What Sports Illustrated said about Kentucky MBB in Nov. 1977

Collecting dust on a magazine-sized easel in my bedroom is a Nov. 1977 edition of Sports Illustrated. Larry Bird is on the cover. You’ve probably seen it before (it’s the one pictured below) or at least seen Doug McDermott’s rendition of it from 2014. Two cheerleaders pose on both sides of Bird, shushing the camera with their fingers pointed up while Bird goofily stares at the camera. It reads College Basketball’s Secret Weapon on the cover. Bird averaged 30.0 points and 11.5 rebounds per game for Indiana State that season, a year before his rivalry with Magic Johnson would change the world of basketball.

Inside the magazine — which I have held together by a piece of tape so the cover doesn’t fall off the meat — every other page is littered with light-hearted cigarette ads (Now With Less Tar!) or arguments as to why this bottle of scotch is better than that bottle of scotch. There’s an ad telling you to cook something in a microwave for five hours. Every salesman figure is named either Dan or Dick, and they’ll tell you that you’re definitely paying way too much for your Sony 7800 Receiver, whatever the hell that was. It’s all very time-appropriate and extremely interesting to look at from the lens of 2022.

But every now and then, muddled in between ads for Schwinn’s new exercise bike or a $140 typewriter from Sears (seriously, the ads are the best part about this old-school magazine), a sports article pops up. In this particular issue, the Sports Illustrated crew broke down the top 20 teams in college basketball at that point in the 1977-78 season — the same season Kentucky won the program’s fifth NCAA national championship.

I’ve had this magazine for several years now and have flipped through it many times, but for some reason, I never caught this section of the 128-page issue. Reading it back roughly 45 years later, it’s actually quite prophetic. Led by head coach Joe B. Hall, who was in his sixth season at the helm in Lexington, the ‘Cats were ranked as the No. 1 team in the country by SI and projected to win it all come March.

The excerpt on Kentucky was written by none other than William “Billy” F. Reed, who recently passed away earlier this year after a Hall of Fame sportswriting career. Reed said that UK was “likely to win” the title, which they would go on to do several months later against Duke in St. Louis.

Here’s everything that Reed wrote about the ‘Cats back in Nov. 1977:

The story goes that Adolph Rupp once had a 6’9″ center who assiduously avoided contact. This infuriated Rupp, who liked Kentucky pivotmen to throw more elbows than hook shots. In practice one day, Rupp caught the timid one loitering on the foul line during a fierce battle under the boards. Calling the work-out to a halt, Rupp gazed up at the center and said, “What’s a nice boy like you doing in a place like this?” The same question might be asked of Jack Givens (above), the slick 6′ 4″ senior forward and high scorer (18.9 points per game last season) for the current Wildcats. Givens is a finesse player on a team that will not only be the biggest in Kentucky history, but also the roughest. If preseason practice was any indication, UK might consider taking time off to play in the Super Bowl on its way to the NCAA tournament, which it is likely to win. Givens’ soft jumpers provide a touch of class to Kentucky’s attack, which otherwise will consist of huge bodies lunging toward the basket. Back at center is 6′ 10″ senior Mike Phillips, a massive specimen who all but clanks when he walks. The strong forward will be 6′ 10″ Rick Robey, who also can move to the post when Coach Joe Hall wants to put quicker but no less muscular James Lee into the front line. Backing up all this beef are 6′ 10″ freshmen Chuck Aleksinas and Scott Courts. Last year was very good–and very bad-for Kentucky, which ranked high in the polls but was outmaneuvered by North Carolina in the Eastern Regional finals. Now with Givens, Robey, Phillips and Lee back for their final season, Wildcat followers–all 16 games in 23,000-seat Rupp Arena already are sold out–are expecting Kentucky to win its fifth NCAA title. “Our class has done everything except put that big candle in the middle of the cake,” says Robey. “As freshmen we were NCAA runners-up to UCLA, as sophomores we won the NIT, and last season we were ranked as high as No. 2. There’s only one thing left to do.” Doing it may not depend as much on Givens’ shooting or Kentucky’s muscle as on whether Guard Kyle Macy, a transfer from Purdue, can fill the sneakers of playmaker Larry Johnson, who graduated. Two long rifles, Truman Claytor and Jay Shidler, are on hand to deploy with Macy. Nobody has the firepower or muscle to run with the Wildcats, so chances are they will see a lot of slowdowns. Hall is confident he has the brawn and experience to overcome that tactic, but if neither of those suffice, he can always call on Givens to outfinesse opponents.

William F. Reed, Sports Illustrated

You might ask: what is the purpose of me writing this? There isn’t one, I guess. It’s just something I noticed and thought was interesting. Hopefully you found it interesting, too.

SI’s Top 20 MBB Rankings (Nov. 1977)

1. Kentucky
2. San Francisco
3. Notre Dame
4. Marquette
5. Arkansas
6. Purdue
7. Syracuse
8. Cincinnati
9. Holy Cross
10. North Carolina
11. UCLA
12. Louisville
13. Maryland
14. Utah
15. Washington State
16. Alabama
17. Indiana State
18. Detroit
19. Kansas State
20. Princeton