By Craig Pinley

At first, it may have seemed that the difference between the first NCAA Division III national men’s basketball title at North Park and previous squads was only a few inches — the increased height of the team’s center Michael Harper.

North Park had finished 18-8 in its previous season and closed the campaign with five straight victories, so the future looked bright for the Vikings. But no one could’ve imagined the growth spurt the Vikings would make, although their center had sprouted noticeably.

Harper, a junior varsity player for North Park during 1976-77, had grown from about 6-4 to 6-9 (eventually topping out at 6-10). A season earlier, his body was still adjusting to his rapid growth and he had fainted during one game — overall, he had scored just 12 varsity points. Now, he was (literally) head and shoulders above the crowd, thanks to natural leaping ability and a weightlifting program that had given him needed strength. For the season, Harper averaged 18 points and 14 rebounds and earned All-America honors at center.

Harper’s improvement wasn’t the only noticeable difference, however. In practice, it was easy to see the difference in team chemistry between the 1977 and 1978 teams. Reserve Roger Clausen relished being part of such an unselfish squad, calling it the greatest sports memory of his life.

The 1978 North Park team.

McCarrell cited the sacrifice of two of the team’s seniors, Al May and Tom Florentine, for part of the team’s change in team chemistry. “May was a tough guy and he did all of the things you don’t notice – he rebounded, played good defense, set screens,” McCarrell said. And Florentine, who had been a scorer his junior year (15 points per game), when he saw the talent we had inside, he blended his talents with the others and not many guys would do that.”

One often unnoticed senior in the team’s first championship was Roger Wood, who had transferred to North Park from Kentucky and whose eligibility ran out just a few games into the 1977-78 season. The 6-11 Wood became Harper’s practice partner after his eligibility ran out and McCarrell noted, “That was big (for Harper’s development) because you don’t always get to practice against a guy that big.”

Finally, the first title team was fortunate to find a freshman point guard who could run the show from the moment he stepped on the floor. Coaches and players alike recognized Thomas’ leadership and competitive drive as they summarized the progress of the Vikings during the first championship run.

“The talker on the team was Thomas, even as a freshman,” McCarrell said. “The kid had come from a tough Proviso East High School program and he was the floor leader.”

“Michael Thomas had no fear of anything or anyone — he knew what we wanted and he was going to get it,” said Joel Johnson, a junior varsity player from the first national title winning team. “He was the most competitive player I’ve ever seen. Al May and Tom Florentine were kind of the same way, but they didn’t have the natural talent that Thomas had.”

North Park started the season with Wood in the lineup as May was ill during the opening few games. The Vikings opened its season with four consecutive wins before losing 68-62 at Illinois Wesleyan in conference play. At the semester break, May replaced Wood in the lineup and the Vikings won three more games before Christmas break and then traveled to Northern California where they beat CSU-Hayward and lost an 83-81 nail biter to Division II San Francisco State.

Once North Park returned from California, it ran off 16 straight wins to end the regular season, winning the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin with a 15-1 record. At that point, the Vikings had earned the No. 1 ranking in the nation and younger players like Thomas were starting to dream big.

“When we started out we didn’t have a clue we would be that good,” Thomas said. “Harper and Greer were sophomores and I was just a freshman. But as we got going, we started realizing that we could look at a bigger picture and get something done.”

The Vikings opened the Division III playoffs with a 78-68 victory over Ripon before playing Minnesota-Morris in the Midwest Regional finals at Central in Pella, Iowa. In the regional final, Harper scored 24 points and added 12 rebounds and Thomas forced a Minnesota-Morris turnover in the final moments of a 65-62 win. Thomas’ steal was a poignant memory for many on the 1978 title team, but he is quick to point out that the Vikings’ team defense may have been the difference.

“People thought we were so potent on offense, but we were excellent on defense that year,” said Thomas. “May could hawk you on defense and all seven of us could play defense. We could blow you out, but we could shut you down too. Usually, you’re one or the other.”

North Park was supposed to travel to the site of the West Regional winner for the quarterfinals of the tourney and they hoped to play Chaminade in Hawaii. To their chagrin, Humboldt State won the West regional final. The Vikings ended up playing the quarterfinals in Arcata, Calif., a small town in the northern part of the state that had packed the gym for the contest.

In what was arguably the toughest playoff game of North Park’s championship journey, the Vikings squeaked out a 79-77 overtime thriller on a lay-up by Thomas and three Harper foul shots. A last second shot by Humboldt State in regulation play had rimmed out, giving North Park and Thomas new life.

“I was so doggone tired that I lost the ball at the end of regulation,” Thomas said. “I was limp from exhaustion and I remember going to the sidelines before overtime and Harper was screaming at me and I was so tired that I started laughing. But I almost cost us that game.”

North Park had far less to travel for the semifinals and championship games of the tourney, Rock Island, Ill., the home of conference rival Augustana. Although the Vikings had plenty of home fans in the crowd, the team started sluggishly in the semis, falling behind 21-12 in the first half before rallying to beat Albion 75-69. In the championship the next night, North Park played much better in the opening half against Widener, which propelled them to a relatively easy victory.

Fine outside shooting by Thomas (a game high 19 points) and Tom Florentine (7-for-8 field goals) enabled the Vikings to take a 35-24 lead at the intermission against a team that had been allowing just 53 points per game. In the second half, Harper took control by scoring 11 of his 17 points to help close out a 69-57 win. Harper earned the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award and Florentine made the All Tourney team as the Vikings finished off its 29-2 season.

“Looking at the tournament, you would’ve thought the Widener game would have been the toughest, but getting to the final game was the toughest part of it,” said McCarrell in recalling his team’s initial title. “It was a heck of a final and it was a great Widener team. They had a guy who was drafted by the Sixers (Dennis James) and they were talented. We had watched them in the semifinals and teams would get ahead of them and then they’d hold it (the ball) and Widener would extend the zone and force some turnovers and get back in games. But we had Florentine and Thomas on the perimeter and we made some big shots (a combined 14 for 21) against the zone and attacked them. They had to go out of their man-to-man defense and then we took control.”

Thomas played with all three of North Park’s initial title teams and called the first one his most special.

“I had a point guard’s dream that freshman year,” said Thomas. “I had Florentine as my off guard, one of the best shooters that ever went to North Park. I had Modzel Greer, who was a good shooter. I had Harper inside. And then I had big Al May who was like the glue of the team. He was so unselfish — he was our Dennis Rodman. He played hard defense and he rebounded well. You have to have people that fit into our roles and we jelled at the end of the year.”

Craig Pinley, who served as Director of Sports Information at North Park from 1988-90, has written for the Chicago Sun-Times, the San Diego Union-Tribune, and the Contra Costa Times in Walnut Creek, Calif., among others.