Steve Johnson was a star post player for the OSU basketball team from 1977 to 1981. He was drafted number 7 overall in the 1981 NBA draft and played professionally for ten years.
Wagner coached both OSU athletes at the Pan American games in Mexico City, where they both won gold medals. He coached at OSU from 1966 to 1975, compiling a dual meet record of 49-24. He led OSU to four top six finishes at the NCAA Championships, where the 1969 squad finished second. Nine of his athletes won individual NCAA titles, and fifteen athletes won twenty-three All-American honors. Tom Woods was a four-time All-American in the high jump and captured the 1972 NCAA title. Huntley competed at OSU in 1975 and participated on two U.S. Olympic teams. In the early 1970s, OSU was called the “high jump capital of the world” by some sportswriters due to the success of Dick Fosbury, Woods, Huntley and other Beaver high jumpers.
OSU defeated #1 ranked UCLA, 61-57, before 10,376 fans in Gill Coliseum. The win by the Beavers ended UCLA’s conference winning streak of 50 games. This photo, taken by student photographer Chris Johns, appeared in the March 1974 Oregon Stater. Johns tied his camera to one of the basket supports behind the backboard in order to get the photo.
Miller and the Beavers are pictured here playing against Indiana at the Far West Classic tournament in Portland. Ralph Miller was one of the most successful basketball coaches in OSU and college basketball history. His OSU record was 359-186 (1971-1989), and his career collegiate record was 657-382.