1969–70 Jacksonville Dolphins men's basketball team

1969–70 Jacksonville Dolphins men's basketball
1969–70 Jacksonville Dolphins men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Runner-up; Mideast Regional Champions
National Championship Game, ; L 69-80 vs. UCLA
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 5
AP	No. 4
Record	27–2
Head coach	Joe Williams (6th season);
Assistant coaches	Tom Wasdin (4th season); Bill Coulthart (1st season);
Home arena	Jacksonville Coliseum
	Seasons ← 1968–69 1970–71 →

The 1969–70 Jacksonville Dolphins men's basketball team represented Jacksonville University during the 1969–70 NCAA University Division basketball season. The independent Dolphins were led by sixth-year head coach Joe Williams and played their home games at the Jacksonville Coliseum.

1969–70 NCAA University Division men's basketball independents standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 4 Jacksonville		–		–	27	–	2	.931
No. 5 New Mexico State		–		–	27	–	3	.900
No. 8 Marquette		–		–	26	–	3	.897
No. 3 St. Bonaventure		–		–	25	–	3	.893
No. 11 Florida State		–		–	23	–	3	.885
No. 12 Houston		–		–	25	–	5	.833
Army		–		–	22	–	6	.786
No. 17 Niagara		–		–	22	–	7	.759
No. 16 Utah State		–		–	22	–	7	.759
Villanova		–		–	22	–	7	.759
No. 9 Notre Dame		–		–	21	–	8	.724
St. John's		–		–	21	–	8	.724
Georgetown		–		–	18	–	7	.720
Duquesne		–		–	17	–	7	.708
Dayton		–		–	19	–	8	.704
Manhattan		–		–	18	–	8	.692
Hardin–Simmons		–		–	17	–	9	.654
Holy Cross		–		–	16	–	9	.640
Long Island		–		–	16	–	9	.640
Georgia Tech		–		–	17	–	10	.630
Creighton		–		–	15	–	10	.600
Seattle		–		–	15	–	10	.600
Boston University		–		–	14	–	10	.583
Butler		–		–	15	–	11	.577
Oklahoma City		–		–	17	–	13	.567
Fairleigh Dickinson		–		–	13	–	10	.565
Southern Illinois		–		–	13	–	10	.565
Colgate		–		–	14	–	11	.560
Providence		–		–	14	–	11	.560
Denver		–		–	13	–	11	.542
Loyola (IL)		–		–	13	–	11	.542
Penn State		–		–	13	–	11	.542
Rutgers		–		–	13	–	11	.542
Saint Peter's		–		–	13	–	11	.542
Northern Illinois		–		–	13	–	12	.520
Air Force		–		–	12	–	12	.500
Fairfield		–		–	12	–	12	.500
Iona		–		–	12	–	12	.500
NYU		–		–	12	–	12	.500
Pittsburgh		–		–	12	–	12	.500
Saint Francis (PA)		–		–	12	–	12	.500
Syracuse		–		–	12	–	12	.500
DePaul		–		–	12	–	13	.480
West Texas State		–		–	12	–	13	.480
Loyola (LA)		–		–	12	–	14	.462
Boston College		–		–	11	–	13	.458
Virginia Tech		–		–	10	–	12	.455
St. Francis (NY)		–		–	9	–	12	.429
West Virginia		–		–	11	–	15	.423
Canisius		–		–	9	–	13	.409
Fordham		–		–	10	–	15	.400
Seton Hall		–		–	10	–	15	.400
Marshall		–		–	9	–	14	.391
Miami (FL)		–		–	9	–	17	.346
Centenary		–		–	8	–	16	.333
Pan American		–		–	8	–	16	.333
Detroit		–		–	7	–	18	.280
Tulane		–		–	5	–	18	.217
Xavier		–		–	5	–	20	.200
Navy		–		–	4	–	19	.174
Portland		–		–	4	–	22	.154

Rankings from AP Poll

The sixth-ranked Dolphins finished the regular season at 23–1 (.958) and were invited to the NCAA tournament. In the Mideast regional, they defeated Western Kentucky, No. 7 Iowa, and No. 1 Kentucky to advance to the Final Four; through 2021, it remains the program's only trip. The Dolphins defeated No. 3 St. Bonaventure to advance to the national championship game against second-ranked UCLA; the Bruins won their fourth straight NCAA title, and Jacksonville ended the season at 27–2 (.931) overall.^[1]

Previous season

Jacksonville finished the 1968–69 season at 17–7 (.708).^[2]

Season summary

The Dolphins were led by 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) center Artis Gilmore. A two-time All-America honoree (in 1969–70 and 1970–71), Gilmore led the nation in rebounding both seasons. He finished his career with 1,312 points (24.3 average) and 1,224 rebounds (22.7).^[3]^[4]^[5]

The game against Georgetown on December 18 was stopped with 1:23 remaining in the first half following successive brawls between players from both teams and fans.^[6]^[7] Georgetown head coach Jack Magee pulled his team from the court and Jacksonville was awarded the win.^[6]^[8]

The Dolphins lost the national championship game to UCLA despite taking an early lead.^[9]^[10] UCLA narrowed the lead and took over with 1:20 left in the first half. The Bruins never trailed again as they pulled away for the 80–69 win.^[9]

Roster

1969–70 Jacksonville Dolphins men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G		Rusty Baldwin	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	—	So
F		Mike Blevins	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	—
PF	42	Pembrook Burrows	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	—	Jr
		Chip Dublin	—	—	Jr
C	53	Artis Gilmore	7 ft 2 in (2.18 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	Jr	Chipley, Florida
G		Dan Hawkins	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	—	Sr
F		Curtis Kruer	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	—	So
G		Rod McIntyre	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	—	Sr
G	24	Rex Morgan	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Sr	Charleston, Illinois
F		Gregg Nelson	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	—	Jr
		Ken Selke	—	—	Sr
G		Vaughn Wedeking	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	—	Jr

Head coach

Joe Williams

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Source^[11]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
December 1, 1969*		East Tennessee State Sunshine Classic semifinal	W 92–74	1–0	–	–	–	Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum Jacksonville, FL
December 2, 1969*		Morehead State Sunshine Classic championship	W 117–63	2–0	–	–	–	Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum Jacksonville, FL
December 9, 1969*		Mercer	W 102–62	3–0	–	32 – Gilmore	–	Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum Jacksonville, FL
December 13, 1969*		St. Thomas (FL) Sunshine Classic championship	W 130–65	4–0	–	30 – Gilmore	–	Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum Jacksonville, FL
December 18, 1969*	No. 18	Georgetown	W 41–26	5–0	–	–	–	Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum Jacksonville, FL
December 22, 1969*	No. 18	Harvard	W 103–64	6–0	–	–	–	Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum Jacksonville, FL
December 26, 1969*	No. 13	vs. Arizona Evansville Invite semifinal	W 104–72	7–0	–	–	–	Roberts Municipal Stadium Evansville, IN
December 27, 1969*	No. 13	vs. Evansville Evansville Invite championship	W 100–70	8–0	–	–	–	Roberts Municipal Stadium Evansville, IN
January 2, 1970*	No. 10	at Hawaii	W 100–78	9–0	–	–	–	Neal S. Blaisdell Center Honolulu, HI
January 5, 1970*	No. 10	at Hawaii	W 63–58	10–0	–	–	–	Neal S. Blaisdell Center Honolulu, HI
January 9, 1970*	No. 7	Richmond	W 113–77	11–0	–	–	–	Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum Jacksonville, FL
January 10, 1970*	No. 7	Miami	W 121–87	12–0	–	–	–	Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum Jacksonville, FL
January 16, 1970*	No. 6	Virgin Islands	W 114–66	13–0	–	–	–	Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum Jacksonville, FL
January 27, 1970*	No. 6	at No. 18 Florida State	L 83–89	13–1	–	–	–	Tully Gymnasium Tallahassee, FL
January 30, 1970*	No. 6	Saint Peter's	W 121–101	14–1	46 – Gilmore	30 – Gilmore	–	Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum Jacksonville, FL
February 2, 1970*	No. 8	Iona	W 110–75	15–1	–	–	–	Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum Jacksonville, FL
February 5, 1970*	No. 8	at East Carolina	W 111–94	16–1	–	–	–	Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum Greenville, NC
February 6, 1970*	No. 8	at Richmond	W 88–49	17–1	–	–	–	Richmond Arena Richmond, VA
February 13, 1970*	No. 7	at Oklahoma City	W 103–83	18–1	–	–	–	Frederickson Fieldhouse Oklahoma City, OK
February 14, 1970*	No. 7	at Loyola (LA)	W 96–75	19–1	–	–	–	The Field House New Orleans, LA
February 18, 1970*	No. 6	No. 18 Florida State	W 85–81	20–1	–	–	–	Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum Jacksonville, FL
February 24, 1970*	No. 6	Oklahoma City	W 77–75	21–1	–	–	–	Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum Jacksonville, FL
February 26, 1970*	No. 6	at Georgia Tech	W 86–81	22–1	–	–	–	Alexander Memorial Coliseum Atlanta, GA
March 2, 1970*	No. 6	at Miami	W 108–97	23–1	–	–	–	Miami Beach Convention Center Miami, FL
NCAA Tournament
March 7, 1970*	No. 6	vs. No. 12 Western Kentucky Regional Quarterfinal	W 109–96	24–1	30 – Gilmore	19 – Gilmore	–	University of Dayton Arena Dayton, OH
March 12, 1970*	No. 4	vs. No. 7 Iowa Regional semifinal	W 104–103	25–1	30 – Gilmore	17 – Gilmore	–	St. John Arena Columbus, OH
March 14, 1970*	No. 4	vs. No. 1 Kentucky Regional final	W 106–100	26–1	28 – Morgan	20 – Gilmore	–	St. John Arena Columbus, OH
March 19, 1970* 7:40 pm	No. 4	vs. No. 3 St. Bonaventure National semifinal	W 91–83	27–1	29 – Gilmore	21 – Gilmore	–	Cole Fieldhouse (14,380) College Park, MD
March 21, 1970* 4:00 pm	No. 4	vs. No. 2 UCLA National Championship Game	L 69–80	27–2	19 – Gilmore	16 – Gilmore	–	Cole Fieldhouse (14,380) College Park, MD
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ME=Mideast. All times are in Eastern time.

Source:^[12]^[13]

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked т = Tied with team above or below
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Final
AP	—	18	18	13	10	7	6	6	6	8	7	6	6	6	4
Coaches	—	20-т	19	19	10	7	7	6	6	8	7	6	6	6	5

Awards and honors

Artis Gilmore – Second-Team All-American, AP, NABC and UPI

Team players in the 1970 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
2	21	Rex Morgan	Boston Celtics

^[14]

References

^ "Fourth straight for Bruins". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. March 22, 1970. p. 1, sports.
^ "1968-69 Jacksonville Dolphins Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
^ "Jacksonville University". Archived from the original on February 23, 2018. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
^ "1969-70 Jacksonville Dolphins Roster and Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
^ "Jacksonville Dolphins Men's Basketball Stat Sheet" (PDF). Jacksonville University. 1970. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 28, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
^ ^a ^b "Desert Sun 19 December 1969 — California Digital Newspaper Collection". cdnc.ucr.edu. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
^ "Georgetown Five Forfeits Game as Fight Halts Play (Published 1969)". The New York Times. December 19, 1969. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
^ "Georgetown flees cage 'battle'". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 19, 1969. p. 3B.
^ ^a ^b "4TH CROWN IN ROW". The New York Times. March 22, 1970. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
^ Jares, Joe (March 30, 1970). "Victory by mystique". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
^ "1969-70 Jacksonville Dolphins Roster and Stats". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
^ "1969-70 Jacksonville Dolphins Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
^ "1969-70 Men's Basketball Schedule". Jacksonville University. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
^ "1970 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved December 8, 2019.

[fsfbr-1] "Fourth straight for Bruins". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. March 22, 1970. p. 1, sports.

[2] "1968-69 Jacksonville Dolphins Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2021.

[3] "Jacksonville University". Archived from the original on February 23, 2018. Retrieved February 22, 2018.

[4] "1969-70 Jacksonville Dolphins Roster and Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved December 28, 2016.

[5] "Jacksonville Dolphins Men's Basketball Stat Sheet" (PDF). Jacksonville University. 1970. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 28, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2016.

[:0-6] "Desert Sun 19 December 1969 — California Digital Newspaper Collection". cdnc.ucr.edu. Retrieved February 5, 2021.

[7] "Georgetown Five Forfeits Game as Fight Halts Play (Published 1969)". The New York Times. December 19, 1969. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 5, 2021.

[gtfcb-8] "Georgetown flees cage 'battle'". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 19, 1969. p. 3B.

[:1-9] "4TH CROWN IN ROW". The New York Times. March 22, 1970. Retrieved December 10, 2019.

[10] Jares, Joe (March 30, 1970). "Victory by mystique". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved December 10, 2019.

[11] "1969-70 Jacksonville Dolphins Roster and Stats". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2021.

[12] "1969-70 Jacksonville Dolphins Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved February 5, 2021.

[13] "1969-70 Men's Basketball Schedule". Jacksonville University. Retrieved February 5, 2021.

[14] "1970 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved December 8, 2019.

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1969–70 Jacksonville Dolphins men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Runner-up Mideast Regional Champions
National Championship Game, L 69-80 vs. UCLA
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 5
AP	No. 4
Record	27–2
Head coach	Joe Williams (6th season)
Assistant coaches	Tom Wasdin (4th season) Bill Coulthart (1st season)
Home arena	Jacksonville Coliseum
Seasons ← 1968–69 1970–71 →