Denim Millward
Sports Editor
Before I dive in to the top 5 sports moments in ISU history, I have to disclose a few things.
First, I’m taking a considerable risk doing an article in this format.
The “listicle” format, used ad nauseum by websites such as BuzzFeed and Bleacher Report is the bane of Assistant Professor Dr. Zac Gershberg’s existence.
In addition to being my advisor, Dr. Gershberg teaches two of the final four classes I will ever take at Idaho State University, each required for my impending graduation in May. My hope is that the superb writing contained within this article will dissuade him from flying into a rage and automatically failing me. (Perhaps “bane of his existence” is laying it on just a little bit thick.)
Second, the beauty of being the sports editor of the Bengal and having a regular column is that I call the shots.
I will be fully exercising this power in this article, and want to be completely transparent.
This is the top 5 Idaho State or Idaho State-related sports moments as I see them, and is not meant to be interpreted as the be-all end-all in determining which of the many great achievements by ISU student athletes should be given the most praise.
Do you vehemently disagree with me? Have I made some glaring omission? If you think so, I’d like to hear about it. Email me at ude.usinull@stropsgb and tell me where I screwed up.
Without further ado…
5. Lawrence Butler’s National Scoring Title
The headlines for the 1978-79 men’s basketball season were thoroughly dominated by two names: Michigan State Spartan Earvin “Magic” Johnson and the “Hick from French Lick,” Indiana State’s Larry Bird.
Now household names, the two would go on to wage many a war on the court, both for their respective universities and in the NBA, where Bird’s Celtics and Magic’s Lakers seemingly traded the championship trophy back and forth and engaged in a decade-long rivalry that spawned numerous classic moments.
The fact that a small-town kid such as Butler, a native of Glasgow, Missouri, playing at a small-town school such as Idaho State could steal any accolade away from not one but two all-time greats is incredible: when you take into account it was the scoring title, scoring being the statistic that more than any other determines the legitimacy and effectiveness of a player, the feat becomes downright unbelievable.
Though his name is pasted on the wall of Holt Arena, I find Butler’s story to be one of the more hidden ones. Despite living in Pocatello my entire life, I didn’t learn about Butler’s feat until I took this position last year.
4. ISU alumnus Ed Sanders Wins Gold Medal
Like Butler, the memory of Sanders and his remarkable accomplishments seem to have been eroded from public memory by the passing of time.
A Los Angeles native, Sanders attracted the attention of legendary ISU boxing coach “Dubby” Holt at the National Junior College Boxing Championships in Ogden, Utah.
Sanders, who was boxing for Compton College at the time, ended up being awarded a scholarship to Idaho State, where he boxed and played football.
Sanders never lost a bout in a collegiate dual meet while at ISU, and, after a year-long stint in the Navy, set his sights on the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Finland.
After narrowly qualifying for the Olympics, having to win a bout with a broken hand to earn the final spot, Sanders mowed over the competition, knocking out two of his first three opponents and winning by DQ over future heavyweight champion of the world Ingemar Johansson, who was disqualified for refusing to engage Sanders for the first two rounds.
Sanders was the first African-American heavyweight boxing gold medalist in history, and the first American heavyweight to earn gold since 1904.
Tragically, Sanders died in 1954 after losing and never regaining consciousness during a fight in Boston, Mass.
3. Dragila Wins the Gold
Whether it’s because of proximity or because students traverse Stacy Dragila Way each time they head to Holt Arena, Dragila’s Olympic feats are anything but forgotten.
Prior to her Olympic and World Championship success, Dragila was a heptathlete who was lured to Idaho State by a scholarship offer from track head coach Dave Nielsen.
Though pole vaulting wasn’t an offical women’s event when Dragila was at ISU in 1994, Nielsen convinced her to give it a shot.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Dragila won the first ever women’s pole vault world championship in 1997 in Paris and defended her title two years later in Seville, Spain. At the Sydney Olympics in 2000, Dragila claimed the first-ever gold medal in women’s pole vaulting with a harrowing come-from-behind victory.
Dragila was elected into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2014.
2. Idaho State Football Wins National Championship
The names Dave Kragthorpe and Mike Machurek have existed in my stream of consciousness since long before I knew who they were or even realized their significance (In my defense, the feat for which they are best known occurred three years prior to my birth).
In 1981, the Idaho State football team, coached by Kragthorpe and quarterbacked by Machurek capped off a superb regular season by defeating Eastern Kentucky 34-23 to capture the NCAA Division I-AA national football championship.
Now a team of lore in and around the Gate City, the 1981 Idaho State football team cruised to the national championship game beating their first two opponents, the University of Rhode Island and South Carolina State, by a total of 92-12.
On Dec. 19, 1981 in Wichita Falls, Texas, the Bengals captured the team’s only national championship with their defeat of Eastern Kentucky.
Despite occurring over 33 years ago, I suspect the accomplishment remains prominent in the collective memory of ISU supporters due to the futility of the football team since then, excluding a handful of years here and there. The prominence of collegiate football doesn’t hurt either.
1. Idaho State Basketball Team Defeats UCLA
Despite not being a championship victory, the significance of Idaho State’s improbable upset of the legendary UCLA Bruins is why this feat holds the unbelievable distinction of being number one on my list.
Led by the towering Steve Hayes, the Bengals found themselves in the NCAA championship tournament following the 1977 season.
At the time, the tournament only had 32 teams instead of the 68 it has ballooned to today, making the tournament much more difficult and significant.
After defeating Long Beach State at home in the first round, the Bengals traveled to Provo, Utah to face off against the Bruins, a colossal task to say the least.
Though they were no longer being coached by John Wooden, who many consider to be the best coach of all time, UCLA was still a powerhouse squad led by 1977 National Player of the Year Marques Johnson, and was an enormous favorite over the little team that could, the ISU Bengals.
The 7-foot-center Hayes played the game of his life, scoring 27 and pulling down 12 rebounds to lead the Bengals to the once-in-a-lifetime upset of the Bruins.
“I don’t think anybody gave us a chance to beat them,” Hayes said in a 2007 interview with the Los Angeles Times. “For all of us growing up, all we had ever seen was UCLA win every year.”
The victory ended UCLA’s remarkable streak of 10 consecutive trips to the Final Four.
The Bengals lost in the next round to UNLV, and have only appeared in the tournament once since then in 1987.
The feat, so improbable it would likely be rejected as an idea for a movie for being too unrealistic, is almost certain to never be surpassed in ISU sports lore.
