[QUOTE=Gas49er;367076]What was the starting 5 during the 5-23 year and 8-20 year? Iām pretty sure Keith Williams and Ray Gomlowicz, maybe Clinton Hinton. Someone please remind me.[/QUOTE]
The media guide saysā¦
1984-85 (5-23, 1-13)
F - Leroy Smith
F - Scott Fitzgibbons
C - Clinton Hinton
G - Keith Williams
G - Rodney Abrams
1985-86 (8-20, 1-13)
F - Michael Milling
F - Rodney Abrams
C - Ray Gromlowicz
G - Keith Williams
G - Reggie Barnes
[QUOTE=Gas49er;367076]Keith Williams
Dan Banister
Ray Gromlowicz
Scott Fitzgibbons
Slim Duncan
What was the starting 5 during the 5-23 year and 8-20 year? Iām pretty sure Keith Williams and Ray Gomlowicz, maybe Clinton Hinton. Someone please remind me.[/QUOTE]
Fitzgibbons was a pig and still is 
Those lineups just show how great a job Mullins did in rebuilding. He started the JUCO route, but he only wanted it to be temporary. Mike Milling, Ronnie Bellamy, Dan Plondke, Frank Persley.
I almost forgot scotty fitz gibbons held the Mineshaft record for most splinters collected. (Real nasty personality with pick up games though). I used to call him ācheeseburgerā (he was 1 short of 300 lbs). Last I heard he was a cop in Jersey.
Being 30, these were the first teams i remember seeing. Grom was a 7 foot project for 4 years, i forget when his ābreakoutā game was but it seems like it was his last home game, reggie barnes always had a nervous look my dad and i use to call āpepto bismalā face, fitzgibbons was a super nice guy (easy to talk to kids when only 800 people were at the game), mike milling and melvin johnson were both too good for our team, i always thought keith williams (we could use him now) was going to be a pro, i remeber a comerical where clinton hinton squashed a basketball to promote our teams, we got to sit on the bench for a game during the 84 or 85 season, pregame meal at slugs on independence (my first filet), and you could bring recruits to the mayors office. fun times and great memories.
I remember the announcer at the Niner games couldnāt ever remember Plondkeās name and would continually call him āPlondikeā. The one difference between the 5-23 team and the 8-20 teams was that you knew that they were a better team even though they only won 3 more games than the previous year. Mullins put us back on the map and is still a class guy to this day. I saw him at Home Depot (hadnāt seen him in 15 years) and he still remembered me, name and all.
Clinton Hinton went to Myers Park (2 yrs behind me) and was a complete idiot. Mullins did the right thing and held everyone to a higher standard. He didnāt make any exceptions.
When I was finally done playing at Charlotte, I was ninth in rebounding, 4th in minutes played, 15th in scoring, and have the record in block shots to this day. Does not sound like a 4 year project to me. I might have not pleased everyone with my offense, but after 2 years of Wisselās coaching it took me a year to get back to playing like I did before I got there. Mark Colone told me a few years after I had finished at UNCC, that the coaches gave me a lot of credit for that first winning season when we went 18-14. So Goodfellabo, donāt take this personally, you do not know what you are talking about, but I will excuse you since you were so young. Also Keith did play pro in Europe for many years, as a matter of fact he was the best player in the Polish leagues for many years. I will agree with you though, Keith would have been great on any of the Niners teamsā¦ he was that good with the basketball.
oldniner31 is rightā¦but in a wayā¦so is goodfellabo. Grom was a project his first 2 years but only because he had no true coaching. Give him Mullins for 4 years you could almost guarantee that his career would have been that much better. He and the others helped Mullins put us back to respectability.
Sorry if I sounded like I was venting somewhat, but I get a little defensive when that time with Wissel comes up. When Mullins first met with the players one on one in the Spring of 85ā, the thing he told us later was that we looked shell shocked and had lost some of our confidence. Wissel totally took away our desire to play basketball and Mullins first year there was one of getting that back. Like DrJ708 had said previously, that 8-20 season might have been only 3 wins more but you could see the team starting to have that chemistry that is needed to win. If we had not had injuries to Millings and West the following year we would have had a 20+ win season for sure and postseason play.
Thanks again for remembering the old guys,
Grom
I remember being frustrated by Gromās offense as a freshman. I also remember his continual improvement. I will never forget seeing a sign in a sold out Coliseum that read āAir Gromā. Must have been his senior year. I will also never forget how loud it was after a dish from Dinkins and a dunk by āAir Gromā. It was so sweet after the 5-23 and 8-20 years.
Gromowicz and āVanillaā Dan Plondke. Byron Dinkins. Jeff Mullins. Jeff West.
That 18-14 year was such an exciting season compared to 8-20!
Sorry if I sounded like I was venting somewhat, but I get a little defensive when that time with Wissel comes up. When Mullins first met with the players one on one in the Spring of 85', the thing he told us later was that we looked shell shocked and had lost some of our confidence. Wissel totally took away our desire to play basketball and Mullins first year there was one of getting that back. Like DrJ708 had said previously, that 8-20 season might have been only 3 wins more but you could see the team starting to have that chemistry that is needed to win. If we had not had injuries to Millings and West the following year we would have had a 20+ win season for sure and postseason play.Thanks again for remembering the old guys,
Grom
Thanks for adding to the board, if I was an ex player Iād stay awayā¦ it can get pretty ugly sometimes.
Hey, canāt be any worse than what I heard in the Wissel years, and you could hear everything back then since there was only 200 people at the game ā¦lolā¦ I will be at the homecoming game this year again so if any of you guys see me, come up and say hi, would like to meet some of you guys in person and put a face to your online namesā¦
I wish I had one of the āBlow The Wisselā bumper stickers Ken Sanford referenced in his book about the history of the university. Thatād be an awesome piece of memorabilia to have.
[QUOTE=oldniner31;367136]When I was finally done playing at Charlotte, I was ninth in rebounding, 4th in minutes played, 15th in scoring, and have the record in block shots to this day. Does not sound like a 4 year project to me. I might have not pleased everyone with my offense, but after 2 years of Wisselās coaching it took me a year to get back to playing like I did before I got there. Mark Colone told me a few years after I had finished at UNCC, that the coaches gave me a lot of credit for that first winning season when we went 18-14. So Goodfellabo, donāt take this personally, you do not know what you are talking about, but I will excuse you since you were so young. Also Keith did play pro in Europe for many years, as a matter of fact he was the best player in the Polish leagues for many years. I will agree with you though, Keith would have been great on any of the Niners teamsā¦ he was that good with the basketball.[/QUOTE]
I was friends with Keith back in the day and he is one of the quickest individuals I ever tried to guard. As good in the open court as youāll ever see. If he had a jumper, he would have been as good as any one.
Sorry Rayā¦
Oh my Godā¦ what is that article from? Pretty sad, in hindsight.
Grom, I remember your final play
a running 2 handed slam at the end of double OT against a very
good Western Kentucky team in the SBC tournament.
Unfortunatly the 2 pts meant nothing
[QUOTE=JoeSixPack;366410]a couple off the top of my head.
PG- Keith Williams
Forward - Melvin Johnson
Forward - Clinton Hinton
Forward - Leroy Smith, played HS school ball with Michael Jordan IIRC, played here for a few years. decent but not great. Iād list him as a bench player though on an all middle ages team.[/QUOTE]
Leroy led the Sun Belt Conference in Rebounding his senior year, 85 I think
Hey, can't be any worse than what I heard in the Wissel years, and you could hear everything back then since there was only 200 people at the game ...lol... I will be at the homecoming game this year again so if any of you guys see me, come up and say hi, would like to meet some of you guys in person and put a face to your online names...
Welcome to the board. Thanks for the insight.