KNOXVILLE — Befitting a player who averaged more than 22 points a game for his college career, Ernie Grunfeld will be the first person to tell you that his coach at Tennessee, the late Ray Mears, had a star system.
“He always told us, ‘If you earn it, you’ll be rewarded,’” said Grunfeld, now the general manager of the NBA's Washington Wizards. “That’s a great life lesson.”
UT rewarded Grunfeld's sterling Big Orange career on Sunday by retiring the No. 22 jersey of the four-time All-SEC performer and 1977 SEC player of the year.
As more than 21,000 stood and cheered during halftime of the Vols 63-60 victory over Kentucky, Grunfeld likened the moment to being a member of the United States’ gold medal-winning basketball team at the 1976 Olympics.
“Very humbling,” said Grunfeld. “Some of the best years of my life were here.”
The older half of the famed Ernie and Bernie (Bernard King) Show, Grunfeld said that he probably first signed with UT out of Forest Hills (N.Y.) High School because of the 30 straight days that former Vols assistant Stu Aberdeen took out of his life to shadow Grunfeld in the shadow of the Big Apple.
“He'd come to my high school every afternoon to find out if I needed a ride home.” Said Grunfeld. “After a few days I got so tired of him I'd try to find different doors to come out so I’d lose him. But Stu always found me. He was relentless. At some point I decided I liked his determination and that I wanted to play for Coach Mears.”
It didn't take 30 minutes for the Big Orange Nation to realize the reason for Aberdeen’s zeal. Grunfeld averaged 17.4 points as a freshman, then never averaged fewer than 22 the remainder of his career. When King came along the following fall, the Vols were ready to embark on a 61-20 run over the next three seasons that culminated with the 1977 SEC title.
“We played hard, we played smart we played together and we hated to lose,” said Grunfeld, who warmly embraced King — whose No. 53 was retired during last season’s Kentucky game — during the ceremony. “Coach Mears was ahead of his time. Like Coach (Bruce) Pearl he was a great at marketing.
“When we played on the road, the gyms would fill up 30 minutes before the game to see our seven-to-eight minute segment on ballhanding skills. The crowd loved it and I think it got in the heads of our opponents.”
Baylor School basketball coach Austin Clark, who was one of Grunfeld's UT teammates, remembers at least one Big Orange practice when Grunfeld went after the head of a fellow Vol.
“We had a walk-on one year who could really get after you in practice,” said Clark. “One day he was giving Ernie a tough time and he finally decided he'd had enough. He just knocked the guy flat. So here comes Coach Mears and we have no idea what he's going to say. Well, he runs up to Ernie and says, ‘How many times do I have to tell you to hit him with your left (nonshooting) hand?’”
Of course, Grunfeld is at least partially responsible for the Vols hitting No. 1 for the first time in school history. It seems that when Clark recently met Pearl and told him he'd played with Grunfeld, Pearl replied, “Ernie’s a big reason why I’m here.”
Perhaps the next banner they hang from Thompson-Boling’s rafters should honor Aberdeen.
Mark Wiedmer started work at the Chattanooga News-Free Press on Valentine’s Day of 1983. At the time, he had to get an advance from his boss to buy a Valentine gift for his wife. Mark was hired as a graphic artist but quickly moved to sports, where he oversaw prep football for a time, won the “Pick’ em” box in 1985 and took over the UTC basketball beat the following year. By 1990, he was ...
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