I have a basketball with Vol player’s signatures on it that my father gave me. Any info you can give me about this item would be a great help. Spelling may be off some are hard to read.
Dale Ellis
Willdel Burton #40
Don Devoe
Bob Burton
Rob Jones #34
Jack Ferog
John Byers
Tyrone Beamer #10
Kevin Woods #31
Kirk Baker
Dan Fehenmann
Migeon Carter
Mike Johanson
I remember Dale Ellis of course but any help with others would be great.
Dan Federmann passed away in 2019.
He will always be remembered for this:
Posted: March 03, 2015
Thirty-three years ago, Tennessee's basketball team ran a heckuva fast break on LSU.
The Vols return to Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Wednesday night. This team might be familiar with last-second drama, but nothing could match the finish of the game played on Feb. 20, 1982.
"I call it the Great Escape," Bud Ford said last week.
For good reason. Here's the tale.
The visiting Vols won 54-53 on Dan Federman's tip-in at the buzzer.
But first, trailing by a point, they had to go the length of the floor after a stoppage with only a few seconds on the clock.
"As I recall," Don DeVoe said, "there were approximately six seconds. Steve Ray inbounded the ball to Michael Brooks."
What happened from that point will forever live as a great story in Tennessee basketball lore. From LSU's standpoint it will live in infamy.
The clock was late starting when Ray put the ball in play. The extra time allowed Federman, a 6-foot-10 sophomore averaging 4.5 points a game, to tip in a shot launched by Ray.
Then all heck broke loose on a Saturday night.
Long story short, LSU wanted to bring the teams back on court to replay the final seconds. One problem: Tennessee wasn't coming back. The Vols had left the building.
LSU wasn't done yet, but we'll get to that later.
Ford was UT's basketball sports information director. He sat at the official table and kept the UT scorebook.
"I don't think there's any question the clock did not start," he said, "probably until they got to half court. I don't think anybody realized it."
DeVoe, in his fourth year as Tennessee's coach, didn't. He was concentrating on the court. What he saw amazed him.
"Michael Brooks brings the ball up the floor quickly," DeVoe said, "right in front of the LSU bench.
"(LSU coach) Dale Brown jumps up screaming and hollering and points up in the air.
"There's an official trailing the play. Dale reaches out and grabs him but he doesn't even flinch. Dale grabs him and makes him do a 360-degree pirouette. But he doesn't blow a whistle."
So Ray shoots, Federman tips it in, the horn sounds. Tennessee wins.
Didn't it?
Both coaches came to the scorer's table. The lead official asked the official scorer if the basket beat the buzzer. The answer was yes.
"From there, it was chaos," Ford said.
DeVoe got the Vols off the floor. Brown protested vigorously. LSU chancellor James Wharton showed up. The P.A. announcer told fans to stay in their seats, that the final seconds would be replayed.
"I'm still out there tallying up the scorebook," Ford said. "When I heard 'em talking about replaying the final seconds, I immediately went to coach DeVoe.
"To paraphrase, he said, ?We're not gonna be here. Guys, get dressed.' "
Then came a message summoning DeVoe to the officials' dressing room for a summit meeting. DeVoe had no intention of going.
"When the ref calls the game," DeVoe said, "you get out of there. I learned that a long time ago."
They got out of there so fast that John Ward had to abbreviate his postgame report for the Vol Network. DeVoe's father-in-law came to inform Ward the coach wouldn't be making any comments.
"It's a 15-minute show," Ward said. "I did it in eight minutes. I was the last guy to get on the bus. They waited for me."
The bus took the Vols to the Baton Rouge airport. Back at the gym, LSU officials were still fuming.
They persuaded the SEC executive committee to hold a meeting the following Monday at a hotel at the Atlanta airport. LSU proposed replaying the final seconds at the site of the upcoming SEC tournament in Lexington, Ky.
Representing UT at the meeting was Ford and athletic director Robert Woodruff. Ford recalls an elaborate LSU presentation, with slow-motion film.
"They said the timer stood up and threw a towel to signify to stop play," Ford said. "But when they show the (film) you don't see anything.
"I got up to speak. I was supposed to defend Tennessee. Then I saw coach Woodruff motioning to me.
"He said, ?Sit down, Bud, you don't need to say anything else. This thing is over.' "
And so it was. Finally. The SEC quickly ruled in Tennessee's favor.
With the stun-and-run win, the Vols finished 13-5 in league play, sharing the SEC title with Kentucky. They wouldn't share another title for 18 years.
It's a great tale. Maybe there's a lesson in it, too.
If the Vols tip one in at the buzzer Wednesday night, warm up the bus.
Mike Strange (Knoxville News-Sentinel)
