Russell Grieger - The Perfect Season: A Memoir of the 1964-1965 Evansville College Purple Aces

The Perfect Season is a winner! Russ Grieger was part of the 196465 Purple Aces Evansville College perfect season and takes us through that magical time. Grieger also shares how the lessons learned on the court with a team helped him later succeed in life.

Kyle Keiderling, author of Trophies and Tears, The Story of Evansville and the Aces

Russ Griegers poignant memoir is more than just a sports book. It is a book about how a quiet, genius coach and five very different personalities melded to produce something extraordinary, and how one of those personalities came to understand that he was not just a basketball playerhe was a unique person who happened to play basketball.

Tom Tuley, retired journalist

Relying upon his considerable skill as a master psychologist and his unique experience as an integral part of a star-studded national championship team, Russ Grieger not only captures all the excitement and thrills of the Evansville Aces perfect season of 196465 but also provides a very personal and in-depth analysis of what it meant to grow up in Indiana with a passionate love of basketball. Along the way, we get fascinating insider portraits of Coach Arad McCutcheon and superstars Jerry Sloan, Larry Humes, and the rest of that slick and talented team that accomplished the ultrarare feat of an undefeated national championship season. This is the story of a basketball odyssey filled with ups and downs and challenges both internal and externala great story and a great read!

Mike Roos, author One Small Town, One Crazy Coach: The Ireland Spuds and the 1963 Indiana High School Basketball Season

Weve all wondered what really goes on inside a players mind during the tension of a close game, in a wild arena, when big things are on the line. Weve all wondered if these kids have egos and self-doubts. Russ Grieger answers those questions and more while introducing us to one of college basketballs all-time underappreciated great teamsand a season and a coach to match.

Bob Hammel, author of All The Way: NCAA Indiana

Russell Grieger has lovingly captured a time and a placeIndiana a half-century agowhen basketball mattered so much to that part of the world, and when a boy who happened to be very good at the game enjoyed the sweetest season that any player anywhere could dream of.

Frank Deford, author and commentator

The PERFECT SEASON

ALSO BY RUSS GRIEGER

Handbook of Rational-Emotive Therapy: Volume I (with Albert Ellis)

Cognition and Emotional Disturbance

Rational-Emotive Therapy: A Skills-Based Approach (with John Boyd)

Handbook of Rational-Emotive Therapy: Volume II (with Albert Ellis)

The Rational-Emotive Therapy Companion: A Clear, Concise, and Complete Guide to Being an RET Client (with Paul Woods)

Fearless Job Hunting: Powerful Psychological Strategies for Getting the Job You Want (with Bill Knaus, Sam Klarreich, and Nancy Knaus)

The Undefeated Season: The Newspaper Story of the 19641965 Evansville College Purple Aces Basketball Team (with Tom Tuley)

The Couples Therapy Companion: A Cognitive Behavior Workbook

Mastering Unrelenting Drive: A Cognitive Behavior Workbook to Produce Extraordinary Performance and Results (forthcoming)

The PERFECT SEASON

A Memoir of the 19641965

Evansville College Purple Aces

Russell Grieger

AN IMPRINT OF

INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS

Bloomington & Indianapolis

This book is a publication of Quarry Books

an imprint of Indiana University Press

Office of Scholarly Publishing

Herman B Wells Library 350

1320 East 10th Street

Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA

iupress.indiana.edu

2016 by Russell Grieger

All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition.

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.481992.

Manufactured in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Grieger, Russell, author.

Title: The perfect season : a memoir of the 1964-1965 Evansville College Purple Aces / Russell Grieger.

Description: Bloomington : Indiana University Press, [2016]

Identifiers: LCCN 2016018704 | ISBN 9780253022769 (print : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Evansville College Purple Aces (Basketball team)History.

Classification: LCC GV885.43.E83 G75 2016 | DDC 796.323/630977233dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016018704

ISBN 978-0-253-02276-9 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-0-253-02324-7 (ebk.)

1 2 3 4 5 21 20 19 18 17 16

FOR

My father, Russ Grieger Sr.,

who played catch with me by the hour,

rebounded for me on more occasions than I can count,

stood behind me through thick and thin,

encouraged me every step of the way,

cheered me through triumph and adversity,

and lovingly did everything any dad could do,

and so much more.

If youre going to go,
go big time,
or dont go at all.

19641965 Aces slogan

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A s with a successful basketball team, the writing of a book requires the guidance of a great coach. My writing coach turned out to be Jay Kauffmann. I first met Jay when I attended one of his creative writing seminars. I found him to be such an outstanding teacherintellectually astute, technically proficient, professionally inspiringthat I attended several other classes taught by him. Eventually, I prevailed upon him to edit this book. He considered every word on every page, in the process nurturing me along, encouraging me to never settle for good enough, helping me bring out the best I had. I am happy to say that, in addition to being my writing mentor, Jay has become my friend as well.

The curse all creative writers face is a poisonous combination of ignorance and self-doubt: ignorance in that it is hard to see what is missing on the written page, the doubt that what we do see isnt good enough. I have been so fortunate to have had writing teammates who have helped me defeat these twin scourges. I will forever be grateful to Jay Varner and Sharon Harrigan, both teachers extraordinaire, who gave me the kind of information, feedback, and support I found invaluable. Then there were my fellow members of Jay Kauffmanns Baptism-by-Fire writing groupIngrid Alewine, Jay Glick, Annabel Jordan, Sherry Hauff, Amber Marley Padilla, and Amy Wissenkerkeach of whom gave me spot-on feedback, pithy suggestions, and, most of all, generous quantities of reinforcement and humor. Thank you, one and all.

Then there was my Aces family. How does one thank someone when thanks are not enough? To Arad McCutchan, whom I owe for so much more than his talents as a basketball coach. Every day of that glorious basketball season he modeled for me what it meant to be a manthe courage to compete, the value of hard work, the virtue of perspective, the integrity of character. Assistant coach Tom OBrien treated me and all the other guys with unflagging respect, so rare with so many coaches today, making us feel as if we were his partners as well as his players. My affection for him today is a direct result of his unflagging kindness and innate goodness back then. Dr. Paul Grabill was an unanticipated windfall. An Aces fanatic, he took me under his wing, teaching me, guiding me, and cheerleading me onto the path of psychological health and well-being. His passion for life was only matched by his inner wisdom. Each of these men, through their unique ways of being, helped mold me into the person Ive become. I hope, at least in part, I have made them proud.