That's how a poem written by University of Evansville basketball alumnus Scott Shreffler started. The poem, which I cannot locate the full text of at the moment, speaks of the history and tradition he experienced as a member of that team from 1988-93. During that period, he helped the team advance to two NCAA tournament appearances and an NIT bid. The Purple Aces won two Midwestern Collegiate Conference (now Horizon League) championships with Shreffler as a team captain.
But the poem highlights one aspect of playing for the Purple Aces that helped that small school stand out amongst the 200+ NCAA Division I men's college basketball teams. It was the only school in college basketball where the team took the floor playing in jerseys with sleeves.
Sleeved jerseys came to Evansville in 1947. Coach Arad McCutchan thought that since his players were accustomed to practicing in t-shirts, they would be more comfortable wearing t-shirts in a game situation. He also said that the sleeved uniforms were more flattering to the thinner players who lacked the upper body muscles of some of the larger players.
It was also said that the sleeves protected the Aces on the road and gave them an advantage at home. Unlike the arenas of today, college fieldhouses of that periods were old and drafty. It was believed that the sleeves kept players warm in those road gyms. And when the Aces moved to the new Roberts Stadium in 1956, rumor has it McCutchan kept it drafty in there as well -- in order to freeze out the competition.
(http://www.evansville.edu/images/150/jerrysloan.jpg)
Jerry Sloan sports his sleeves
Now, as if the sleeves weren't unique enough, McCutchan had another trick up his...well...you know. Those crackerbox gyms the Aces visited weren't only drafty. They were dim. And purple uniforms can be tough to see in the dark. So, McCutchan outfitted his team in bright orange jerseys when they went on the road. For thirty years, the Evansville Purple Aces wore more orange than purple.
There were other innovations from McCutchan. His teams wore boxing robes on the bench rather than warm up suits. He said by the time a substitute got the warm up pants off, he could have already been in the game.
The team wore red socks at home from time to time. McCutchan always wore them when he was on the bench. Nobody really knew why. Maybe it was superstition.
Whatever it was, it paid off for McCutchan and the Aces. During his 30 years on the bench, he guided his team to five NCAA College Division national championships. During the 1960s, the Aces became giant killers. Many a big time team would make its way to Roberts Stadium, anticipating a easy win -- a breather between games with other big name competition. More times that not, they would leave wondering what they just ran into.
After McCutchan retired in 1977, the Aces made a shift to Division I. And with that new direction came a new coach and new uniforms. The sleeves were retired and orange was no longer in the color scheme.
The 1977 team was ill-fated. After starting the season 1-2, the squad was killed when the plane carrying them to a game at Middle Tennessee State crashed shortly after takeoff from Dress Regional Airport.
Evansville returned to the basketball floor in 1978. Four years later, the school made its first-ever NCAA Division I tournament appearance. It is the only time the Aces have appeared in a post-season national tournament sans sleeves.
When Jim Crews became coach in 1986, he became good friends with Arad McCutchan. After his first season with the Aces, Crews did something radical. But something out of respect for the man who put Evansville on the map of the basketball world. In 1987, for the first time in ten years, Evansville players took the floor wearing uniforms with sleeves. Two years later, the Aces returned to the NCAA tournament. This time, with sleeves. In front of a nationally televised audience the 11th seeded team in the funny shirts knocked off Oregon State. To date, that is UE's sole NCAA Division I tournament victory.
While the shirts garnered criticism from national commentators (Dick Vitale especially hated them), they drew endearment from the fans at home. They became a footnote for every basketball broadcast featuring the Aces. The sleeves became Evansville's signature
In 1993, Arad McCutchan died. And Jim Crews got radical again. As a combined tribute to McCutchan and the 75th anniversary of Evansville's basketball program, Crews outfitted his players in bright orange uniforms. At home. Teams traveling to Roberts Stadium were told to bring their home whites that year because the Aces were going to be in orange. On the road, the uniforms were the traditional purple -- except for an ESPN game at Xavier, where Coach Crews made an exception and brought the orange uniforms along.
The next season, orange made its permanent return to the color scheme. Road uniforms were orange once more and the home whites were trimmed in orange.
(http://www.hoosiergazette.com/images/UEuniform.jpg)
An Aces home uniform of the late '90s
In Jim Crews' final year with Evansville, the uniforms changed again. They were baggier and made the players look like they were swimming in them. Some say this doomed the sleeves.
Crews left UE after the 2001-2002 season. With a new coach and a new athletic director came a new look -- again. Steve Merfeld polled the players and they said the sleeves had to go.
(http://gopurpleaces.com/images/articles/82843_PettyLooksRight.jpg)
An Aces player of today
Since Merfeld took over in 2003, the Aces have yet to compile a winning season. As they fade into obscurity this season, they look like just any other basketball team.
As an alumnus, I'm disappointed that the sleeves are no longer a part of my alma mater's uniform. To me, it's like taking the pinstripes from a Yankee uniform or having Notre Dame play football in navy blue helmets.
Perhaps someday it will be an honor indeed for UE players to wear the sleeves again.