My student attendance at Dukes games goes back to my freshman year in 1959 when George Brown, Bob Slobodnick, Ned Twyman, Paul Benec, Billy Strom were the starters. While the overall record that year was not good, the 'big triumph' that year was losing to Cincinnati and Oscar Robertson by only 61 -58 at Pitt Field House. And then we lost two close ones to the Bonnies when they were nationally prominent with the Stith Brothers. The team played great basketball despite a very tough schedule that year, but ended with a losing record (7-13). However in 1961-62 with Willie Somerset, Clyde Arnold and Mike Rice… we upset #7 Duke, #6 Bradley, #9 St. Bonaventure, and lost to #3 Cincinnati – then after beating Navy and Bradley in the first two rounds of the NIT, lost to Loyola and St. Johns. Ended with a 22-7
record!!
In those years we averaged between 3 and 5,000 attendance per game at the Pitt Fitzgerald Field House and sometimes more at the Civic Auditorium for the bigger games.
Nevertheless I continued to attend the games once I moved back to Pittsburgh, and still buy season tickets to this day.
Have met many of the players and am enthralled with the success we are currently enjoying (IN MY LIFETIME NO LESS!) Only wish we could get the students and more local fans to attend in the coming years. GO DUKES!
MikeR wrote: