altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
[Moderator note- attempted to move this topic that formed in another thread to its own thread here. It's not perfect but has the majority of the content.]
I also recall that Derek Harper team in '82. OSU went to Champaign in January when the Illini were undefeated and beat them in OT. It made the cover of SI the following week. OSU had a really good team that year, though under the radar until they beat the Illini. I remember watching Harper play (I was a 16-year-old guard and loved watching BT games) and thinking he looked nearly as good as Isaiah Thomas had the season before.
You're five years older than me. I grew up in Columbus watching OSU and admiring from afar what Lou was doing in the late '70s/early '80s. I recall going to an OSU-Illinois game in Columbus in ~ 1975. All I remember was that Bartow was coaching, and Bill Rucks and Otho Tucker were on the Illini (I was OCD about rosters and player/coach trivia as a kid), both teams were pretty mediocre, and St. John Arena was barely half-filled.LouHenson said:We must be the same age? I grew up in Champaign and went to Central graduated in 1979. I remember when Lou came and what if felt like to really have a sport to root for.
Football was already in the dumps, I was 3 in 1964 when they went to the Rose Bowl, so Lou built what I ever knew or cared about in Illini sports.
I also recall that Derek Harper team in '82. OSU went to Champaign in January when the Illini were undefeated and beat them in OT. It made the cover of SI the following week. OSU had a really good team that year, though under the radar until they beat the Illini. I remember watching Harper play (I was a 16-year-old guard and loved watching BT games) and thinking he looked nearly as good as Isaiah Thomas had the season before.