Monte Towe: The biggest little man to ever play the game
By Mike McGraw
Executive Director
(reprinted from www.hoosierauthority.com)
In the winter of 1971, legendary North Carolina State men's basketball coach Norm Sloan, an Indiana native, was looking for an intelligent point guard to command perhaps the greatest cast of athletes ever assembled on a college court. His search led Sloan to where he believed the smartest pure point guards in the world were bred -- back home in Indiana.
The object of Sloan's desires was Seymour's Baron Hill. When it became apparent that Hill's plans did not include a stint on Tobacco Road, Sloan turned his attention to another high-profile Indiana guard, Northfield's Steve Ahfeld. On the night Sloan went to watch Ahfeld, the Norseman were playing conference foe Oak Hill. Sloan found his point guard that night, but it wasn't Ahfeld. Instead, it was a young man from Oak Hill who would go on to become, arguably, the best little man to ever play the game.
His name was Monte Towe. He was listed at 5'6”. A generation of basketball fans will tell you that that was at least a one-inch exaggeration, and probably two.
Towe was becoming a folk legend in his own right that season. Lightning-quick and with a shooting range that began as soon as the rim came into sight, Towe was the undisputed leader of the best squad the Golden Eagles had ever had. At season's end, they would roar through the Marion Sectional and then best Huntington in the regional behind over 40 points from their diminutive star. Their run ended at the hands of eventual state runner-up Elkhart Central in the afternoon round of the semistate.
Even then the Eagles died hard, erasing a 20-point third-quarter deficit and keeping the outcome in doubt until the final minute. Towe's heroics in the fourth quarter of that game are still a thing of legend among basketball historians.
At the time, most were sure that the tournament run was the culmination of Towe's career. Despite being named an Indiana All-Star and having a Division I scholarship in hand, most people still considered Towe more of a novelty than a truly great player. That view would be changed forever in the coming years.
Now the head coach at the University of New Orleans, Towe says his early days on the NCSU campus were dominated by fear. “There weren't the scholarship limits back then that there are today. There were like 19 players on scholarship at North Carolina State, and when I got to campus I was No. 19.” If so, the situation changed quickly. Freshmen were not varsity-eligible at the time, but Monte became the starting point guard on a freshman team that went 16-1. It was only a glimpse of what was to come.
By the beginning of the 1972-73 season (Towe's sophomore year) he was firmly entrenched as the Wolfpack's floor general. It was an unforgettable campaign. State was ineligible for the NCAA championship because of an NCAA violation that by today's standards would be considered minor. The rest of the nation was surely glad: NC State would go undefeated. In addition to Towe, they featured Tom Burleson, at 7'2” the tallest player in college basketball. Also taking the floor was fellow Hoosier Tim Stoddard, a 6'8” forward. Stoddard had played on the East Chicago Washington team that many feel is the greatest team in Indiana high school history. And, of course, there was David Thompson, an absolutely freakish athlete for the era.
In the midst of this illustrious talent, it was Towe's efforts that will always be remembered. He broke his left wrist early in the season, and later broke his nose. Through all of that, he not only didn't miss a game, he did not miss a single practice. “I was still scared to death that if I missed a practice that I might never see the floor again,” Towe recalls. For basketball fans of the seventies, watching Towe play the final part of that year with a cast on one arm and a mask over his face to protect the nose is one of the enduring memories of that generation.
The nest year would be sweet vindication for State. They again marched through the season like Sherman on his way to the sea. This time, free from probation, they captured the NCAA title.
Years after this glorious era in NC State basketball, the athletic department held a charity auction of items from that Wolfpack team. The item which by far brought the most money was the practice jersey of the tough-as-nails “Mighty Mite,” Monte Towe.
After college, the pro game beckoned. Towe was signed, along with Thompson, by the Denver Nuggets of the American Basketball Association, home of the red, white, and blue ball. He would play two seasons with the team. In the first, Denver went to the finals of the ABA. In the second, the Nuggets won the Western Division of the NBA. Towe's effectiveness, though, was limited, as it is for nearly all small men, by the rules of the professional game. Many of the skills that made him great simply could not be used in the pros. After two seasons, his playing career was over.
As is often the case, the opportunity of coaching came to call. In Towe's case, that opportunity led back to NC State and mentor Norm Sloan. Towe took an assistant position with the Wolfpack and was there through 1981. It was then that Sloan took the head job at Florida, and Towe went along. The duo would be in Gainesville through the 1990 season, but it did not end well. Sloan was forced out at Florida under a cloud of NCAA violations. Though he was not involved in any of the allegations, the events would throw Towe's life into turmoil.
There is something addictive about coaching basketball. It can turn men into vagabonds. Indeed, the nineties were a basketball road show for Monte Towe. The decade included head coaching jobs at two junior colleges, an assistant coach position at the University of North Carolina-Asheville, and a stint in Venezuela, of all places. Finally, in 2001, the University of New Orleans called to see if there was interest on his part in the head coaching position at that school. The gig has returned Towe to prominence in the game -- his teams have been successful, including one trip to the NCAA tournament.
Basketball has led Monte Towe on a whirlwind trip that has included stops at some of the loftiest places a player or coach can reach. Through it all, he has never lost sight or love for his roots. He made that eloquently clear in his acceptance speech upon being inducted into the Indiana High School Basketball Hall of Fame. Monte told the assembled crowd that while he was tremendously appreciative of all the glory and accolades the game had brought him, that, in his mind, they were all just gravy. In his own words, all Monte Towe ever wanted out of basketball was to wear a uniform for Oak Hill High School.
On behalf of an entire generation of Hoosier basketball fans, we are eternally grateful that he did.
