It's not unprecedented.

Allowing Purdue students free admission to a men's basketball game like Purdue is going to do for tomorrow night's game against Minnesota has happened before.

Coincidentally, it has happened in a game against Minnesota, but under a little bit different conditions.

The Lafayette area experienced the "Storm of the Century" the last week of January in 1978 with 11 inches of snow and deathly-frigid wind chills. Purdue's game with the Golden Gophers was originally scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 26, the day the blizzard pummeled the Midwest. Minnesota arrived in town the night before as the storm was starting to take shape.

For the next 72 hours, the Gophers were "holed up" (so to speak) at the old Holiday Inn North near Battle Ground and I-65 awaiting the game. The hotel had trouble feeding all the many stranded motorists in addition to Coach Jim Dutcher's Gophers.

"The players were left to roam the halls of the hotel for three days," said Gold & Black Illustrated photographer Tom Campbell, who covered the event for the Lafayette Journal and Courier as a college student in those days. "I think they went a little stir crazy."

Urban legend had it that the Gophers were so eager to get out that they commissioned some snowmobiles to take them to Mackey Arena to practice. Senior associate athletic director Roger Blalock, who was a Boilermaker assistant coach at the time, heard those stories, but said they weren't based on reality.

"Nobody could get anywhere from what I remember being told," said Blalock, who was stranded himself on a recruiting trip.

Snowmobiles did play a role helping the Purdue players get to practice during the 72-hour postponement, however. Senior forward Walter Jordan said it was tough sledding even near campus.

"I remember Jerry O'Bryan, a local hairstylist who still operates "The Hairman" in West Lafayette (and now the new pub "Nine Irish Brothers"), coming to my apartment in a snowmobile to dig out (fellow starting forward) Wayne (Walls) and I." said Jordan from his home in Kenneshaw, Ga., where he coached his team to a state championship last year. "I am a rhythm shooter and so was (Minnesota All-American center) Mychal (Thompson) and he has reminded me over the years how all that laying around caused him to go 5-for-19 from the field."

Once it was determined the game could be played on Saturday, Jan. 28, Purdue officials were concerned no one would make it to the game. And classes had been cancelled, a rare occurrence at Purdue, so the students were going a little mad themselves. The game was a sellout, but Athletics Director George King decided to allow any students to fill the remaining seats five minutes after the game started.

According to Campbell's story in the Journal and Courier, nearly 12,000 fans made it to game. When it came time to let the students in, there were lines all the way around the arena and up to Cary Hall's courtyard. Not surprisingly, the seats were filled before all the students, who had been waiting out in the cold for over two hours, made it in. But those who did grab a seat, saw a great basketball game.

The game was tied 17 times and there were a total of 28 one-point margins before Purdue gained a little breathing room in the game's final minutes. Like his buddy Thompson, Jordan struggled from the floor connecting on 5-of-14 shooting, but more than pulled his weight by grabbing 10 rebounds. Sophomore center Joe Barry Carroll had a lot to do with the throttling of Thompson, scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 boards. His thunderous dunk at the 10-minute mark almost shook the ice off the Mackey Arena roof and started the Boilermakers on their soft landing towards a 72-64 win.

The Gophers had one of the most formidable front lines in the Big Ten. Not only did they have Thompson, who averaged 15 points a game for a dozen seasons in the NBA, but the Maroon and Gold had Kevin McHale, who was enshrined into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999 for his storied career with the Boston Celtics. McHale had a team-high 18 points against Purdue.

"The Big Ten was loaded in the 1970s and was the premier conference in college basketball," said Jordan, who is sixth on Purdue's all-time scoring list after being a four-year starter from 1975-78. "And we always felt Minnesota was the most talented team in the league and that is saying a lot considering Indiana and Michigan both went to Final Fours during that time."

The difference makers offensively for Purdue came from the backcourt. Guards Eugene Parker and Jerry Sichting combined for 36 points on an impressive 15-of-21 shooting.

"The way they packed it in, we had to make shots from the outside, and Gene and Jerry did that," Jordan said.

The victory and subsequent win two days later at Michigan turned out to be a couple of the last memorable triumphs of the 1978 season. The Boilermakers, who entered the season ranked No. 12 by the Associated Press, were tough as nails at home. They went undefeated in Mackey, including a 19-point blowout of Magic Johnson and Michigan State on Feb. 16 in a game played on a weekday afternoon due to the energy crunch caused in part by a Coal Workers strike. But on the road, Purdue could manage just two wins in nine games and ended up missing the NCAA Tournament in Coach Fred Schaus' last year at the helm. Despite the disappointing finish, the '78 team could really flip the switch and turn it on.

"Mackey Arena was electric that day, and I haven't forgotten that game 28 years later," said Jordan, who keeps an eye on the Boilermaker program while running a basketball recruiting site, Final4recruiting.com. "I know, like all Purdue players, I look forward to seeing Mackey full again real soon."

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