by Jim Young

USF will turn back the clocks tonight for its game against Pepperdine and honor some of its legendary players on Dons of the 70's Night. The game and halftime ceremony will be wrapped around a 70's theme party, complete with a heavy dose of disco music, giveaway items and a 70's icons look-a-like contest.
 
Some of the Dons of the 70's who will be in attendance include Bill Cartwright, James Hardy, Marlon Redmond, Bart Bowers, Rod Williams, Johnny Burks, members of Phil Smith's family along with coaches Bob Gaillard and Dan Belluomini.
 
For Hardy, it will be his first visit back to campus in nearly 40 years. A standout player on Dons powerful teams of mid-70's, Hardy was part of a heralded recruiting class which included Cartwright and Winford Boynes. The trio led USF to the nation's No. 1 ranking in 1976-77 after the Dons reeled off 29 consecutive wins to open the season. Hardy was a second-team All-WCAC selection as a freshman in 1975-76 and earned first team all-conference marks along with Associated Press honorable mention All-America accolades as a sophomore in 1976-77.
 
Hardy first arrived on the Hilltop campus in the summer of 1975 driving a custom-made van with the word "Trouble" written on each panel. The nickname stuck and Hardy's take-no-prisoners style of play – along with his dour mug shots – only fueled his reputation as the Dons' enforcer.
 
The stories are legendary.
 
After one of his rim-rattling dunks, Hardy told the hapless defenders, "That was over you, you and you."
 
He even had names for some of his patented slams. One was called the "squeak dunk", where he would rub the ball against the glass backboard before slamming it down.
 
One of the most iconic photos in USF history shows Hardy with his head behind the backboard, reaching around and dunking the ball in a game against Santa Clara. The photo, captured by former USF tennis player Rodney Lee, long ago drew the attention of former Golden State Warrior and current University of Washington head coach Lorenzo Romar, who recently called the USF Athletic Department to obtain a copy of the photo to show his players.
 
"One of the most amazing photos I've ever seen," said Romar. "I mean, how do you do that?"
 
"Just a routine inbounds play," recalled Hardy.
 
In a Sports Illustrated feature from 1976, Barry McDermott tells a story of an early season conference showdown against Seattle in 1976-77, when one of the Chieftain players clapped after Hardy missed a free throw in the waning seconds of the game which the Dons had locked away. "You like that?" said Hardy. "It's no big deal. Here, I'll miss another one." He did, and Boynes tipped in the rebound. "See what I mean?" said Hardy as he ran down the court.
 
"I remember the first time I was on the court with James," said teammate Rod Williams. "We were invited to work out with the Warriors at the San Bruno Recreation Center. On that day, the Warriors that were on the court were Rick Barry, Charles Johnson and Phil Smith. There was no question that the best player and athlete on the floor was James Hardy.
 
"I've never seen anyone that big who was so fast, could handle the ball and shoot like a guard. James was a one in a million-type player."
 
Said Cartwright, "We won a lot of games together and climbed to No. 1 in the nation but everyone would always remember that one spectacular play James made every game that you might not see again. We all wished we were as gifted as he was."
 
"James was the most prolific, complicated and cerebral players I ever coached," said former USF head coach Bob Gaillard. "Most players dive for a loose ball out of instinct," said Gaillard. "With James, he might see the ball rolling on the floor and question when we switched from Wilson to Rawlings before going after it.
 
"He was an eccentric genius."
 
During his recruitment to USF, Gaillard personally visited Hardy for 17 consecutive days at Long Beach's Jordan High School. "NCAA rules were different back then," said Gaillard. "After practice at USF, I'd jump on a PSA flight to Long Beach, visit with James and fly back that night. Once he agreed to come to USF, my wife made sure to get the recipes of all his favorite dishes from his mother."
 
One of Gaillard's most vivid memories of Hardy came during one of the most talked-about games in USF history.
 
"We were undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the nation in late January and Santa Clara had us down by 17 in the second half at their place. Now I'm thinking to myself this is not good. We're in a huddle during a timeout trying to figure out how to get back in the game and the crowd is going absolutely crazy. I look up and James is at midcourt enticing the crowd by holding up his index finger, telling them we are No. 1. We came back to win the game, 71-70. You could have heard a pin drop."
 
Following his junior season, Hardy was drafted by the New Orleans Jazz with the 11th overall pick and played four seasons in the NBA from 1978-82. He left as the program's 10th all-time leading scorer and its seventh leading rebounder.
 
Behind the earth-shaking dunks, the intimidating scowl and his sweet ride, there was a soft-spoken young man who carried a 3.4 grade point average, dabbled in art, drama, chess and had aspirations to attend law school. Hardy was a regular at all of USF's home athletic events, so much the women's volleyball team adopted him as their unofficial mascot.
 
"I wondered about why his nickname was 'Trouble' because he was one of the nicest guys on the team," said Williams.
 
On Friday night, James Hardy will be inducted into USF's Athletic Hall of Fame, a long overdue honor for one of the most talented and complex players in school history. The scowl has long been replaced with a wide smile only a few saw in the days when Trouble brewed on the Hilltop.
 
Tickets still remain for the Dons of the 70's Night game vs. Pepperdine on-line at USFDons.com/tickets or by calling (415) 422-2USF (2873). Parking is available free of charge two hours prior to tip-off until one hour after the conclusion of the game in any campus lot, with the exception of designated green parking spots at the top of Hayes-Healy garage on Golden Gate Avenue adjacent to the gymnasium. Campus parking lots of choice include the lot at the Koret Center, located at the corner of Turk and Parker and the Hayes-Healy underground garage, located on Golden Gate Ave. just past the Sobrato Center. Due to expected large turnout for tonight's game, fans are encouraged to arrive early. View campus parking map here.
   
Tickets are available for USF's Hall of Fame dinner to be held on Feb. 3 at the McLaren Conference Center on campus. Former men's basketball standout James Hardy '78 joins Eduardo Rangel '66 (men's soccer), Patrick McGuigan '06 (baseball), Tami Adkins '93 (women's basketball), and Dr. Sandee Hill (special category) as the 2017 class of inductees into USF's Athletic Hall of Fame. Click here to purchase your tickets today.