WEBVTT 00:00:07.089 --> 00:00:09.089 A plot begins to thicken. 00:00:11.739 --> 00:00:16.116 A surprise package is about to be opened. 00:00:16.149 --> 00:00:24.149 Arizona State University foes, beware. A time bomb is ticking. 00:00:39.389 --> 00:00:43.926 That's the exciting prospect in store for Sun Devil basketball fans this 00:00:43.959 --> 00:00:46.796 season, 00:00:46.829 --> 00:00:51.847 Ned Walt starting his 20th season as a su head coach and assistants, Jim 00:00:51.880 --> 00:00:57.585 Carrey and Paul Howard have some tantalizing surprises in store. They're 00:00:57.618 --> 00:01:03.186 readying a fast aggressive young team build around returnees, James Silky 00:01:03.219 --> 00:01:09.385 Holloman, 00:01:09.418 --> 00:01:15.477 Rick Taylor, Tony Zino and Derek Davis. All four are fast approaching 00:01:15.510 --> 00:01:20.786 contention for national honors and ready for stardom after a year of 00:01:20.819 --> 00:01:25.165 waiting as the Red shirt transfer, Mark Landsberger who could become the 00:01:25.198 --> 00:01:30.546 Sun Devils top rebounder is one of the surprise packages. Walt can't wait 00:01:30.579 --> 00:01:37.096 to show off from last year's fine junior varsity squad. Are Greg guy voted 00:01:37.129 --> 00:01:41.986 most valuable player on the team and Mike Sims of ya who may be the team's 00:01:42.019 --> 00:01:47.546 most natural shooter. Add to that line up four of the nation's most sought 00:01:47.579 --> 00:01:54.266 after prep stars prize catches in one of a us finest recruiting seasons 00:01:54.299 --> 00:02:00.286 and you have the potential for a great Sun Devil team, Johnny Nash of Long 00:02:00.319 --> 00:02:05.245 Beach, probably the most coveted prospect in America heads the brilliant A 00:02:05.278 --> 00:02:13.278 su freshman crop May and Monk Detroit's finest prep 610 Kurt Nymphs of 00:02:13.699 --> 00:02:19.017 Milwaukee and Matt Barney of Stafford. Number one player in Arizona are 00:02:19.050 --> 00:02:27.050 other blue chippers. 00:02:28.520 --> 00:02:33.207 As always, Arizona State will play one of the more demanding schedules in 00:02:33.240 --> 00:02:38.196 American college basketball. The Devils will face Illinois, Oregon, 00:02:38.229 --> 00:02:42.686 Wichita State, northwestern and San Diego State to name but a few and will 00:02:42.719 --> 00:02:46.767 play in the famed Rainbow Classic tournament in Honolulu along with Saint 00:02:46.800 --> 00:02:50.987 John's Houston, San Francisco, Illinois Temple. William and Mary and 00:02:51.020 --> 00:02:53.267 Hawaii. 00:02:53.300 --> 00:02:59.957 1975 76 team won its first five games and captured its seventh Sun double 00:02:59.990 --> 00:03:05.525 Classic championship with a 74 to 67 victory over always powerful DePaul 00:03:05.558 --> 00:03:11.186 which later made the NCAA regional playoffs. The Devils also won both 00:03:11.219 --> 00:03:15.906 games in the fiesta double header and split a pair in the Kentucky 00:03:15.939 --> 00:03:22.436 Invitational begged Scott Lloyd keyed the A SU offense early in the season 00:03:22.469 --> 00:03:30.469 and Gary Jackson's last minute heroics won several thrillers 00:03:30.729 --> 00:03:34.767 took the Devils squad to Spain for a December goodwill visit sponsored by 00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:37.666 the state department 00:03:37.699 --> 00:03:44.219 opened the new year with a 68 to 67 victory over nationally ranked Hawaii. 00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:50.080 The Devils blew out the Long Beach State 49 ers at Tempe Lloyd Jackson 00:03:54.740 --> 00:04:01.255 Taylor. Everybody ripped the nets in this one. 00:04:01.288 --> 00:04:05.707 Ok. Ok. 00:04:05.740 --> 00:04:13.740 On 00:04:15.229 --> 00:04:18.416 the devil's hopes of defending their Western athletic conference 00:04:18.449 --> 00:04:23.377 championship were dealt a rude blow in the league opener at Tempe when the 00:04:23.410 --> 00:04:30.106 surprising Utah Redskins took an 80 to 72 win but a su rebounded to 00:04:30.139 --> 00:04:38.139 humiliate Brigham Young on regional TV. 83 to 68. 00:04:38.290 --> 00:04:43.286 Three days later, Southern California's Trojans came to town. The Devils 00:04:43.319 --> 00:04:51.319 trailed most of the way 00:04:54.119 --> 00:04:58.765 but with less than 15 seconds to play. Rick Taylor canned a jump shot to 00:04:58.798 --> 00:05:02.895 pull a su out in front for a 7169 00:05:02.928 --> 00:05:08.467 victory 00:05:08.500 --> 00:05:13.645 resuming conference play on the Albuquerque El Paso road trip. The Devils 00:05:13.678 --> 00:05:19.317 caught fire in the late minutes of both games. Only to see furious rallies 00:05:19.350 --> 00:05:24.836 fall a shade short at New Mexico. The Devils rallied from a 16 point 00:05:24.869 --> 00:05:29.426 deficit to grab a one point lead with only 20 seconds left on the clock 00:05:29.459 --> 00:05:35.015 but the Lobos hit two free throws after time ran out to take the victory. 00:05:35.048 --> 00:05:39.145 The loss of two stellar outside men, Rudy White to the preseason pro 00:05:39.178 --> 00:05:47.178 draft and Rick mccutcheon to an early injury was a crippling blow. 00:05:47.399 --> 00:05:52.575 Dave Tarrant helped fill the gap. Rick Taylor and Derek Davis also were 00:05:52.608 --> 00:05:56.926 rushed into the breach and showed promise of future brilliance. Silky 00:05:56.959 --> 00:06:02.895 Holliman, a proven veteran of the 1974 75 championship team performed at 00:06:02.928 --> 00:06:07.467 both guard and forward as woke, searched for a winning combination. The 00:06:07.500 --> 00:06:11.726 mid season lineup scramble gave freshman Tony Zino a chance to show his 00:06:11.759 --> 00:06:17.439 brilliance and the leaping sharpshooter became an immediate crowd favorite. 00:06:18.548 --> 00:06:20.548 The Devils returned to the activity center to resume conference play on 00:06:21.889 --> 00:06:26.776 January 30. They faced a long uphill struggle to get back into title 00:06:26.809 --> 00:06:33.515 contention 00:06:33.548 --> 00:06:37.645 but they downed Wyoming and Colorado State at home and then scored a hard 00:06:37.678 --> 00:06:43.495 fought victory at Missoula over the Montana Grizzlies 00:06:43.528 --> 00:06:48.296 that set the stage for the crucial battle with title favorite Arizona on 00:06:48.329 --> 00:06:54.937 the Tempe boards. The season's record crowd, 14,375 00:06:54.970 --> 00:07:00.137 fans jammed the activity center February 7 for the wildcat invasion. 00:07:00.170 --> 00:07:05.515 Taylor led the A su attack with 19 points. 00:07:05.548 --> 00:07:11.507 Holloman was close behind with 16 and Zeno pulled down 12 big rebounds. It 00:07:11.540 --> 00:07:15.606 was a tight defensive struggle all the way but the Devils held on at the 00:07:15.639 --> 00:07:20.866 finish to preserve a 67 to 63 victory despite the fouling out of their 00:07:20.899 --> 00:07:26.627 four tallest men with five minutes to play. The Sun Devils had fought back 00:07:26.660 --> 00:07:31.796 into the championship chase but they desperately needed to win on the road. 00:07:31.829 --> 00:07:37.055 They came close at Provo losing to BYU by four points and at Salt Lake 00:07:37.088 --> 00:07:42.455 City, they closed with a rush to lose by only four to Utah. Five 00:07:42.488 --> 00:07:47.486 conference losses by an average of just over four points had effectively 00:07:47.519 --> 00:07:54.776 put a su out of the running. They trounced New Mexico at home 87 to 73 but 00:07:54.809 --> 00:07:59.245 late season losses to Colorado State and Wyoming nailed the coffin lid 00:07:59.278 --> 00:08:04.745 down tight in the finale at Tucson. Arizona's Wildcats evened the season 00:08:04.778 --> 00:08:12.778 series with a 7772 win 00:08:15.100 --> 00:08:19.106 the Sun Devils had finished the season with a respectable record of 16 00:08:19.139 --> 00:08:25.346 wins, 11 losses. But Ned Welk was far from satisfied his 391 career 00:08:25.379 --> 00:08:29.736 victories. Sixth highest total among the nation's active coaches stamp him 00:08:29.769 --> 00:08:34.456 as a winner and he is determined the Devils will return to high national 00:08:34.489 --> 00:08:42.489 ranking in 1976 77 win or lose coaches exciting basketball, his run and 00:08:43.058 --> 00:08:47.356 gun offense and his search attack, destroy defensive tactics. Keep fans on 00:08:47.389 --> 00:08:52.145 the edge of their seats from tip off to final buzzer. There's explosive 00:08:52.178 --> 00:08:58.076 potential in the surprise package. Wolk is readying for a SU fans in 1976 00:08:58.109 --> 00:09:05.856 77. Holloman and Taylor proven stars and getting better. 00:09:05.889 --> 00:09:11.167 And Davis brilliant youngsters with great futures Landsberger, one of the 00:09:11.200 --> 00:09:16.917 most exciting prospects in years guy and Sims determined to crack the 00:09:16.950 --> 00:09:22.807 starting lineup and who knows any one of these sensational new freshmen 00:09:22.840 --> 00:09:27.667 could become stars before the season is half over. It's the fascination of 00:09:27.700 --> 00:09:32.417 the unknown that makes this new sun devil team something special. The 00:09:32.450 --> 00:09:38.116 dynamite is there waiting to be detonated. The word has gone out to a su 00:09:38.149 --> 00:09:46.830 foes in 1976 77. Beware, we've got a time bomb ticking.