# 1968–69 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team

The 1968–69 Drake Bulldogs men's basketball team represented Drake University in the 1968–69 college basketball season. The team was led by eleventh-year head coach Maury John. In 1967–68, the Bulldogs finished 18–8 (9–7 in the Missouri Valley Conference). They were also trying to make their first NCAA tournament appearance since as well as their first postseason appearance since their National Invitation Tournament appearance in 1964.

## Regular season

The Bulldogs were 12–1 at home as well as 8–3 on the road and 6–1 at neutral locations. With their third-place finish in the NCAA Tournament Drake had their best NCAA finish up to that point, and as of the start of the 2022–2023 season. On December 27–28, 1968 Drake played in the Dallas Classic in Dallas, Texas against Minnesota and Southern Methodist. Drake was ranked in the AP Top 20 Poll on several occasions during the season. Drake was ranked 18th during the week of January 7, 1969. Drake was once again ranked 11th on March 4, 1969. On March 8, 1969, Drake won a MVC playoff game 77–73 in Wichita, Kansas to determine the conference champion. A documentary on the 1968–69 Drake Basketball team was made in 2004 by filmmaker Jacob Adams of Impossible Productions and is available from his website. Most of the UCLA—Drake game was recreated with an old coach's film and radio play by play. Intercut are commentaries by Drake players and coaches.

## Missouri Valley Conference standings

| # | Team | Conference | Pct. | Overall | Pct. |
| 1 | Drake | 13–3 | .813 | 26–5 | .839 |
| 2 | Louisville | 13–3 | .813 | 21–6 | .778 |
| 3 | Tulsa | 11–5 | .688 | 19–8 | .704 |
| 4 | Cincinnati | 8–8 | .500 | 17–9 | .654 |
| 5 | North Texas State | 8–8 | .500 | 15–10 | .600 |
| 6 | Bradley | 7–9 | .438 | 14–12 | .539 |
| 7 | Wichita State | 7–9 | .438 | 11–15 | .423 |
| 8 | Saint Louis | 5–11 | .313 | 6–19 | .240 |
| 9 | Memphis State | 0–16 | .000 | 6–19 | .240 |

## Roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.
| No. | Position | Player |
| 5 | F | Dolph Pulliam |
| 32 | G | Don Draper |
| 12 | F/G | Ron Gwin |
| 31 | G | Bob Mast |
| 15 | G | Willie McCarter |
| ?? | C | Jim O'Dea |
| ?? | C | Garry Odom |
| ?3 | C | Larry Sharp |
| No. | Position | Player |
| 42 | F | Willie Wise |
| 34 | F | Dale Teeter |
| 43 | C | Rick Wanamaker |
| 41 | F | Al Williams |
| 22 | G | Gary Zeller |
| 24 | F | Jim Nordrum |
| 10 | G | Al Sakys |
| 21 | G | Dave Wicklund |

## Player statistics

Note: GP= Games played; RPG = Rebounds per Game; PPG = Points per Game
| Player | GP | RPG | PPG |
| Willie McCarter | 31 | 3.7 | 20.4 |
| Willie Wise | 30 | 11.4 | 14.6 |
| Dolph Pulliam | 31 | 7.7 | 13.2 |
| Don Draper | 31 | 2.4 | 12.2 |
| Al Williams | 31 | 7.2 | 8.8 |
| Gary Zeller | 31 | 1.6 | 6.3 |
| Rick Wanamaker | 28 | 3.3 | 4.3 |
| Gary Odom | 30 | 4.4 | 3.7 |
| Ron Gwin | 25 | 1.3 | 2.6 |
| Al Sakys | 7 | 0.2 | 1.8 |
| Larry Sharp | 17 | 1.1 | 1.5 |
| Others | 31 | 0.6 | 2.7 |

## Schedule

MVC Standing: 1st :
| Date | Opponent* | Rank* | Location | Result | Overall | Conference |
| Regular Season Games ||||||||
| December 2, 1968 | Cal Poly Pomona | | Des Moines, IA | W 118–79 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| December 7, 1968 | St. Cloud State | | Des Moines, IA | W 92–52 | 2–0 | 0–0 |
| December 9, 1968 | #20 Marquette | | Des Moines, IA | W 68–63 | 3–0 | 0–0 |
| December 14, 1968 | Iowa | | Des Moines, IA | W 89–74 | 4–0 | 0–0 |
| December 19, 1968 | Iowa State | | State Gymnasium, Ames, IA | W 81–71 | 4–0 | 0–0 |
| December 21, 1968 | Nevada-Reno | | Reno, NV | W 90–76 | 6–0 | 0–0 |
| December 23, 1968 | Pacific | | Stockton, CA | L 75–77 | 6–1 | 0–0 |
| December 27, 1968 | Minnesota | | Moody Coliseum, University Park, TX | W 71–48 | 7–1 | 0–0 |
| December 28, 1968 | SMU | | Moody Coliseum, University Park, TX | W 86–81 | 8–1 | 0–0 |
| January 2, 1969 | Memphis State | | Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, TN | W 73–71 | 9–1 | 1–0 |
| January 4, 1969 | Saint Louis | | Des Moines, IA | W 104–65 | 10–1 | 2–0 |
| January 9, 1969 | Wichita State | #18 | Des Moines, IA | W 86–81 | 11–1 | 3–0 |
| January 11, 1969 | Tulsa | #18 | Des Moines, IA | L 78–86 | 11–2 | 3–1 |
| January 14, 1969 | #19 Cincinnati | | Armory Fieldhouse, Cincinnati, OH | W 69–64 | 12–2 | 4–1 |
| January 23, 1969 | Bradley | | Des Moines, IA | W 93–76 | 13–2 | 5–1 |
| January 25, 1969 | Louisville | | Freedom Hall, Louisville, KY | L 70–84 | 13–3 | 5–2 |
| January 30, 1969 | North Texas State | | Denton, TX | L 99–118 | 13–4 | 5–3 |
| February 1, 1969 | Memphis State | | Des Moines, IA | W 85–72 | 14–4 | 6–3 |
| February 5, 1969 | Iowa State | | Des Moines, IA | W 94–71 | 15–4 | 6–3 |
| February 11, 1969 | North Texas State | | Des Moines, IA | W 91–76 | 16–4 | 7–3 |
| February 13, 1969 | Bradley | | Peoria, IL | W 91–76 | 17–4 | 8–3 |
| February 20, 1969 | Wichita State | | Wichita Field House, Wichita, KS | W 120–94 | 18–4 | 9–3 |
| February 22, 1969 | #14 Tulsa | | Tulsa, OK | W 87–78 | 19–4 | 10–3 |
| February 23, 1969 | Cincinnati | | Des Moines, IA | W 85–68 | 20–4 | 11–3 |
| March 1, 1969 | #11 Louisville | | Des Moines, IA | W 101–67 | 21–4 | 12–3 |
| March 6, 1969 | Saint Louis | #11 | St. Louis, MO | W 93–78 | 22–4 | 13–3 |
| March 8, 1969 | #15 Louisville | #11 | Wichita, KS | W 77–73 | 23–4 | 13–3 |
| NCAA tournament ||||||||
| March 13, 1969 | Texas A&M | | Ahearn Field House, Manhattan, KS | W 81–63 | 24–4 | 13–3 |
| March 15, 1969 | Colorado State | | Ahearn Field House, Manhattan, KS | W 84–77 | 25–4 | 13–3 |
| March 20, 1969 | UCLA | | Freedom Hall, Louisville, KY | L 82–85 | 25–5 | 13–3 |
| March 22, 1969 | North Carolina | | Freedom Hall, Louisville, KY | W 104–84 | 26–5 | 13–3 |
| *Rank according to AP Top 20 Poll. $^#$All times are in EST. Conference games in BOLD. ||||||||

## NBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | NBA Club |
| 1 | 12 | Willie McCarter | Los Angeles Lakers |
| 5 | 64 | Willie Wise | San Francisco Warriors |