1969–70 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team

The 1969–70 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team represented Drake University as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference during the 1969–70 NCAA University Division men's basketball season. The team was led by 12th-year head coach Maury John and played their home games at Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Des Moines, Iowa. The Bulldogs were 14–2 in Missouri Valley Conference play to capture the league title.

1969–70 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball
Missouri Valley Conference Champions
NCAA tournament, Elite Eight
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 9
AP	No. 14
Record	22–7 (14–2 MVC)
Head coach	Maury John (12th season)
Assistant coaches	Dan Callahan Gus Guydon
Home arena	Veterans Memorial Auditorium
Seasons ← 1968–69 1970–71 →

1969–70 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 14 Drake	14	–	2		.875			22	–	7		.759
Cincinnati	12	–	4		.750			21	–	6		.778
North Texas State	11	–	5		.688			18	–	8		.692
Louisville	11	–	5		.688			18	–	9		.667
Tulsa	9	–	8		.529			15	–	11		.577
Bradley	7	–	9		.438			14	–	12		.538
Saint Louis	5	–	11		.313			9	–	17		.346
Wichita State	3	–	13		.188			8	–	18		.308
Memphis State	1	–	16		.059			6	–	20		.231
Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

Drake received a bid to the NCAA tournament where they defeated Houston in the regional semifinal. The Bulldogs would fall short of their second straight Final Four, losing to New Mexico State in the regional final, 87–78.^[2]

Previous season

The Bulldogs reached the Final Four of the NCAA tournament and, with their third-place finish, Drake had their best-ever NCAA finish as of the start of the 2023–2024 season. The Bulldogs completed the season with a 26–5 record and were ranked number 11 in both major polls.

Roster

1969–70 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown F 5 Dale Gordon 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Creston, Iowa G 22 Gary Zeller 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Houston, Texas F 41 Al Williams 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr Peoria, Illinois G/F 42 Jeff Halliburton 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Rockville Centre, New York C 43 Rick Wanamaker 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr Marengo, Iowa	Head coach Maury John Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt

^[3]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Non-conference regular season
Dec 1, 1969*	No. 19	Wisconsin-Platteville	W 106–80	1–0	Veterans Memorial Auditorium  Des Moines, Iowa
Dec 6, 1969*	No. 19	Iowa State	W 86–62	2–0	Veterans Memorial Auditorium  Des Moines, Iowa
Dec 8, 1969*		Pacific	W 78–76	3–0	Veterans Memorial Auditorium  Des Moines, Iowa
Dec 11, 1969*		at No. 12 Marquette	L 70–72	3–1	Milwaukee Arena  Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Dec 13, 1969*		Los Angeles State	W 115–109	4–1	Veterans Memorial Auditorium  Des Moines, Iowa
Dec 16, 1969*		Nevada	W 101–75	5–1	Veterans Memorial Auditorium  Des Moines, Iowa
Dec 20, 1969*		at Minnesota	L 76–79	5–2	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, Minnesota
Dec 22, 1969*		at Iowa	L 78–101^[4]	5–3	Iowa Field House  Iowa City, Iowa
Dec 28, 1969*		vs. San Francisco Rainbow Classic	L 67–69	5–4	Neal S. Blaisdell Center  Honolulu, Hawaii
Dec 29, 1969*		vs. Hawaii Rainbow Classic	W 102–76	6–4	Neal S. Blaisdell Center  Honolulu, Hawaii
Missouri Valley Conference regular season
Jan 3, 1970		Saint Louis	W 80–78	7–4 (1–0)	Veterans Memorial Auditorium  Des Moines, Iowa
Jan 5, 1970		Memphis State	W 72–62	8–4 (2–0)	Veterans Memorial Auditorium  Des Moines, Iowa
Jan 8, 1970		Wichita State	W 98–85	9–4 (3–0)	Veterans Memorial Auditorium  Des Moines, Iowa
Jan 10, 1970		at Tulsa	W 77–73	10–4 (4–0)	Expo Square Pavillion  Tulsa, Oklahoma
Jan 14, 1970		at Bradley	W 65–55	11–4 (5–0)	Robertson Memorial Field House  Peoria, Illinois
Jan 17, 1970		Cincinnati	W 63–57	12–4 (6–0)	Veterans Memorial Auditorium  Des Moines, Iowa
Jan 24, 1970		No. 18 Louisville	W 86–75	13–4 (7–0)	Veterans Memorial Auditorium  Des Moines, Iowa
Jan 29, 1970	No. 16	North Texas State	W 95–84	14–4 (8–0)	Veterans Memorial Auditorium  Des Moines, Iowa
Jan 31, 1970	No. 16	at Memphis State	W 82–76	15–4 (9–0)	Mid-South Coliseum  Memphis, Tennessee
Feb 6, 1970*	No. 13	at Tulane	W 98–92	16–4	Avron B. Fogelman Arena  New Orleans, Louisiana
Feb 10, 1970	No. 11	at North Texas State	L 81–93	16–5 (9–1)	North Texas Men's Gym  Denton, Texas
Feb 12, 1970	No. 11	Bradley	W 68–65	17–5 (10–1)	Veterans Memorial Auditorium  Des Moines, Iowa
Feb 19, 1970	No. 17	at Wichita State	W 90–83	18–5 (11–1)	Levitt Arena  Wichita, Kansas
Feb 21, 1970	No. 17	Tulsa	W 80–74	19–5 (12–1)	Veterans Memorial Auditorium  Des Moines, Iowa
Feb 24, 1970	No. 16	at Cincinnati	L 72–88	19–6 (12–2)	Armory Fieldhouse  Cincinnati, Ohio
Feb 28, 1970	No. 16	at Louisville	W 79–73	20–6 (13–2)	Freedom Hall  Louisville, Kentucky
Mar 5, 1970	No. 14	at Saint Louis	W 85–80	21–6 (14–2)	St. Louis Arena  St. Louis, Missouri
NCAA tournament
Mar 12, 1970*	No. 14	vs. No. 12 Houston	W 92–87	22–6	Allen Fieldhouse  Lawrence, Kansas
Mar 14, 1970*	No. 14	vs. No. 5 New Mexico State	L 78–87	22–7	Allen Fieldhouse  Lawrence, Kansas
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

^[5]

Rankings

Main article: 1969–70 NCAA University Division men's basketball rankings

^[6]

NBA draft

Main article: 1970 NBA draft

^[7]

References

1. "1969-70 Missouri Valley Conference Season Summary". Sports Reference. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
2. "N. Mexico State Tops Drake, 87-78". The New York Times. March 15, 1970. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
3. "1969-70 Men's Basketball Roster". Drake University Athletics. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
4. "Hawks Blast Rival Drake, 101-78" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. December 23, 1969. p. 3. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
5. "1969-70 Men's Basketball Schedule". Drake University Athletics. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
6. ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 769–770. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
7. "1970 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved August 3, 2023.