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The Wildcats have been to the Final Four of the NCAA tournament four times, but it's been 50 years since they've accomplished the feat. Saturday, prior to the 12:30 tipoff against West Virginia at Bramlage, K-State will honor and celebrate that squad as part of Legends Weekend.
Returning to Manhattan for the festivities:
- Dick Barnard, sophomore guard from Madison, Kansas
-
Larry Berger, junior forward from Jetmore
- Bill Gettler, sophomore guard from Ulysses
- Joe Gottfrid, senior forward from Gypsum
- Tom Haas
- Jim Hoffman, sophomore forward from Derby
- Max Moss, starting senior guard from Hoxie who scored seven points in the Final Four loss to UCLA
- John Olson, freshman center from Leonardville
- Lou Poma, junior forward from Pagosa Springs, Colo.
- Sammy Robinson, sophomore guard from Parsons, who was a second-team all-Big 8 selection in 1964; Robinson scored 11 points in the regional final win over the Shockers, earning second-team all-regional recognition, and added four points off the bench in the loss to UCLA
- Jeff Simons, starting junior forward from Eudora, who scored 14 in the win over Wichita State and joined Robinson on the regional second-team before adding 24 in a heroic effort in the loss to UCLA; Simons later went on to coach at Bonner Sprints
- Roger Suttner, starting senior center from Ridgeway, Ill, who joined Robinson on the 1964 all-Big 8 second team. Suttner scored 16 against the Shockers but was held to only three baskets against UCLA; he was then drafted by the San Francisco Warriors, but never played in the league
- Larry Weigel, freshman guard/forward from Hays who's remained part of the K-State family his entire life as an assistant coach, fundraiser for the KSU Foundation, writer, Medicare consultant, and as the executive director of the K-State Alumni Association
- And, of course, head coach Tex Winter, inventor of the Triangle offense and guru to Phil Jackson, whose lifetime accomplishments require no explication at all.
Starting senior forward Willie Murrell from Taft, Oklahoma, is unfortunately unable to attend, and of course starting sophomore guard Ron Paradis from Topeka won't be there either, having passed away in 2010.
Doing our part to help you celebrate, here's a couple of interviews Larry Weigel did with members of that squad (they're mislabeled as 1962) with Roger Suttner and with Max Moss and Joe Gottfrid.
