Santa Clara
– It was the late 1960s all over again, at least for 10 minutes
Monday night during the halftime of the Santa Clara-San Francisco
West Coast Conference basketball game.
Santa Clara – It was the late 1960s all over again, at least for 10 minutes Monday night during the halftime of the Santa Clara-San Francisco West Coast Conference basketball game.
There was Bud Ogden and Dennis Awtry at midcourt, and those old enough to remember could close their eyes and see the most prolific dynamic duo in the Broncos’ proud history crashing the boards and making big baskets.
They were the second best team in the country in the late 1960s. Back then, No. 2 was a long way from No. 1. After all, Lew Alcindor, who would become Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, was patrolling the middle for John Wooden’s UCLA Bruins.
But everyone knew about Ogden and Awtrey. After all, Bud was a Sports Illustrated cover boy in 1969. And Santa Clara University was a basketball powerhouse from 1967-70, compiling a 73-12 record.
Fans from the 21st century got a look at Ogden and Awtrey up close and personal Monday when the two frontcourt players had their jerseys hoisted to the Leavey Center rafters. Ogden got his own spot at the southeast corner of the arena. Awtrey had his lifted at the northeast corner.
It was a small crowd Monday. Several dozen Gilroy High players, coaches, students and parents were in attendance to relive the glory days with the fourth-year GHS head basketball coach.
But even the rowdy students, affectionately known to the SCU faithful as the “Ruff Riders,” were on their feet saluting Ogden and Awtrey.
The Broncos won 35 straight regular-season games during Ogden’s junior and senior seasons. They reached the Elite Eight each season. Ogden scored a school-record 55 points as a sophomore in a game against Pepperdine. Santa Clara was the consensus No. 2 team in the country during the 1968-69 season entering the NCAA Tournament.
Ogden, a Lincoln High graduate, remembers that seven of the players were from the Bay Area. He also remembers the one-sided games with UCLA.
Still, this was SCU basketball at its best when the Broncos’ dynamic duo of Awtrey (school-best 19.9 scoring average) and Ogden (third best 18.2 average) were dominating teams in the post … other than UCLA.
Ogden was a first-round draft pick of the Philadelphia 76ers and remembered signing a guaranteed two-year contract for slightly under $100,000 per season. At 6-6, however, he was unable to dominate down low against NBA players and his ballhandling skills weren’t good enough to ensure a long playing career.
So he followed a different route that took him into real estate and eventually high school teaching and coaching. Before taking the Gilroy position, he was at Valley Christian.
His third year was his best at GHS. The Mustangs won the Tri-County Athletic League title last year when they finished 21-8. Ogden’s three-plus year mark at GHS is 57-48.
But for one night, Ogden was an SCU Bronco once again. He was joined by family at midcourt for the short ceremony. Assistant GHS basketball coach Jeremy Dirks wore a T-shirt with Ogden’s No. 34.
At the end of the ceremony, Ogden, 60, jogged around the Leavey Center court, saluting the fans. It was a victory lap of sorts, and the fans loved it.
And, oh yes, Ogden’s beloved Broncos made the night complete by beating the Dons 74-62.
Who says you can’t have it all?
