I remember Stipo's sophomore year

Posted on: September 23, 2023 at 09:20:41 CT

He was struggling at the beginning of the year and was in some sort of funk. He found a gun in his yard after a party in late December and then accidentally shot himself in the arm with it (that was the official story anyway - there were a lot of ugly rumors going around then; thank God there was no internet).

He qas not hurt seriously and starts playing when the Big 8 Schedule got underway. A few weeks into that, Mizzou goes to ku and our friends in Lawrence were waiting for him. There were targets hung all over Allen Field House, everyone was wearing an arm band with ketchup on it (kind of creative now that I think about it) and carrying a cap gun (could you imagine trying to bring a cap gun into a game today?).

But he took all they had to give him and went on to have a good season. The next year, he and Sundvold led us to a No. 1 ranking for a few weeks and I believe a No. 1 seed in the tourney. Made the Sweet 16, which was played at the Old Arena in St. Louis (that place hosted some great games including Bill Walton's 21-22 performance in the 1973 finals) and lost to that Houston team in Olijawon's (spelling) coming out party.

Stipo had another good year as a senior and was the second pick in the NBA draft. Had a decent NBA career but eventually had to retire because of knee issues.