Thirty-five years ago, the Memphis State basketball team was just days from running the table at the Metro Conference Tournament at Freedom Hall. The Tigers, who had just lost at Detroit Mercy, regrouped to beat Louisville in the regular-season finale and Southern Mississippi, Louisville and Florida State to win the league title — all in a week’s span.
Dana Kirk had Memphis State rolling. Its run to the Final Four began in Houston, where it beat Penn and UAB. In Dallas, the Tigers earned a ticket to Lexington, Kentucky, by winning games against Boston College and Oklahoma.
For the second time in program history, Memphis State was in the Final Four.
This is the final chapter of a five-part oral history series commemorating the Tigers’ memorable season. It is a retelling of the team’s postseason push and a reflection of the legacy it left, as told and remembered by those who lived it.
Andre Turner and the run
Memphis State carried the momentum of its overtime win vs Florida State in the Metro championship game into the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers got 16 points and eight assists from junior guard Andre Turner in a 67-55 win over Penn. What happened the next two games — a 67-66 overtime win over UAB and a 59-57 victory vs Boston College — made Turner a Tigers legend.
Steve Hatchell, Metro Conference commissioner, 1983-87: To say they won by just a few means they were beating some really, really good teams. To get over 30 victories in a year with that schedule, plus playing in the Metro, that was a big deal.
Lee Fowler, Memphis State assistant coach, 1979-86: It was an exciting time, as you can imagine. Craig Littlepage was the coach at Penn — now retired from Virginia (where he was athletic director until 2017). We opened up and played them. They were a very good team, we just overmatched them. You don’t get to the Final Four very often. My wife, who I had just met and married, thought that was what you did every year.
FINAL FOUR FLASHBACKS PART I: An oral history of the 1984-85 Memphis State basketball season
The second-round game between Memphis State and UAB pitted Blazers coach Gene Bartow against the Tiger program he led to the national championship game in 1973. Larry Finch, who served as an assistant under Bartow at UAB until joining Kirk’s staff, was a star player on that team. All five players in Memphis State’s starting lineup and four players in UAB’s hailed from Memphis, including Turner and Steve Mitchell, who grew up together and were teammates at Havenview Middle School.
Mitchell, the all-time leading scorer in Blazers history: Havenview. Ninth-grade year. Line ‘em up – we whooped ‘em all. I’ve got a letter jacket at home that says, “21-0.” The most important number was that zero.
Fowler: That was a very emotional game, as you can imagine. Always was, because Dana knew the history of Bartow. And Larry wanted to beat him, of course, because he loved him.
John Wilfong, Memphis State sophomore guard in 1985: That was an interesting game. It was an intense game. It felt like there could’ve been nobody at the game and it would’ve been equally intense.
Mitchell: Andre and I were seventh-graders in the same class. Our music teacher, Mrs. Eckert, was our home room teacher. Andre had the first pair of Nike shoes I ever saw. It was so new, we (pronounced it) like “Mike.” I thought I was decent, but Andre was light years ahead of us in terms of his mental approach to basketball. He didn’t want to lose anything. He was the first I’d ever met that was that competitive. He was the yardstick for us in middle school. He was the reason I got serious about it. I’ve always had the desire to be the best and Andre was the best. He was my measuring stick.
Turner: (College) coaches would talk about, “You guys can play together.” We both said, “No, we can’t do that. We’ve got to have our own teams.” Steve deserved his own and so did I. He and I are really close and very good friends. But I thought Steve needed to run his team and do what he did. I think I wanted to be able to handle the ball, too.
With Mitchell guarding him, Turner made the game-winning basket with five seconds left in overtime. He scored 23 points against UAB, second only to Keith Lee’s 28.
Turner: It was a jump shot. Right at the left elbow, going to the left. I think we were out of timeouts. I look back at the film and I hear the commentators saying, “Hey, what’s he waiting for? There’s no more timeouts, he has to give them an opportunity to get them an offensive rebound.” (But) I wanted the ball. We went into our little stall, but we were down one at the time. I passed it, then said, “Let me get it back.” I’m dribbling and I look up at the clock and it’s about 8 (seconds left), so it’s about time to start making a move. I did my little patented move: hitch, go to the left and pull up at the elbow with about three or four seconds left. Against my buddy. He did a wave-by to try to contest the shot. But, just, that laser-focus.
FINAL FOUR FLASHBACKS PART II: 1984-85 Memphis State basketball team beat UCLA early in season
Mitchell: Andre hit the big shot, then I’m like, “Here we go again, this little nemesis right here.” He’s my guy, though. Love him to death.
Turner: There was no doubt I was going to take the shot. I was not going to let it be in anybody’s hands, unless I go to the basket and the big man comes out and double-teams (me). But they pretty much stayed in man-to-man. I’m glad they did.
Mitchell: I’m going to share something with you I’ve never said publicly. I was excited. The game was in Houston. I can’t remember how I hurt my foot in the Michigan State game, but it got so bad overnight I didn’t practice the next day. It was just a pain on top of my foot. If you go back and look at that game, I limped throughout that ballgame. I later found out, when we got back, I had a stress fracture in my foot. I wasn’t 100 percent. I was excited. It was win-or-go-home and it was another crack at Memphis. I was like, “Man, we can get ‘em.” We had it and let it slip away. In the back of my mind, I knew I wasn’t completely healthy. I fought through it and thought I could work it out.
Turner: That postgame was a little special. It was bragging rights. Let’s just be honest: Summertime came, we were all going to have to see each other. We were like, “Naw, can’t let y’all get out.” We couldn’t let that happen.
Mitchell: I remember coach Bartow chasing the ref off the floor. We felt like he got hit and got fouled. (But) the ref swallowed the whistle and the game was over. That one hurt – for a number of reasons. It was the tournament, and we were pretty good that year. I thought the bracket we were in, we could make a little noise. That’s probably one of the only games I’ve ever shed tears over. Yeah, that one hurt. That was a bitter pill to swallow right there.
Turner worked his magic again in the Sweet 16 against Boston College. With 14 seconds left in a 57-57 tie game, Vincent Askew came up with a steal after an in-bounds pass around halfcourt. After pushing the ball up the floor, Askew kicked it out to Turner, who drained the buzzer-beater to send the Tigers to the Elite Eight.
Jim Strickland, a junior at Memphis State in 1985, now the mayor of Memphis: I had three or four huge memories from that year. One of them was Andre Turner hitting that shot against Boston College. The elbow, the free throw line. So clutch. We were relatively high up in the arena. I remember going just crazy. I think it was with one or two seconds left. You’re lucky in life to hit one of those shots in a college career.
Gary Williams, Boston College's coach in 1985, later coached Maryland to the national title in 2002: We did a pretty good job of getting back down (after the turnover), but (Askew) had enough sense to get the ball back to Andre Turner. We were going to isolate for Michael Adams. We just couldn’t get it to him on the in-bounds. That one really hurt. It took awhile to get over. I don’t think we were as good as they were. I mean, every game I coached, I thought we could win. We thought we had an edge, playing our game and scrambling it up for them. But I knew they had a size advantage that would be difficult for us. I coached 44 years and I always tried to learn to be able to pick up on something going into the next season. I still do (coaching) clinics and I still talk about it. You can have the best play set up to run, but you have to get the ball in bounds in order to run the play. After that, we were pretty good at getting the ball in bounds.
Wilfong: I think it’s just absolutely remarkable what Andre did during that stretch. The toughness came out to win those games. There was no tougher player than Andre. He wasn’t scared. He was just tough.
Ron Higgins, Commercial Appeal sports writer in 1985: Nobody played harder than Andre. By the time he was a junior, he was tremendous. He ran that team. They were much better when he was on the floor. A visible difference.
Jeb Hill, Memphis State student in 1985: Andre, his first year, he was Andre “Turnover.” People were crawling all over him. Then, two last-minute shots in the NCAAs to win games. Just a steady, great basketball player.
Wilfong: I remember leaving to go to Lexington and we’re playing Villanova and we’re favored. I’m thinking, “OK, we’re going to beat Villanova.” And, two years earlier, Memphis State had beaten Georgetown (in the first round of the NCAA Tournament), so I liked that matchup. I remember telling my mom, “We’re two games away from shaking hands with President (Ronald) Reagan." I thought we were going to win and go to the White House. We all thought we were going to win.
FINAL FOUR FLASHBACKS PART III: Memphis-Louisville rivalry and the knife-throwing incident
The Villanova game
On March 30, 1985, Villanova (one of three teams from the Big East to reach the Final Four that year, joining Georgetown and St. John’s) ended Memphis State’s season in the semifinals, beating the Tigers 52-45. Dwayne McClain led the Wildcats with 19 points. Turner scored 11 to lead the Tigers.
Turner: I don’t think we looked past Villanova. I think we had a chip on our shoulders. Sports Illustrated had just come out with that magazine cover with that headline, “Big East Feast.” There’s no mention of Memphis State anywhere. Just St. John’s, Villanova and Georgetown. I think we wanted to play Georgetown so bad. But it was Villanova’s tournament. I don’t want to say they were the lesser talented, because they had some guys on that team that could play. But they came in the sure underdog. And I think they used that.
Fowler: I had to try to put the game plan together. And I still kick myself to this day. We changed some things late in the game. We changed Andre to the shooting guard and he had two open looks and missed them. If we had done that earlier, I think we’d have had a chance to win. I didn’t do as good a job planning for that game as I could have.
Turner: There were moments in that game where we had opportunities. Maybe adjustments a little bit earlier, like maybe sticking Vincent at the point and putting me on the wing a little more – because he was hesitant about taking shots. When we actually did make the adjustment, coach (Rollie) Massimino had already made his adjustment. He played a very good, cerebral game. They deserved to win it.
John Clougherty, former NCAA referee, who was part of the crew that worked the game: It’s all about matchups. (Villanova) didn’t play fast. They kind of made you play defense. They took fairly high-percentage shots. I’m not sure they were as talented as Memphis. (Villanova coach Rollie) Massimino may disagree. But it was Villanova’s tournament. Beating Georgetown (in the final) was no fluke. They were sensational.
Turner: Coach Massimino did a great job controlling the game. He was not about to get into an up-and-down with you. He ran that offense. I don’t care if it’s two minutes left. “Let’s wear ‘em down.” He masterminded that.
Jimmy Ogle, Memphis historian and member of the Tigers’ home stat crew in 1984-85: I went to the Villanova game with Phil Cannon (longtime former FedEx St. Jude Classic director, who was also the assistant general manager of the Mid-South Coliseum in the mid-1980s). We drove up there together. We went to Rupp Arena and sat in the upper deck. They shot something like 80 percent for the game or something crazy like that. That was a sad day. There were a lot of expectations. Whatever went wrong that game, I don’t know. It just didn’t seem like we were into it for some reason. Didn’t shoot well. Just weren’t crisp like they usually were.
Harold Byrd, Memphis Rebounders booster club president: After the game was over and we walked out of that place, it’s terrible. You can get to the Final Four, but your chin’s dragging the floor. People were standing outside looking to buy tickets. I said, “Here, man, you’ve got it.” I just gave our tickets to somebody.
FINAL FOUR FLASHBACKS PART IV: The controversial Dana Kirk and the loss at Detroit Mercy
A lasting legacy
Memphis State finished the year 31-4, falling short of the ultimate goal. Despite that — and despite eventually being stripped of the appearance once an NCAA investigation uncovered a number of major rules violations — the memories of that season live on. The contributions from a group of talented Memphians are as valued today as ever. The accomplishments of superstars (like Turner, Lee, Askew and William Bedford) forever etched in the hearts of many Memphis State fans.
Higgins: It’s rare now that you have a team like that one. Most of them were juniors. Now, everybody’s gone after a year or two. The '84-85 team, yeah, Andre was a junior. Lee was a senior. They had experience. These days, you don’t see that much.
Last fall, one of the greatest players to ever suit up for the Tigers, Penny Hardaway, told a group of supporters the 1984-85 team was his favorite team of all-time.
Hardaway, who was 13 in 1985: The city was electric. They were winning. Andre was hitting those big shots. It’s those tournament games where the memories are made.
Bedford, a sophomore center in 1985: He’ll tell you, that’s why he came to Memphis — because of our team. That’s what he told us. He said if it wasn’t for our team, he wouldn’t have came to Memphis.
That season will always be a special one for Turner, whose father died in February 1985. He stayed in Memphis for the funeral, while his teammates played at Kansas – a game they lost 75-71.
Turner: I guess one of the biggest things for me personally, that’s the year my father actually passed. That was kind of an eye-opener. I pretty much dedicated the rest of my basketball – especially that year – but kind of the rest of my career to my dad. That was the only game I ever missed (in college). That’s crazy, thinking about that. I’ve never actually thought about that.
Lee remains one of the most popular and prolific players in Tigers history. The 6-11 center is still the program’s all-time leading scorer (2,408 points) and rebounder (1,336).
Wilfong: We all know we wouldn’t have been in the Final Four if Keith Lee hadn’t been on the team. I haven’t talked to him in a long time. I had a lot of respect for him while we were playing and respect for him as a person. But it’s been unfortunate because he hasn’t been close to a lot of people. I think he’s missed an opportunity to understand how much the city valued what he did and how much the city really loves him. He hasn’t been willing to, kind of, receive that. I wish he would. I wish he’d get back. (But) I’m grateful for the fact that he stuck around for four years and played the way he did.
Hatchell: There was so much respect for Keith Lee. By other players, too. All he had to do was show up and they were all paying attention. Now, they competed. But there was something about Keith. People had a really good respect for him – as a player and a person. He was always the first one they’d go hug after the game.
Hardaway: I’m always going to talk to Keith. He’s a legend. He’s a guy that needs to be treated with the respect he deserves. I don’t think people should ever forget what Keith Lee did for the university. I mean, he was magical for four years. He was consistent for four years. So, never forget that.
Strickland: Basketball is so special in Memphis. The three Final Four teams are even more special. I wasn’t here for ’73, but I’ve read enough about it. I definitely remember ’85. To me, Keith Lee — now, I didn’t see Larry Finch or Ronnie Robinson (play) — but he’s the best ever Tiger career-wise. He played four years and he was just an awesome player. I’m 55 years old and I still get excited the few times I see Keith Lee. I saw William Bedford not that long ago. I was excited to see him. I see Andre quite often. It was a special time with a special team, and it means a lot to me.
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @munzly.
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