The Perfect Season

"The Perfect Season is an important addition to Indiana's cultural sports history, evoking a time forever past. The Perfect Season is an important addition to Indiana's cultural sports history, evoking a time forever past."—Indiana Magazine of History

"The Perfect Season is a winner! Russ Grieger was part of the 1964-65 Purple Aces Evansville College perfect season and takes us through that magical time. Grieger also shares how the lessons learned on the court with a team helped him later succeed in life."—Kyle Keiderling, author of Trophies and Tears, The Story of Evansville and the Aces

"Relying upon his considerable skill as a master psychologist and his unique experience as an integral part of a star-studded national championship team, Russ Grieger not only captures all the excitement and thrills of the Evansville Aces perfect season of 1964-65 but also provides a very personal and in-depth analysis of what it meant to grow up in Indiana with a passionate love of basketball. Along the way, we get fascinating insider's portraits of Coach Arad McCutcheon and superstars Jerry Sloan, Larry Humes, and the rest of that slick and talented team that accomplished the ultra-rare feat of an undefeated national championship season. This is the story of a basketball odyssey filled with ups and downs and challenges both internal and external—a great story and a great read!"—Mike Roos, author One Small Town, One Crazy Coach: The Ireland Spuds and the 1963 Indiana High School Basketbal

"Russell Grieger has lovingly captured a time and a place—Indiana a half-century ago—when basketball mattered so much to that part of the world, and when a boy who happened to be very good at the game enjoyed the sweetest season that any player anywhere could dream of."—Frank Deford, author and commentator

"We've all wondered what really goes on inside a player's mind during the tension of a close game, in a wild arena, when big things are on the line. We've all wondered if these "kids" have egos and self-doubts. Russ Grieger answers those questions and more while introducing us to one of college basketball's all-time underappreciated great teams—and a season and a coach to match."—Bob Hammel, author of All The Way: NCAA Indiana

"Russ Grieger's poignant memoir is more than just a sports book. It is a book about how a quiet, genius coach and five very different personalities melded to produce something extraordinary, and how one of those personalities came to understand that he was not just a basketball player—he was a unique person who happened to play basketball."—Tom Tuley, retired journalist