1970–71 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball team

1970–71 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings
	Rankings from AP Poll

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball
1970–71 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball
NCAA Mideast Region Champion (Vacated); Ohio Valley Conference Champion
NCAA Tournament, Final Four Third Place (Vacated)
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 7
AP	No. 7
1970–71 record	24–6 (Official record 20-5) (12–2 OVC)
Head coach	John Oldham;
Assistant coach	Jim Richards
Home arena	E. A. Diddle Arena

The 1970–71 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers men's basketball team represented Western Kentucky University during the 1970-71 NCAA University Division Basketball season. The Hilltoppers were led by Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year John Oldham and consensus All-American player Jim McDaniels.[1] WKU won the OVC season championship, as well as the conference's automatic bid to the 1971 NCAA University Division Basketball Tournament. No conference tournament was held, so the conference bid was awarded to the season champion.[2] The Hilltoppers advanced to the NCAA Final Four, though the tournament games were later vacated by the NCAA due to a player having signed a contract with an agent.[3]

For the second consecutive year, McDaniels was OVC Player of the Year and set the school record for most points scored in season and career, and highest scoring average. Jerry Dunn and Jim Rose joined McDaniels on the All-OVC Team.[4] This team was one of the most talented in school history with several players being drafted by the NBA and ABA including McDaniels, Dunn, Rose, Clarence Glover, and Jerome Perry.[5][6]

Cultural Relevance

This year's Western Kentucky team was the first non-historically black Kentucky college to start five African-American players: McDaniels, Rose, Glover, Dunn, and Rex Bailey.[7] Coach Oldham was pressured, and even threatened, not to start all five together, but resisted the pressure saying "they are my best five players."[8]

NCAA Sanctions

WKU's NCAA tournament games were later vacated by the NCAA after it was discovered that McDaniels had signed with a professional agent prior to the tournament. “I admit I made a mistake,” McDaniels told the Courier-Journal in an interview. “There was a lot of pressure. I got around some people who did not have my best interests at heart.” [9] The sanctions reduced their officially recognized record to 20–5.

Schedule

[10]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
12/3/1970*	No. 9	ODU	W 96–82	1–0	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
12/5/1970*	No. 9	UC Davis	W 88–65	2–0	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
12/10/1970*	No. 13	VCU	W 96–71	3–0	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
12/12/1970*	No. 13	Duquesne	W 69–62	4–0	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
12/19/1970*	No. 11	at Butler	W 100–90	5–0	Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN
12/23/1970*	No. 10	vs. No. 4 Jacksonville	W 97–84	6–0	Freedom Hall Louisville, KY
12/26/1970*	No. 10	vs. Saint Peter's ECAC Holiday Festival	W 108–97	7–0	Madison Square Garden New York, NY
12/28/1970*	No. 10	at No. 19 St. John's ECAC Holiday Festival	W 86–67	8–0	Madison Square Garden New York, NY
12/30/1970*	No. 5	vs. No. 2 South Carolina ECAC Holiday Festival	L 84–86	8–1	Madion Square Garden New York, NY
1/2/1971	No. 5	at East Tennessee	W 86–83	9–1 (1-0)	Memorial Center Johnson City, TN
1/4/1971	No. 5	at Tennessee Tech	W 95–82	10–1 (2-0)	Memorial Gymnasium Cookeville, TN
1/9/1971	No. 6	Eastern Kentucky	W 83–64	11–1 (3-0)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
1/11/1971	No. 6	Morehead State	W 85–63	12–1 (4-0)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
1/16/1971*	No. 5	at La Salle	L 76–91	12–2	Palestra Philadelphia, PA
1/23/1971	No. 7	at Murray State	L 71–73	12–3 (4-1)	Racer Arena Murray, KY
1/25/1971	No. 7	Austin Peay	W 117–72	13–3 (5-1)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
1/30/1971	No. 7	Middle Tennessee	W 80–66	14–3 (6-1)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
2/2/1971	No. 12	at Middle Tennessee	W 87–73	15–3 (7-1)	Murphy Center Murfreesboro, TN
2/8/1971*	No. 12	at Dayton	L 60–63	15–4	UD Arena Dayton, OH
2/13/1971	No. 7	Tennessee Tech	W 67–57	16–4 (8-1)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
2/15/1971	No. 7	East Tennessee	W 83–65	17–4 (9-1)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
2/20/1971	No. 9	at Morehead State	W 89–70	18–4 (10-1)	Wetherby Gymnasium Morehead, KY
2/22/1971	No. 9	at Eastern Kentucky	W 94–93 ^OT	19–4 (11-1)	Alumni Coliseum Richmond, KY
2/27/1971	No. 9	Murray State Record attendance 14,277	W 73–59	20–4 (12-1)	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, KY
3/1/1971	No. 9	at Austin Peay	L 94–96	20–5 (12-2)	Memorial Health Gymnasium Clarksville, TN
1971 NCAA University Division Basketball Tournament
3/13/1971*	No. 7	vs. No. 9 Jacksonville Mideast Region First Round	W 74–72	21–5	Athletic & Convocation Center Notre Dame, IN
3/18/1971*	No. 7	vs. No. 8 Kentucky Sweet Sixteen	W 107–83	22–5	Georgia Coliseum Athens, GA
3/20/1971*	No. 7	vs. No. 10 Ohio State Mideast Regional Final	W 81–78 ^OT	23–5	Georgia Coliseum Athens, GA
3/25/1971*	No. 7	vs. No. 19 Villanova Final Four	L 89–92 ^2OT	23–6	Astrodome Houston, TX
3/25/1971*	No. 7	vs. No. 4 Kansas Final Four Consolation	W 77–75	24–6	Astrodome Houston, TX
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll NCAA Tournament Games Vacated. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

References

Ruby, Earl (1979). Red Towel Territory : A History of Athletics at Western Kentucky University. American National Bank and Trust Co.
2019-2020 OVC Basketball Media Guide, retrieved 4 May 2020
Harrison, Lowell (1987). Western Kentucky University. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0813116204.
2019-2020 WKU Basketball Media Guide retrieved 21 April 2020
1971 NBA Draft, Basketball Reference, retrieved 7 May 2020
Bradley, Robert D. (2013). The Basketball Draft Fact Book: A History of Professional Basketball's College Drafts. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810890695.
Pete Thamel (March 27, 2008) Recalling Forward Thinking at Western Kentucky. New York Times
Pratt, Elliott. "Standing Alone: WKU's 1971 Final Four team remains in a league of its own". College Heights Herald.
Looking Back on the Life of Jim McDaniels, Allen County Schools Article Archive, retrieved 7 May 2020
1970-71 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Schedule and Results, Sports Reference, retrieved 6 May 2020

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[Ruby-1] Ruby, Earl (1979). Red Towel Territory : A History of Athletics at Western Kentucky University. American National Bank and Trust Co.

[2] 2019-2020 OVC Basketball Media Guide, retrieved 4 May 2020

[Harrison-3] Harrison, Lowell (1987). Western Kentucky University. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0813116204.

[4] 2019-2020 WKU Basketball Media Guide retrieved 21 April 2020

[5] 1971 NBA Draft, Basketball Reference, retrieved 7 May 2020

[Bradley-6] Bradley, Robert D. (2013). The Basketball Draft Fact Book: A History of Professional Basketball's College Drafts. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810890695.

[7] Pete Thamel (March 27, 2008) Recalling Forward Thinking at Western Kentucky. New York Times

[8] Pratt, Elliott. "Standing Alone: WKU's 1971 Final Four team remains in a league of its own". College Heights Herald.

[9] Looking Back on the Life of Jim McDaniels, Allen County Schools Article Archive, retrieved 7 May 2020

[10] 1970-71 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Schedule and Results, Sports Reference, retrieved 6 May 2020

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball
Venues	Red Barn (1920–1931) Health & Physical Education Building (1931–1963) E. A. Diddle Arena (1963–present)
Culture & lore	Big Red
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	1914–15 1915–16 1916–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21
NCAA Final Four appearance in italics

1970–71 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 7 Western Kentucky	12	–	2	.857	24	–	6	.800
Murray State	10	–	4	.714	19	–	5	.792
Eastern Kentucky	10	–	4	.714	16	–	8	.667
East Tennessee State	8	–	6	.571	12	–	12	.500
Austin Peay	5	–	9	.357	10	–	14	.417
Morehead State	4	–	10	.286	8	–	17	.320
Tennessee Tech	4	–	10	.286	7	–	17	.292
Middle Tennessee	3	–	11	.214	11	–	15	.423

Rankings from AP Poll