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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 19 • 9 BY ALAN KARPICK AKarpick@GoldandBlack.com F orty years ago, Purdue basketball was ahead of its time. Long before there was the Blue and White Platoon that fans are seeing this year at the University of Kentucky, Purdue had its own version of wholesale substitution. True, the Boilermakers' five backups weren't McDonald's All-Americans like those for the Big Blue, but they still were a talented group. And for a handful of games in the month of December 1974, the Boil- ermaker quintet captured the imagination of the Gold and Black faithful. Freshmen Walter Jordan, Wayne Walls, Eugene Parker and Michael White and for- mer walk-on Dick Satterfield comprised the Soul Patrol. The Boilermaker five were inserted into the game to shake things up, and that they did. "We knew it was going to be chaos, but it was controlled chaos," said Parker, a 6-foot-1 guard from Fort Wayne who has since become a successful sports agent. "Dick being out there kept us under con- trol, but we were competitive guys who were going to push starters on the other team and we were forcing others to keep up the pace." According to an article in the Chicago Tribune written on Dec. 16, 1974, White was given credit for naming the group. The burly 6-foot-7 center from Peoria, Ill., approached Coach Fred Schaus about naming the group, to which Schaus said, "How would Satterfield feel about it?" Satterfield, a senior who had worked hard to earn playing time, was the lone white player of the group, but he loved being a part of it. "Looking back, we never thought any- thing about the black/white thing or the name," said Satterfield, who now lives in the Cincinnati area and runs a highly suc- cessful executive search firm. "Heck, I was just glad to be part of the group because then I knew I would be guaranteed to play. That was all I needed." Schaus' team finished the previous season ranked No. 11 after winning the NIT championship, a big deal in those days because only one team from each confer- ence could play in the NCAA Tournament. "We are about two weeks into prac- tice and Coach Schaus said, 'I want to lay out an idea for you,'" Satterfield recalled. "'I want to bring you and the other four fresh- men into the game as I think it can provide a real jolt.'" Whether it was a jolt or chaos — it might just be semantics — the scheme worked. Usually sometime in the first five to eight minutes of the game, the Soul Patrol would leap off the bench and head to the scorer's table. If the game was in Mackey Arena, a cheer would come from the crowd anticipating something big happening. "Coach Schaus didn't always get a lot of love from fans for being innovative, but to his credit, he didn't mind playing fresh - men," said Jordan, who now lives in At- lanta and serves, as one of his many roles, as Executive Director of Team Impact, a or- ganization that helps youth in basketball and other sports. "There was no jealously L A F A Y E T T E S A V I N G S P R E S E N T S L A F A Y E T T E L E G E N D : T H E S O U L P A T R O L Purdue's Band Of Brothers Four freshmen made huge impact 40 years ago EyE i n g a n Ew h o m E? Choose the "Best Bank" to help you move in. Voted the best in the community, Lafayette Savings Bank provides home loans through fast decisions and streamlined paperwork. www.lsbank.com | 765-429-2914 E v E r y A n g l E . E v E r y P o s s i b i l i t y . Corporate HQ | 101 Main | Lafayette