1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball season

1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
Preseason AP #1	Duke Blue Devils
NCAA Tournament	1979
Tournament dates	March 9, 1979– March 26, 1979
National Championship	Special Events Center Salt Lake City, Utah
NCAA Champions	Michigan State Spartans
Helms National Champions	Michigan State Spartans
Other champions	Indiana Hoosiers (NIT)
Player of the Year (Naismith, Wooden)	Larry Bird, Indiana State
Player of the Year (Helms)	Larry Bird, Indiana State
NCAA Division I basketball seasons «1977–78  1979–80»

Season outlook

Pre-season polls

Main article: 1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

The top 20 from the AP Poll during the pre-season.

Associated Press Ranking Team 1 Duke (38) 2 UCLA (8) 3 Notre Dame (1) 4 Louisville 5 Kansas (1) 6 Texas 7 Michigan State 8 Michigan 9 Syracuse 10 Indiana 11 Kentucky 12 NC State 13 USC 14 LSU 15 Rutgers 16 North Carolina 17 San Francisco 18 Marquette 19 Alabama 20 UNLV

UPI Coaches Ranking Team 1 Duke 2 UCLA 3 Notre Dame 4 Michigan State 5 Louisville Kansas 7 Texas 8 Michigan 9 NC State 10 USC 11 Indiana 12 North Carolina 13 Syracuse 14 Kentucky 15 Alabama 16 San Francisco 17 LSU 18 Rutgers 19 Minnesota 20 Marquette

Conference membership changes

The 1978–79 season was most notable for the expansion of the Pacific-8 Conference to 10 members with the addition of the men's athletic programs of Arizona and Arizona State (the conference did not sponsor women's sports until the 1986–87 school year). The conference duly renamed itself the Pacific-10 Conference.

School	Former Conference	New Conference
Arizona !Arizona Wildcats	WAC	Pac-10
Arizona State !Arizona State Sun Devils	WAC	Pac-10

Regular season

Conference winners and tournaments

Of 22 Division I basketball conferences, 13 determined their league champion with a single-elimination tournament, while seven leagues sent their regular-season champion to the NCAA tournament. The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) did not receive an automatic tournament bid until the 1979–80 season, while the Trans America Athletic Conference (TAAC) received their automatic bid in 1980–81.

Conference	Regular Season Winner	Conference Player of the Year	Conference Tournament	Tournament Venue (City)	Tournament Winner
Atlantic Coast Conference	Duke & North Carolina	Mike Gminski, Duke	1979 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament	Greensboro Coliseum (Greensboro, North Carolina)	North Carolina
Big Eight Conference	Oklahoma	John McCullough, Oklahoma	1979 Big Eight Men's Basketball Tournament	Kemper Arena (Kansas City, Missouri) (Semifinals and Finals)	Oklahoma
Big Sky Conference	Weber State	Lawrence Butler, Idaho State	1979 Big Sky Men's Basketball Tournament	Dee Events Center (Ogden, Utah)	Weber State
Big Ten Conference	Michigan State, Purdue & Iowa	None Selected	No Tournament
East Coast Conference	Temple (East) Bucknell (West)	Michael Brooks, La Salle	1979 East Coast Conference Men's Basketball Tournament	The Palestra (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)	Temple
Eastern Athletic Association (Eastern 8)	Villanova	James Bailey, Rutgers	1979 Eastern 8 Men's Basketball Tournament	Civic Arena (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)	Rutgers
Ivy League	Penn	Tony Price, Penn	No Tournament
Metro Conference	Louisville	Pat Cummings, Cincinnati	1979 Metro Conference Men's Basketball Tournament	Mid-South Coliseum (Memphis, Tennessee)	Virginia Tech
Mid-American Conference	Toledo	Paul Dawkins, Northern Illinois	No Tournament
Missouri Valley Conference	Indiana State	Larry Bird, Indiana State	1979 Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Tournament	Hulman Center (Terre Haute, Indiana)	Indiana State
Ohio Valley Conference	Eastern Kentucky	James Tillman, Eastern Kentucky	1979 Ohio Valley Conference Men's Basketball Tournament	McBrayer Arena (Richmond, Kentucky) (Semifinals and Finals)	Eastern Kentucky
Pacific-10 Conference	UCLA	David Greenwood, UCLA	No Tournament
Pacific Coast Athletic Conference	Pacific	Ron Cornelius, Pacific	1979 PCAA Men's Basketball Tournament	Anaheim Convention Center (Anaheim, California)	Pacific
Southeastern Conference	LSU	Reggie King, Alabama	1979 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament	Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex (Birmingham, Alabama)	Tennessee
Southern Conference	Appalachian State	Jonathan Moore, Furman	1979 Southern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament	Roanoke Civic Center (Roanoke, Virginia) (Semifinals and Finals)	Appalachian State
Southland Conference	Lamar	David Lawrence, McNeese State	No Tournament
Southwest Conference	Texas & Arkansas	Sidney Moncrief, Arkansas (Consensus)	1979 SWC Men's Basketball Tournament	The Summit (Houston, Texas)	Arkansas
Southwestern Athletic Conference	Alcorn State	Larry Smith, Alcorn State	No Tournament
Sun Belt Conference	South Alabama	Rory White, South Alabama	1979 Sun Belt Men's Basketball Tournament	Charlotte Coliseum (Charlotte, North Carolina) (Semifinals and Finals)	Jacksonville
Trans America Athletic Conference	Northeast Louisiana	Calvin Natt, Northeast Louisiana	1979 TAAC Men's Basketball Tournament	Ewing Coliseum (Monroe, Louisiana)	Northeast Louisiana
West Coast Athletic Conference	San Francisco	Bill Cartwright, San Francisco	No Tournament
Western Athletic Conference	BYU	None Selected	No Tournament

Statistical leaders

Points Per Game				Rebounds Per Game				Field Goal Percentage				Free Throw Percentage
Player	School	PPG		Player	School	RPG		Player	School	FG%		Player	School	FT%
Lawrence Butler	Idaho St.	30.1		Monti Davis	Tenn. St.	16.2		Murray Brown	Florida St.	69.1		Darrell Mauldin	Campbell	92.1
Larry Bird	Indiana St.	28.6		Bill Cartwright	San Francisco	15.7		Jeff Ruland	Iona	67.1		Kurt Kanaskie	La Salle	91.7
Nick Galis	Seton Hall	27.5		Lionel Garrett	Southern	15.5		Steve Johnson	Oregon St.	66.1		Jim Krivacs	Texas	91.0
James Tillman	Eastern Kentucky	26.9		Larry Bird	Indiana St.	14.9		Jonathan Green	Tennessee St.	65.6		Tom Orner	Butler	90.9
Paul Dawkins	Northern Illinois	26.7		Larry Knight	Loyola-Illinois	14.3		Wiley Peck	Mississippi St.	64.4		Ron Perry	Holy Cross	90.8

Post-Season Tournaments

NCAA Tournament

Main article: 1979 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

Final Four

	National Semifinals					National Finals
	E9	Penn	67
	ME2	Michigan State	101
						ME2	Michigan State	75
						MW1	Indiana State	64
	MW1	Indiana State	76
	W2	DePaul	74

National Invitation Tournament

Main article: 1979 National Invitation Tournament

Semifinals & Finals

	Semifinals					Finals
		Indiana	64
		Ohio State	55
							Indiana	53
							Purdue	52
		Purdue	87
		Alabama	68

• Third Place – Alabama 96, Ohio State 86

Awards

Consensus All-American teams

Main article: 1979 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans

Consensus First Team

Player	Position	Class	Team
Larry Bird	F	Senior	Indiana State
Mike Gminski	C	Junior	Duke
David Greenwood	F	Senior	UCLA
Magic Johnson	G	Sophomore	Michigan State
Sidney Moncrief	G	Senior	Arkansas

Consensus Second Team

Player	Position	Class	Team
Bill Cartwright	C	Senior	San Francisco
Calvin Natt	C	Senior	Northeast Louisiana
Mike O'Koren	F	Junior	North Carolina
Jim Paxson	G/F	Senior	Dayton
Jim Spanarkel	G	Senior	Duke
Kelly Tripucka	F	Sophomore	Notre Dame
Sly Williams	F	Junior	Rhode Island

Major player of the year awards

• Wooden Award: Larry Bird, Indiana State
• Naismith Award: Larry Bird, Indiana State
• Associated Press Player of the Year: Larry Bird, Indiana State
• UPI Player of the Year: Larry Bird, Indiana State
• NABC Player of the Year: Larry Bird, Indiana State
• Oscar Robertson Trophy (USBWA): Larry Bird, Indiana State
• Adolph Rupp Trophy: Larry Bird, Indiana State
• Sporting News Player of the Year: Larry Bird, Indiana State

Major coach of the year awards

• Associated Press Coach of the Year: Bill Hodges, Indiana State
• Henry Iba Award (USBWA): Dean Smith, North Carolina
• NABC Coach of the Year: Ray Meyer, DePaul
• UPI Coach of the Year: Bill Hodges, Indiana State
• Sporting News Coach of the Year: Bill Hodges, Indiana State

Other major awards

• Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award (Best player under 6'0): Alton Byrd, Columbia
• Robert V. Geasey Trophy (Top player in Philadelphia Big 5): Tony Price, Penn & Rick Reed, Temple
• NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in NYC): Nick Galis, Seton Hall

Coaching changes

A number of teams changed coaches throughout the season and after the season ended.

Team	Former Coach	Interim Coach	New Coach	Reason
Arkansas-Little Rock	Happy Mahfouz		Ron Krestenbaum
Austin Peay	Ed Thompson		Ron Bargatze
Dartmouth	Gary Walters		Tim Cohane	Walters left for Providence.
Detroit	David Gaines		Willie McCarter
East Carolina	Larry Gillman		Dave Odom
Eastern Michigan	Ray Scott		Jim Boyce
Florida A&M	Ajac Triplett		Josh Giles
Hofstra	Roger Gaeckler		Joe Harrington
La Salle	Paul Westhead		Dave Ervin	Westhead left to become an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Louisiana Tech	J. D. Barnett		Andy Russo
Loyola Marymount	Dave Benaderet		Ron Jacobs
Marshall	Stu Aberdeen		Bob Zuffelato	Aberdeen died of a heart attack over the offseason, replaced by associate head coach Zuffelato.
Massachusetts	Jack Leaman		Ray Wilson
Memphis State	Wayne Yates		Dana Kirk
Middle Tennessee State	Jimmy Earle		Stan Simpson
New Mexico	Norm Ellenberger	Charlie Harrison	Gary Colson	Ellenberger was fired following a recruiting scandal. Charlie Harrison served as interim coach for the 1979–80 season and Colson was hired as permanent coach in the 1980 offseason.
New Mexico State	Ken Hayes		Weldon Drew
New Orleans	Butch van Breda Kolff		Don Smith
North Carolina A&T	Gene Littles		Don Corbett
Northeast Louisiana	Lenny Fant		Benny Hollis	Fant retired, turning the program to top assistant Hollis.
Oklahoma City	Paul Hansen		Ken Trickey
Oklahoma State	Jim Killingsworth		Paul Hansen
Oral Roberts	Lake Kelly		Ken Hayes
Pacific	Stan Morrison		Dick Fitchner	Morrison left for USC
Pepperdine	Gary Colson		Jim Harrick	Colson resigned.
Providence	Dave Gavitt		Gary Walters	Gavitt left to concentrate on launching the new Big East Conference.
Robert Morris	Tom Weirich		Matt Furjanic
St. Francis (NY)	Lucio Rossini		Gene Roberti
St. Mary's	Frank LaPorte		Bill Oates
St. Peter's	Bob Kelly		Bob Dukiet
Samford	Fred Crowell		Cliff Wettig
San Diego State	Tim Vezie		David Gaines
San Jose State	Ivan Guevara		Bill Berry	San Jose State tapped Michigan State assistant Berry fresh off the Spartan's national championship.
Southern California	Bob Boyd		Stan Morrison
Tennessee–Chattanooga	Ron Shumate		Murray Arnold
Tennessee Tech	Cliff Malpass		Tom Deaton
TCU	Tim Somerville		Jim Killingsworth
UCLA	Gary Cunningham		Larry Brown
Utah State	Dutch Belnap		Rod Tueller
Vanderbilt	Wayne Dobbs		Richard Schmidt
Virginia Commonwealth	Dana Kirk		J. D. Barnett
Western Michigan	Dick Schiltz		Les Wothke
Xavier	Tay Baker		Bob Staak	Xavier brought in Penn assistant Staak.

References

• Statistical Leaders and Coaching Changes from 1980 NCAA Basketball 84th Annual Guide, (Copyright 1979, NCAA)