1983 Marquette Basketball: Hank Raymonds’ Final Run

Hank Raymonds had long been a stabilizing force for Marquette basketball. A coach acknowledged for this tactical shrewdness, he was Al McGuire’s righthand man during the program’s glory years, which included a Final Four trip in 1974 and a national title in 1977. After McGuire’s retirement, which combined with changing winds in college basketball that were making life harder for Midwest independents like Marquette, Raymond continued to be a steadying force. In 1983, he made the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in his six-year tenure as head coach and went off into a well-deserved retirement.

DOC & THE THREE FORWARDS

The Warriors were led by Glenn “Doc” Rivers. The junior guard who would one day become well-known as an NBA starter and even better known for his later success as an NBA head coach, Doc averaged 13 points/4 assists per game.

Rivers was joined by three quality forwards. Dwayne Johnson was a promising sophomore, and he averaged 12 points/6 rebounds per game. Terrell Schlundt and Marc Marotta both scored in double-figures and could rebound.

Mandy Johnson settled into the point guard role and Raymonds had his lineup. The Warriors were ranked #18 to start the season.

EARLY CHALLENGES

After a couple of tuneup wins, Marquette went to Iowa. The Hawkeyes were coached by Lute Olson and headed for the Sweet 16. The Warriors got thumped, 87-66. A trip to Minnesota was even worse, a 100-66 loss to a team that went to the NIT.

Marquette was able to knock off a decent Marshall team and otherwise take care of business against softer competition, including winning the four-team Milwaukee Classic that they traditionally hosted between Christmas and New Year’s.

But this was an era when only 48 teams made the NCAA Tournament. The Warriors were 7-2 going into the New Year, but there was clearly a lot of work to do.

JANUARY MOMENTUM

After beating a terrible Creighton team, the work began in earnest at Arizona State. The Sun Devils were led by guard Byron Scott, a future starter on the Showtime Los Angeles Lakers. Marquette left Tempe with a 71-65 win.

Four days later, Marquette hosted Xavier, who was bound for the NCAA Tournament. This was a Saturday afternoon, where a couple hours up the I-43 Interstate, the Green Bay Packers were getting their first playoff win since the Vince Lombardi era. The Warrior day wasn’t quite that big, but an impressive 72-64 win made it a good Saturday for the sports fans of the Milwaukee area.

Notre Dame, trying to rebuild under the same changing conditions for independents that MU was dealing with, came up to Milwaukee. An NIT-bound Irish team nipped the Warriors 59-57 to briefly halt the momentum. But Marquette responded in a big way when they went to Missouri. The Tigers, who had bounced the Warriors from the NCAA Tournament in 1982, were headed for a 2-seed this March. Marquette pulled out a big 60-59 triumph.

Even though the Warriors dropped a four-point decision in Blacksburg to an NIT team in Virginia Tech, they concluded January with a 14-4 record and some notable resume-building wins.

FIGHTING THROUGH FEBRUARY

Wake Forest reached the semifinals of the NIT, and they handed Marquette a decisive 78-65 loss. Against a schedule littered with future NIT teams, the Warriors edged Old Dominion 53-50. A step up in class against Louisville, who was headed for the Final Four, resulted in an 81-73 loss.

The Warriors responded by beating Loyola-Illinois, who would have made the NCAA field if not for a conference tournament loss. Then MU knocked off Wisconsin, their in-state rival who was terrible in this era. They were 17-6 and in strong position. In this era of stricter NCAA Tournament qualification, their good record against NIT teams counted for something as a means of separation. But trouble loomed.

Dayton and South Carolina were both good teams, but not necessarily standouts. Marquette went on the road and suffered two-point losses to each one. With three games to go, the Warriors were now 17-8 and couldn’t take anything for granted.

SEALING THEIR BID

A narrow win over Stetson was less than impressive. DePaul, who joined Notre Dame as being Marquette’s traditional Catholic independent rivals in this era, beat the Warriors 72-64 in Chicago.

Louisiana was the last team on the schedule. That may not look flashy, but the Ragin’ Cajuns would be an 8-seed in this year’s NCAA field. It was a great opportunity for the Warriors to make their case and they took full advantage. A decisive 85-64 win was one of MU’s best performances of the season.

It was enough. In a year when Notre Dame and DePaul had to settle for the NIT, Marquette got the call from the NCAA Selection Committee. The Warriors would be the 9-seed in the Mideast Regional (the organizational forerunner of today’s South Bracket). They were headed for Evansville. Tennessee was the opponent, with top-seeded Louisville potentially awaiting.

ONE POSSESSION SHORT

The Volunteers were led by Dale Ellis. A senior who would become a top-10 NBA draft pick that summer and enjoy a long career in the pros, Ellis averaged 23 points/7 rebounds per game for Tennessee. He got his points in this game, scoring 20, and the Vols shot 57 percent from the floor.

But Marquette hung in there, shooting 51 percent themselves, and winning the rebounding battle 25-18. The Warriors got good games from Schlundt and Marotta, who combined for 27 points/16 rebounds.

What MU wasn’t doing was hitting free throws. Neither was Tennessee for that matter, but the Vols got more chances. Tennessee went 15/24 from the charity stripe, while Marquette went 8/15. On a night when Rivers struggled and shot just 4-for-13, that was the difference. The Warriors suffered a narrow 57-56 loss.

A DECADE IN THE WILDERNESS

Raymonds called it a career. Marquette promoted his top assistant, Rick Majerus, to the head coaching job. But Majerus suffered a couple of blows. Doc skipped his senior year (something not nearly as common in the early 1980s as it is today) and Dwayne Johnson struggled to remain eligible. In a world where the newly ascendant Big East was cutting off the recruiting pipelines McGuire had once used to such good effect, Marquette needed every break. Instead, the opposite was happening.

Majerus produced competitive teams over the next three seasons, and the Warriors always came into the final week and right into Selection Sunday with hope. But they never heard their name called. Majerus saw the writing on the wall, took an assistant coaching job in the NBA, and later became a respected head coach again in Utah.

In the meantime, the Warriors entered the wilderness. They joined two different leagues, searching for their footing in a sport that, outside the security of the major conferences, was volatile and reorganizing. It wasn’t until 1992 that Marquette made it back to the NCAA Tournament. The 1983 season was more than the end of Raymonds’ fine career. It was the end of an era in Marquette basketball, as stability finally ran out.