1976–77 Detroit Titans men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 Basketball 1976–77 Detroit Titans Detroit Titans wordmark.png 175 Independent Independent 19 12 25–4 N/A Dick Vitale 4th Smokey Gaines 4th Calihan Hall NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen The 1976–77 Detroit Titans men's basketball team represented the University of Detroit in the 1976–77 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played at Calihan Hall in Detroit. The Titans were led by head coach Dick Vitale, a former assistant coach at Rutgers University, who came to Detroit in 1973. He had quick success at UD, finishing 25-4 in his first season (1973–74), and began to recruit talent to his rising program, bringing guard Dennis Boyd, guard John Long, forward Terry Tyler and guard Terry Duerod to the Titans program, all of whom would eventually play in the NBA.https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/detroit-mercy/1977.html 1976-77 Detroit Titans Roster and Stats College Basketball at Sports-Reference.comhttps://detroithistorical.org/learn/encyclopedia-of-detroit/vitale-dick Vitale, Dick Detroit Historical Society detroithistorical.org The 1976-77 team featured a 21-game Titans winning streak, starting on December 6, 1976, with a 113–45 win over Oakland University, and the streak featured a win over #8 Arizona 70–68, winning on a Boyd shot as time expired, a road victory, 99–94 over Michigan State in East Lansing, and entered the rankings at No. 19, winning over St. Bonaventure 78–62 on February 9, 1977. Gaining national attention, the highlight of the season came on February 16, 1977, as #15 Detroit went on the road to then No. 6 and eventual national champion Marquette. Boyd again performed the last second heroics, as he took the jump shot with two seconds remaining, scoring and giving Detroit a historic 64–63 victory.https://detroittitans.com/news/2017/1/17/mens-basketball-1976-77-reunion-to-feature-special-luncheon-duerod-jersey-retirement-vitale-returning.aspx?path=mbball 1976-77 Reunion To Feature Special Luncheon, Duerod Jersey Retirement, Vitale Returning University of Detroit Mercy Athleticshttps://udtitanbasketball.freeforums.net/thread/359/1976-titans-game-winning-streak 1976-77 Titans 21 Game Winning Streak: Game by Game Detroit Titan Basketball! udtitanbasketball.freeforums.net The Titans would finish the regular season 24-3 and received a bid to the 1977 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament. Detroit defeated Middle Tennessee in the opening round, with a double-double of 29 points and 15 rebounds from Terry Tyler, and would then lose to the Michigan Wolverines 86–81 in the regional semi-finals.https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/boxscores/1977-03-13-detroit-mercy.html Middle Tennessee vs. Detroit Mercy Box Score, March 13, 1977 College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com The Titans finished with a stellar record of 25–4 and a final # 12 ranking on the season. (A December 1976 loss against Minnesota was subsequently turned into a win, when Minnesota forfeited the game, thus the official record is 26–3 and not 25–4).http://web1.ncaa.org/stats/StatsSrv/careercoach NCAA Career Statistics On the season, Tyler averaged a double-double of 17.4 ppg, 11.0 rpg, Long paced the team's scoring with 20.3 ppg, Duerod contributed 11.3 ppg, Boyd, 10.3 ppg, and forward Ron Bostick added 7.1 ppg. Vitale would be promoted to athletic director at the university after the season and would leave to coach the Detroit Pistons in the NBA in 1978. Smokey Gaines replaced him as head coach for 1977–78 season and led Detroit to a stellar 25–4 record and a #18 ranking with Tyler, Duerod, and Long leading the team, but were denied an NCAA bid and played in the 1978 NIT. The Titans would return to the 1979 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament, with Duerod and future NBA center Earl Cureton leading the Titans. Detroit lost to Lamar 95–87 in the first round.https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/detroit-mercy/1979.html 1978-79 Detroit Titans Roster and Stats Sports-Reference.com 28 February 2022https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/detroit-mercy/1978.html 1977-78 Detroit Titans Roster and Stats Sports-Reference.com 28 February 2022 Detroit finished ranked No. 20 on the season.https://www.hometownlife.com/story/sports/2017/02/03/u-d-recognize-76-77-sweet-16-mens-basketball-team/97364872/ U-D to recognize '76-'77 Sweet 16 men's basketball team Marty Budner Observer and Eccentric Newspapers and Hometown Weeklieshttps://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/college/2017/02/09/detroit-mercy-honor-special-team-duerod/97703426/ Detroit Mercy to honor 'special' '76-77 team, Duerod Tony Paul The Detroit News With the Pistons, Vitale drafted Long and Tyler in the 1978 NBA draft, Duerod in the 1979 NBA draft and would add Boyd as a free agent in 1978 after he was drafted by the New Orleans Jazz in the 1977 NBA draft. Tyler and Long had extensive careers in the NBA and Duerod won a championship playing for the 1980-81 Boston Celtics. Vitale would be fired by the Pistons and become a prominent college basketball announcer.https://detroittitans.com/news/2017/2/13/former-titan-student-athletes-1976-77-mens-basketball-team-receives-john-conti-award 1976-77 Men's Basketball Team Receives John Conti Award University of Detroit Mercy Athleticshttps://posteaglenewspaper.com/university-of-detroit-mercy-honors-terry-duerod-and-the-1976-77-team/ University of Detroit Mercy Honors Terry Duerod And The 1976-77 Team – Post Eagle Newspaper At a team reunion, Vitale said, ""The stories get bigger and better. If you had an opportunity to see these guys play, you were in for an incredible thrill. They were special," adding "We had the Motor City in the palm of our hand. They were rocking and rolling. I'm so proud to say I had the golden opportunity to be your coach."https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/college/2017/02/10/vitale-speech-celebrates-duerod-titans-team/97776446/ Vitale speech celebrates Duerod, 1977-78 Titans team Connor Muldowney The Detroit News Vitale was inducted in the University of Detroit Athletics Hall of Fame in 1993 alongside Terry Duerod. Terry Tyler and John Long were honored together in 2001.https://detroittitans.com/honors/detroit-mercy-titans-hall-of-fame Detroit Mercy Titans Hall of Fame University of Detroit Mercy Athletics Roster 1976 Detroit Titans y John Long F 6 5 JR y basketball player Terry Tyler C 6 7 JR y Terry Duerod G 6 1 SO Royal Oak, Michigan y Dennis Boyd G 6 1 SR Ron Bostick F 6 9 SR Jeff Whitlow F 6 6 SO Turono Anderson G 6 3 JR Wilbert McCormick G 6 0 FR Dave Niles G 6 5 FR Keith Jackson C 6 9 JR Wilbur Ross F 6 5 SR Kevin Kaseta F 6 9 JR Mike Robinson G 6 5 Rich McDermott F 6 2 Dick Vitale (Seton Hall) http://web1.ncaa.org/app_data/statsPDFArchive/MBB1/B/Men%27s%20Basketball_Men%27s_Division%20I_1977_184_University%20of%20Detroit%20Mercy.pdf#page=2 2014-01-01 Rankings 1976–77 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings References 2 Category:Detroit Mercy Titans men's basketball seasons Detroit Detroit Detroit Titans men's b Detroit Titans men's b