Then came 1974. Coach Mears had an assistant on his staff named, Stu Aberdeen. Stu recruited Ernie Grunfeld, (who lived in New York City) to play for Tennessee with the promise that he would institute a running offense and that Ernie would have the green light to shoot at will. This was an huge concession to the new recruit but Coach Mears was tired of losing. If it meant he needed to create a caste system for his basketball team, than a caste system it was. But Stu wasn't finished recruiting the New York area, and the following year he recruited Bernie King to play for the Tennessee Vols. The Ernie and Bernie show was born.
Coach Ray Mears is known as the Father of Tennessee Basketball but a lot of people forget that he was also a fantastic showman. From his trademark orange blazer to Harlem Globetrotters like warm-ups, he recognized the importance of generating fan excitement. His new ideas resulted in sellout crowds in the basketball arena. (Don't take my word for it, check out this video of Tennessee playing #4 Kentucky in February 1975) He was also, like many coaches, very superstitious, for instance he insisted that every pre-game meal had to include green jello. He was also the person responsible for several Tennessee athletic traditions such as having the basketball team run through a giant "T" as they enter the court, which was quickly adapted by the football team. He was also responsible for "Rocky Top" becoming Tennessee's default fight song. As well as the slogan, "Big Orange Country."
But back to the Ernie and Bernie show . . . in 1975 the rise of Tennessee basketball coincided with the success of my high school basketball team and I started following both programs with a renewed passion. I was just beginning my work career so time was scarce (and being that there was no internet of course) just finding out scores and schedules was a challenge. The newspaper became my source of information, a habit that continues today. But there was nothing like listening to John Ward call the basketball (and football) games on the radio and the pictures he could paint. Anyway, that year both my high school team basketball team and the Tennessee basketball team made the tournament. The Vols lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament but my high school team ended up 2nd in the state championships that year.
The next year both teams picked-up where they had left off and in the case of the Tennessee Vols, the Ernie and Bernie show was going full steam. The two players together were averaging 50 + points a game and were ranked number 1 and number 2 in scoring in the SEC. National stories were written about the two young men recruited from New York City to play in the South. They both had a mean streak that resulted in enraging the fans and players of the other teams in the SEC. Ernie has been quoted as saying that he thought he had experienced hate in New York but "you've never seen hate until you've seen the SEC".
That year they tied for first in the SEC conference championship, never dropped lower than the Top 15 in the national rankings all year, but still lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament. My high school team however won the state championship that year but that was the pinnacle for both teams. Their magical run over, Ernie and Bernie both left school for the NBA and just like my high school, rebuilding years awaited both programs. Yet, despite not going further than the first round of the NCAA tournament in either the 1975-76 or 1976-77 seasons, the Ernie and Bernie show succeeded in propelling Tennessee basketball into the national spotlight. Both men ended up enjoying successful NBA careers and Tennessee basketball has consistently been in the Top 15 of attendance in the past 30 years.
Now, fast forwarding to present day, Tennessee men's basketball is on the verge of being ranked number #1 in the nation for the first time since the 2007-2008 season. (Tennessee has only been ranked number #1 in the country two times) Here's hoping their 2019 NCAA tournament run will go deeper than any in Tennessee men's history!
