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.
And if those gathered at the luncheon had their way, today's Mocs would not only be playing the '77 champs, the champs would run them out of the gym. It certainly bears repeating that Shumate and most of the past players in attendance still looked in game shape.
"I'm the same 170 (pounds) I've always been," said Shumate, when asked if he'd lost weight.
"I'm at 215, which is exactly what I weighed here," said the remarkably fit 61-year-old Gary Stich, who was still playing professionally abroad at the age of 50.
Then there was McCray, who seems to have enjoyed his dining options away from the game.
"Forty years, and for me, 100 pounds ago," said the sturdily built McCray, who was the most physically imposing of the Mocs in '77.
But whatever their shape or age, it is indeed good to have them back and have the fans recall what super fan Pam Henry rightly labeled "a magical time."
Though the title didn't arrive until 1977 - and a year after the Mocs lost to Puget Sound in the 1976 final in Evansville, Ind. - the magic began at the start of the 1972-73 season, when Shumate took over for Leon Ford and hired Ralph Underhill, a former prep coach in Louisville, Ky., as his assistant.
A native of Athens, Tenn., retired Channel 9 sports anchor Darrell Patterson had just moved to Chattanooga.
"Most of what I knew about college basketball had been watching Tennessee play, and back then (coach) Ray Mears' teams were playing games that always ended 45-40," Patterson recalled. "Well, the first night I went to Maclellan Gym to watch the Mocs, I wore my neck out moving side to side as they ran up and down the court. I thought, 'This is good stuff. He's got something special here.'"
It was cutting-edge stuff back then. Blessed with marvelous athletes such as Golden, McCray, Stich, point guard William "Too Quick" Gordon, Darryl Yarbrough and Ricky Gill, the Mocs pressed dawn to dusk, shot it all over the floor before there was a 3-point line and tried to score in the 80s or higher whenever possible.
"Coach Shumate was ahead of his time," Golden said.
And not only on the court. After watching strobe lights pierce the sky at auto shows, he decided to place them around the outside of Big Mac - as 4,177-seat Maclellan was called - and turn them on every game night to let everyone know the Mocs were playing. Shumate also darkened the arena inside during player introductions, the way the NBA did.
"We tried to put showmanship into it," he said.
And Shumate - not UT-Knoxville - was the first to embrace "Rocky Top," making it the ultimate goal of the Mocs, Rocky Top being a metaphor for national championship.
"I'd gone to meet with Bill Nash (who was part of the broadcast team) to talk about a marketing slogan for the next season," the coach recalled. "While I was waiting in the WDOD lobby, 'Rocky Top" came on. When Bill came out, I said, 'I've got it.' It was perfect."
Then, as Patterson quickly added, "The guys in Knoxville stole it."
But nobody could steal the chemistry that '77 team had on the court
"We'd all grown up in Louisville," said Stich, who now lives with his wife of 30 years, Manuela, in Spain where he still coaches. "Some people even called us the University of Tennessee at Louisville. Seven people from Louisville scored in the '77 title game. We all understood our roles and everyone played defense."
Yet even with all that showmanship and talent it still took Gill, Golden, Gordon, McCray and Stich until their final season to scale Rocky Top.
"Near the end of the win over Randolph-Macon, I punched Ralph," recalled Shumate, who still resides in Fort Myers, Fla., in the winter and Hixson in the summer. "I told him, 'It looks like we finally got there.'"
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com