Battle of Backbone Mountain

The 1977–78 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team represented the University of Evansville during the 1977–78 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were coached by first-time head coach Bobby Watson after the departure of Arad McCutchan, who had spent the previous 31 years as coach of the program. Former Purple Aces player Jerry Sloan had previously accepted an offer to become the new head coach but left following five days with the team.^[1] The season was the Purple Aces' first time playing in NCAA Division I after years of success in NCAA Division II competition.^[2]

The Purple Aces lost their first two games of the season against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers and the DePaul Blue Demons.^[3] The Purple Aces' only win of the season came in a home game on December 6, 1977, against the Pittsburgh Panthers.^[4] On December 10, 1977, the Purple Aces lost an away game to the 11th-ranked Indiana State Sycamores.^[4]

On December 13, 1977, all 14 members of the varsity team and some members of the staff were killed in the Air Indiana Flight 216 crash.^[3] The Purple Aces had been travelling to Nashville, Tennessee, to play the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders when the plane crashed shortly after takeoff from the Evansville Regional Airport and killed all passengers on board.^[5] Watson was the only coach on the flight as assistant coaches Mark Sandy, Stafford Stephenson and Bernie Simpson were on scouting assignments.^[6] The only Purple Aces player who was not on the flight, freshman David Furr, was killed in a car accident two weeks later.^[2]^[7]

Roster

1977–78 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G	Warren Alston	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	—	Fr	Goldsboro, NC
F	Ray Comandella	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	—	Fr	Munster, IN
F	Mike Duff	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	—	Fr	Eldorado, IL
G	Kraig Heckendorn	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	—	Fr	Cincinnati, OH
G	Mike Joyner	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	Fr	Terre Haute, IN
G	Kevin Kingston	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	—	Sr	Eldorado, IL
F	Barney Lewis	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	—	Fr	Goldsboro, NC
C	Steve Miller	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	—	Jr	New Albany, IN
C	Keith Moon	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	—	So	Kettering, OH
F	Mark Siegel	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	—	Fr	Indianapolis, IN
G	Greg Smith	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	—	Fr	West Frankfort, IL
F	Bryan Taylor	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	—	Jr	Tell City, IN
G	John Ed Washington	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	Sr	Indianapolis, IN
G	Tony Winburn	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	—	Sr	Jeffersonville, IN

Head coach

Bobby Watson (VMI)

Assistant coach(es)

Mark Sandy
Bernie Simpson
Stafford Stephenson

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: June 26, 2020

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 30, 1977*	Western Kentucky	L 72–82	0–1	Roberts Municipal Stadium Evansville, IN
Dec 3, 1977*	at DePaul	L 71–94	0–2	Alumni Hall Chicago, IL
Dec 6, 1977*	Pittsburgh	W 90–83	1–2	Roberts Municipal Stadium Evansville, IN
Dec 10, 1977*	at No. 11 Indiana State	L 76–102	1–3	Hulman Center Terre Haute, IN
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

References

^ Abrams, Jonathan (May 16, 2013). "Back in the Day: Travel in the NBA". Grantland. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
^ ^a ^b Sciullo, Maria (December 13, 2017). "The sorrows of a 1977 University of Evansville plane crash were felt by many in Pittsburgh". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
^ ^a ^b Lyles Jr., Harry (December 13, 2017). "'Oh my God, it's the Aces': Remembering the University of Evansville plane crash that shook college basketball". SBNation. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
^ ^a ^b "1977-78 Evansville Purple Aces Schedule and Results". Sports-Reference. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
^ Webb, Jon (August 30, 2019). "Plane crashes haunt Evansville — especially these two". Courier & Press. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
^ Johnson, Dave (December 15, 1977). "Evansville Fans, Community Took Watson to Heart". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
^ Rosen, Ron (December 29, 1977). "Traffic Victims: Pride of Shepherd, Evansville Basketballer". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 26, 2020.

[1] Abrams, Jonathan (May 16, 2013). "Back in the Day: Travel in the NBA". Grantland. Retrieved June 26, 2020.

[pg-2] Sciullo, Maria (December 13, 2017). "The sorrows of a 1977 University of Evansville plane crash were felt by many in Pittsburgh". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved June 26, 2020.

[sb-3] Lyles Jr., Harry (December 13, 2017). "'Oh my God, it's the Aces': Remembering the University of Evansville plane crash that shook college basketball". SBNation. Retrieved June 26, 2020.

[sr-4] "1977-78 Evansville Purple Aces Schedule and Results". Sports-Reference. Retrieved June 26, 2020.

[5] Webb, Jon (August 30, 2019). "Plane crashes haunt Evansville — especially these two". Courier & Press. Retrieved June 26, 2020.

[6] Johnson, Dave (December 15, 1977). "Evansville Fans, Community Took Watson to Heart". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 30, 2020.

[7] Rosen, Ron (December 29, 1977). "Traffic Victims: Pride of Shepherd, Evansville Basketballer". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 26, 2020.

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Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball
Venues	Roberts Municipal Stadium (1956–2011) Ford Center (2011–present)
Culture & lore	1977 team plane crash
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
NCAA national championships in bold