When Bowling Green State University hired a new men’s basketball coach in 1967, its proud program was adrift, fresh off three straight losing seasons after Harold Anderson’s retirement.
A fourth was all but certain, the Falcons picked to finish last in the Mid-American Conference.
“Nobody gave us any chance at all,” star forward Walt Piatkowski recalled over the weekend.
Well, nobody but Bill Fitch.
From the start, Fitch, the Falcons’ energetic first-year coach and a former Marine drill instructor, made clear things would be different.
“I demand the type of attitude it takes to win,” Fitch told The Blade upon his hire.