Out in Greene County, Iowa

Some all-timers, and some old-timers, helped Iowa State celebrate 100 years of men’s hoops

By CHUCK OFFENBURGER
February 18, 2008
AMES, IOWA

With about 200 former and current Iowa State University men’s basketball players standing together on the Hilton Coliseum floor late Saturday afternoon, public address announcer Tom Kroeschell managed to capture the scene perfectly.

The Iowa State faithful were celebrating 100 years of Cyclone men’s basketball, and players from eight decades were right there. About 50 of them – including some of the oldest in the group – had played in an Alumni Game earlier in the day.

“Cyclone fans,” said announcer Kroeschell, who is also ISU’s associate athletic director for communications, “we’ll never see anything quite like this again!”

That prompted one of many standing ovations from a crowd that was a near sell-out.

There were other great moments, too.

At halftime of the varsity game, eight of the 15 members of the “All-Century Team” were recognized. Able to be on hand were seven of those honorees, and family members of an eighth one – some of the biggest names in Iowa State basketball history: Gary Thompson, Zaid Abdul-Azis, Hercle “Poison” Ivy, family members of the late Barry Stevens, Jeff Grayer, Fred Hoiberg, Kelvin Cato and Jake Sullivan.

Most readers of this Internet site know that I’m now finishing a book on the life and career of Thompson. Titled “Gary Thompson: All-American,” it will be available next fall.

I had no thought that that the 72-year-old Thompson would even consider playing in another basketball game. It had been a dozen years since his wife Janet, with help from then-Iowa State men’s coach Tim Floyd, convinced Thompson he had to give up playing in aggressive noon-hour basketball games in the campus gyms – often against opponents half his age.

“I have not played since I was 60 years old, but they talked me into just coming out and showing up (for this Alumni Game),” Thompson told me last Thursday, when I heard he was going to be lacing up the sneakers again. “I went over to Hilton this afternoon and shot some baskets before the Cyclones started practice. In all the other alumni games I’ve played in over the years,” including some for old Roland High School and and some at Iowa State, “I was always in great shape and thought I could still play well. This time, I will be standing around, and if I get to take a shot, my goal will be to hit the rim!”

In the Centennial Alumni Game on Saturday, he actually moved well and was three-for-three hitting that rim with his first three shots. But none went in the basket. Later in the game, with the crowd still cheering him to shoot again, he did hit a nice shot from the top of the key.

But surprisingly, Thompson was far from being the oldest player in the Alumni Game.

Also suited up were brothers Roy and Ray Wehde, in their mid 80s, natives of Holstein in northwest Iowa. They played for the Cyclones in the early and mid-1940s, around their service in World War II.

And the star of the game turned out to be Freddie Gordon, 89 years old, who was a three-year letterman for the Cyclones from 1939-’41.

The game ended as if it had been scripted.

Fred Hoiberg, the Ames native who became so popular as an Iowa State player in the early 1990s that he was given the nickname “The Mayor,” hit a late 3-pointer and then a minute or so later, had a tip-in at the buzzer to carry the Red team to a 92-90 victory over the White team.

A couple of hours later, it was looking like the Alumni Game might be the basketball high point of the day, because the current Cyclones managed to score only 11 points in the first half of their Big Twelve Conference game against Nebraska. They were trailing by 13 points at the break. After undoubtedly being reminded in the dressing room that some of Iowa State’s greatest players were in the stands watching them, the team came roaring out to score 49 points in the second half and win 60-52.

That was fun, and then came the honors for 100 years of Iowa State basketball alumni. Cyclone Nation was truly aglow as afternoon turned to evening.

The photos below will help tell the rest of the story about the men’s basketball centennial.

You can write the columnist at chuck@Offenburger.com.