Mark WiedmerThe 40-year-old video lit up the giant projection screen inside Second Missionary Baptist Church on East Third Street early Friday afternoon. The basketball shorts were too short in that grainy footage and the moment too long long gone, but that didn’t make the greatest achievement in University of Tennessee at Chattanooga athletic history – the Mocs’ 71-62 victory over Randolph-Macon in the 1977 NCAA Division II national championship game – any less compelling.
Reliving that moment wasn’t the only reason a crowd of 75 or so gathered for lunch inside one of the church’s meeting rooms. A key member of those Mocs, and a beacon of hope to so many of this city’s at-risk youth through the years – Herbert “Book” McCray – staged the first of several ’77 reunion events this weekend as a fundraiser for his praiseworthy Independent Youth Services Foundation.
But it was clear from the beginning that those in attendance wanted to soak up every moment they could with their long-ago hoops heroes. And it was equally clear the players and head coach from that team who were in attendance wanted to return the affection.
Or as 1977 Division II Final Four MVP Wayne Golden said to more than a few fans who were there that March Saturday night in Springfield, Mass., all those decades ago as he discussed his favorite memories of Mocsville: “Just the support of the fans for us. It was packed and it was loud – and I mean loud on another level – every night.”
That support is expected to show itself again today when the school hosts a reception for Golden, McCray, head coach Ron Shumate and their teammates, then recognizes them at halftime of the current Mocs’ Southern Conference showdown against East Tennessee that will tip off at 5 p.m. inside McKenzie Arena.