BTN.com staff, November 6, 2015
#iubb will wear this patch this season to commemorate the undefeated 1976 national champs.https://t.co/HS6exkKmsv pic.twitter.com/FbIRQIzQxJ
— Indiana Basketball (@IndianaMBB) November 6, 2015
Fred Glass announced Friday the initial plans for a season-long recognition to honor the 40th anniversary of the undefeated 1976 men?s basketball team. Indiana?s 1976 team remains the last undefeated NCAA men?s basketball champion and was selected as the greatest college basketball team of all-time on the 75th anniversary of the NCAA Tournament in 2013.
[ MORE: Iowa Hawkeyes to wear patch to honor late Roy Marble ]
The season-long honoring of the 40th anniversary includes season tickets being mailed to fans in a folded keepsake replica of the 1976 championship banner, a commemorative patch placed on the back of IU?s home and away jerseys, a public recognition of that perfect championship season during IU?s home game against Wisconsin on January 5, 2016, and the upcoming induction of Bobby Wilkerson and Tom Abernethy into the IU Athletics Hall of Fame.
?The undefeated 1976 NCAA Champions were not only the last team to enjoy a perfect season, they are rightly considered the greatest college basketball team of all-time,? said Glass. ?As a life-long IU basketball fan, the 1976 team will always hold a special place in my heart and in the hearts of hundreds of thousands of other IU fans. It is a great privilege for us to honor their 40th anniversary with a season-long recognition of their singular and legendary accomplishments.?
This season-long recognition continues IU Athletics efforts in recent years to honor the accomplishments the players and coaches from the back-to-back undefeated regular seasons which, among other things, established Knight as a legendary coach and produced four All-Americans, three Big Ten MVP?s, and a National Player of the Year. Last season, IU honored the seniors from the 1975 team that won the Big Ten Championship and finished the regular season undefeated with an on-court public recognition.