Illini Reminiscent of All-Time Greats

Bill Frieder, coach of Michigan’s basketball team, was not too upset when his sixth-ranked Wolverines lost a Big Ten showdown to No. 2 Illinois, 96-84, Saturday night at Champaign, Ill.

“I’ve been in the Big Ten for 16 years, and that’s one of the best, if not the best, Big Ten team I’ve ever played against,” Frieder told Jack Beckett of the Ann Arbor News. “The only one that might have been better was the ’76 Indiana team. You send Duke or anyone in here and they’re probably gonna get beat.”

That 1975-76 Indiana team, which won the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. championship with a 32-0 record, and is considered one of the best teams ever.

Frieder wasn’t Michigan’s coach that season, when Indiana not only dominated the Wolverines in Big Ten play but beat them in the NCAA final, 86-68.

Where-they-are-now Dept.: Indiana’s starting lineup in 1975-76 consisted of Tom Abernethy, Kent Benson, Quinn Buckner, Scott May and Bob Wilkerson.

What they are doing these days?

--Abernethy is a broker in the marketing department of Thomas and Associates in Indianapolis.

--Benson, who was the National Basketball Assn.’s first draft choice, by the Milwaukee Bucks, plays professionally in Italy and resides in Bloomington, Ind., during the off-season.

--Buckner, who lives in Glendale, Wis., is involved in several business ventures. After working for ESPN last season, he recently signed a contract with Big Ten Network to be a color commentator. He also was a first-round pick of the Bucks.

--May, a first-round choice of the Chicago Bulls who also played in Italy, runs a shoe store with his wife in Bloomington.

--Wilkerson, a first-round pick of the Seattle SuperSonics, is an assistant coach at Colorado under former Indiana assistant Tom Miller.

Add Indiana: Wilkerson, a 6-foot 7-inch guard who had 19 rebounds in a semifinal victory over UCLA, suffered a concussion before the NCAA final against Michigan was 3 minutes old.

Michigan’s Wayman Britt elbowed Wilkerson in the eye after scoring a layup, and Wilkerson fell to the floor, where he was motionless for about 10 minutes.

Wilkerson was taken to a Philadelphia hospital, where he was treated and released.

The next day, he said: “I don’t remember nothing until today. Not even that we won.”

Out to pasture: Not all thoroughbreds are retired to stud farms, though that’s the way it seems. The Thoroughbred Racing Communications newsletter reports that many thoroughbreds are being used to help fight crime on the streets of New York.

It’s a brave new world out there, says New York officer Harold Berg.

“They have to get used to different things, like large trucks, street sweepers, overhead subways, smoke, steam and metal plates covering broken sections of the street.

“They have a lot of trouble with metal plates.”

From Lloyd Moseby, who expects to be traded by the Toronto Blue Jays: “For 9 years, I’ve played in pajamas in the worst ballpark in baseball. Now they’re going to get real uniforms and play in a real stadium and I’m not going to get a chance to be a part of it.”

Wait a minute: Fred Goldsmith, defensive coordinator at Arkansas the past 5 seasons, will be the new football coach at Rice.

Why was he chosen to replace Jerry Berndt, who resigned last month to take over at Temple?

“Why we picked him over any particular individual, I don’t know,” said J. Evans Attwell, chairman of the search committee.

Early birds: Everyone in Boston is eagerly awaiting the return of Larry Bird, who is rehabilitating after foot surgery.

But, according to Peter May of the Hartford Courant, Celtic Kevin McHale issued this warning: “It would be a mistake for the team and its fans simply to expect Bird to come riding in on a white horse with Bill Walton in tow and destroy everyone in their path. Yes, Larry will make things better. But it would be best for all concerned if the house wasn’t already burning when he gets there.”

Quotebook

Said jockey Randy Romero of Personal Ensign: “She didn’t wanna get beat. You couldn’t say more for a jock of any sex or species.”