Hall of Fame
Ralph Arietta was very optimistic headed into the 1975 basketball season. He had a great class of freshman coming in and experienced sophomores returning. The team was coming off a tough loss during the previous year in the Region XV Championship Game, and was hoping to win the championship in 1975. With five key starters (Allen Thompson, Jimmy Burns, Lewis Michaux, Larry Rhodes, and Donald Ingram) and a great bench, achieving the elusive Region XV title finally happened.
The 1975 team hit the ground running winning their first 26 games. Allen Thompson was the team’s top defender and leading scorer. The Vikings came in to the Region Championship game against the team that beat them the previous year, New York City Community College. The game was a tight one. Westchester came away with the victory by one point over NYC. The win would mark the first Men’s Basketball Regional Championship in WCC history. Their final record before they entered National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) National Tournament in Kansas was an incredible 33-1.
The Vikings did not miss a beat in their first game in the NJCAA National Tournament. They defeated Lakeland Community College from Illinois. In their second game however, Westchester fell to the College of Southern Idaho. In their third game of the tournament, with the Vikings were facing elimination, the Vikings beat out a heavily favored Vincennes University from Indiana to stay alive. Westchester’s fourth game would be their last of the 1975 NJCAA National Tournament as they lost to San Jacinto College of Texas. Overall, the Vikings finished the season ranked #7 in the nation. Allen Thompson was named to the NJCAA All-American Second Team. He later transferred to the University of San Francisco and played for the number one ranked basketball team in the US at the time. Thompson would be drafted by the Golden State Warriors.
