Transcript of

What's a Titan?

Chris Kim, Reporter:
The Titan Gym has seen its share of victories and disappointments over the years, but one year remains forever in the minds of those who were there. The 1978 Titan basketball team has been remembered as the Cinderella team dubbed “Cal State Who?” for their improbable ride to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament.

This team seemed to lack the talent to strike fear in the opposing players, but who could blame them? Starting for the Fullerton team was a guard who had to shoot jump-shots for his free throws because of his 38% free throw statistic and a center who had to wear welder’s goggles to protect an injured eye. The only player to garner national attention was First Team All-Conference member Greg Bunch. So how did they do it? Remembering the historic team is lifetime Titan fan Tim Holland who was part of a small, but die-hard group of student fans during the team’s run.

Tim Holland, Alumnus:
The big things that you’d realize about the team at that time was Kevin Heenan always making those long shots that just looked like miracle shots that nobody could ever make, and that Tommy Morgan was sometimes a center, sometimes a forward, but he would somehow take a foul better than anybody else. His modus operandi, I guess, was to just take a foul and scoot along as long as possible on his butt after he had been fouled.

Chris Kim, Reporter:
With a number of come-from-behind wins, fans of the team began to chant, “We believe” toward the end of every game. Perhaps the only one not surprised by the team’s victories was Coach Bobby Dye. Coming off a promising but disappointing season, he predicted that this team would be the best Titan Team ever.

These prophetic words would come true, although it wouldn’t be easy. The Titans finished third in their conference, but managed to win the PCAA tournament, which sent them to the national tournament. Although the Titans were an inspiring team, many assumed that they would simply become an afterthought.

Tim Holland, Alumnus:
Being an underdog, we won over a lot of the local people. Al McGuire was one of the announcers for NBC and in one of the games, he called us “Cal State Who,” which, of course, caught on, and he called us the Cherokees. He didn’t even know what our name was. “Here come the Cherokees,” he said. Well, as it turned out, after one of the games, we had an opportunity to be at the same place that he was after the game. As he was going out to his limousine, we made mention that no, we’re the Titans, and he apologized on the air the next day.

Chris Kim, Reporter:
Their first NCAA tournament game took place in Arizona, against nationally ranked New Mexico. As New Mexico led the nation in scoring that year, they felt confident enough to go as far as pre-planning their victory party. However, in spite of lacking any previous NCAA tournament experience, the Titans managed to pull a huge upset in a come-from-behind victory that put them in the sweet sixteen. The team had proven itself worthy, and their fans loved every minute of it.

Tim Holland, Alumnus:
One of the most memorable moments I have of all time of Titan sports is that at the top of our silly little section, there was the president of the school at the time, L. Donald Shields, handing out “Cal State Who?” t-shirts. He was so proud of his team and so proud that Fullerton had actually made it into the limelight, handing out those shirts, but we were just this scrawny little group compared to all the other big name schools.

Chris Kim, Reporter:
The next game in the tournament would pose an even greater challenge. Facing the Titan team in the sweet sixteen was the University of San Francisco. San Francisco was ranked number one in the nation and undefeated for most of the season before slipping to 22-5, and their star player, Bill Cartwright, was known as the nation’s premiere collegiate center. Despite all these odds, the team mounted another come-from-behind victory and reserved a page in the history books with a trip to the Elite Eight.

Tim Holland, Alumnus:
One of the memorable things that everybody who was around them still remembers is the L.A. Times sports page with the big headline that said, “Ready for This? UCLA out, Fullerton in.” When we won those first two games, it was amazing how fast our group of fans swarmed onto the court. I mean, you’ve never a hundred or so people move that quickly, jumping over whatever we jumped over to get to center court and celebrate with the team.

Chris Kim, Reporter:
But this is where the run for the title would end. Perhaps it is fitting that this Cinderella team would end its season in the last few seconds of the Elite Eight game, shrouded in controversy.

Tim Holland, Alumnus:
And there we were, at the crowning point where the Titans are down by one, and Keith Anderson is dribbling. He could have stopped and taken a jump shot, but he dribbled down toward the key and got fouled. Everybody heard it, but they didn’t call it. So Arkansas got the ball back, ran down to the other end, and won the game by three points. But, to this day, I still swear that this is the truth: we were all sitting about twenty rows up in the stands and everybody heard that foul. It was a slap across the wrist that everybody heard. Nobody called it.

Chris Kim, Reporter:
The 1978 Titan team was the only men’s basketball team to ever make it to the NCAA tournament. How does the future look for Cal State Fullerton fans? According to Tim Holland, very optimistic.

Tim Holland, Alumnus:
I think “Who” is back. Every thirty years, just like clockwork, Cal State Fullerton in the NCAA.