SPORT SHORTS
Cardinal Athletics
Athletics Honored for
Community Service
When the
Cardinals Played
Julius Erving
By Jim LeBuffe, B.A. 1970
In 1969, the CUA men’s basketball team faced
off against the University of Massachusetts
and their Hall of Fame-bound forward Julius
“Dr. J.” Erving. Former Catholic University
basketball player Jim LeBuffe recalls the
night the Cardinals played against Dr. J.
The dorms were strangely quiet. It was just us [the men’s basketball team], the swimming team, and a few foreign students as
we returned to campus for a few days of practice after a short
Christmas break in 1969. Then the 10 members of our team, Coach
Bobby Reese, and trainer Franny Murray made the trip to frigid Erie, Pa.,
for the Gem City Bowl Holiday Tournament, hosted by Gannon College. The
Cardinals traveled light in ’69.
We drew the University of Massachusetts (UMass) for the first game of the
four-team tournament. Our scouting report told us that UMass had a player
named Julius Erving who was very good. Julius Erving? Some of us mocked
the name, only to be set straight by teammate Jack Bruen. He told us that
Erving, who like Jack was from the New York City area, was quite a
player.
Erving showed us that he was for real when he scored the first 10
points for UMass in this opening game of the tournament. I was
then assigned to guard him for much of the rest of the contest. Yes,
Julius could score, rebound, and block shots. But he was also
remarkable for his era in the way that he could, at 6’7”, handle
the ball and run the court.
Erving said little to me during the game. The good ones —
like Howard Porter from Villanova, Fred Carter from Mount
14 The Catholic University of America Magazine
Photo: UMass Athletics
The 1969–70 team. Front row: Bob Goeke, Mike Poness, Len Kelly, Tom Burke, Jack Bruen. Back row: Vince
LeBuffe, Greg Harrelson, Joe Goode, Jim Howard, Jim LeBuffe (team captain).
St. Mary’s, and other CUA foes from that era
who went on to the NBA — didn’t talk
much. They just went about their business.
Erving had 25 points and 22 rebounds, I had
21 points, and the final score was UMass 70,
CUA 51. Erving smoothly collected his
points on quick drives, short jumpers,
offensive put-backs, and by filling the lane on
breaks. He had no dunks, since dunking was
illegal in college basketball in 1969.
Night two: Catholic University was playing
Lehigh University for third place. We were up
a few points at halftime when our coach made
a wise decision. He shut up. We all shut up
and just listened through the paper-thin
locker room wall as Lehigh’s coach, in the
next room, berated his players long and loud,
for trailing, of all people, Catholic U.
We seethed. We wanted to show those
Eastern Pennsylvania boys that we had game.
That we did, trouncing them 78-58 to secure
third place for the tournament as Vince
LeBuffe, my brother, scored 16 points,
including several long-distance shots that
were worth a mere two points, since there
was no three-point shot in 1969.
Thirty minutes after our game ended, the
hometown Gannon College Golden Knights
squared off against the eventual tournament
winner, the UMass Minutemen, in the
championship game. My teammates and I
were sitting courtside in Gannon Auditorium,
an old-school field house built in the late
1940s. Its sharply angled stands were packed
with Gannon faithful.
It was a close game midway through the
first half. A very quick Gannon guard picked
off a UMass pass at midcourt and was flying
for a breakaway layup. Erving, who would be
named the tournament’s MVP, took four or
five super hero-type strides, covering most of
the court in a flash, and pinned the Gannon
player’s shot against the glass. That would
turn out to be the key play in UMass’s 72-63
victory over Gannon.
What occurred next was the only time I
saw a crowd act this way. The sold-out arena
went silent after Erving’s amazing play. One,
two, three seconds passed. Then, whether
from disbelief, ecstasy, or just plain good
sportsmanship, the crowd erupted into 20 to
30 seconds of an ultra-decibel, ear-splitting
frenzy. My teammates and I were not the
only ones who, in the midst of the mayhem,
turned to each other and screamed, “Who is
this guy?”
“This guy” became Dr. J., one of the
biggest professional basketball stars ever.
Erving played one more year at UMass and
then turned pro, starring for the Virginia
Squires and New Jersey Nets in the upstart
American Basketball Association (ABA), then
for the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA. He
was famous for his acrobatic, gravity-defying
slam dunks. Many say he invented the genre.
Dr. J. led the 76ers to the NBA crown in
1983, had many epic battles with the Boston
Celtics and Larry Bird, and was named one
of the 50 greatest NBA players of all time in
1996. I never could convince my late father,
Leon LeBuffe Sr., that Larry Bird was a better
player than his beloved Dr. J.
Jim LeBuffe is a member of the CUA Athletic
Hall of Fame and was named to the 1969 Gem
City Bowl All-Tournament team. LeBuffe is
a “Dr.” too, but his degree is in educational
administration. He is now an assistant professor
of educational leadership at the University of
St. Thomas in Houston.
The National Association of Division III
Athletic Administrators (NADIIIAA) and
Jostens recognized the Department of
Athletics for its community service
project with Special Olympics D.C. this
past year. The awards program is intended
to recognize the many contributions
Division III student-athletes regularly
make to their campuses and local
communities. Athletics received an
honorable mention selection in the onetime project category.
CUA and Special Olympics D.C.,
partnered for the Fall Sports Classic, a
six-day event featuring individual golf
skills competitions, unified bocce league
championships, and various basketball
and tennis competitions. More than 100
volunteers from Catholic University’s
21 varsity sports teams helped put on
the events.
Hankins Named Head Coach
of Men’s Cross Country and
Track and Field
Ian Hankins has been hired as the head
coach of the men’s cross country and
track and field teams. A Washington,
D.C., native, Hankins comes to Catholic
University from Potomac State College
of West Virginia University, where he
was the head coach for both the men’s
and women’s cross country programs. In
2014 he earned Western Pennsylvania
Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year
honors.
Hankins previously served as an
assistant cross country and track and
field coach specializing in distance
events at Montgomery College, Baker
University, and St. John’s College High
School. Hankins attended Muskingum
University, where he served as a two-year
team captain and was a three-time NCAA
regional qualifier in cross country.
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