Thirty years ago, Austin Peay State University pulled off one of the most shocking upsets in NCAA Tournament history: Governors 68, third-seeded Illinois 67. Dick Vitale stood on his head; if you're a Governors fan, you've heard this story before.

You may not have heard it from the players, coaches and staffers involved, though. And if you think 30 years would cause some of those memories to go fuzzy, think again—the participants remember it all with a crystalline clarity that only comes with a life-changing experience.

Some of the fondest memories were reserved for the head coach. Lake Kelly, in his second stint with the Govs, was revered for his tenacity and defensive mind. A player's coach, Kelly instilled not just confidence but toughness in his players.

Rick Stansbury, assistant coach: Lake Kelly was one of the best defensive coaches to ever coach this game.

Scott Murphy, guard: Lake Kelly demanded perfection on the defensive end. He was tough but fair. He was so passionate about the game and we were well-prepared.

Eric Orr, forward: He really stressed defense and he had us playing defense in a very in-your-face, deny-all-over-the-court way that I'd never played before. It was eye-opening and it definitely kept us in every game we played.

Kent McKenzie, guard: He demanded a lot. (West Virginia) Coach Bob Huggins always said he was one of the premiere defensive coaches he ever met. It was always about the defensive end first and controlling the tempo and the other team's ability or inability to score.

Joe Busateri, center: I really liked playing for Coach Kelly. He was smart. He was intense in his own way; he wasn't a raving lunatic up and down the court.

Darryl Bedford, center: He wanted to see what we could do, and he would design things around what we did well and that's how he ran his team.

You wouldn't have known the Govs were poised to stun the world in March with how they started the season—an unceremonious loss to Centre College. But the very next day, Austin Peay pushed Kentucky to the final whistle at Rupp Arena, falling 71-69 to the Wildcats.

McKenzie: You had a school like Austin Peay looking past Centre toward Kentucky and Kentucky looking past Austin Peay, especially after they just got beat by Centre College. And we were really upset at losing to Centre and wanted to prove we could play against a Division I powerhouse.

Murphy: Looking back on it, Centre was a disciplined team that ran a good offense and we were looking ahead to Kentucky and playing at Rupp Arena.

Brad Kirtley, Sports Information Director: Our focus was not on Centre College; it was on Kentucky and it cost them.

Busateri: Coach Kelly was not very happy about losing to Centre College. It was one of those games where we were just flat and let them hang around too long.

The Kentucky contest was part of a competitive schedule put forth by head coach Lake Kelly that season—the Govs played Kentucky, Missouri, Minnesota, Memphis State and Auburn during the non-conference swing.

Orr: I don't think any other coach would've played that out of conference schedule other than Lake Kelly.

Bill Herndon, Voice of the Govs: I'm sure it toughened them up for the OVC slate. For years, we played one of the toughest non-conference schedules. And that year, that made them seasoned in close ball games.

Stansbury: We were right there against Kentucky. A one or two-point game right down the stretch. There's no question playing those teams close really gave us a lot of confidence.

Bedford: We didn't care about who we were playing or where we were playing, it was about what we were going to do as a team.

Kirtley: The game I remember the most that told me we were going to be pretty good was at Marshall's tournament; we had played there the year before and we were terrible, but we went back that year and won their tournament.

Perhaps those games toughened Austin Peay up, but you couldn't prove it through the early part of the OVC slate. The Govs started the conference schedule 2-5 before rallying to win six of their last seven against league foes.

McKenzie: The switch flipped when we traveled to Morehead and EKU. We were probably playing as bad as we played the entire year. We weren't hitting shots, Coach was frustrated with us, we weren't holding other teams in check. We had a team meeting, I think in Morehead, and we just sat in one room and we just aired our dirty laundry; it didn't matter how much or how little you played, everybody stepped up and got called out. After that meeting, that's when we started to play.

Busateri: I can't remember exactly when it was, but I distinctly remember Bedford and Richie (Armstrong) calling a team meeting without coaches and getting together and making a decision of, "Are we going to do this or not?" We knew we were good, we knew we were close, we had to decide to it.

Kirtley: This team didn't take off until everyone got comfortable in their roles. Richie was left-handed and as a junior, he couldn't go to his right and he had to learn how to do that. Mike Hicks was one of the leading scorers in junior college basketball and on this team he became the defensive stopper. That was the whole of things, guys sacrificing to make the team work.

Everything crested in the OVC Tournament, an event that reminded McKenzie of the 2015-16 Governors run to the title: "Get on a roll and you start to believe that no matter what happens, there's a way to win a game."

The Govs rallied from 22 points down at home to topple Morehead State in the opening round, then erased a 10-point deficit against Middle Tennessee in Murfreesboro just to reach the championship game. Austin Peay then needed one of the greatest shots in school history—a 30-footer from Richie Armstrong—to win the title over Eastern Kentucky.

Murphy: It proved to us that we could overcome anything to win. The Morehead game, Coach Kelly benched the starters and unloaded the bench and we got a little momentum before those guys came back, cleaned it up and pulled it out in the end.

Busateri: That stretch down the end is what gave us the confidence to beat anybody. Even when we were down (against Morehead State) and coach dumped the bench out there, I don't think at any time we ever believed we weren't going to win. That success in the last half of the season really propelled us into the tournament, and that first tournament game propelled us into the NCAA.

Kirtley: Coach Kelly pulled the entire starting lineup and put the subs in against Morehead and people in the stands were wondering if he'd given up. He hadn't given up, but he had to get (the starters) attention. The depth on that team was better than people gave it credit for.

Herndon: Richie's shot was one of the most unbelievable shots I've ever seen. I came up out of my chair and stood on the press table cheering.

Now it was on to the Big Dance and little ol' Austin Peay would be playing Illinois, a darkhorse pick for the national title. The Governors were to be served up as fodder for the Fighting Illini on their way to the Sweet Sixteen.

Or not.

McKenzie: The night before, the coaches took us to see Hoosiers, which had just opened; Mrs. Kelly had lived in the little town that Hickory High School was from. And we thought that was us.

Kirtley: On our way to Birmingham, we stopped to eat lunch and happened to pick up a newspaper, which had an article in it basically dogging us—"Why's Austin Peay in the tournament, they're going to be a walkover, etc."—and it kept getting handed around by the players. I don't think they needed extra motivation, but I think it stiffened their resolve. They knew what they were capable of.

Murphy: Once we got to the NCAA tournament, we were on such a high and we finished so strong that we were a very dangerous team.

Stansbury: The pressure really shifted to Illinois. Those opposing teams and the other fans, they're all cheering for you. And we found ways to make plays when we needed to make plays.

Despite Dick Vitale's assertion that he would stand on his head if the Governors won, little ol' Austin Peay toppled third-seeded Illinois, 68-67, behind 24 points and five three-pointers—still the most by a Gov in an NCAA Tournament game—from Bedford. And suddenly, the Govs were the darlings of the tournament.

Kirtley: When I got back to the hotel room—keep in mind this was before cell phones—my phone was ringing. I was either on the phone or taking another call, from people from all over the country, for most of the evening. It was crazy in the team hotel; I didn't have a portable typewriter, I had to use the one in the hotel. Our fans were just so giddy about what had transpired.

Murphy: For a bunch of 18-to-22 year old guys, it was a dream come true. You're all over ESPN, Dick Vitale is standing on his head, fans are going nuts in the hotel lobby. We were just elated; it was unbelievable at the time. We had a camaraderie that was just unmatched. It was a total team effort.

Orr: That was euphoric. I think for all of us, it was a recognition of our hard work and accomplishments.

Stansbury: Our team, it was no problem keeping those kids grounded and focused. We had a lot of confidence. We went in believing; we didn't look at ourselves as underdogs. It was a different kind of team and different kind of style; a center who could step out and shoot, playing small and quick. That's what gave us the opportunity against Providence.

Busateri: So when we went and saw Hoosiers before the tournament, we go in and watch the move—nobody knew us. We beat Illinois, we go to a movie that night or maybe the next night and we get stopped in the parking lot by fans, we're getting mobbed going into the theater—it was just instant celebrity. It was a feeling like no other.

There was still work to be done, with only Providence standing between the Govs and a berth in the Sweet Sixteen. With Rick Pitino on the sidelines and a young Billy Donovan running the offense, the Friars barely emerged victorious in an overtime thriller that the Governors ruminate over to this day.

Orr: When I talk to people, they don't remember that we gave Providence the last tough game they had before the Final Four. If Rick Pitino doesn't get to the Final Four, he doesn't get the Kentucky job. If he doesn't get that job, Billy Donovan doesn't follow him there and then get the job at Florida. In terms of basketball history, I don't think we realized at that time (what it meant).

Stansbury: I remember an offensive foul where Billy shoved off for a three with about 15 seconds to go… no call and he makes it and that was the difference in the game. And they turn around and blow out Alabama and Georgetown. In Rick Pitino's book, I think he even says that if we make those free-throws down the stretch, maybe he's still at Providence.

Kirtley: We had a lot of foul issues in that game, but we were still hanging in there. Late in the game, we were up by I think seven. Billy Donovan had the ball and Mike Hicks was guarding him and Donovan threw a forearm shiver into Mike's chest, should've been an offensive foul, and Donovan hits a three. You go from a seven, eight-point lead to four or five and that turned the momentum.

Busateri: I'm still not over it. It's still painful. Do you think about it every day, no; but around tournament time, you still feel that pain.

Bedford: It really hurt. We wanted one more game. We would've gotten to rest and play again. We had them the whole game and thought we were going to do it.

McKenzie: It was hard. We weren't satisfied with what we'd done, because we knew we were better than Providence. We had better athletes and were quicker, but we had to hit shots at the end and we didn't do that like we'd done in other games. And I think that still bothers us today, because we were the better team. It weighs on us still.

Murphy: It's been 30 years and people still talk to me about (Providence). It was tough; it was tough to be that close to the Sweet Sixteen, and they absolutely blew Alabama out in the next game. It was a tough pill to swallow because we had it, but that's the great thing about March Madness and the NCAA Tournament. Nobody gave us a shot to be in that game, but we felt like we belonged and we proved it.

Herndon: Lake Kelly told me that if they'd slipped past Providence, he thought we could beat Alabama and he was probably right, because Providence handled them pretty easily.

Austin Peay had one more stop to make on the magical ride that was the 1987 season, at the annual posteason banquet, where they were joined by a new friend: ESPN's Dick Vitale, who consented to stand on his head once again for doubting the Govs.

Herndon: We had a lot of fun with Dick Vitale when he came to the banquet. I was MC'ing the banquet, and as you do in that role, you introduce the head table. So I introduced to my far left, Dr. Riggs and his wife, next Coach Kelly and his wife; and next to him was Vitale and I said, "I'll overlook him just like he overlooked us." And that cracked Vitale up. He gave a great speech that night and he stood on his head again.

Kirtley: Back in those days, you could get him at a reasonable price and it was a lot of fun to get him here and re-enact that moment. It was a great way to finish things off.

Orr: Dick Vitale was a very gracious man; a joy to talk to and speak. It was good for us to have him there. It was good end to the year and the tournament run.

Bedford: That was actually the second time he'd had to apologize to me; when I was at Arkansas, we beat North Carolina and I came off the bench and hit all six of my shots and he's going, "Who is that guy? You don't have a name!" But he came to the banquet and apologized.

Busateri: The one thing I regret is, Vitale got up there and gave everybody an opportunity to harass him a little bit and nobody did it, and then he went around and trash-talked the whole team, which was fun but if you had it to do over again, it would've been nice to get a couple of blows in on Dick Vitale while he was there.

Murphy: He was a great sport about it, and we got stand him on his head again. Like him or not, you cannot doubt his passion for college basketball. It was a great night, and for someone from ESPN to be a great sport about what he said and come speak to us, that brought a great ending to that season and gave us a chance to sit back and think about what we accomplished. It all happened so fast, I don't think we got to appreciate it until after the fact.