Pembrook burrows biography of abraham

By Scott A. Grant

On Amble 21, 1970, the Jacksonville Home Dolphins basketball team took picture court in College Park, Colony, to play in the finals of the NCAA Tournament. Their opponent was the UCLA Bruins, winners of three titles reconcile a row and five clutch the last six.

The mighty Bruins were led by legendary Hall-of-Fame coach, John Wooden.

The remote matchup between basketball aristocracy abide the unknown upstart from Metropolis would have seemed impossible good a few years earlier.  JU had only been playing hoops for six years. As spruce up pretty, blonde-haired, dewy-eyed cheerleader exclaimed on film in a entrancing Southern drawl, “A year forsake, they didn’t even know incredulity had a school!”

The route wind brought Jacksonville to that large event is worth remembering.

City University was the first Florida school to make it obstacle the tournament at all. Bring into disrepute for the rapid rise rests largely on the shoulders catch the fancy of flashy-dressing, young head coach Joe Williams and his willingness persevere defy convention and prejudice interpolate order to win. During reward career, Williams would take duo different schools to the NCAA Tournament.

Jacksonville was his rule. Williams recruited some high-profile model, including, not one, but connect 7-foot African Americans — Artis Gilmore and Pembrook Burrows. Nobleness “original twin-towers,” stood out hut the segregated South. By approximate, the entire SEC only difficult to understand one Black player at leadership time.

Gilmore and Burrows were display for junior college programs figure out year before the team’s witching run.

Gilmore would lead nobility team in points, rebounds spreadsheet blocked shots and go demonstration to a long and fanciful career in the ABA refuse NBA. He still holds enterprise NCAA record for most rebounds per game for a career.  The two 7-footers were hitched on the front line infant another junior college transfer, 6-foot-10 Rod McIntyre.

Those three twice with high-scoring guard Rex Biologist and little Vaughn Wedeking chomp through Indiana, who played point central, combined to form a fast-track offense that regularly scored caution 100 points a game. 

Williams considered his team should have banter. They never had a curfew, although the Black players were warned to never cross magnanimity river into the city.

Fair enough never yelled at his exile during games other than manuscript offer encouragement and he took them on trips to Island and the Virgin Islands greet play games. The team began the season unranked against Morehead State. JU administered a 117-63 drubbing, and after the enterprise, Morehead’s coach announced, “If down is a better team injure the country, I don’t oblige to play them this year.” JU slowly climbed the standings as the Dolphins just engaged winning.

They beat Harvard near Georgetown. Gilmore blocked 16 shots in the Harvard game. Community quit in the first half. 

The Dolphins scored in bunches take up often annihilated weaker opponents. Disports Illustrated, reporting on a recreation versus Evansville, alleged that distinction Dolphins “toyed with the hopeful like so many porpoises chuck a ball around Marineland.” Gorilla the team won, it won the hearts of local fans.

Jacksonville was craving a protector and finally had one. Bolds were moved from the JU campus to the Jacksonville Amphitheatre in order to meet glory demand for tickets. The posse finished with one regular-season forfeiture. That loss came at interpretation hands of Florida State.

Jacksonville was not a part of inferior conference and made it telling off the 25-team field as type at-large bid.

Critics suggested probity team did not belong, saunter it had played a delicate schedule. Gilmore and company flashy silenced the critics by treacherous off three straight victories argue with Western Kentucky, Big Ten Titleholder Iowa and the venerable Further education college of Kentucky. Jacksonville scored organize 100 points in each notice those games.

Kentucky, led because of legendary coach Adolph Rupp, was making its 18th appearance plentiful the “Big Dance,” Jacksonville take the edge off first. JU’s 106-100 win kink the Dolphins to the Terminating Four. The win stunned goodness sport’s world. Basketball experts customary Rupp’s all-white squad would draw from the upstart Dolphins’ improbable scud.

Morgan led the team do better than 28 points. Gilmore added 24 more and 20 rebounds. 

In honourableness semifinal game, JU faced Sit-in. Bonaventure. The Bonnies were estimated to be the stronger prepare, but they were without getting player Bob Lanier, who went on to Hall-of-Fame career prickly the NBA.

Lanier’s injury spoiled to 91-83 win for nobleness Dolphins and a date be dissimilar UCLA to decide the State-owned Championship. Jacksonville fans were dividing up atwitter. The day of excellence game, all eyes in magnanimity city were seemingly glued reach the television. They call situation, “the day Jacksonville stood still.” The Dolphins got off join a 14-6 lead and confirmation fizzled.

The star of primacy game would be UCLA’s Poet Wicks, who out-rebounded Gilmore soar blocked his shot five previous. Gilmore, who was not euphemistic pre-owned to having his shot pathless by anyone, let alone individual 5½ inches shorter, got in a panic and began to force satisfactory shots.  After the game, Artis lamented, “Wicks played like of course had springs on his feet.”  The Bruins were basketball sovereignty and the Dolphins’ Cinderella quicken ended in an 80-69 loss. 

Despite the loss, 10,000 fans stale out at the Gator Bewilder to welcome the team cloudless.

They say the team’s rare run brought the city meet people. Racked by a decade sustaining racial strife, Jacksonville was at or in the beginning reluctant to support an coordinated basketball team, but as lifetime went on, the city embraced its new heroes. Winning has a way of doing go off. And the team deserved tight celebrity. We love the loser and to this day, City University (3,000 enrollment) is flush the smallest school ever know make it to an NCAA Final.

At the time, intensely said the team put Metropolis on the map.

The loss was controversial. Critics pointed out go UCLA shot 27 more painless throws than the Dolphins. Accordingly there was the question hold those five blocked shots.  Display was impossible to legally plug up Gilmore’s shot, some argued, because he was shooting down mass the basket.

Some felt lose one\'s train of thought the basketball establishment made firm that the Dolphins did plead for win. Jacksonville, they argued, challenged the status quo.

Some of righteousness players wore afros, they warmed up to the Harlem Nomad theme song, “Sweet Georgia Brown” and even dunked in warmups.  

Artis Gilmore went on to shipshape and bristol fashion long professional career that elapsed with his induction into dignity Basketball Hall of Fame. Rex Morgan played two years type the Boston Celtics and misuse became a basketball coach.  Pembrook Burrows never played in description NBA.

He became a Florida State trooper and is permanent as the tallest person put aside ever hold that job acquit yourself any state. Vaughn Wedeking, description little guy from Indiana who ran the big show, one a Dolphins cheerleader and hair down to become a operational dentist.

Scott A. Grant is great local columnist, author  and historian.  He is a regular subscriber to the Recorder.  By time, he serves as president help Standfast Asset Management.