DETROIT (1/22/2018) -- It was a celebration of Titan greatness over the weekend as the University of Detroit Mercy honored the 1997-98 men's basketball team with a private reception on Friday night and at halftime of the Metro Series contest on Saturday.
Most of the members of the team and staff came back to be honored, including head coach Perry Watson, assistant coach Michael Jackson, Brian Alexander, Clifford Austin, Walter Craft, Desmond Ferguson, Derrick Hayes, Jermaine Jackson, Michael Jordan, Rashad Phillips, Perry Robinson, student managers Russell Howard and Kareem Maine and head athletic trainer John Locke.
The squad helped put Titan basketball back on the map as it tied a school record with 25 wins, shared a regular season MCC title, earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and recorded a first-round upset defeating seventh-seeded St. John's.
"This team was so important to the future," said former head coach Perry Watson. "It had been about 20 years since we played in the tournament. These guys were dream makers. Any guy that played after them knew that it was possible to not only get in the NCAA Tournament, but to win. They didn't have that picture in front of them because it had been so long. Because of the success that they had, a guy like Willie Green can realize that he can have the success he had, be a winner and reach the NBA."
"I remember the family atmosphere that the players shared," said Perry Robinson. "Not only on the court, but I think what made the team special is the bond the guys shared off the court and that made us a successful team."
The Titans were coming off a year where they were upset in the MCC Tournament to a Cleveland State team they beat twice during the regular season, but they dedicated their offseason to setting new heights in Titan Territory.
"It was in the summer with these guys, working hard and getting ready to do great things," said coach Watson. "In the summer, working with our strength coach Jim Kielbaso and playing against some great local players who came in our gym like Jalen Rose and Chris Webber and all those guys. We played hard and competed, and that just helped us get ready for the season."
Detroit Mercy started the season at Cincinnati in the Preseason NIT and against a tough Bearcats' squad, the Titans got behind early and trailed by as many as 15 points before they rallied to trim it down to just three with five minutes left, ultimately falling to Cincinnati. After a big win in the home opener against Wayne State, the Titans hosted Michigan and it looked like the red, white and blue were going to end years of frustration against the Wolverines as Brian Alexander's slam dunk with 15 seconds left had the team up 53-52, only to see the maize and blue win at the buzzer.
"At the end of the day, we were a team," said Brian Alexander. "We played as a team, there was no individual and we played for each other. I think it started our junior year. Perry (Robinson), Jermaine (Jackson), Bacari (Alexander), Desmond (Ferguson), we went on a six-game winning streak and then we got better in the summertime. We were beating Chris Webber and Jalen Rose and those guys in five-on-five and then when we lost to Michigan by one point, we knew we were a good team."
Following the loss to Michigan, the Titans went on an 11-game winning streak – with 10 wins by double digits - beating local rivals Bowling Green, Central Michigan and Western Michigan during that span. There was also a third-straight win over the Spartans of Michigan State as the Titans went on the road and came away with a 68-65 triumph. They also captured the ISU Holiday Classic with victories over Grambling State and Iowa State.
"It was great and it was huge to beat Michigan State," said Derrick Hayes. "That was the norm for us to beat Michigan State. It was a pride thing in that a lot of our guys wanted to go to Michigan State or get recruited by the Big Ten, but we ended up here Six Mile and Livernois and we had a good time that year."
"I remember those wins over the local teams because they were our biggest rivals and we took care of business," said current head coach Bacari Alexander. "We knew that we worked as hard as anyone in the country and for this team to play great basketball and get those wins, especially on the road, was a sign of what this team was all about."
The Titans had a close loss to UIC – who they would end up sharing the conference title with and who would also earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament – which ended their 11-game win streak, but they came right back with another 11-game hot streak.
"Defense and rebounding, that is how we won games. We had guys that could put the ball in the basket, but we were a defense orientated team that played for each other and that allowed us to win a lot of games," added Desmond Ferguson.
"We all were competitors and we never really thought any team was better than us. We just came out and played every game like it was our last," added EJ Haralson.
Detroit Mercy had a chance to win the league title outright, but fell at Cleveland State in the final game of the regular season. Nonetheless, the Titans were seeded first in the MCC Tournament and they began a run to a conference championship with a 74-60 victory over Milwaukee, setting up a game with fourth-seeded Green Bay in the semifinals. The game was close, but the Phoenix came up with a 68-65 win.
Nineteen (19) years had gone by since the Titans last played in the NCAA Tournament and many thought the streak would go to 20-straight after that loss. Suddenly, a 24-win campaign and a share of the conference championship would be all the Titans would celebrate.
"We were anxious because we were a mid-major," said coach Watson. "We knew that we had to win, especially on the away courts and that should qualify us, but you cant take it for granted. We were sitting there anxious, hoping we would get recognized not only as an institution, but as a league.
Once Selection Sunday came, the team gathered at the Titan Club and awaited the outcome to see if the season would continue.
"We are sitting in the room waiting, on the edge, and it was just exciting when they called our name," said Clifford Austin.
"Coach Watson is a mentor, a coach, a father, a counselor in high school and he wasn't going to have us sit there on selection Sunday if he didn't think we would be going. He is not going to take us anywhere that we would be disappointed," added current Titan assistant coach Jermaine Jackson.
As the selections were made, there was more anxiety in the room until the Chicago region was shown and there it was, St John's the seventh seed out of the Big East would face the 10th-seeded Titans, one of three teams in the MCC to make the tournament that season.
"Anxiety. Eager anticipation. Nervousness. When we found out we were going, it was a surreal feeling," said Walter Craft.
The days of preparation were intense for the Titans, who went into the NCAA Tournament with more than a sense of relief. They were going with a sense of pride, full of confidence and ready to make their mark.
"Going into the game, we were going in to win," said Michael Jordan. "We were going to the tournament to win many games and that is the mindset that coach Watson installed in us."
The St. John's team was almost like the Titans in a way, finally getting back to the NCAA Tournament. A team from the city – New York City – who had some well-known players and a lot of talent. It was finally the Red Storm's chance to make a run and return greatness to their program.
"We didn't care who we played against," said Brian Alexander. "Whoever was in front of us, we were going to play you. Win or lose, we were going to play the Titan way. I didn't know too much about St. John's, I just knew it was New York vs. Detroit."
Detroit Mercy came into the game and thanks to its usual defensive effort, the Titans had an early lead, 10-3, as the red, white and blue forced five turnovers in St. John's first nine possessions.
The Titans would see the Red Storm get back in the game and they trailed at the break, 34-32.
"The team was what everything was all about. Playing defense as a team. Playing offense as a team and that comes from great leadership and it started with coach Watson. When you have that team, you can accomplish great things," said Jordan.
The Titans fought back and both teams struggled to gain control as the score was tied at 45-45. Detroit Mercy then took the lead for good at 51-47 with less than nine minutes left and extended that to as many as seven, 56-49.
St. John's did not go away and had a chance to win the game at the end as Felipe Lopez took a three with three seconds left that hit the front of the rim. The Red Storm even grabbed the offensive rebound, but could not get another shot off as time expired and the Titans won 68-64. The Titans had their first NCAA Tournament victory in 21 years when Dick Vitale's 1977 squad knocked off Middle Tennessee State.
"We knew that Detroit was one of the mecca basketball cities in the country and it was New York versus Detroit and Detroit had the upper hand that day," said Hayes. "The team, how we all had different backgrounds, but we came together. The values coach Watson brought, the tradition we have here, the alumni, all the tradition we carried on our shoulders was a sense of pride."
The Titans tied a school record with 25 wins that season – the first of back-to-back 25-win years and the first in three out of four that they would reach 25 triumphs. They were 12-2 in league play in arguably one of the greatest years in MCC/Horizon League history.
"The chemistry on the court was great and we just carried it over," said Craft. "The attitude we also had against an opponent. The way we played in crunch time and when you pull together those type of wins, you are going to go far."
"I remember the worth ethic. I remember the practices being harder than the games," added Cliff Austin.
The year set the Titans up for a period of greatness. Four-straight 20-win seasons, four trips to the postseason in five years. Another win in the NCAA Tournament the following season and a run to the NIT Final Four just three years later.
"It was a huge learning experience for me to watch guys like Jermaine (Jackson), Bacari (Alexander), Brian (Alexander), Derrick (Hayes) and I was able to follow and echo the leadership qualities that they help build and leave this program," said Rashad Phillips.
"We had some guys that were high-level players," said coach Watson. "Derrick was on a state championship team in high school and played in high school against guys like Jalen Rose, Howard Eisley and Voshon Lenard and going to Iowa State, he was a high-level player. Desmond (Ferguson), played at Missouri and then you surround them with the talent of the EJ (Haralson), Brian (Alexander) and Jermaine (Jackson) and we knew what we had the potential to become, but that is always the proof that you had to prove. This team went on winning streaks during the year and never dropped two in a row."
