1978–79 Auburn Tigers men's basketball team

The 1978–79 Auburn Tigers men's basketball team represented Auburn University in the 1978–79 college basketball season.

1978–79 Auburn Tigers men's basketball
Big Sun Tournament champions
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
Record13–16 (5–13 SEC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Captains
  • Bubba Price (1st year)
  • Rich Valavicius (1st year)
Home arenaMemorial Coliseum
Seasons
1978–79 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 7 LSU 14 4   .778 23 6   .793
Tennessee 12 6   .667 21 12   .636
Vanderbilt 11 7   .611 18 9   .667
Alabama 11 7   .611 22 11   .667
Mississippi State 11 7   .611 19 9   .679
Kentucky 10 8   .556 19 12   .613
Georgia 7 11   .389 14 14   .500
Ole Miss 6 12   .333 11 16   .407
Auburn 5 13   .278 13 16   .448
Florida 3 15   .167 8 19   .296
1979 SEC tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll[1]

Auburn began the year with newly-hired Paul Lambert as head coach, but Lambert died in a hotel fire in Columbus, Georgia on June 6, 1978 before ever coaching a game. Sonny Smith from East Tennessee State was hired as coach.

The team played their home games at Memorial Coliseum in Auburn, Alabama. They finished the season 13–16, 5–13 in SEC play. They defeated Vanderbilt and Georgia to advance to the semifinals of the SEC tournament where they lost to Tennessee.[2]

Roster

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1978–79 Auburn Tigers men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 3 Taylor Hart 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Eufaula High School Eufaula, AL
G 4 Lewis Card 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Auburn High School Auburn, AL
G 11 Mark Barnhizer 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Lapel High School Lapel, IN
F 14 Roy McGrew 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Fairfield High School Fairfield, AL
G 21 Bubba Price 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Carver High School Birmingham, AL
G 22 Eric Stringer 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Oxford High School Hobson City, AL
G 25 Kirk Powers 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 178 lb (81 kg) Sr Auburn High School Auburn, AL
F 41 Benny Anthony 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr Bainbridge High School Bainbridge, GA
F 42 Rich Valavicius 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Hammond High School Hammond, IN
F 44 Earl Banks 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) So Holy Family High School Birmingham, AL
C 45 Bobby Cattage 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 250 lb (113 kg) So J.O. Johnson High School Huntsville, AL
C 54 Jeff Adams 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Sr Lake Weir High School Weirsville, AL
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

[3]

References

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  1. ^ sports-reference.com 1978-79 Southeastern Conference Season Summary
  2. ^ "1978-79 Auburn Tigers Schedule and Results". Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  3. ^ "1979 Southeastern Conference tournament program". March 1979. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)