1962-1963 regular
Season of Perfection
By Butch Wade
defense to a full court man to man press and would
fall back into a 1-3-1 half court trap that Coach
called SPIDER. The end result would be the first
undefeated season and number #1 ranked team in
school history. Coach Stearman said this was his
greatest team in 40 plus seasons he coached.
The new season began with over 80 boys trying out for the varsity with only returning players
being Monty Jines, Steve Hollenbeck, and three
year starting guard Bill Russell. The good news was
that assistant coach Don McDonald was grooming a
promising group with some size that included Terry
Weekly, Jerry Newsom and Butch Wade all at 6-4.
When asked how the Bull Dogs would fare this season Coach Stearman would reply,” we will be lucky
to be 50-50.”
The season began with wins over
Jennings County and
Bloomington
which
would be Coach
Stearman’s win number 200 and 201.
Next would be Connersville and it would
be a heart stopping
double overtime win
that would be the
jump start of many
players that contributed to the Bull Dogs
success. Next up was
Bedford and the Bull #31 Butch Wade scores and
Dogs set a school re- #35 Bill Russell is ready to record in the 105-61 bound on weak side.
win. The subs entered
the last quarter and in the next 6:30 they scored
26 points and the cry for the rest of the season was
to get “Fergusons Raiders“ in the game. The Raiders were named after first year player Gil Ferguson
and included Roger Sims, Bil Seegers, Randy Hutsen, Norm Doles and Dave Anderson. The next win
would be the Bull Dogs arch rival Shelbyville Golden Bears. The new offense was clicking and the Dogs
were averaging 84.8 points per game after the first
1962-1963 Columbus Bull Dogs
Front Row L to R - Montie Jines, Rick Stoner, Bill Seegers,
Bill Russell, Dave Anderson and Randy Hutsen. Back row
L to R - Coach Bill Stearman, Norm Doles, Roger Sims,
Terry Weekly, Jerry Newsom, Butch Wade, Gil Ferguson
and Steve Hollenbeck.
Starting lineup during National Anthem at Columbus L to
R - Bill Russell, Montie Jines, Butch Wade, Terry Weekly,
Steve Hollenbeck.
T
he 1961-1962 season would end in disappointment for Bill Stearman and the Columbus Bull Dogs with a loss to Brown County in
the sectionals. Coach Stearman at one point even
considered retiring but Columbus principal Jud Erne
refused to accept the coach’s resignation. Thus Bill
and JV coach Don McDonald began the 19621963 season with a renewed passion. The coaches
changed offense to a new “Triple Post” and changed
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five wins.
Next was the Madison Cubs coached by Bud
Ritter. The Cubs were a final four team in 1962 and
returned a veteran team led by Howard Humes.
The Cubs came to Columbus dressed in polka dotted uniforms and multi
colored capes. The
game was close the
first half till a strange
play ignited the Bull
Dogs. With :01 left on
the clock Bill Russell
tipped in a basket
off a jump ball and
as the Dogs rushed to
the lockers a couple
of fights broke out
in the stands. After
intermission the Bull
Dogs cruised to win
number six.
Principal of Columbus High The Bull Dogs
School, Judd Erne, presents
roared past Franklin
1963 Holiday Tournament trophy to the co-captains Butch and Martinsville to
take the lead in the
Wade and Bill Russell.
powerful South Central Conference and were finally showing in the
polls as the number 10 team in Indiana. Next on
the list was the Columbus Holiday Tourney. Starting
forward Jerry Newsom injured his ankle and would
miss several games but the Dogs still marched on to
victories over New Albany and Jasper in route to the
Holiday Tourney title. Bill Russell and Butch Wade
were named to the All-Tourney team and the team
would finish the first half of the season with a 10-0
record and move to number 5 in the polls.
Next came Indianapolis Howe with
the Dogs rolling to
a 17 point win. Bill
Russell scored 21
points and passed
the 1,000 point career scoring mark.
The Bull Dogs would
pick up win number
12 against Greensburg and jump
to number four in
Butch Wade tips ball back to Bill the polls. Newsom
Russell to start the Indianapolis would return to the
lineup and the Dogs
Howe game.
would prepare for
the toughest part of their schedule. Columbus would
travel to Evansville to play defending state champs
Evansville Bosse. The game would be billed as the
biggest game of the season since Columbus was
undefeated and Bosse returned four of five starters from the previous season. Excitement was at an
all time high and J.A. Beaman organized chartered
flights to the Pocket Cty for 200 Bull Dog fans. This
was the first such trip in Indiana other than for college football fans. The game was billed as a showdown of all state guards Jerry Southwood and Bill
Russell. The matchup lived up to the hype and the
Dogs depth and defense helped the Dogs to a hard
fought 63-58 win for the canines.
#23 Terry Weekly rebounds over #45 Steve Hollenbeck
while #31 Butch Wade and #25 Monte Jines crash the
boards against Indianapolis Howe.
The Dogs continued to roll along picking up a
win over Indianapolis Manual as Butch Wade scored
a season high 34 points. Columbus then went on to
record wins over Warren Central and South Central Conference foes Rushville and Seymour. There
were now only five teams in Indiana that were still
unbeaten.
Next on the schedule was Southport coached by
Blackie Braden. The star player on that team was
Louie Dampier. Things really started getting crazy
as it was announced that Chuck Marlowe and WTTV4 would be telecasting the first ever regular season
game. Channel 4 would also be conducting a special pregame interview show with Coach Stearman
and the Bull Dog team. As if this wasn’t enough
hype Coach told us the night before that legendary
coach Adolph Rupp from Kentucky would be in Memorial Gym to see Dampier and Butch Wade show
their skills. Coach Rupp left Columbus saying he had
just watched the two best 6-3 players he had seen
this year. The Bull Dogs posted win number 18. Columbus was now the only major unbeaten team in the
state.
The stage was set for a shootout In the Wig-
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the Dogs prevailed 67-44 capping the first undefeated season in school history and winning the first
SCC title in 12 years. As the regular season drew
to a close the remaining unbeaten teams, Eminence,
New Ross, Wells, and Loogootee went down to
defeat leaving the Bull Dogs the only undefeated
team in Indiana for the 1962-63 season.
Columbus would go on to win sectional and regional championships and run the streak to 25-0.
Coach Stearman always said you have to be lucky
to win a state title. The Dogs finally would run out
of luck as they would lose to eventual state champ
Muncie Central led by Indiana Mr. Basketball Rick
Jones. Stearman was quick to say the Bull Dogs
would be back for more in 64. True to his word
Stearman would repeat another undefeated season
in 1964 led by returning starters Steve Hollenbeck
and Jerry Newsom. This time the streak would reach
27-0 before the Bull Dogs would fall in the final
four.
Russell would attend Indiana University and
help lead the Hoosiers to a Big Ten title. Wade and
Newsom would take their talents to Indiana State
and help turn the Sycamores into a national power.
The twosome would re-write the ISU record books
and become Hall of Fame players. The undefeated
team records have stood for 50 years. In the 20122013 regular season the girls’ team coached by
Pat McKee and led by Ali Patberg, Taylor Goodall, and Kelsey Cunningham would become the third
team in 100 years of Columbus basketball history to
accomplish this special feat.
wam of the Anderson Indians. Columbus ranked
#4 and Anderson ranked #5 were led by all state
guards Bill Russell and Steve Clevenger. The Dogs
depth and hot shooting would help Columbus coast
to a 102-86 win. Senior Norm Doles would come off
the bench and in a little over 2 1/2 quarters would
score 26 points to lead the way. The Dogs would
need a police escort out of the gym and several
fan buses were hit by bricks and sustained broken
windows. As the bus returned home the team was
greeted by fans lined up in cars starting just outside
Hope all the way into Columbus. The Bull Dogs were
now 19-0 and when the polls came out Columbus
was the new #1 in Indiana basketball.
1963 cheerblock during sectional finals.
The season only had one remaining regular
season game left against once-beaten Jeffersonville with the winner of this game clinching the SCC
championship. The game was a defensive gem as
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