Even during a pandemic-related shutdown of college sports, Fighting Scots fans can get their fix. The Men’s Basketball Centennial Program from the 1999-2000 season, which chronicles the first 100 years of the sport at Monmouth College, is now available for viewing on-line.
Produced by then Sports Information co-Director Barry McNamara, the program chronicled the birth, growth and rise of Fighting Scots men’s basketball from its inception in 1900 to the then-present day 1999-2000 season. Conference championships, NCAA tournament appearances and All-Americans followed the humble beginnings when “occasional” practices were held on a rented court.
“It was just a great case of timing with deciding to put the program together,” explained McNamara.” I started at the college in the summer of 1999, and the 100th anniversary of the first game was half a year away. I was fortunate to share an office space with Jeff Rankin, who’s now officially the college historian, but who filled that role unofficially back then. So all the old yearbooks he had were right at my fingertips, and I learned a lot about the first half-century of Monmouth basketball. Yearbooks, at least until the 1960s or so, were a really great way to track individual athletic seasons, and then (co-director) Dan Nolan and I also got more of the cumulative statistics through the research that our predecessor Chris Pio did. Once the yearbooks stopped being helpful in the 1970s, Terry Glasgow was the coach, and he kept great statistical records, and those were right at my fingertips, too. And he was still the head coach in 2000, so he was very helpful. Some of the ‘research’ was in my memory bank, as I’d been watching Monmouth basketball since before Coach Glasgow took over the program.”
From the Scots’ 18-8 win over Lombard in Monmouth’s inaugural game in 1900 to combating Grinnell’s “system” basketball as the century wound down, McNamara’s work covers it all.
“The centennial program was my first deep dive into a sports story,” confided McNamara. “I’ve since done it for the history of Fighting Scots baseball, for the 1983 high school state football championships for Monmouth and Yorkwood and for the 1981-82 Monmouth boys basketball season. I enjoy writing longer pieces like that and taking a walk down Memory Lane with the players and coaches who made all-time classic moments happen.”
The full program is available on MonmouthScots.com via the men’s basketball page. Click on the “More+” tab on far right of the upper navigation bar to access.
***Story courtesy of Monmouth College athletics***
