TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

The hair is thinner and grayer, and the waistlines are larger. But there's nothing wrong with the memories of players and coaches from the 1977-78 Bakersfield College men's basketball state championship team.

The squad was honored during BC's home game vs. Los Angeles Valley College Wednesday night.

Nine of the 12 players from that team were present, along with the squad's head coach, Ralph Krafve; assistant coach Mark Hutson; then-athletic director Herb Loken; and trainer Ray Maranda.

"I got old," Krafve said before the festivities began.

He'll turn 82 on Feb. 17, but Krafve had no trouble recalling the keys to the success of the team that went 33-2.

"We just won every game," Krafve said. "We had five starters who could go the whole game, and Poncho (Marlin "Poncho" Wiley) was the sixth man.

"Dean (Jones, the point guard) was the key to it. I told him one day to just go out and shoot the game. He got 30 or 35 points. Then the next game I told him to pass it around for the other guys."

The foundation was set the previous season, when BC went 27-4. Four starters from that squad returned to the state title team.

"Those were the best two years of my basketball career," said Jones, who played at USC after his two seasons at BC. "We were all local. I worked as hard as I ever did in my life that year. To win it all was special.

"Things like this are so important 30-some years ago, but when you have the magic, you'll never forget it."

Wiley, a Delano High graduate, said other teams had more talent, but the Renegades overcame that.

"When we got there (the state playoffs), we were ranked No. 2 and people said we had no chance. That gave us motivation," Wiley said.

"That was the one goal at the beginning of the year: winning the state championship. It feels like it was yesterday."

And then Wiley held up his left hand.

"I still have my championship ring," he said.

Todd Ward, a 6-foot-3 starting forward who is still BC's high jump record-holder at 7-feet, said it was all about teammates getting along with each other.

"We were a unique group of guys," Ward said. "We were such good friends. And the other thing: We brought our other teammates together.

"We had a group of freshmen we put our arms around them. It was not about us being basketball players. It was about being friends."

Manuel Calvin, a starting forward, said the practices were harder than the games.

"We made each other work," he said. "We'd back each other up.

"No one said they needed someone to help them out. We'd see it and we'd slide off our guy to help. That's why Krafve called few timeouts.

"He didn't even call a timeout in the championship game until the final three seconds. And then he told us, 'You'll remember this the rest of your lives.'"

Hutson, who recently won his 500th game as a high school head coach, said the Renegades that year had something he hadn't seen before or since.

"They played the greatest team basketball I've ever seen," said Hutson, who's now the Wasco High head coach. "Regardless of what was going on, once they stepped on the court, it was all team basketball."

Wiley said BC's playoff run that season was special.

"We beat everyone we played by 10 points or more. No one had done that before," Wiley said. "We were the first team to score over 100 points in a state final.

"I think we were the best team ever in the state of California."