Unforgettable Knights: A Player’s Account of the Legendary Rutgers Final Four Season

The untold story of Rutger’s perfect 26-0 season and historic run through the NCAA Tournament to the Final Four.

It has been fifty years since Rutgers captivated the entire sports world at a time when the northeast was starving for a team to take on the giants of the college basketball world.

Read the true story about each of its players, including Phil Sellers, first team All-American and all-time leading scorer and rebounder; Mike Dabney and Eddie Jordan, arguably the best backcourt duo in all of college basketball at that time; Hollis Copeland and James Bailey, two future NBA stars; and a cast of others, including Mark Conlin, Abdel Anderson, Steve Hefele, Jeff Kleinbaum, Mike Palko, Bruce Scherer, and Stan Nance.

These men played in an iconic gym nicknamed “the Barn,” where every seat was sold and thousands were turned away each and every time they played. The crowds were so loud during the action that paint chips often fell from the ceiling and stopped the game while people swept it up.

This team played during the 1970s when the Vietnam War was raging and the political and social atmosphere around them was full of tension. Despite that challenging time in US history, seven African American and five Caucasian players pulled together and became stronger and more united than ever before.

It all culminates in their first trip ever to the mecca of college basketball, the NCAA Final Four, where they joined college basketball giants Indiana, UCLA, and Michigan to provide fans with a tournament to remember.