This year marks the 50th anniversary of the 1964-65 Evansville Aces. At that time, the Aces were not only an outstanding basketball team; they were a major Evansville social activity. Over 12,000 fans packed Evansville’s Roberts Municipal Stadium on a regular basis to cheer for their hometown team.
In honor of this anniversary, the public is invited to a panel discussion Saturday, January 24, with the starting five of this undefeated 1964-65 team. Mike Blake will moderate. The event will be at the Old National Events Plaza, Ballrooms B, C, and D. Doors open at noon, with the discussion taking place from 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.
Following the program, the book The Undefeated Season: The Newspaper Story of the 1964-1965 Evansville College Purple Aces Basketball Team, edited by starting guard Russ Grieger and retired editor and publisher of the Evansville Courier & Press Tom Tuley, will be available for signing.
Later that day, when the present day Purple Aces play Southern Illinois University at the Ford Center at 3:05 p.m., the 1964-65 team will be recognized at half-time. A commemorative program will be available
Then January 25 – April 19, an exhibit on the team will be on display in the Evansville Museum’s Evansville Convention & Visitors Bureau Center of History and Science. “Winning Them All: The Evansville Aces 1964-65†will recall the season when the Aces went undefeated and claimed the school’s fourth College Division National Championship (today’s Division II).
