photo: getty images
Along with their Phi Slamma Jamma and Fab Five brethren, The ‘89-’90 UNLV Runnin’ Rebels – with Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon, Greg Anthony, David Butler, Moses Scurry, Anderson Hunt and others – was playground ball attired in an NCAA tuxedo.
They demolished Duke, 103-73, in the NCAA chip with relentless pressure and fury. It was the widest margin of victory ever in the final. Throughout the season, they cold cocked opponents with a fearsome inside/outside combo, chest to chest “D” that was one of the greatest ever and that aura/playground swagger that scared opponents before the ball tipped. And the architect was none other than Jerry Tarkanian.
The Shark – a.k.a. Tark – grew up Cleveland, the son of Armenien immigrants. His parents escaped from Turkey in the midst of the horrific genocide, when 1.5 million Christian Armenians were slaughtered by the Ottoman government from 1915-1922. His father, who worked in a Chrysler plant and ran a small neighborhood grocery store, died when he was 10 years old.
“My upbringing was why I always related so well to kids from tough backgrounds or single family homes,” Tarkanian said in his autobiography Runnin’ Rebel. “I was always at home with city kids. I understood what it was like to be raised by one parent, to grow up poor, and have to move around and scrape to get things. Who was I to look down on anyone? I was like them. I was them.”
As a youngster, he came by the sport on the playgrounds of Cleveland. When his mom moved to Cali, the skills he acquired on the blacktop allowed him to join his high school team in Pasadena.
“All I did was play ball,” said Tark. He also partied like Will Ferrell in Old Skool.
He parlayed that Bobbito-like fiend for a run to become a juco player and eventually earned a scholarship to ball at Fresno State. The only burn he saw were those of the floor burn variety in practice, but still became a team captain due to his passion.
While on a student teaching assignment in the mid ’50s, the coach at Edison HS in Fresno, a black school, had a nervous breakdown. A football coach was asked to coach the team and, admitting that he was clueless to the game, asked Tark to be his assistant and run the show. The team won the city and county chip.
photo of greg anthony: espn.com
After a few years coaching on the prep level, he made the jump to juco. Because so few schools were recuiting African- Americans full throttle back then, some of the best talent in the country was mired in obscurity.
At Riverside City College, he won three California state championships in five years: going 129-9 including an undefeated 35-0 campaign over a remarkable four-year stretch. He went to the Cleveland and Detroit playgrounds for that first crop of players.
Along with his talented black players, Tark integrated a segregated community in the ’60s through the beautiful healing force of great ball. His final crew at Riverside, whom many consider the greatest juco team ever, went 31-1 with a 43 point average margin of victory.
photo of #12, Anderson Hunt: si.com
From there it was on to Pasadena City College, where he turned a 5-23 program into a 35-1 crew that captured his fourth consecutive Cali state chip. He not only scouted high schools, he went to rec leagues, open gyms and the playground.
“If there was a playground down by the beach, I went and watched,” said Tark.
He went to Long Beach State in ‘68, the schools’ first year competing on the D-I level and went 23-3. In five years, his record was an astonishing 116-17. He went back into Detroit to recruit George Trapp.
“Every day we went to St Cecilia’s, a gym in Detroit where all the great players played,” Tark said. “I saw so many great players there that it was unbelievable. I was the only coach in there and the only white guy on a lot of nights. I got to know everyone in Detroit and for a while there, I had the city to myself. No one recruited in Detroit.”
He went to NY for playground legend Ernie Douse. In ‘71, Long Beach barely lost to John Wooden’s UCLA dynasty, 57-55, in the Elite Eight. The next year, they might have won a national championship had L.A. playground legend Raymond Lewis not bolted Fresno for L.A. State due to the Corvette they provided and had the Iceman, George Gervin, not gotten homesick and returned to Detroit before ever playing a game.
Photo of Tark and Reggie Theus: UNLV Photo Department
But it was at UNLV where the Tark legend exploded. He brought in the single most important recruit in his career, Reggie Theus, and got the Runnin’ Rebels – the country’s highest scoring team – to the ‘77 Final Four where they lost by one, 84-83, to the UNC Tar Heels.
He then went to Brooklyn to snag Sidney Green out of Thomas Jefferson HS.
“Every day I stayed in Brooklyn, Sid went to the parks and we sat and watched the playground games,” said Tark. “All of the street guys came over and said hello. I had all sorts of credibility with the Brooklyn street guys.”
In ‘82-’83, the then palatial Thomas and Mack Center, a state-of-the-art 19,000 seat arena, opened as the Rebels with Sid, Spoon James, Larry Anderson and Anthony Jones won their first 23, attaining the country’s #1 ranking.
photo of thomas and mack: las vegas review journal
Unfortunately, they were without the services of the incredible Richie “The Animal” Adams that year due to personal issues. During his recruitment of Richie, Tark would run up the 22 flights of stairs in Adams’ Bronx apartment building, yelling out “I’m Richie Adams’ coach!” the entire way so he wouldn’t get snuffed by the shady characters in the stairwells and hallways.
In ‘87, with “The Hammer” a.k.a. Armon Gilliam, Gerald Paddio, Jarvis Basnight, Freddie Banks and Mark Wade, the Rebels went 37-1 before losing in the Final Four, 99-95, to Steve Alford, Keith Smart and Indiana U in one of the tournament’s greatest games ever. The Hammer dropped 32, Freddie Banks went Larry Davis (if you’re not 30 years of age or older and a native New Yorker, the term Larry Davis is an adjective that means BUCK WILD!) for 38 with 10 three’s and Wade had 19 dimes.
jarvis basnight did it before vince carter!
Tark’s biggest personal disappointment was the saga of NYC street legend LLoyd “Swea’ Pea” Daniels, whom Tark had on campus before a televised drug bust at a crack house ended the UNLV/Tark/Swea’ Pea era . (Stay tuned for the Lloyd Daniels joint in a future issue of Bounce Magazine) But Tark later gave Lloyd his shot at a new life a few years down the road in the pros.
photo of tark and nyc playground legend lloyd daniels with the spurs in the nba: www. kerryknoll.com
“They’ll write the history of guards and start with Jerry West, Oscar Roberston, Magic Johnson and Lloyd Daniels,” Tark once said before drug addiction and a hail of bullets robbed Lloyd of his transcendant talents. As a testament to how nice he really was, Lloyd was a solid pro player, playing with only about 40% of his once mind boggling skill set.
That ‘89-’90 Runnin’ Rebel crew, one of the greatest college teams ever, is still a favorite of those who covet the true playground style.
photo: si.com
Tark was dogged by investigations around alleged improprieties for years, but eventually cleared his name and won a multi-million dollar settlement from the NCAA in the end. While wrapping up his coaching career at Fresno State, he showed the playground some farewell love by coming to NY to scoop up Rafer Alston, a.k.a. Skip to My Lou”.
From DAY ONE, he was all about giving that playground player a shot at something bigger in life.
“For me, it’s all about rungs on the ladder,” said Tark. “How many rungs on the ladder did you help a guy climb. It’s about providing an opportunity that they wouldn’t have otherwise gotten.”
His first Motown player, Joe Barnes, that helped put him on the map as a juco coach, illustrates The Shark’s philosophy.
“Joe went from washing dishes in Detroit to a chemistry professor,” Tark said. “To me, that is what college athletics is all about. People would criticize me for bringing in guys with sketchy backgrounds. But look at the opportunity we provided them. It’s a heck of a lot more impressive to take a kid from the projects and get him a degree.”
THE PLAYGROUND IS NOT THE PROBLEM. IT IS THE SOLUTION!
September 8th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
funkalot says:
Ali,
Thanks for following up on the UNLV piece. You are thorough in your research about Tark’s background and I know there is too much material for a column like this, so hopefully “ball fiends” like me will chime in and add “extra flava”, to this “hoop stew”.
You framed it perfectly, with Tark’s ability to relate to most of the kids he recruited, since his background was similar; I think they call it “cultural competence”, today. It has nothing to do with race, but more with circumstances; which led him to recruit a “wigga” (a white , you know) from a small, poor city like Fall River, MA, with drug issues, to form a potent backcourt at Fresno with “Skip”, his name Chris Herren, who had a couple of brief stints in the “L” with Denver and Boston.
But he has openly talked about his admiration and love for Tark giving him a second chance.
Tark should have had at least three NCAA chips and we would be talking about him in more reverent tones, like Coach K, Bob Knight and others. If only Mark Wade had some semblance of a “J”, they beat Indiana and give it to the ‘Cuse. Then Larry Johnson and crew point shaved against Duke the second time, except greg anthony, he held it down, almost by himself. Do you remember the waning seconds, with the ball in LJ’s hands and he “quakes” looking for some to give the pill to. Are you serious? He got paid!
My other memories of UNLV, include watching them with Eddie Owens and Glen Gondrezick, along with Reggie Theus, a wide open style of play, exciting to watch.
Imagine a real Final in ‘77 between them and Al McGuire’s Marquette crew with Bo Ellis, Jerome Whitehead, Bernard Toone, Jimmy Boylan and Butch Lee.
Oh, oh I did it again, the next “Playground gave us team”, Marquette and Al McGuire- He might have been the first dude to start recruiting the hood hard in numbers. They had flava beyond, with their unique unis and characters. For real, Y’all might have to hire me as a concept consultant.
“Funkafied forveva”
September 8th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
pb says:
tark is def. the man. anybody remember the documentary about his fresno team with skip & chris herren. if anybody has that on tape please upload it.
September 8th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
ali says:
funkalot,
chris herren was very nice indeed. that fresno crew with skip, avondre jones and herren could have done some major damage. remember they also had kenny brunner who transferred from georgetown but him and jones wigged out on some samurai sword nonsense.
i have to disagree on the point shaving. some days, no matter how good you are, you just don’t have it and duke had something they didn’t have the year before, the otherworldly athleticism of a freshman named grant hill. the key players on that unlv team were inches away from being millionaires and i can’t fathom that they’d take a few thousand bucks to throw their last game. and this was dukes 5th Final Four in 6 years, so they were no chaminade. buster douglass caught mike at the right time, just as duke caught unlv.
hey funk, are you in the new england area?
and great minds think alike ’cause i’ve been thinking about that marquette ‘77 team.
September 8th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
funkalot says:
Ali,
Yeah, I rep the “Bean” and have been privileged through the greatest high school basketball tourney, The Boston Shootout to become intimately acquainted with basketball on an urban level, from NYC to the CHi to LA to the ATL to Norleans to Illadelph to BAlt/Wash and other cities from 1972 to present. I plan to pen a book on its basketball and cultural significance. I have many memories of dudes like Tyrone McKelvey, Cosell Brown, Nigel wallace, Ed Harris, and others. Just ask Tiny Archibald about the tourney, if you have a chance, he will most certainly verify it.
But don’t sleep on my offer as a Bounce consultant, I have ideas and would love to serve as a contributor.
Ps. I was being facetious abour the “point shaving” , it is a “term” I use to describe those who throw or give games away, seemingly without reason. You know like Fred Brown, in ‘82.
” Send me an EchoGram”
September 8th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
Dan the Man says:
Another great article Ali !
September 8th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
Dan the Man says:
Sick dunk by Basnight ala Vince Carter !
September 9th, 2008 at 12:02 am
Dan the Man says:
Former NYC Player-of-the-year…Sidney Viscious !!
September 9th, 2008 at 12:56 am
Bobbito Garcia a.k.a. Kool Bob Love says:
ali, please go back in and ID the players in the photos for the younger kids who may not recognize lloyd daniels, greg anthony, etc.
great stuff as always. i met tark at rucker park during the elite 24 ‘07 game. mad cool. exuded calm and knowledge. the white towel he used to bite on was one of the most bugged coaching idiosyncracies i remember from my youth. there was a photo of richie adams in street & smiths circa ‘83 catchin a lefty boof with the ball waaay cocked back. i’ll never forget that.
September 9th, 2008 at 7:37 am
dj ho says:
great article. i thought there was going to be some more coverage on LJ, but cool neverthless! I didnt know anything about Tark and UNLV (except for LJ) so thanks for bringing that piece of history to life.
DJ Ho – Sydney, Australia.
September 9th, 2008 at 8:25 am
kenny Patt says:
I believe Tark truly cared about his kids depite the media’s portrayal of him. Real heads always knew this. He could have easily took the coach K route(nothing wrong with this), but he was out to reach the seemingly unreachable. How about a story on former Temple coach John Chaney?
September 9th, 2008 at 9:00 am
ali says:
kenny,
the playground gave us John Chaney is in the oven. stay tuned.
dj ho,
if you want more on larry “grandmama” johnson, click on my name and pull up the previous blog entries. the title is “the playground gave us grandmama”.
funk,
i’m intimately familiar with the beantown/new england scene. i played prep school ball out there from ‘84-’88 and had the pleasure of watching dana barros, mattapan’s finest, kill it at b.c. and reggie lewis slay cats at northeastern. and the boston shootout was ill. i’d like to write something on it, similar to the st. cecilia’s piece for bounce magazine in the future.
September 9th, 2008 at 9:08 am
illest says:
when anthony fouled out vs. duke that was it for unlv. when i was watching that game i thought the fix was in too with LJs last shot. there is no way duke should have won that game. but it happened and i hate it to this day.
September 9th, 2008 at 9:16 am
ali says:
illest,
i know, i felt the searing pain too when unlv lost that game but let’s be real. the ncaa tournament makes its bones through the upsets. that’s what it’s known for. when a bucknell takes out kansas, hampton gets iowa state or princeton shocks ucla, we know that that’s the lay of the land. Upsets, that reasonably thinking should never happen, do happen. should nova have beat g-town? should nc state have beaten akeem and houston? of course not, but they did, that’s the beauty of the tourney.
September 9th, 2008 at 9:53 am
Elliot Rosado says:
It’s sad when people try to make Tark look like a bad guy. But when you have a man who can relate to players and there issues who wouldn’t want to play for him. That U.N.L.V tean was tough. Ed O’Bannon who was the number 1 high school player in the country had commited to U.N.L.V. along with a strong recruiting class before all the turmoil. So there’s no telling how many more titles he could have won. O’Bannon wound up going to U.C.L.A. and winnning a title for them along with his brother Charles. Ali, Do you think you can find out what happened to the O’Bannon brothers.
September 9th, 2008 at 10:19 am
kenny Patt says:
Elliot,
Ed O’Bannon is now a car salesman in Vegas (No Joke). I read that he rarely talks about his Basketball past and does’nt mention it to customers unless they recognize him.
September 9th, 2008 at 10:27 am
ali says:
loved Charles O’Bannon’s game. read something about them recently. i’ll see what i can dig up elliot.
and the crazy thing is, the perception was that tark was getting blue chippers, which was totally false. in his near 20 years at unlv, he only signed 3 mcdonald’s all americans directly from high school. they got the recruit that other people didn’t want most of the time, with the one glariung exception of Larry Johnson.
the best example of a tark recruit that illustrates his steez was armon gilliam from pittsburgh, who played jv ball as a junior in high school. and he didn’t even start on the jv, he was the 6th man! tark saw him at independence junior college in kansas when he was recruiting spoon james out of san jacinto. the hammer wasn’t even a starter in juco, but they saw that 6′9″, 240 pounds of muscle with long arms and the diamond underneath the rubble. nobody wanted armon gilliam, but a few years later after tark got him – boom! all-american, wooden award finalist #2 pick in the ‘87 draft right behind the admiral.
September 9th, 2008 at 10:56 am
illest says:
ali….true indeed upsets do happen which makes the ncaas so great and unknown players become nba players. i was just heated by duke winning.
September 9th, 2008 at 11:35 am
ali says:
me too. i couldn’t stand laettner but always had respect for duke and coach k, starting with the illmatic d.c. backcourt of johnny dawkins and tommy amaker. so stay tuned to “the playground gave us the duke backcourt of ‘86.” and i know some folks get heated with the duke thing, but i watched hurley coming up against cats like kenny, arnold bernard and others and always had respect for his game.
September 9th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
illest says:
hurley was a very good player who held his own. of course i loved when kenny used to kill him especially the behind the back between the legs behind the back move that mad dick vitale bug out more than ive ever heard him.
its ill what happened to the college game and the way teams had two and three year runs that were more entertaining than the NBA. the loyola marymount team, the ones already chronicled here so far, the rambling wreck….they were so entertaining.
September 9th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
ali says:
you did it again illest!
i be tryin’ to keep “the playground gave us…” ingredients more secret than the recipe for popeye’s biscuits, but knowledgeable brotha’s like yourself be givin’ it away.
the loyola marymount joint was already marinating.
seems like the fab five was that last ncaa crew that had the streets percolatin’, to that extent, though memphis this year made some noise. but with everybody leaving early for that pro check, that two and three year sustained run is sayin’ goodbye like tevin campbell!
September 9th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
illest says:
ali…
my bad. its difficult, ali. this site conjures up all of the past of basketball that i love. lolol tevin campbell. its time for you and bob to do that book. who wouldnt buy a book talking about this?
September 9th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Blk Caesar says:
I am new to this site and your playground gave us series is pretty amazing… However, I never seem to hear anyone talk about that 1989 “Flying” Illini squad that lost in teh Final Four.. Kendal Gill, Nick Anderson, Kenny Battle, Marcus Liberty, Stephen Bardo… or Lethal Weapon 3 at Tech when Kenny played against this same UNLV team… I loved college ball back then…
September 9th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Blk Caesar says:
Also, Where in the world is Randolph “get up Jeff McGinnis” Childress???? That’s still a classic highlight in my eyes!
September 9th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
ali says:
Blk Ceaser,
welcome to the site. i can already tell that you’re a true fan and i know that we’ll be hitting you with that flavor that you savor. you seem to fall into the same category as the usual suspects around here, a person that knows and feels what he’s talkin, because you also just gave folks some insight on some future “the playground gave us…” offerings. ‘89 illini and lethal weapon 3 aka g-tech in ‘90? hotdiggitydog!!!! both squads have files in the archives. it’ll be a pleasure to back and forth on the hoop tip with you. feel free to check previous postings to get caught up.
September 9th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
ali says:
no problem illest. we all gettin’ the nourishment from the ideas and the banter. i ain’t trying to hold a brother back. let’s keep it comin’.
September 9th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
Blk Caesar says:
Thanks for the warm welcome Ali… Since I did read a few people drop the name Bobby Hurley in this post I would be doing you all a disservice if I did not go a little further back and mention arguably one of the best NJ high school squads ever.. His 1989 St.Anthony’s squad which included Terry Dehere, Rodrick Rhodes, Jerry Walker etc.. Now that team might make a very interesting “The Playground gave us” if you haven’t done it already Ali…
September 9th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Kenny Patt says:
I remember that tean well Blk Caesar. Remember Chris Jordan from that team? They use to play the NYC Catholic powerhouses like Tolentine (Adrian Autry, Brian Reese, Waymon Boone) among others and those were some of the best HS games I ever saw.
September 9th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
ali says:
Blk Ceaser,
i saw that team play summer ball at the golden hoops summer of ‘87 and ‘88 against some very good comp – kenny, arnold bernard, corey floyd, audrian autrey, karlton dunkin’ hines, malik sealy, etc. the jersey road runners also had luther wright on that summer league team. my favorite jersey player of all time is, in my opinion, the greatest player to ever come out of St. Anthony’s – David Rivers.
September 9th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
ali says:
yeah kenny,
reese played against them too during those summers.
September 9th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
PFTB says:
Hey Ali another great piece.If I ever had the skills to play D1,Tark would be one of the coaches I would play for (along with Big John,Rollie Massimino,and John “The Owl”Chaney).Along with the other coaches I mentioned ,hey all had that family affair atmosphere with their players.Remember all the UNLV guys wearing #2 their first year in the league in honor of their coach?Thats love right there.Its all about giving the less fortunate chances.Larry Johnson was supposed to go SMU out of high school.Didn’t score high on his SAT’s initially,took ‘em over and his score was a marked improvement from the first.Cheating was suspected,I think they wanted him to take it again,but he didn’t and went JUCO (Odessa JC)where he cemented his rep as an inside/outside terror.Thats where Tark was at his best, recruiting JUCO.An excellent recruiter period,but if you were going up against Tark for a JUCO kid you could forget it.The best JUCO recruiter EVER.I think the year before LJ got there Tark snagged Moses Scurry,George Ackles and David Butler(all from San Jacinto!).Yeah,funkalot those Marquette uni’s were deadly.I think they were the only ones wearing the shirts out (maybe Depaul as well).Oh yeah and DAMN you went back on some names from the past.Anthony “Cosell” Brown outta Alexander Hamilton and Nigel Wallace outta DeWitt Clinton (UCLA of the Bronx).Good Stuff funk,classic.
September 9th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
Blk Caesar says:
whoa now!!!! David Lee Rivers, St. Anthony’s, Notre Dame, a cup of coffee with the Lakers and then caught wreck in the euroleague (even played with Nique out there). Dude was the real deal.. Luther Wright from E high (Jan Wooten was another good E High player).. I hope its not too obvious I spent my childhood in Jersey fellas… Those NYC catholic squads were no joke Kenny! but no mention of Derrick Phelps from Christ the King.. McDonalds All-American! I have been on here one day and I already really like the convos on this site.. You guys know your hoops!
September 9th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
ali says:
pftb,
you said it. tark had the juco scene on lock. he attended one, coached on that level and was the undisputed don when it came to reaching back there for players. a lot of juco cats had the undeserved label of dudes with problems – academics, legal, whatever. tark didn’t care. if you could ball, he could work with you. and even if he did stick his neck out for some knuckleheads, they were better off in the end by coming under his wing. bottom line, tark had an incredible knack for winning. you don’t win as many games as he did on every level without being a fantastic coach, teacher and mentor. like you said, when LJ, plastic man and greg anthony wore #2, tark’s old college number, for their rookie seasons, they were letting everyone know that they loved the man. how many former layers wore bobby knight’s #?
September 9th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
ali says:
blk ceaser,
i wouldn’t miss a notre dame game when david rivers was running the show. oh derrick phelps was the truth. and how about that backcourt at christ the king with him and khalid reeves? bananas! my favorite most underrated and least talked about area guard that had the boogie? ED COTA!
September 10th, 2008 at 1:38 am
Bobbito Garcia a.k.a. Kool Bob Love says:
yo, david rivers notre dame debut on national television was sick. he did an in and out, then went behind his back, tehn again behind his back, and pulled up for a 15 footer, swish. it was a quick flash of playground brilliance, the paxsons definitely weren’t pulling that off at ND, nor was tripucka, as good of shooters as they all were.
pftb, i think syracuse had the non tucked jerseys when ‘red’ bruin and leo rautins were there, late ’70s.
September 10th, 2008 at 2:49 am
Jacek says:
O’Bannon brothers were playing in many places including Poland. Charles played here for one year (99-00), was MVP of the finals and won the championship. After that he moved to Japan. Ed was here for 3 years (01-04). He had elevator in his legs
Very athletic, fast, decent jumper. Before coming to Poland, as I read he played in Spain, Italy, Greece. After last season he probably ended his career. I remember this article, about him being car salesman (they even translated it to Polish). In his last season here (in team called Astoria Bydgoszcz), he was hired because they released William McFarland.
Ed Cota, another great US PG, could call him a legendary in terms of European basketball. I seen him last season, beacuse he also played in my country.
September 10th, 2008 at 6:20 am
Kenny Patt says:
Jamal Faulkner was actually the best player on that CTK squad with Reeves & Phelps . Blk Caeser, dont 4 get about Bryan Caver from your side of the water (McCoriston?).
September 10th, 2008 at 9:14 am
ali says:
kool bob love,
that david rivers joint will forever be etched in my mind.
kenny patt,
thanks for that jamal faulkner reminder. he was another brooklyn product, mcdonald’s all-american that held his own against malik sealy and jamal mashburn. pac 10 freshman of the year at arizona state and part of the ill front line at ‘bama with mcdyess. might be mistaken but i think he led that ‘bama team in scoring. they beat my penn quakers in the tourney that year, ‘95.
and the ny area had the ill representation on the mcdonald’s squad in ‘89 with faulkner, kenny, hurley, darryl barnes and my homie from fort greene, conrad mcrae a.k.a. mcnasty. other notables that year were allen houston, shaq and jimmy jackson.
September 10th, 2008 at 9:51 am
kenny Patt says:
Ali,
Mashburn was one of the most overlooked players in the city while at Hayes. He was the hands down best by his senior year and didnt make McDonalds A.A.. He beat all of those powerhouse teams almost by himself playing all five positions. There were too many good players to even remember them all in NYC/NJ 1990 class. I watched your boy Conrad develop from 13yrs old on when I use to attend Malik Sealy’s Riverside games.
September 10th, 2008 at 10:17 am
ali says:
kenny,
i agree wholeheartedly on Mash. but pitino didn’t overlook him and mash was solely responsible for kentucky’s resurgence. i remember him giving the fab five the business. and he was underappreciated in the pros as well.
cease,
brevin was quite ill. he gets lost in the sauce when people talk about nice area guards, as does one of my personal favorites, speedy claxton.
September 10th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
jus'joe says:
Yes ! this IS the ill hoop culture site we’ve (Myself, Funkalot…) been waiting for!!! Yes- David Rivers was NICE…But y’all saw Rod Strick (nat’l tv debut)catch him on the break with the full- speed through the legs, 180 degree spin , roll off the glass… THA SICKNESS! (I had too…) keep up the great work
September 10th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
ali says:
jus joe,
you know rod strick is royalty. they asked jordan back in the day about that dude that didn’t get any love in the media who the players respected as one of the game’s best. you know he said rod, without a doubt.
September 10th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
PFTB says:
To all you knowledgeable hoopheads its just mad fun reading the different posts,and all the rehashing of great b-ball memories.
Yo, KBL, man I rememebered that David Rivers move.Oh my goodness ya memory is crazy.I forgot about’cuse with the jerseys out,but I think the rules were a little more lenient cause I remember Pearl Washinghton playing with his jersey out most of the time (all that boogie in his game could NEVER keep that jersey in them shorts).
Kenny Patt I’m glad you mentioned J.Faulkner I thought y’all forgot ’bout the man,but with all the knowledge on this site I knew he’d be mentioned sooner or later.D.Barnes,E.Cota,Mash,K.Reeves,D.Phelps all great names.Y’all keep dropping that knowledge.
September 12th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
LL says:
Ali – you definitely need to do a St. Anthony’s piece. They had a long line of ill points – Bobby and Danny Hurley, Kenny Wilson who played at Villanova, David Rivers, Mandy Johnson, Jasper Walker (Jerry’s brother). Rivers was the reason cats rocked the Notre Dame starter joints all over North Jersey!
September 14th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
Dan the Man says:
I repeat; Former NYC Player-of-the-Year Sidney Viscious !!
http://www.nba.com/knicks/news/green_080718_vegas.html
September 18th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
ali says:
yo LL,
what mr. hurley has done at st. anthony’s, remarkable doesn’t even begin to describe. you’re right, something’s gotta be done. and, i have to repeat, david rivers was ill!!!!
September 27th, 2008 at 2:56 am
Dan the Man says:
What about Dewitt Clinton Point Guard Butch Lee who starred at Marquette & a brief fling with the Lakers, and the Puerto Rico Olympic Team.
http://hoopedia.nba.com/index.php/Butch_Lee
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=130788
http://wiki.muscoop.com/doku.php/men_s_basketball/1977