Reliving Ball State's 'Special' Teams
February 22, 2020 | Men's Basketball
Presented by Ball State Federal Credit Union
As part of Ball State's #MuncieOut basketball promotion, let's hear about Ball State's memorable NCAA Tournament teams from the man who covered them for the Muncie Star-Press, Doug Zaleski.
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Gary Payton had no idea what he was about to encounter when his favored Oregon State basketball team was assigned a first-round game against Ball State in the 1990 NCAA Tournament.
Ten days before the March 15, 1990, matchup, Sports Illustrated honored Payton on its cover as the national player of the year. A photo showed Payton with his mouth wide open while dribbling a ball, and the headline introduced him as "Oregon State's do-everything, say-anything Gary Payton."
Payton's reputation as a prolific trash-talker was well known. But Payton had no clue that tucked away in the Midwest at unheralded Ball State was Paris McCurdy, who prided himself on his ability to jabber non-stop with anybody in the country. McCurdy once jumped in the timeout huddle of Bowling Green and was angrily chased away by Falcons coach Jim Larranaga.
"Payton was a guy who talked the most trash in college basketball … until he met Paris McCurdy," Ball State teammate Chandler Thompson said.
McCurdy won the battle of trash talking between him and Payton that day in Salt Lake City as the Cardinals defeated the Beavers 54-53 to start the most memorable stretch of NCAA Tournament action in school history. McCurdy scored the tying basket as the buzzer sounded, then hit a free throw while standing alone at the free throw line with no time on the clock to secure the victory.
McCurdy later received a copy of a newspaper article from Payton's hometown of Oakland, Calif. The reporter heard Payton, who became the No. 2 pick in the 1990 NBA draft, ask one of the referees to make McCurdy quit talking to him.
Payton's dad was sitting in the front row, and McCurdy heard him yelling for McCurdy to get out of his son's ear.
"So I just kept at him, kept going," McCurdy said.
McCurdy was Exhibit A of the gritty attitude embodied by the players and coaches on the 1989-90 Ball State basketball team, widely considered the greatest team in the 99-year history of the program.
"Paris being so socially outward - you could always hear him - I don't think he was trying to be the big dog in the yard, but he was trying to be the one that bridged personalities or connected guys," teammate Greg Miller said.
The group was a swashbuckling unit that feared no foe, a team that welcomed pressure, comprised of players who considered their extreme brotherhood an unbreakable asset.
Ball State honored the 30-year anniversary of the 1990 team's march to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, along with its NCAA tourney teams from 1995 and 2000 at Saturday's basketball game against Eastern Michigan.
It's fair to say that Ball State never had a team quite like the 1989-90 unit before or after it that captured the hearts of fans in Muncie, though many of the players were part of the 1988-89 group that posted the best record in school history at 29-3.
The 1990 Cardinals landed squarely in the spotlight of hoops fans throughout the nation after beating Oregon State and Louisville in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. And they thrived on every second of their notoriety, including a heartbreaking two-point loss to eventual champion UNLV in the West Regional semifinals.
The players' relationships with each other solidified the group, and that's what Miller thinks about often.
"Everybody blended in and made a little bit of sacrifice," he said. "A lot of that came from Gym 2 in the summer. If you didn't show up, people were going to find you and figure out why. We never had an attendance issue. In that gym is where roles were created.
"You could tell by the stat sheet there wasn't a domination of anything other than care for the team. Guys did what they could do best. If you didn't do what you do well, you heard from your teammates. Guys were promoting each other."
McCurdy was their ringleader, their heartbeat, their standard setter. A brash, trash-talking senior from Detroit, he bowed to no one and welcomed any challenge.
He says that attitude was instilled at home by his father, a blue-collar worker in a city that knew how to work with its hands.
"My dad would go outside and work on cars, get grease all over him, cut the grass … and the only way for me to show I was a hard worker was to get dirty," McCurdy said. "If I wasn't the sweatiest guy, I had to work harder.
"I didn't know any other way. One day I came home with a report card that had all A's and one B. My dad said, 'that's what you're supposed to do.' He didn't pat me on the back, it wasn't getting $5 for every A you got. That propelled me with an attitude to do the right things because it's your job."
So it was no surprise to McCurdy that he and his hometown Detroit pal Curtis Kidd found success at Ball State when they teamed up with a group of single-minded winners similar to themselves. After sitting out the 1987-88 season under transfer rules, McCurdy and Kidd joined forces with the likes of Scott Nichols, Shawn Parrish, Greg Miller and Billy Butts to produce a school-record 29-3 mark in 1988-89. That season included a trip to the NCAA Tournament and a first-round victory against Pittsburgh before falling to Midwest Regional No. 1 seed Illinois.
The results provided a tantalizing taste of what was to come in 1989-90. Though the overall record wasn't quite as good, the Cardinals claimed the second-highest win total in a season in school history at 26-7. Three of the losses came in the first nine games as the players, who included nine seniors, adjusted to a different head coach. Dick Hunsaker replaced Rick Majerus, who left after the 1989 NCAA Tournament to coach the University of Utah.
There were growing pains at the start of the season as Hunsaker implemented his plan for the program. Ball State lost 57-43 at Purdue in the season-opener and fell 49-48 at Indiana State in the fifth game.
Another non-conference loss, to Memphis State in Chicago, preceded the Mid-American Conference season. The Cardinals won the league title with a 13-3 record, then steamrolled three opponents in the MAC Tournament by a combined 40 points to earn the second straight berth in the NCAA Tournament for the only time in school history.
Ball State, a 12 seed in the West Regional, opened the tournament against Oregon State and the fast-yapping Payton. McCurdy said teammate Rodney Haynes informed him about Payton's propensity for gab, suggesting McCurdy might have met his match.
McCurdy didn't have a chance to talk face-to-face with Payton until 2018, 28 years after their NCAA tourney game. But as you would expect, the one meeting was legendary. McCurdy went to a Big 3 basketball league game in Detroit and approached Payton, who was coaching the 3-Headed Monsters.
McCurdy reached out to shake Payton's hand and said he just wanted to tell him his name.
"He looked at me and tilted his head, you know how dogs tilt their heads," McCurdy recalled. "I said 'Paris McCurdy.' He pulled his hand out of my hand, balled up his fist and put it to his face with his mouth open and just walked away, looking back at me.
"I was laughing and he kind of laughed. It's not that we wouldn't have talked, but they were calling him to get the game started."
Ball State needed a memorable rally to beat Oregon State. Teo Alibegovic's basket with 3 seconds to go gave the Beavers a 53-51 lead. Curtis Kidd threw a long inbounds pass to Thompson at the opposite end of the floor and Oregon State knocked the ball out of bounds under the Cardinals' basket.
Oregon State called timeout to set its defense, giving Ball State a chance to draw up an inbounds play with 1 second to go. Hunsaker at first was going to sub in Miller for McCurdy.
"I couldn't even lift myself out of my chair," McCurdy said. "I was in shock. The last second of the game, and I'm not even in there?"
Hunsaker almost immediately reversed his decision and set up a play to get McCurdy the ball on an inbounds pass from backup point guard Mike Spicer, who was in because starter Scott Nichols had fouled out. As the play started, McCurdy jab-stepped to get away from his defender and broke to the baseline just outside the lane.
"Spicer never took his eyes off me," McCurdy said. "He didn't pass me the ball, he placed the ball, and I went and got it."
McCurdy put up an 8-footer that went in at the buzzer to tie the score and was fouled on the shot. He went to the free throw line alone with a chance to win the game. With Majerus watching in Utah's Huntsman Center, McCurdy hit the free throw as Ball State radio analyst Jeff Weller celebrated by uttering the phrase, "Bye-bye, Beavers."
Majerus came down to the locker room and told McCurdy, "I knew you were going to make it."
"We were convinced he'd make it," Thompson said. "As much as he talked, he was going to back it up. He wasn't going to let our team fail. That's what our leader was all about at that time."
Two days later, 16th-ranked Louisville was Ball State's opponent. Those Cardinals had a strong inside attack and a Hall of Fame coach in Denny Crum. Again Ball State found a way to win.
Ball State jumped ahead 28-12 in the first half before emerging with a 62-60 triumph. Two wins over three days by a combined three points. Ball State's business district, The Village, swarmed with people celebrating the trip to the Sweet 16. Students spilled into the streets over a three-block area. Some even climbed a pole to swing from stop-and-go lights on the corner of University Avenue and Calvert Street.
That victory set up a major challenge for Ball State against national heavyweight and West No. 1 seed UNLV. The Runnin' Rebels were led by three first-round picks in the 1991 NBA draft: Larry Johnson No. 1 overall, Stacey Augmon No. 9 and Greg Anthony No. 12.
Armed with an abundance of confidence, Ball State was undeterred by UNLV's status.
One of the most memorable moments in the entire NCAA Tournament in 1990 - and one that seemingly will live forever in Cardinals lore - occurred with 4:02 left in the game.
McCurdy missed a shot from the left corner just inside the 3-point line. Thompson soared over teammate Curtis Kidd and three UNLV players as if he was launched off a trampoline to slam dunk the miss. Videos of the play have been collectively viewed on YouTube almost 700,000 times.
Brent Musburger erupted on the CBS telecast by saying, "Oh, my. Chandler Thompson, how do you do?"
Now 30 years later, Thompson is often asked about the play.
"I can travel anywhere, Las Vegas, California, Florida, and if someone notices me the first thing they say is, 'I remember the dunk,' " Thompson said. "They don't say, 'I remember your dunk.' It's, 'I remember THE dunk.' It keeps me relevant, our team relevant."
Thompson doesn't even think it's his best collegiate dunk. In January that season, he took off from the free-throw line and threw down a tomahawk slam at Eastern Michigan.
It was said at the time that Thompson had a 43-inch vertical leap. A few years later while playing professionally in Spain, his leap was measured at 48 inches. He was able to jump to get eye level with the rim and reach the white outline at the very top of the backboard.
Amid the dunk frenzy against UNLV, the Cardinals rallied from a 68-59 deficit with 2 minutes left. Three-pointers by Thompson and Billy Butts made it 68-65. Thompson brought BSU within 69-67 on a layup with 20 seconds to go.
UNLV's Anthony missed a bonus free throw to give Ball State a shot to tie or win in the closing 12.6 seconds. McCurdy says he'd like to get a mulligan on the final possession.
The plan was to get McCurdy the ball on the right wing and drive past Larry Johnson. As he made his move, McCurdy slipped to the floor and lost control of the ball.
"I slipped because I really dug into the floor, and on the push-off I did the splits," he said.Â
McCurdy says he was wearing new shoes and he was unaware there was a sticker on the bottom of each one. He slipped several times during the game and assumed it was because the shoes were new.
"In the locker room after the game I was rubbing the shoes and found the sticker was still on them," he said.
As he lost control of the ball, he scooped it to teammate Mike Spicer. He had two options from the free-throw line: shoot it or pass underneath the basket to Thompson or Kidd.
Spicer said years after the play that he was hurt by indecision. He wasn't sure whether to shoot or pass, and the ball ended up well short of the basket and Thompson and Kidd. Augmon grabbed it to secure the win for the Rebels.
The two-point victory for UNLV was the tightest game it played in that tournament. The Rebels won their five other games by an average margin of 22 points. Three of the five victories were by 30 points, including 103-73 against Duke in the national championship game.
While Ball State's players have regrets about how the opportunity ended, they marvel at the impact the team made.
"It's still heavy in people's hearts and minds, and that's probably as big an honor as anything we had ever done … to get that kind of effect 30 years later on a community that got to experience it right along with us," Miller said. "That team was open to everybody. Nobody got pushed away."
The 1995 and 2000 teams were also honored for 25- and 20-year anniversaries. Though neither team advanced in the NCAA Tournament, their appearances created a local buzz. Each team was coached by Ray McCallum.
The 1995 team was anchored by senior Steve Payne, who averaged 17.3 points and 9.4 rebounds, and MAC Freshman of the Year Bonzi Wells, who averaged 15.8 points and 6.1 boards.
The team was just 7-5 in its final 12 MAC regular-season games before dumping three straight foes in the MAC tournament to get the automatic NCAA tourney bid. The Cardinals ran into a physical Arizona State team and lost 81-66 in the first round in Memphis.
The 2000 team was spurred by Duane Clemens and Mickey Hosier, starting guards whose singular focus was to get their team to the NCAA Tournament. It wasn't easy as the Cardinals entered the MAC Tournament as the 7 seed and won three games by a total of seven points.
"The main reason I went to Ball State was I felt they gave me the best chance to go to the NCAA Tournament," Hosier said. "I wanted to do that. I lived for March Madness."
Clemens had a flair for the spectacular during his career, especially in games against Miami. RedHawks coach Charlie Coles used to gush about things Clemens would do.
Like senior day at Ball State when Clemens threw in a half-court shot at the buzzer to give the Cardinals a 60-57 victory in overtime. Current Ball State assistant coach Jason Grunkemeyer was on that Miami team.
"I bet he remembers that," Clemens said.
The Cardinals beat Miami again, 61-58 in the MAC Tournament championship game to advance to the NCAA Tournament in Minneapolis. They lost 65-57 to UCLA in the first round.
"The big thing for us was getting in the NCAA Tournament, but we ran out of gas against UCLA," Clemens said.Â
But the goal to reach the NCAA Tournament had been accomplished, and that team is the last one at Ball State to make that claim.
The group had a strong flavor of Indiana players, including former local stars such as Hosier from Alexandria, Clemens from Muncie Southside and the Delta trio of Rob Robbins, Petie Jackson and Billy Lynch.
"They understood what it meant for Ball State," Hosier said. "We were all good buddies, and that definitely made it more special."
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Doug Zaleski covered Ball State athletics for 26 years at the Muncie Evening Press and Muncie Star Press. He was the Ball State basketball beat writer during the 1990, 1995 and 2000 NCAA Tournament years.