When I was a sophomore at Syracuse University in the fall of 1973, the damndest thing happened on our dorm floor.

This guy named Fred Saunders sauntered in with a few characteristics that made him really stand out. First, he was 6-7. Second, he was black, which made him unique on our dorm floor. Third, he was a big-time basketball player. And he was cooler than cool. He was funny, knew the ropes, and, considering what had happened to him, just happy to be there.

Fred, who was from Columbus, Ohio, was a basketball player at the University of Southwestern Louisiana, which, because of a laundry list of NCAA violations, got shut down. The line in the hoops world was that the oil-boom-rich Ragin’ Cajuns back then were the highest-paid college athletes ever until Eric Dickerson played football at SMU.

Fred had to sit out that first semester but was a tremendous player  for Syracuse that spring. One of his USL teammates, Larry Fogle, also took advantage of being able to transfer and play and went to Canisius in nearby Buffalo and led the nation in scoring. Obviously USL would have had one hell of a team in 1973-74 had they stayed together.

Anyway, I was telling the Fred Saunders story to Dale Brown and Collis Temple II while we driving Friday to Lafayette for the memorial service for the coach of those Ragin’ Cajuns, Beryl Shipley. Collis knew Fred from the old days and I was hoping he would be at the service.

And he was. Fred was the first person we saw when we walked into the First Baptist Church, a magnificent, state-of-the-art facility in downtown Lafayette. I hadn’t seen Fred since, probably, 1978, when he was with either the Boston Celtics or New Orleans Jazz and I was the sports editor of a chain of weekly papers in the Kansas City area. I got to cover the Kings back then and I remember visiting with Fred and laughing it up.

At the church, after he visited with Collis, I re-introduced myself and Fred had instant recall of our Orangemen days. He told a story about getting in trouble with then-Syracuse coach Roy Danforth who was none too happy with Fred for playing intramural flag football. Fred said I had to replace him at quarterback, which, frankly, I can’t remember but I’m sure I tossed quite a few touchdown passes.

Fred got drafted by the Suns the next spring, played in Phoenix and Boston before finishing in New Orleans and I’d always wondered what happened to him. He’s a businessman back in Columbus, looks great and seems to be doing well. It was really fun to see him again.

Later, I got to visit with Dwight “Bo” Lamar, whom Fred used to tell stories about after he got to Syracuse. First time I ever heard the phrase when he said “Bo could take a quarter off the top of the backboard and leave change.” Lamar is still considered the best player in USL history and is also back in their hometown of Columbus. Later, former NBA star Andrew Toney showed up. He didn’t play for Shipley but was a huge part of the USL history. They were kind enough to pose for the photo you saw up above.

I never met Shipley but was so impressed with the service and how many of his former players showed up and spoke so glowingly of him.  I hadn’t realized he was the first coach at a non-HBU in Louisiana to sign African-American players, which I know Collis -- the first black player at LSU -- appreciated.

And the best part of the trip: I got to spend half a day with Dale and Collis, which is always time I treasure.