Five Basketball Stars of the Seventies
By Jim Joanos
It is February and the Florida State University men's basketball team is in the midst of its Atlantic Coast Conference schedule. Last year I wrote a couple of articles about FSU basketball during the fifties and sixties. It is only fitting that I continue that theme and write about some of the fine players of the seventies.
It was during the early seventies that FSU's men's basketball team reached its highest point thus far. There were some excellent teams in the seventies. In 1972, the Seminoles even played for the NCAA national championship losing by only five points in that special game to UCLA (the Pacific Ten Conference Champion) on their home court. To get to that game, that team had beaten Eastern Kentucky (the Ohio Valley Conference Champion), Minnesota (the Big Ten Conference Champion), Kentucky (the SEC Conference Champion) and North Carolina (the ACC Conference Champion).
Here, then, are some of my favorite players who played at FSU during the seventies.
Dave Cowens - Probably FSU's best player ever was Dave Cowens, a 6' 9" Center from Newport, Kentucky. He is included among my favorite players of the 60's as well as the 70's as he played on the varsity from the 1967-68 season through the 1969-70 one. Cowens led the team in rebounding and scoring all three seasons. Although he only played varsity three years (freshmen could not play on the varsity then), he still ranks first in all-time career rebounds (1,340) and tenth in scoring (1,479 points) at FSU. After his college career, he was drafted by the NBA's Boston Celtics as their number one pick (fourth player chosen overall) and thus became the first FSU player ever selected in the first round. At the end of his first year with Boston, he was honored as the co-rookie player of the year in the NBA. He played for Boston for eleven years which included two national championship seasons. He was the NBA's Most Valuable Player for the 1973 season. He was inducted into the NBA's Hall of Fame in 1991 and has also been named as one of the 50 best NBA players of all time. Cowens is a member of FSU's Athletics Hall of Fame and his jersey was the first basketball jersey ever retired at FSU. It hangs with honor at FSU games in the Tucker Center.
Rowland Garrett - Probably the player with the most athletic skills of those early 1970's players was Rowland Garrett. I once heard a story that Garrett, when he was at FSU, starting from a standing still position, leaped over a Volkswagen Beetle. Garrett, a forward, played three varsity years from 1969 to 72, and served as one of the co-captains of the 1971-72 National Runners-up team. During his tenure on the team, FSU's overall record was 67 wins and only 10 losses. Following college, Garrett played five years in the NBA. He was selected for the FSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1986.
Ron King - The star among the stars of that 1971-72 team that went all the way to the national championship game was Ron King. King, a 6' 4" forward from Louisville, Kentucky still holds the school record for most points scored in a game (46), which he achieved against Georgia Southern in February of 1971. His three varsity years at FSU ran from the 1970-71 season through 1972-73. He became an All-American (AP Third Team) at the end of the 71-72 season. He led the team in scoring in his first two seasons but an injury limited his accomplishments his senior season and reduced his professional potential. Nevertheless, he was drafted by the Golden State Warriors and played for the Kentucky Colonels of the ABA during the 73-74 season. He was admitted to the FSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1988 and his jersey was retired last year and now hangs in the Civic Center.
Otto Petty - Of course, the point guard is always one of the most valuable players on the team. That 1971-72 team had a great one in Otto Petty. Only 5' 7", Petty was an extraordinary ball handler and passer. During his three seasons as FSU's point guard (70-71 through 72-73) he set virtually all of FSU's records for assists. Two of them, his 16 assists in one game (1972, versus South Alabama) and 227 for one season (1970-71) have not been broken to this day. He was inducted into the FSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1991.
Reggie Royals - A star rebounder and scorer of those 1970-71 through 72-73 teams was Reggie Royals, a 6'10" forward from Whiteville, North Carolina. During his three seasons, the "Tree", as he was nicknamed, garnered a total of 1006 rebounds which is second all-time only to Dave Cowens. His three season total of 1,402 points still places him fifteenth among all time scorers at FSU after all the years since he played. He was drafted by professional teams following his college career and played for the San Diego Clippers for the 1974-75 season. He was voted into the FSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1991.
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