This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Like a 3 a.m. toothache, the misery of the NBA lockout continues.

The increasingly bitter labor fight threatens the 2011-12 season and leaves professional basketball fans from Madison Square Garden to the Staples Center pondering life without Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Kevin Durant.

In Utah, it has been 33 years since there was no pro basketball — a full season without a single game at the Salt Palace, the Delta Center or EnergySolutions Arena.

Back in 1978-79, the Utah Stars, who provided the state with its first taste of professional basketball and won an ABA championship while doing so, were long gone. The Jazz, limping along as a lame duck in New Orleans, were still months away from packing up and moving to Salt Lake City.

Clearly, it was a different time for basketball fans in a state with 1.4 million residents, about half the population of today.

In The Salt Lake Tribune, Key Airlines advertised a new nonstop flight to Boise, Safeway offered a half-gallon of ice cream for $1.19 and parents were informed they could buy their kids a Christmas foosball table for only $199.

Located on the edge of a downtown district being revitalized by the construction of the ZCMI Center, and later, Crossroads Mall, the Salt Palace did not house a pro basketball team. But Disco Night — adults only, please — was a popular event.

For movie-goers, the list of top attractions included "Jaws 2," "Grease," "Heaven Can Wait" and the unforgettable cinematic triumph, "Going Coconuts."

On the football field, LaVell Edwards was well on his way to building a powerhouse program at BYU, though the Cougars were still more of a regional than national power — the big breakthrough win at Texas A&M was still a year away. And Utah was just beginning to crawl out from underneath the wreckage of the Tom Lovat years under second-year coach Wayne Howard.

Basketball?

In the post-Stars, pre-Jazz era, the only option was the state's colleges and, in '78-79, fans flocked to the games.

"It really had been a fever with the Stars," said veteran sportscaster Bill Marcroft, now retired. "They left a taste that was unquenchable. The only way people had to quench it was by going to see the college games."

BYU's average crowd for home games exceeded 19,000 — second in the country. Utah averaged more than 12,000 fans at its games at the then-Special Events Center. The two Western Athletic Conference games between the rivals drew almost 39,000 fans.

"There was tremendous enthusiasm," said ex-Cougar Fred Roberts. "BYU people felt we had a chance to be good again, I think."

Former Utah coach Jerry Pimm remembers students camping outside in freezing temperatures in order to secure tickets for the Utes' biggest games.

It happened at BYU, too.

Roberts recalls how a history professor, Joe Wood, often turned class into a celebration the day after a Cougar victory.

"If we won on Thursday night, he'd call it Fantastic Friday," Roberts said. "He'd bring candy and throw it to everyone in class. ...

"He had only one arm. I still remember him waving his arm around — being so excited — and all of us having so much fun."

On the streets of Salt Lake and Provo, star players like Utah's Danny Vranes and BYU's Danny Ainge became the state's biggest sports celebrities.

"When the Stars folded," Pimm recalled, "our guys became the main thing in town again — like they had been prior to the Stars coming here."

Ainge and Vranes were sophomores in 1978-79. Both eventually became first-round NBA draft picks, after leading their schools to dizzying heights during their careers.

At BYU, Ainge was the original Jimmer Fredette — a dynamic offensive player with a crowd-pleasing style.

"A few years ago," Roberts said, "a guy came up to me with his wife. He told her, 'This is Fred Roberts. We used to sleep outside overnight to get tickets to watch him play.' And she said, 'The only person I ever stood in line to watch was Danny Ainge.'"

According to Roberts, Ainge was unique among previous Cougar stars.

"People had been used to BYU being this methodical-type of team," Roberts said. "But now they had a guy who would run and shoot and do crazy things. I think that's what the deal was."

Ainge grew up in Oregon. Vranes, on the other hand, was a homegrown product from Skyline High School, which added to his popularity among Utah fans.

Said Marcroft: "Danny was the first Utah kid you looked at when he was a sophomore in high school and said, 'This guy is going to play pro basketball.' "

College basketball in Utah was so popular at the time that the fierce recruiting war for Vranes was covered like no others before it. Marcroft remembers following him around the halls at Skyline the day before he signed with the Utes, filming a day-in-the-life-of-Danny-Vranes story.

Pimm recalls getting a commitment from Vranes but sweating out a visit to BYU. After all, he was a member of the LDS Church.

"Danny told me, "I've decided to come to Utah, but I have to take a visit to BYU because it's expected,'" Pimm said. "I told him, 'OK, that's fine.' We shook hands. Everything was all set. Except he was still going to visit BYU."

Pimm and one of his assistants, Gerry Gimelstob, decided to scout the BYU game that Vranes attended on his official visit. They became concerned when they saw Marie Osmond sitting next to their prized recruit.

"Gimelstob was a very competitive guy," Pimm said. "He kept saying, 'That's not right. That's not right.' And at halftime, he said, 'I'm going down to say hi to Danny.' "

When his assistant returned, Pimm asked Gimelstob about the conversation: "He said, 'Coach, I told him BYU was trying to seduce him with Marie Osmond and not to fall for it."

Those were the days.

College basketball ruled Utah, and the crowning moment came when Magic Johnson and Michigan State met Larry Bird and Indiana State for the 1979 national championship at the Special Events Center.

The Spartans won, 75-64. Johnson scored 24 points. Bird finished with 19.

The historic battle fueled the sport's incredible growth spurt of the 1980s that has continued for more than three decades.

"The college game was already on the launching pad," the late Al McGuire once said. "Then Bird and Magic came along and pushed the button."

The Magic-Bird showdown also set the stage for pro basketball's return to Utah.

The Jazz arrived two months later. —

College craze

How Utah's college basketball teams fared in 1978-79, including overall record, conference record, average home attendance, national ranking in attendance and NCAA Tournament results:

Team Record Conf. Record Avg. Att. Natl. Rank

BYU 20-8 10-2 19,787 No. 2

NCAA: Lost to USF in second round, 86-63

Utah 20-10 9-3 12,114 No. 16

NCAA: Lost to Pepperdine in first round, 92-88

Utah State 19-11 9-5 8,077 No. 45

NCAA: Lost to USC in first round, 86-67

Weber State 25-9 10-4 7,813 No. 51

NCAA: Lost to Arkansas in second round, 74-63