shot and Vandy played in the very
first collegiate game with a shot clock in 1959.
c.) Vandy once out-rebounded Kentucky in a game at the old Memorial Coliseum in Lexington by a total of 62-39, with both Clyde Lee and Snake Grace pulling down 18 boards and Wayne Taylor getting 12 and then was out-rebounded by Tennessee 50-39 in their next game with Lee and Grace being held to eight boards each.
d.) In December of 1967 after winning three big games, Vanderbilt briefly
passed UCLA in the UPI poll when the Bruins had Lew Alcindor/Kareem Abdul Jabbar and in 1956, Vanderbilt briefly passed The University of San Francisco in the UPI Poll when the Dons had Bill Russell.
e.) Vandy once defeated three top 10 teams in a seven day period and several years later defeated number one teams in consecutive years.
18. Which Commodore once won five games on last second shots in the same
season?
No help here
19. What coach (minimum of at least three years) averaged the most wins in his Vanderbilt Career?
a.) Kevin Stallings 2000-2005
b.) Eddie Fogler 1990-1993
c.) Roy Skinner 1959, 1962-1976
d.) Bob Polk 1948-1958, 1960-1961
e.) Josh Cody 1924-1927
20. Who was the last Vanderbilt player to average a double-double for a single season?
a.) Billy Dispaltro
b.) Will Perdue
c.) Jan VBK
d.) Perry Wallace
e.) Clyde Lee
21. Which Commodore class enjoyed the highest winning percentage during their varsity careers?
a.) Butch Feher, Joe Ford, Jeff Fosnes, Mike Moore (class of 1976)
b.) Terry Compton, Lee Fowler, Bill Ligon, Jan VBK (class of
1974)
c.) Bob Warren, Bo Wyenadt, Kenny Campbell, Gene Lockyear (class of 1968)
d.) Kenny Gibbs and Jerry Southwood (class of 1967)
e.) Clyde Lee, Keith Thomas, Ron Green, and Wayne Calvert (class of 1966)
22. In what season did Vanderbilt stay in the AP top 10 for the entire year?
a.) 1992-93
b.) 1973-74
c.) 1965-66
d.) 1964-65
e.) 1956-57
23. What year saw the Commodores rise to number two in the AP poll?
a.) 1955-56
b.) 1960-61
c.) 1963-64
d.) 1964-65
e.) 1965-66
24. When was the first year Vanderbilt cracked the top five in the AP Poll?
a.) 1950-51
b.) 1955-56
c.) 1960-61
d.) 1963-64
e.) 1964-65
25. STUMPER: Former Kentucky All-SEC forward Tom Parker was one of the top basketball stars ever to come out of his hometown. He emerged as an SEC star as a sophomore in 1970 on the Dan Issel/Mike Pratt team, and led the Cats as Adolph Rupp won his last two SEC titles in 1971 and 1972. Former Tennessee Vol starter Steve Ray played for the same coach in the same hometown as Parker. Former Mississippi State all-star Rich Knarr did so as well.
Parker, Ray, and Knarr came from the same hometown and high school as which past or current Commodore who holds that high school’s record for most total points scored in the state tournament? Hint: His name can be currently seen on Vandymania’s basketball message board.
Quiz Answers
1. a.) Although Vanderbilt did connect on 80.2% of their foul shots in 1973-74, it was not the all-time division I record. The Vanderbilt of the North, Harvard, holds the record with 82.2% in 1984. The other three statements are true.
2. d.) Although Vanderbilt didn’t appear in
the Mideast Regional in 1961, the SEC playoff game against Kentucky for the right to advance to the Mideast Regionals was considered an “NCAA Playoff Game.” The first appearance in a regional was in March of 1965.
3. e.) Lefty Driesell. Driesell may have been the only one on this list not to be approached for the Vanderbilt job, but there was speculation that if Roy Skinner would have taken the Purdue job when it was offered to him in the
latter half of the 1960’s, that Driesell would have been the top pick to replace him. Lefty had made Davidson a perennial top 10 program, including multiple weeks at number one in 1964. Mike K appeared to be the choice to replace Wayne Dobbs in 1979, when Richard Schmidt won out. Del Harris was a candidate twice in 1979 and 1981. Tom Heinsohn was briefly a candidate in 1979, after he had been fired by the Boston Celtics. Mike Brey was one of the leading candidates to replace Eddie Fogler in 1993.
4. c.) 1965. The 1965 team beat out the 1957 team by .02. In 1965, the Commodores outscored opponents by 13.29, whereas the 1957 contingent outscored their opposition by 13.27.
Four more teams enjoyed double digit scoring margins: 1993 at 13.1, 1964 at +12.4; 1955 at +11.5; and 1956 at +10.9. Coach Bob Polk’s 1955-56-57 teams did it three years in a row. Those teams featured such standouts as Al Rochelle, Babe Taylor, Bobby Thym, Jim Henry, and Charlie Harrison.
5. d.) 1927 This was Coach Josh Cody’s Southern Conference Champion squad that went 20-4. Vanderbilt beat Kentucky 48-32 in Lexington and Tennessee 35-25 in Nashville.
6. d.) Bobby Bland hit the longest Commodore shot in Memorial Gym. Holy Cross’s Roger Breslin threw in a 68 foot plus bomb to end the half in the championship game of the 1991 Music City Invitational. Vandy hung on for the 76-72 win thanks to Kevin Anglin’s second consecutive big game.
7. b.) Davidson. The Commodores knocked off the number eight Wildcats 81-79 in Nashville then beat them when they were still number eight for the Sugar Bowl title 80-67. That Davidson team advanced to the Elite Eight where they took North Carolina down to the wire before losing a heartbreaker.
Alabama was in the top 10 for the game in Nashville in the 1973-74 season, but they were in the second 10 for the rematch in Tuscaloosa.
8. d.) 1973. That group of five included Jeff Fosnes, Butch Feher, Joe Ford, Lee Fowler, and Rod Freeman. This quintet appeared together briefly at least twice in the last third of the schedule.
9. e.) 1972. Although the 1964 team also scored 100 points six times, they topped 80 points “only” 17 times in 25 games.
10. a.) Army in 1998-99. Vandy beat the Cadets 92-41. The Commodores beat Portland 124-73, TCU 113-56, and Southwestern 98-48. Vermont fell in 1973-74 by just 45 points (96-51).
11. d.) Jeff Fosnes tossed in 39 and Butch Feher scored 34 but Vanderbilt fell to Jacksonville in Southern California's Trojan Classic 107-104.
12. a.) Tom Schuberth of Mississippi State tried to get into it with the muscular Davis. Schuberth had transferred to Starkville from UNLV where he was a bench warmer on the Rebels’ final four team in 1977.
13. e.) Chris Woods averaged less than five points a game for his career, but in a three-game stretch in February of 1995, he scored 14, 18, and 27 points against Arkansas, Georgia, and South Carolina in successive games on 21 of 27 shooting. At least 15 of those baskets were dunks.
14. Kevin Stallings played for Lee Rose and appeared in the Final Four for Purdue in 1980; Rose also took UNC-Charlotte to the 1977 Final Four.
Eddie Fogler played for Dean Smith at North Carolina and appeared in two of Smith's Final Fours.
C.M. Newton played for Adolph Rupp at Kentucky and won a ring after the Wildcats took the 1950-51 title.
Roy Skinner played for Norm Sloan at Presbyterian. Sloan went on to take North Carolina State to a national title.
15. c.) Chris Rucker was forced into action against New Hampshire in the first round of the 1991-92 Music City Invitational. Injuries to Todd Milholland, Bruce Elder, and Malik Evans pushed Rucker into the starting lineup. Kevin Anglin scored 38 points and pulled down 11 rebounds in a 100-67 rout.
16. d.) Kenny Gibbs a muscular but agile 6-06 forward from Somerset, Kentucky, replaced Lee in the 1966-67 season.
17. b.) Vanderbilt has actually failed to connect on a three-pointer twice in their history. It was their first two games with a three-pointer, and they did not even attempt a trey. At the November 1982 Great Alaska Shootout, C.M. Newton didn’t want his squad shooting a shot from almost 20 feet away from the basket during this experimental season.
The Commodores upset Illinois 58-47 in the opener, and knocked off a good Clemson team 72-63. In the finals against Louisville, Phil Cox attempted and made Vandy’s first three-pointer in team history. The current record applies only since the three-point shot became a regular rule in 1986-87.
Vanderbilt defeated Baylor 61-60 on March 5, 1959. This game was the first collegiate game using a 30-second shot clock. Acting head Coach Roy Skinner, an advocate of fast-paced basketball, was responsible for this event happening. Vandy played another game with a 30-second shot clock at Kansas in December of 1972. The Commodores beat the Jayhawks in Lawrence.
18. I bet you thought it was Barry Goheen. You were wrong. Roger Schurig won five games with buzzer beaters in the 1962-63 season.
Commodore fans will always wonder how good
he could have been had he stayed eligible and healthy. He could score 20 points in six minutes.
19. b.) Eddie Fogler averaged 20.25 wins per year during his four-year tenure. His winning percentage was 62.8%.
Roy Skinner 17.4 wins per year but had the highest winning percentage of any Commodore coach at 67.3%.
Bob Polk won 197 games at a 65% success rate in his 13 seasons at the helm.
Jan VBK won 104 games in six seasons at a 56.2% rate.
Prior to this year, Kevin Stallings has won 104 games in his first six years at a rate of 55.6%. Factor in four wins to start this year, and that rate rises to 56.5%.
C.M. Newton won 129 games at a rate of 54% in eight years.
20. b.) Will Perdue averaged 18.3 points and 10.1 rebounds in 1988.
21. d.) The class of 1967 went 67-13 for a rate of 83.8%. The class of 1966 came in a close second at 65-14 for 82.8%.
22. c.) It was the year after the SEC title and Elite Eight trip that Vandy stayed in the top 10 for the entire season. Had they defeated Mississippi State in the finale, the 1966 Commodores might have finished in the top five for the second consecutive season.
23. e.) Again, the 1965-66 team pulled off the feat. The Commodores started the season at number five and
after winning their first eight games rose to number two. They defeated second 10 Syracuse in the opening round of the Los Angeles Invitational. It set up a game against improving Southern Cal. A win would have placed the Commodores in the tournament championship against two-time defending national champ UCLA. The Commodores could have emerged from this tourney as the number one team, but they fell in an upset to USC.
24. b.) Vanderbilt cracked the top five for the first time on December 27, 1955 with a record of 6-1. On January 31, 1956, they rose to number three following a 14-1 start and win over Kentucky. The record improved to 15-1 and 7-0 in the league before the team lost three of its final seven games.
25. This was a
trick question. The Commodore in question is none other than Kevin Stallings, one of the greatest players to come out of basketball factory Collinsville, Illinois and coach Vergil Fletcher. Coach Stallings was teammate of Tennessee Vol alum Steve Ray. Another excellent teammate, John Belobraydic, started for Arizona for Fred “Fox” Snowden.
Coach Fletcher was an advocate of tough full-court pressure defense (called the ball press) and fast break offense. Kevin Stallings was one of the best at both phases. He led the Kahoks in scoring as Collinsville went undefeated in the regular season in 1977 before being upset in the Illinois State Tournament. In 1978, as a senior, Collinsville went 28-3 and finished in third place in the State Tournament. They lost by two in the semi-finals to the eventual undefeated champions.
Stallings made all State that year with a group of players that included Mark Aguirre (DePaul and NBA), Isaiah Thomas (Indiana and NBA), Jim Stack (Northwestern and current GM of Dallas Mavericks), Kevin Boyle (Iowa) , and Chuck Verderber (Kentucky).
Coach Stallings averaged almost 10 assists per game as a senior and still holds the
career assist mark at his alma mater. He also holds the record for most career steals. He set the school record for most points in the state tournament with 117 in six total games. During his four-year career, Collinsville went 98-17 (85.2%).
Kevin Stallings was number 33, Steve Ray was number 53, and John Belobraydic was number 45