A Whole Team Touched By Stardust

It was Cinderella in ivy. But can Princeton, Princeton University, be Cinderella? Princeton of the Philadelphia bluebloods? Princeton, which just a few weeks ago was given $27 million by one person. Cinderella, this? Yes.

Never has a group of poor little rich boys been so popular as the Princeton basketball team that won the Eastern Regional title of the NCAA tournament last Saturday. Princeton has not been such a national threat since Aaron Burr, class of 1772, very nearly set up his own empire in the Middle West. But there the Tigers were in College Park, Md., beating North Carolina State 66-48 and absolutely ruining Providence, the fourth-ranked team in the nation, 109-69.

Bill Bradley was magnificent. He made 14 of 20 shots, all 13 of his free throws—41 points—and he had nine assists and 10 rebounds. "I'll just tell them that he's the greatest that ever lived," said Tom Jorgenson, who was scouting for Michigan, "because they won't believe anything else I tell them." (Michigan won its regional title and will meet Princeton on Friday in Portland for the eastern championship. It is the first time in 21 years that an Ivy League team has gone so far in the NCAAs, and no Ivy team has ever won. Defending champion UCLA and Wichita will also meet Friday for the western title. The grand final is Saturday.)

Suddenly the adoration of Bradley has spread to embrace the whole Princeton team, and the Tigers are the darlings of college basketball. In New York even Notre Dame's famous subway alumni were, temporarily, diverting their allegiance to Princeton. The normally blasé Princeton student body showed up 1,000 strong to welcome the team back to the campus.

And it was the whole team that everyone was cheering. It was the whole Princeton team that shot 68.3% against Providence (while Bradley shot 70%) and 72.7% in the second half. In one stretch the Tigers went 12 minutes without missing a shot—14 straight from the floor and the free-throw line. They outrebounded the Friars, they outdefensed them, outran them when that was the game and patiently destroyed the strong Providence combination defense when things slowed down. By his presence Bradley makes all of this possible, because the opposition must concentrate on him, but never before had his teammates been so skillful at capitalizing on this advantage.

Princeton on Saturday was the best team in the country—and that includes UCLA, which has regained its championship pace. It is true that the season's record indicates powerful Michigan should beat Princeton Friday and UCLA should then retain its title Saturday, but such routine reasoning will be meaningless if Bradley and Princeton maintain their momentum. Then the new subway alumni would never go back to Notre Dame, and the old real alumni would give even more cash to poor Princeton.

If the whole team is touched by star-dust now, it is partly because Princeton should have been taken much more seriously all along. For the Tigers lost only five games all year, and all but one of those by one or two points. Princeton has now won 13 in a row because the team—not Bradley—is so improved. As marvelous as Bradley was against Providence, he did not dominate the game nearly so impressively as he did the night of the famous loss to Michigan in the Holiday Festival in December. In both games he had 41 points, but the other Tigers made only 37 against Michigan. They made 68 against Providence. And that is just about how much the Ivy League champions have improved.

The best of the other Tigers is 6-foot-6 Ed Hummer, a sophomore who was a high school All-America. Hummer has been slow to develop but now—brimming with confidence and a good measure of the special Bradley psychology—he has become a topflight player. "He's a good one," Providence Coach Joe Mullaney said while scouting Hummer in the North Carolina State game. "If we concentrate on Bradley, he could kill us." Hummer got 13 against Providence, but his rebounding was even more impressive than his scoring. Princeton Coach Bill van Breda Kolff does not start Hummer, preferring to have him come off the bench and juice things up. But two sophomores do start. Playmaker Gary Walters, 5 feet 10, is a poised first-year man who can beat a press. He had six assists against the Friars. Robby Brown, the center, is built in the image of what people expect Princetons to be, except that he is also built 6 feet 9 inches high. Brown went to Exeter. He is the son of a Princeton man who works for the college as Director of Career and Studies Service. Brown has improved steadily all through the year, and made his season high of 14 against Providence.

The other two starters are juniors—Bob Haarlow, a forward though he is only 6 feet 2, and Guard Don Rodenbach. Both are good outside shots, and both can play defense. Haarlow, the middle of three brothers to play for Princeton and the son of the supervisor of Big Ten officials, had 18 against the Friars and held his man scoreless. Rodenbach was a hotshot in high school, scoring as high as 59. He has had no more than 15 this year, but he has done a good job on defense, against Cazzie Russell among others.

Much of the team's improvement came when Bradley skipped several practices because of an injured leg. Without him, the others had to learn how to help themselves. Still, too much of a good thing—in this case, a balanced attack—would ruin Princeton in Portland. The Tigers need Bill Bradley, running wild. Against Providence he took a long shot the first time he got the ball, made it and the team's first five points. The reaction was what it always is when he starts off tough. Teams that see him for the first time are not only rattled by his play, but apparently are mesmerized by his notices. When Bradley starts off like the legend, his effect on the opposition is demoralizing. And the crowd cheers as if it is in on something, adding to the momentum and increasing the pressure. As the Providence game demonstrated, Bradley's greatest efforts are drawn from him by Princeton's toughest opponents. So thoroughly does he control the action supposed to be shared by 10 men in fairly equal measure that many think he already has surpassed Oscar Robertson as the greatest college player in history.