I do hope you all have recovered from the January ice storm. Cold weather is no fun, in my opinion.
Being in the thick of college basketball season, I want to discuss something that was near and dear to me as a kid growing up here in Murfreesboro. I loved MTSU basketball. I loved going to “The Glass House,” the Murphy Center, to see our Blue Raiders play basketball.
You see, in the 1970s, Murphy Center was a new, state-of-the-art sports facility.
I recently had the golden opportunity to sit down with my favorite MTSU coach and talk about the good old days. I’m talking about Coach Jimmy Earle, who really set the foundation for Blue Raider basketball. He was there as an assistant coach to Ken Trickey in the ’60s and then took over as the head coach from 1969 until 1979. Before coming to Middle, Earle had coached high school basketball at DeKalb County and then at Martin Methodist Junior College.
During his time at MTSU, Coach Earle, along with others, visited several places like Notre Dame and the Air Force Academy to get an idea of what the new MTSU basketball arena would be like. Coach Earle was there during the building of Murphy Center, which has a floating roof. I remember people worried that Murphy Center was going to collapse from heavy snow and ice in the ’70s. There were several domes, like the Hartford Civic Center, that collapsed in 1978 due to too much snow.
I spoke with Coach Earle about the significance of Murphy Center. It was one of the few multi-sports venues. Athletes played basketball there and teams also ran track and field there. I remember as a kid in the early ’80s watching Herschel Walker run track there.
We also discussed people like Coach Ray Mears, who came up with the term “Big Orange Country,” and other local basketball legends like Foots Compton, Jimmy Montgomery and Dickie Thomas, just to name a few.
One thing I found intriguing is that there was no pep band when Earle started as the head coach. It would be several years later before the band was incorporated.
I asked him which team was his favorite to play against, and he said, “without a doubt, Austin Peay.” He said the Ohio Valley Conference was a tough league. Tennessee Tech very seldom lost at home. We talked about other Middle players like Jimmy Martin, who was my favorite player because he had long hair and we all thought he was so cool. He actually came to Campus School and took a photo with my Cub Scout troop.
Former MTSU men’s basketball coach Jimmy Earle gets carried off the court by members of the 1974-75 team after the Blue Raiders won the OVC tournament in Murphy Center on March 8, 1975 against Austin Peay. Photo courtesy of MTSU
There were so many other players, such as Sleepy Taylor, Bob Martin, Greg Joyner, Willie Brown and Tim Sisneros. And there were great opposing players. Truck Robinson came from Tennessee State, and Fly Williams from Austin Peay also came to Murfreesboro to play; I remember going to Murphy Center with friends, taking a flyswatter to the Austin Peay games. I remember when we played our nemesis, Tennessee Tech, and the fans would holler, “If you can’t go to college go to Tech!”
The ’70s were the golden years of MTSU basketball. All 11,000 seats were filled at every home game and the Voice of the Blue Raiders, Monte Hale, called the games on the radio. Basketball was the hottest ticket in town during this time. Coach Earle led the Blue Raiders to two OVC championships and two NCAA tournament appearances, the first being in 1975 when we took on the Oregon State Beavers, followed in 1977, when MTSU played the Detroit Titans, coached by Dick Vitale.
Long-time MTSU broadcaster Monte Hale interviews Jimmy Earle
Photo courtesy of MTSU
During this era, after all the home games, all the kids would rush the floor, hoping to get a sweaty wristband from Sleepy Taylor or Jimmy Martin or any other player. I remember one time getting Sleepy Taylor’s. I put it on my wrist and I didn’t take it off for several days. It was a source of pride to show all my friends. The players would all stick around after the game to talk to the fans.
Another great local honor would be being a Blue Raider ball boy. I know Mark Hardison was a ball boy during this time.
While he was at Middle, Coach Jimmy Earle also served as the athletic director for a year and coached baseball for a year. After coaching, he took over basketball operations for the Atlantic Coast Conference, followed by the Southwest Conference. He then helped lay the foundation for officials who officiated the basketball games, developing training programs, rules, guidelines and camps to help basketball officials stay on top of the game.
MTSU basketball fans have much to be thankful for. Yes, we’ve had wins over Kentucky, Florida State, Michigan State and Minnesota, but much of the later program success was set in motion by Coach Jimmy Earle.
Earle, now 90 and doing well, still attends games here at Murphy Center.
We owe much gratitude to Coach Earle for all he has done—not only for MTSU, but for the game of basketball. And thanks to Jimmy Jr. for helping make this article possible. Now everybody go out and do something nice for somebody! Go Blue Raiders! God bless.
