Before Larry Bird became a legend in Celtic green and arguably the greatest small forward in NBA history, he was a small-town standout in French Lick, Indiana who starred for Springs Valley High School. After putting up 31 points, 21 rebounds, and 4 assists per game as a senior, the product of the Hoosier State was all set to begin his college career as an Indiana Hoosier. But after a month, he got overwhelmed by the size of the Bloomington campus and returned home. In 1975, Bird enrolled at less-heralded Indiana State University in rural Terre Haute. The Sycamores have one of the oldest NCAA programs, dating back to 1896, but it was Larry Bird who took them to their first ever NCAA tournament. He almost single-handedly won the NCAA Championship for his underdog Sycamores as they lost to Michigan State in the title game, the beginning of Bird's historic rivalry with Earvin "Magic" Johnson. The Sycamores finished that season 33-1 with Bird winning the USBWA College Player of the Year, Naismith and Wooden awards. In three years at ISU, Bird averaged 30.3 points per game and became the fifth highest scorer in NCAA history.
This lot features Bird's Indiana State Sycamores game-worn and autographed warm-up suit from his legendary college career. The baby blue, short-sleeve, button-down jacket has the Indiana State patch sewn on the left chest in white-on-navy tackle twill with "STATE" running vertically in navy. Bird has signed the patch in 6-7/10 black marker. Across the back is "Indiana State" stitched in white-on-navy tackle twill cursive lettering. Inside the shirttail is Rawlings size 44 manufacturer's tagging and a white 7" extra length strip tag with Bird's player number "33" marked in black. The baby blue bell-bottom style pants are very long, befitting of Larry's 6'9" stature, and have "ISU" sewn on the bottom right leg in white-on-navy tackle twill. Inside the rear waistband is the Medalist Sand-Knit size 36 manufacturer's tag marked "33" in black pen. Adjacent is a local Sand-Knit distributor's tag labeled "McMillan Athletic Goods Co. Terre Haute, IND." The warm-up suit shows solid wear with pilling and light sweat staining.
It comes with documented provenance from an ISU campus police officer who acquired the suit in 1978.
Pre-certified by PSA/DNA.