1976–77 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team

1976–77 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball
1976–77 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball
NCAA tournament
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Record	21–6 (11–4 WAC)
Head coach	Fred Snowden (5th season);
Assistant coaches	Ken Maxey (4th season); Dave Toney (2nd season); Steve Kanner (2nd season);
Home arena	McKale Center
	Seasons ← 1975–76 1977–78 →

1976–77 WAC men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 14 Utah	11	–	3	.786	22	–	7	.759
Arizona	11	–	4	.733	21	–	6	.778
New Mexico	8	–	6	.571	19	–	11	.633
Wyoming	8	–	6	.571	17	–	10	.630
Colorado State	6	–	8	.429	13	–	12	.520
Arizona State	6	–	9	.400	15	–	13	.536
BYU	4	–	10	.286	12	–	15	.444
UTEP	3	–	11	.214	11	–	15	.423

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1976–77 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team represented the University of Arizona in the 1976-77 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Coached by fifth-year head coach Fred Snowden and led by senior center Bob Elliott, the Wildcats made their second consecutive NCAA tournament appearance (after a drought of 25 seasons), but were upset in the opening round by Southern Illinois. The Wildcats played their home games at the McKale Center in Tucson, Arizona competing as members of the Western Athletic Conference.

Previous season

The Wildcats finished the 1975-76 season 24–9 overall, 11–3 in WAC play to finish atop the conference, a three win improvement from the season before. They finished the season ranked No. 15, reached the NCAA tournament for the first time in 25 years, advancing to the Elite Eight.^[1]

Roster

1976–77 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	00	Gilbert Myles	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Jr	Edison HS	Fresno, California
G	12	Gary Harrison	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sr	Willow Run HS	Ypsilanti, Michigan
G	14	Tom Ehlmann	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Jr	St. Charles HS	St. Charles, Missouri
G/F	21	Len Gordy	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sr	Chester HS	Chester, Pennsylvania
F	22	Tim Marshall	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Fr	Central HS	Pontiac, Michigan
G	23	Greg Lloyd	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	So	Eastern HS	Lansing, Michigan
G/F	24	Herman Harris	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Sr	Chester HS	Chester, Pennsylvania
G/F	25	Ron Fuller	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	So	Southwest HS	Atlanta, Georgia
F	32	Larry Demic	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	So	Westside HS	Gary, Indiana
C	33	Brian Jung	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	So	Canyon del Oro HS	Tucson, Arizona
F	34	Mitch Jones	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Jr	East HS	Rochester, New York
C	41	Bob Aleksa	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Sr	East HS	Aurora, Illinois
F	42	Jay Geldmacher	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Sr	Elgin HS	Elgin, Illinois
C	44	Jerome Gladney	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Sr	King HS	Detroit, Michigan
F	52	Phil Taylor	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Jr	Manual HS	Denver, Colorado
F/C	55	Bob Elliott	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Sr	Pioneer HS	Ann Arbor, Michigan

Head coach

Fred Snowden (Wayne State (MI))

Assistant coach(es)

Ken Maxey (Michigan)
Dave Toney (Purdue)
Steve Kanner (Arizona)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Source^[2]^[3]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
NCAA Tournament
Mar 12, 1977*	No. 20	vs. Southern Illinois First round	L 77–81	21–6	Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain.

Source^[4]^[5]

Rankings

^[6]

References

^ "1975-76 Arizona Wildcats Roster and Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved September 15, 2023.
^ 1976-77 Arizona Wildcats Basketball Media Guide. Tucson, Arizona: University of Arizona. 1977. pp. 8–12.
^ "1976-77 Arizona Wildcats Roster and Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved September 15, 2023.
^ "1976-77 Men's Basketball Schedule". Sports Reference. Retrieved September 15, 2023.
^ "1976-77 Men's Basketball Schedule". Arizona Wildcats. Retrieved September 15, 2023.
^ ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia. Random House. 2009. pp. 836–837. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[1] "1975-76 Arizona Wildcats Roster and Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved September 15, 2023.

[2] 1976-77 Arizona Wildcats Basketball Media Guide. Tucson, Arizona: University of Arizona. 1977. pp. 8–12.

[:0-3] "1976-77 Arizona Wildcats Roster and Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved September 15, 2023.

[4] "1976-77 Men's Basketball Schedule". Sports Reference. Retrieved September 15, 2023.

[5] "1976-77 Men's Basketball Schedule". Arizona Wildcats. Retrieved September 15, 2023.

[ESPN-6] ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia. Random House. 2009. pp. 836–837. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

v t e Arizona Wildcats men's basketball
Venues	Bear Down Gym (1926–1973) McKale Center (1973–present)
Rivalries	Arizona State UCLA
Culture & lore	Bear Down Wilbur and Wilma "Fight! Wildcats! Fight!" 2017–18 corruption scandal
People	Head coaches NBA draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA national championship in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics