Reflections of a Lifelong Friar Fan: The Early '70s

From closing out Alumni Hall, to the arrival of Ernie D. and Marvin, to acts like Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd at the Civic Center, Craig Leighton takes a look back at Providence and the early 1970s.

Heading into the 1970s, Providence’s basketball program was at a crossroads. Jimmy Walker was long gone, and Joe Mullaney was off in Los Angeles leading the Lakers. Recruiting had turned mediocre at best. Many Friar fans were left wondering if the glory days of PC basketball were in the past. 

However, as the ‘70s approached things were about to change in a big way. Three major events happened which vaulted Providence basketball into one of the powers of the East. 

When Joe Mullaney left for the Lakers Providence hired his former assistant, Dave Gavitt, to be the new head coach. Gavitt was a basketball visionary who not only lifted the Friar program to new heights, but he was the one basketball mind to envision a new basketball conference centered around the very best hoops programs in the East.

Then came the opening of the Providence Civic Center in 1972. The Friars went from crowds of 3,000 at Alumni Hall to packing the Civic Center with over 12,000 fans. 

Cities the size of Providence did not have large downtown arenas during this time. As a result, the major college basketball powers in the East were still playing in small on campus arenas. This turned into a huge advantage for the Friars. Providence was able to host such national powers such as Oregon, Purdue, Texas, Michigan, Louisville, Wisconsin, North Carolina, California, Florida, Virginia, and Duke, while other Eastern teams had to stick to regional rivalries during the ‘70s.

In large part because of the Civic Center, the city of Providence became one of the hubs of basketball in the 1970s. Providence was host to the NCAA Eastern Regionals in 1975 and 1978. The Boston Celtics played two games in Providence during the Civic Center’s first year, and nine games the next. 

Friar great Jimmy Walker scored 12 points playing for the Rockets against the Cs in 1973. Hall of Famer Dave Cowens had a monster night for the Cs that day, going for 20 points, 32 rebounds, and nine assists. Cowens apparently loved the Civic Center — he grabbed 52 rebounds in two games there that season.

That second year included games against the Buffalo Braves in which the Braves in effect became the home team, as Providence legend Ernie DiGregorio returned home twice that season. The Civic Center also saw a Bucks team featuring Oscar Robertson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (28 points, 21 rebounds) come to town, as well Pete Maravich and the Hawks. That Celtics team, coached by Tom Heinsohn, won the NBA title that year.

At one point in the ‘70s the Kentucky Colonels of the ABA were working out the final details of moving their team to Providence. The move ultimately fell through, as the ABA would dissolve soon after. 

The Civic Center was not just the college basketball capital of New England. During the eight months between PC’s first and second seasons at PCC, the following artists played in there: Pink Floyd, Sonny and Cher, Rod Stewart, James Taylor, Little Richard, The Guess Who, Frank Zappa, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, Roberta Flack, Chicago, Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, The Jackson 5, Led Zeppelin, Santana, Jethro Tull, The Grateful Dead, Liza Minelli, and The Edgar Winter Group. 

Not too bad. 

Providence was both the college basketball and the concert capital of New England due to the Providence Civic Center.

The third thing that brought PC back to prominence and formed the foundation for the Friars to become the dominant basketball power in the East was the emergence of two All American local players: Ernie D. and Marvin Barnes. Ernie would go on to be the 1974 NBA Rookie of the Year and Marvin Barnes would be the 1975 ABA Rookie of the Year. Both were top three picks in the NBA Draft, with Ernie D. going third to Buffalo in ‘73, and Barnes #2 to Philadelphia in 1974.

The first inkling I had that PC had turned the corner was during the 1969-70 season. My father took me to see the PC freshmen team take on the URI frosh. Ernie D. put on a clinic that day.

Right from the very beginning I was amazed. I had never seen a player with his court vision, passing ability, and ball handling skills. He was absolutely amazing throwing no look behind-the-back passes as easily as a normal player would throw a basic chest pass. When he was dribbling the ball it was just an extension of his arm — and this was in the days when the rules for palming the ball weren’t as loosely reinforced.

In addition, Nehru King demonstrated an athletic ability I had never seen from a Providence player. I was afraid he was going to bang his head against the rim on certain plays. With these two players (and others) the future was getting brighter for the Friars.

Indeed, PC returned to respectability the next season. DiGregorio, King, Fran Costello, and Charley Crawford joined holdovers Jim Larranaga, Vic Collucci, and Ray Johnson to lead PC to a 20-8 record and a place in the NIT. This was just the beginning of the resurgence. 

The next year Barnes joined the team. Barnes was a graceful 6’8 center who was a ferocious rebounder with a variety of moves in the lane. His inside game was a perfect complement to Ernie’s outside shooting and overall wizardry. Marvin finished his first season averaging 21.6 points and 15.7 rebounds per game, while Ernie averaged 17.7 points and 7.9 assists in 1971-72. The Friars finished with a 21-6 record, but unfortunately lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to the University of Pennsylvania, 76-60.

That was the final year that PC played regular season games at Alumni Hall.

During the past couple of seasons at Alumni I was finally able to see the Friars play live a couple of times, as my father was able to get single seats to a couple of games. My father and I were seated in different sections, but we didn’t mind because we got to see the Friars in-person.

Anticipation for the 1972-73 season was unreal. The 12,000 seat Providence Civic Center was set to open, and PC was playing all their home games there — led by a pair of local stars in Marvin and Ernie D. PC added the final piece to their team when Kevin Stacom, a transfer from Holy Cross, became the final member of Providence’s “Big Three.”

I was ready for this highly-anticipated season as well. During the previous year I was able to save up $42.00 and got my season ticket in Section 110, Row A, Seat 10. I was too young to drive, so my father dropped me off and picked me up from every game. 

It ended up being money well spent. Little did anyone realize that our expectations for that season would only scratch the surface of what Providence was going to accomplish over the next couple of years.