The legends of IU basketball’s undefeated 1976 national championship team don’t move like they once did.
Now in their 70s, the greats from college basketball’s last unbeaten squad get around like you’d expect men of their age might.
But the spirit of what they accomplished 50 years ago keeps them young.
“I tell people, you know, I’m 71 years old,” All-American center Kent Benson said this week in Bloomington. “I’ve got the heart and mind of a 30 year old, but the body of 120 year old. And, if I had to do all over again, I’d do it the same way.”
What keeps Benson feeling vigorous on the inside, even as his 6-foot-11 frame confronts the inevitably of aging?
In part, it’s the constant reminders of what he and his coaches and teammates accomplished, and the immense joy and pride they brought to the state of Indiana.
“It’s been 50 years and it seems just like yesterday because a day doesn’t go by that people aren’t asking you what was it like to win a national championship,” Benson said. “What was it like to be undefeated? What was it like to play with Quinn Buckner, Scott May, Tom Abernethy, Jim Crews, Bobby Wilkerson? What was it like to play for coach Knight?”
What was it like to play for Bob Knight?
Well, books have been written on that topic. There’s a lot there.
But one thing Knight always made sure to impart on his players was perspective.
And Knight wanted his now legendary point guard Quinn Buckner to appreciate what the 32-0 1976 season meant not only inside the IU program, but also throughout the state of Indiana.
“After we won he (Knight) said something to me that I didn’t fully grasp,” Buckner said Monday evening at Cook Hall. “He said ‘You’ve done something for the people in the state of Indiana. You’ll never understand what you did for them.'”
Because Benson, Buckner and the other stars of the 1976 team have been reminded of their accomplishments daily, they no doubt understand now what Knight meant.
And those former IU players, and the entire fan base got to relive a similar moment over the last few months as the football team completed a perfect 16-0 season on its way to that program’s first national title.
Indiana now owns the last undefeated college season in both basketball and football. The football team matched the accomplishment while the current basketball team wears a jersey patch honoring the 50-year anniversary of the last basketball undefeated campaign.
Buckner actually played for the IU football team under Lee Corso in the 70s, so he can appreciate what Curt Cignetti’s football team has achieved as much as anyone.
“We just had it happen again in football, which is just incredibly humbling for someone like me who was involved in the sport, to have watched that kind of success,” Buckner said.
Benson, Buckner, Scott May, Bobby Wilkerson, Bob Knight — these are household names in Indiana even 50 years later.
And 50 years from now, Fernando Mendoza, D’Angelo Ponds, Aiden Fisher, Curt Cignetti and so many others from the perfect football season will walk through the Hoosier State as iconic heroes, no doubt constantly reminded of their incredible achievements.
“The ethos of Indiana is about sports and we were able to bring it on the basketball side and and people have lived with that for 50 years,” Buckner said.
“What it does is, it brings people together. That’s really what he (Knight) was telling me. Again, I’m 22 years old and I’m getting ready to go to the Olympics and the pros. I was not paying attention to the people in state of Indiana. What we were able to accomplish, we didn’t fully understand.
“We understand it now because of what Kent talks about. People ask us those questions because for many people that makes them stand taller and put their shoulders back, and for that we can all be proud here 50 years later.”
And for the next generation, another 50 years after that.
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