When Artis Gilmore Led a Whole City to the NCAA Championship

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In 1970, Jacksonville University marched toward the NCAA championships, David v. Goliath, and enraptured its city in the process. Sports Illustrated called JU a “transformed junior college” and Jax the urban heart of the Okefenokee Swamp. The first page of the yearbook caught the front of one shoe, nothing more: Artis Gilmore stood 7’2″, but some added six inches for his afro.