Basketball at Yost

Since 1973, Yost Ice Arena has been the home of the Michigan hockey team. A lot of memorable hockey games have been played there over the years, but nothing can compare to the last days of Michigan basketball at what was then called Yost Field House. When I started attending U-M basketball games as a toddler in the late 50s, fan interest was at an all-time low. The team usually finished at or near the bottom of the Big 10 standings, and you could literally walk in at game time and find a great seat at center court. But that all started to change when Bill Buntin arrived in the early 60s, and when Cazzie Russell enrolled the following year suddenly Michigan basketball was the hottest ticket in town.

Adding to the frenzy was the fact that a) the athletic department sold way more tickets to the games than they had seats, and b) most of the tickets were general admission, meaning that you had to get there at least an hour before the start of the game to be sure you could even find a seat. I remember that my dad and I usually ended up sitting way up in the northwest corner behind the big steel girders, often in the very top row where you'd keep your coat on all game long, because the wind would come right through the ancient busted windows.

Being shoulder-to-shoulder with your fellow fans for an hour or two before the game even started led to a rowdy atmosphere, and the Michigan team added to it by trying fancy dunk shots during warm-ups to get a reaction from the crowd. The fans would count out loud the number of dunks Michigan made until finally the last bench-warmer, who wasn't even tall enough to try a dunk, would lay the ball up, leading to catcalls and jeers.

To say that it was an intimidating atmosphere for a visiting team to come into is putting it mildly. And during Cazzie's 3 years at Michigan coach Dave Strack's club would lose just one game at Yost. Ironically that loss is one of only three games that I can remember specific details about, along with a big win over Indiana when Michigan topped the 100-point mark (the antiquated scoreboards there only registered numbers with 2 digits), and Cazzie's last home game against Northwestern.