Murray State University Athletics
Racer Basketball Hoopalooza & Gottfried Recall Days of Glory
8/14/2013 8:10:00 PM | Men's Basketball
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The greatest tradition in the Ohio Valley Conference was recalled Thursday evening when Murray State men's basketball held its Racer Hooplalooza fundraiser at the CFSB Center in Murray, Ky.
Several former players and coaches returned to Murray State for an event that is expected to become an annual occurrence.
Former coach Mark Gottfried, about to begin his third season at North Carolina State, was this year's honoree at Racer Hooplalooza.
Gottfried coached the Racers to 68 wins in three seasons (from 1995-98) including two trips to the NCAA Tournament. Under Gottfried's guidance, MSU won a then school-record 29 games in 1997-98 and Gottfried was named OVC Coach of the Year.
Returning to his alma mater Alabama for the next 11 seasons, Gottfried led the Crimson Tide to a No. 1 national ranking and was named 2002 SEC Coach of the Year. Gottfried has restored NC State back to prominence and has racked up 48 wins which is second all-time at NCSU for the first two seasons.
"This is a thrill for me to be back," Gottfried said before the evening event started. "We all get too busy with what we're doing and don't take the time to go back to a place you've been at. I'm always connected to Murray State and loved my time here. We had three phenomenal years where I got to coach some great players and the people here were just great. I get asked a lot about Murray State and why they win all the time. It's because it's important here and it was an important part of my career."
Several Racer greats came back to campus and they had a great time seeing fans they knew from their time here and the coaches they played for and teammates they knew.
Jewuan Long, who was part of the Racers' historic 31-2 team from 2011-12 said he enjoyed seeing some of the men that he had only heard fans talk about.
"I'm just honored to be in the presence of all these great players," Long said. "Guys like Bennie Purcell who helped start it. As one of the more recent players, I can tell you we all wanted to keep that tradition going and we wanted to do it for the guys before us because we knew they were watching."
"Murray State is always there for me and even more so now as I get older," MSU all-time leading scorer Jeff Martin stated. "It's a place that has a special place in my life."
After a social hour and silent auction of select MSU memorabilia, the crowd of more than 300 enjoyed a buffet dinner from Racer Hospitality.
The program started with some Coach Gottfried's team during his time at MSU offering up some memories of that great time between 1995-98. Former player De'Teri Mayes and assistant coach Darron Boatright were speakers as was Racer Insider managing editor Lindy Suiter.
A video documenting Gottfried's tenure as MSU coach was played and then the guest of honor took to the podium.
The evening closed in an epic way when a video, summoning the legends of Racer Basketball, showcased 88 seasons of MSU Basketball. The video which can be seen soon on GoRacers.com, featured some 200 different pieces of video, pictures and audio. MSU Athletics video specialist intern Ben Tidwell was the editor of the special video. The project also featured many of the memorable calls that Neal Bradley has delivered in his 18 seasons as the Voice of the Racers.
Bradley ended the evening with a toast to Coach Gottfried and the MSU program that has meant so much for so many.
Some are older, some are not so old. So if they took the court now, could they still play like they once did?
MSU's all-time rebounder Popeye Jones, who is now coaching with the Indiana Pacers, put it like this. "Coach Steve Prohm sent out a text message to every former player and said we were going to play pick up Friday. I immediately answered that I'll just watch!" Something tells us that Popeye and others who wore the blue and gold could still get it done on the court.
The Racer Hoopalooza will head to the golf course Friday morning for a six-man scramble at Murray Country Club starting at 8 a.m.
Dates for the 2014 Racer Hoopalooza will be confirmed at a later. The event is expected to take place in late July or early August of 2014.
