Part I: '60-61 Hawkeyes Overcame Adversity

Iowa Basketball Finishes 2nd in B1G After Losing 4 Starters to Academics

Iowa’s promising 1960-61 basketball season looked doomed after four of five starters were declared academically ineligible for the second semester. But the depleted Hawkeyes, under Coach Sharm Scheuerman, managed to win six of nine games, tied for second in the Big Ten, finished the season in the Top 10 and nearly pulled off one of the greatest upsets in college basketball history.

FOUR GONE CONCLUSION

PART I

IOWA CITY, Iowa - After a two-week break for final examinations, Iowa’s 1960-61 basketball team returned to the court for a February 5 meeting with Cincinnati at Chicago Stadium.

The Hawkeyes, led by all-American Don Nelson, had vaulted into the Associated Press poll after consecutive victories over California, USC and UCLA and were No. 6 heading into the game with the Bearcats.

But when Iowa’s 26-year-old head coach, Sharm Scheuerman, met with the media before the snowy trip to Chicago, there was an ominous tone to his words.

“We’re glad exams are over,” Scheuerman said. “I don’t have any idea if any of our boys failed to make it. That doesn’t mean that anybody did fail. It means I don’t know. We’re not going to worry about it until after this game. We’ll start our usual lineup and play it as usual.”

Nelson was the anchor of the lineup. Iowa’s media guide that season called him “the kingpin of the Iowa cage attack.” Scheuerman labeled Nelson “my ace in the bag.”

Nelson was joined by forwards Tom Harris and Frank Allen and guards Dave Maher and Ron Zagar in the starting lineup.

On Dec. 28, in a four overtime victory over California, Harris, the team’s leading rebounder, had 25 in the longest game in Iowa history. That remains No. 2 on Iowa’s single-game rebounding list. Harris had 23, which remains tied for fourth all time.

The Big Ten had instituted a rule that if an athlete failed to pass one class, that athlete would be ruled ineligible. Scheuerman’s statement was a telling sign of the future.

Iowa dropped to 12-3 with a 77-60 loss to the Bearcats, a team that went from unranked to 7th the following week and would go on to win the NCAA title. The AP poll back then was limited to 10 teams.

The following Monday, starters Harris, Allen and Maher missed practice and were rumored to be academically ineligible for the second semester. Scheuerman said the three players were under the weather.

“”I don’t have any definite word on grades yet,” Scheuerman said. “We’ll know definitely by Friday, when the grades must be turned in to the registrar. We may even know by Wednesday or Thursday. Any word on the grades will have to come from Eric Wilson (Iowa’s sports information director).”

On Tuesday, a day that saw Iowa drop to ninth in the AP poll after the loss to Cincinnati, Harris, Allen and Maher missed practice again. Practices that day were closed to the media, a rare occurrence. An official announcement was promised at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

It turns out the news was worse than expected. Zagar, along with Maher, Allen and Harris, were all ruled ineligible for the second semester. Nelson was the lone starter still standing.

“We never thought this situation of losing four players would arise,” Scheuerman told reporters. “I know the boys feel very badly about it but what is done is done. It might actually be a blessing in disguise as a lesson to future Iowa athletes.”

Bert McGrane of the Des Moines Register called it the biggest jolt to the program since Iowa’s ejection from the Big Ten in 1929.

Scheuerman, in his third year as head coach, had to rebuild his nine-man team for the remainder of the season.

“The players must give all they have in games left and show that they are hustlers in spite of handicaps,” Scheuerman said. “A coach couldn’t ask for any more and I am sure the fans can’t ask for any more, either.”

Three days after the news broke, the Hawkeyes headed to Bloomington to face Indiana and star center Walt Bellamy, a member of the1960 U.S. Olympic team.

“This game is more uncertain than any we’ve had since I’ve been coaching,” Scheuerman said of the Feb. 11 game. “About the only thing I know for sure is that the boys we have will give everything they have. Personnel-wise, we have little chance. We feel that Indiana’s personnel will rank with the best in the conference. But we don’t go into any game without feeling that we have a chance. I’ve been really impressed by the desire and the spirit of the group we have left.”

Nelson was joined by Dennis Runge, Matt Szykowny, Joel Novak and Joe Reddington in the starting lineup. Filling in for a starter against Indiana was something Szykowny got very familiar with in 1961.

Iowa’s football team started the season ranked No. 1 in the nation that fall. Szykowny was the backup to starting quarterback Wilburn Hollis. But when Hollis went to the sidelines with a broken wrist, Szykowny took over as the starter in the third game against Indiana. The Hawkeyes won, 27-8, and improved to 4-0 a week later by manhandling Wisconsin, 47-15. But Iowa would lose four of its last five games.

Scheuerman’s team got off to a dubious start in Bloomington, trailing by a 24-13 margin. But Iowa rallied to take a 39-31 lead into halftime and pulled off the upset even though Nelson fouled out with more than 7 minutes to play. He had scored 21 points, and limited Bellamy to one field goal, when he left the game despite Novak’s attempt at trickery.

A 6-foot guard, Novak claimed he was the one who fouled Bellamy, not Nelson, his former high school teammate. Bellamy protested and Nelson went sent to the sidelines.

I thought I’d get an Oscar for that,” said Novak, who went on to become a district court judge for 32 years.

Holding Bellamy in check became even more challenging when the 6-9 Runge fouled out with 5:16 to go.

Indiana rallied to take the lead, 64-62, with 3 minutes to play. Scheuerman thought to himself, “I sure would hate to come this close and lose.”

Szykowny finished with 19 points, none more important than the eight he scored in the game’s final 2 minutes, and Iowa pulled off the shocker, 74-67.

McGrane called it the biggest upset for the Iowa athletic program since Coach Forest Evashevski’s 1952 football team beat Ohio State, 8-0.

“That was the finest example of desire and hustle I’ve seen at Iowa by an underdog,” Scheuerman said.

Two days later, Iowa played host to Wisconsin at Iowa Fieldhouse and survived, 63-61. Nelson finished with 27 points and 15 rebounds, Szykowny added a career-best 24 points. Szykowny, a sophomore, scored the winning basket with 26 seconds to play. Nelson preserved Szykowny’s hero status by making a steal with :05 left.

Iowa, now ranked No. 9 in the nation, improved to 14-3 overall and 6-1 in Big Ten play. But the biggest challenge was five days away. No. 1 Ohio State, the defending national champion, would bring a 24-game winning streak to Iowa Fieldhouse. This feel-good story was in serious jeopardy.

The headline in the Cedar Rapids Gazette after the Wisconsin game read:

“Ohio (Ugh!) Next for Iowa.”