Sports Scene By Jim Schulr:
Photographs by Deloye Burre
Rich Yunkus' number 40 jersey has been retired, and "Whack" Hyder bears laurels as Georgia College Coach of the Year—just part of the best basketball season in Georgia Tech History.
The finest week in Georgia Tech Basketball history. That's how the Yellow Jackets wrapped up their best season ever (23-9)—by recording three straight upsets in the National Invitation Tournament before dropping the championship game to North Carolina. Tech's unexpected success in New York's Madison Square Garden was a rewarding climax to a job well done by coaches and players alike. When we last left the Jacket cagers, they were anticipating trips to Charlotte and Hawaii and maybe, just maybe, a post-season tourney berth. The Engineers had some road trouble, however, and managed to beat only North Carolina State, while losing to the Tar Heels once and Rainbows twice. Then, with an uncertain future facing them, coach Whack Hyder's troops regrouped and won their final four regular season May-June 1971
games to earn their second consecutive trip to New York. A lot of folks thought the Jackets would have a short stay in the North when it was learned they would be paired against Eastern power LaSalle, an early NIT favorite. Tech proceeded to send the Explorers back to Philadelphia on an early train, 70-67. Senior forward Tommy Wilson, who was to enjoy an outstanding tournament, had the best night of his career with 21 points on nine of 15 shooting, grabbed 10 rebounds and calmly sank two clinching free throws with three seconds left. Rich Yunkus rebounded from a below-par first half to finish with a game high of 27 points. Tech thus earned the right to challenge strong Big Ten representative Michigan. There was no way the Jackets could stay with the strong, leaping Wolverines. So the
Engineers, playing a nose-to-nose defense and scrapping under the boards, advanced with a 78-70 victory. Upset No. 2. Yunkus scored 27 points for the fourth straight time in the NIT and snared a difficult 16 rebounds. Robert (Peanut) Murphy, who at 6-2 looks slightly out of place at forward, was red-hot early and added 16 points. Wilson contributed 15 and defensive ace Frank Samoylo 10 to Tech's balanced attack. So then came St. Bonaventure, the same Brown Indians who had wrested the Gator Bowl trophy from the Jackets' hands with a last-second 70-68 win in December. This time fortune smiled on Tech and the Jackets moved into the NIT finals by edging the Bonnies, 76-71, in two overtimes. Paul Hoffman had a golden chance to put Tech in the consolation game, but missed two (that's right, a pair of free throws) after the clock had run out on the first extra session. Needing no further # encouragement, the Jackets blitzed St. Bona with seven free throws and a field goal in the second overtime for upset no. 3. Guard Jim Thorne, another senior who has meant much to the Tech basketball scene for the past three years, led the way with a career-high 27 points on 11 of 15 firing. So this was it. The unsung Jackets, finally beginning to be recognized by the New York Press, would play North Carolina, a deep club that had whipped them 87-58 in Charlotte, for the championship of the 34th annual NIT. The tired Engineers gave it all they had, but wound up on the short end of an 84-66 count. It was a finale of streaks. It looked like a total disaster when the Tarheels jumped off to an 8-0 lead in the opening minutes. The Jackets rallied to temporarily pull ahead and were down just 44-40 at intermission. They were back by those same four points with seven minutes left when the Tarheels, more specifically tournament MVP Bill Chamberlain, 27