In his basement, Coach Ray had a framed newspaper page (maybe DePaulia?) that had photos of this game and the title: "A Nation Discovers DePaul" and the newspaper was signed by several of the players. Also in the basement, in a box of very old video tapes, this game was on an old 3/4" U-Matic cassette tape that probably hasn't been played since the early 80's. It is a copy of the dramatic ending of this game. I just recently had it digitized and I'm sharing it here.
I recall hearing about this game as a kid as the one that put DePaul in the national spotlight, and I believe that's when Coach Ray's popularity really took off outside of Chicago/Midwest. The national NBC broadcast that day was a game between Providence and North Carolina which ended early, so NBC switched over to the regional game between DePaul and ND that was going down to the wire. This video picks it up late in regulation and takes it into the overtime dramatics.
For the ND fans who may be viewing this -- ND gets its revenge in March when these two teams met in the Midwest Regional Final and ND advanced to the Final 4. www.nytimes.com/1978/03/18/ar...
In 1997, The Chicago Tribune named this game amongst its150 greatest Chicago sports moments:
"#113: A NATION DISCOVERS DePAUL
Feb. 12, 1978, South Bend, Ind.
For weeks afterward, coach Ray Meyer remained a little stunned at the Demon-mania that gripped America's sports fans after Gary Garland hit a 30-foot shot at the buzzer in overtime to beat Notre Dame 69-68 on Lincoln's Birthday in 1978.
To be honest, almost 20 years later, Meyer, now 83, still marvels at the way a nation "discovered" the school next to the Fullerton Avenue "L" stop.
"I just didn't think a game--any game--was that important," said Meyer as he sorted out hundreds of letters and cards he received from around the nation in the days after Garland's winning shot.
Television, of course, made the game "important." The North Carolina-Providence national game had ended. So NBC switched to the regional game just as Meyer's team began its surge from five points behind in overtime.
link: www.chicagotribune.com/news/c...
Other links:
www.nytimes.com/1978/02/13/ar...
Sports Illustrated article:
vault.si.com/vault/1978/02/27...