It was a year Drake will never forget. The 1969 Drake men’s basketball team shot past its competitors to make it into the NCAA Final Four game against UCLA. The team included Dolph Pulliam, FA’69; Willie Wise, ED’69; Willie McCarter, ED’69; and Rick Wanamaker, JO’70, among other all-stars. Coached by Maury John in his 11th year, the Bulldogs were one of the greatest comeback teams in college basketball history. While the team finished last in the 1967 Missouri Valley Conference, they returned only two years later to place third in the national rankings.
In February 2009, Drake officially retired the jerseys of Pulliam, Wise, and McCarter. In honor of the 50th anniversary, the Drake men’s basketball team sported retro jerseys during the Feb. 9, 2019, game. Get your commemorative legends shirt at the bookstore (in store and on their website).