“Going One-on-One”
Posted by Steve Bzomowski on February 7, 2007
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I can still hear my eighth grade coach, Bill Tweedy, yelling, “you’re going one-on-one”! That, the going one-on-one, used to be a bad thing. Basketball was, and is, first and foremost, a team game. So, the idea, back then, was if you weren’t completely relying on your teammates, then you weren’t playing the game right. In the late 60s and early 70s, the game made a big turn; the game went modern. Pete Maravich, Earl Monroe, Dean Meminger and a host of new breed basketball wizards brought a dazzling array of never-before-seen offensive skills and therein expanded what was possible. Behind the back, between the legs, inside-outs, spins and fallaways went from being “showing off” to part of the standard repertoire. Players copied what they saw the great ones doing and coaches saw that one-on-one, if it was the right “one”, was indeed an offensive advantage. Now coaches scheme to create those situations where players can be isolated with a solitary defender. Moral to the story: work on your one-on-one skills and hope that someday, somewhere, someone calls you “Pistol” or “Pearl” or “Dream”.
Technorati Tags: One-on-One-Basketball
Never Too Late Basketball's Tips & Tales 
Jean said
I’ve heard of “Pistol” and “Pearl”, but never “Dream” until your
recent “one-on-one” entry (the link to his story is interesting).
The tips provided on this site are great, very informative and
funny…now, if I can only find 10 minutes and a nearby hoop…
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Steve Bzomowski said
When I was a freshmen playing at Fordham, there was a senior All-American named Charlie Yelverton, maybe the best player in the country that year. Outplayed Dr J, John Roche, Austin Carr; single-handedly beat Notre Dame (I can still remember the chants from the crowd at The Garden – to the tune of Jesus Christ Superstar – “Austin Carr, Austin Carr, you’re not as good as they say you are. Notre Dame, Notre Dame, when you gonna quit trying to play this game?”) Charley and Dean “The Dream” Meminger played together at Rice HS. Charlie Y to me was the greatest human being who ever walked the earth.
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Ed Camerino said
Wow,just saw this as reading up on the passing away of C.Y.’s HS teammate- Dean the Dream. I am FC grad class of ’73; but your opinions of Mr Yelverton reflect mine exactly. CY remains 1 of my all-time sports legends & you’re right: that magical year nobody did it better.
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B said
Hi Steve. Charlie Yelverton is my Uncle. I agree with you, even though I was too young when he was playing. He was one of the best players to come of New York City ever…hands down who made it on the professional level.
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Nathaniel Rink said
Great –
Now I’m all confused! I always thought one on one was ball hogging. How do you find the balance?
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Steve Bzomowski said
Nat – – Good to hear that someone’s concerned about ball hogging. The U.S. might still be the pre-eminent world basketball power if more people had taken it seriously years ago. It, like, infected the culture. Next to wide-open shots, one-on-one is the best thing going. Not “dancing with the ball” (see the Feb 9, 2007 post) one-on-one while your teammates stand around and watch you, but one-on-one where after ball movement, there’s an opportunity to break defense down. Certainly, one-on-one in the post is desirable. Certainly after good ball movement, having made the defense work, with a quick, strong, aggressive move protecting the ball and going straight-at-the-hoop will result in a play that any coach would be happy with.
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Dan Ziminski said
Nat, you can go one-on-one anytime you please, especially after your PFL lefty game-winner.
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Hobie Jones said
You mention some great old names, John Roche, Dean The Dream Meminger and the Digger Phelps coached Charles Yelverton…BUT didn’t Roche and Tom Owens as high school seniors at La Salle Academy knock off Rice High with The Dream and Yelverton in the NYC catholic school championship? Also you seem to be referring to Yelverton in the past tense…is he no longer alive?
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Joseph Baker said
In that game at Fordham U LaSalle held the ball sometimes as much as 2 m-3 minutes. Don’t remember the score, it was very low. I took 5 friends to see these two teams telling everybody how great they were and it was the worst stalling I had ever seen.
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bill eggert said
Joe – went to Fordham Prep, was there, still have not forgotten a great 47-39 struggle with Meminger and Roche stuck like glue to each other, In 1995, was at a gym in Denver, on precor and Roche next to me. Not exactly a barrel of laughs. We played Rice and LaSalle twice a year- great talent
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Steve Bzomowski said
Hobie – – Thanks for responding. You sound like someone who was there and knows the NYC scene! I came down from Albany and caught Charlie Y only for my freshman year (his senior year and Digger’s only year) at Rose Hill, so can’t say that I know what happened at Rice High Y’s senior year (four years earlier). Roche and Owens would have been a formidable duo. (A teammate and I did travel down from Albany after our high school team, Shaker High, later home to Sam Perkins, lost in the sectionals our senior year to see Molloy [Brian Winters] and Power Memorial [Len Elmore, Jap Trimble, Ed Searcy] play for the Catholic Schools Championship in ’70, some of whom we played with at Jack Donahue’s Summer Camp in The Catskills.) Also, I have no idea what Y is up to. I pray he is doing well. As I said in comment #2, he was my absolute hero. Not just a great, great player, but an interesting and compassionate and sweet and engaging, intelligent guy. Last I heard, and this was long ago, he played in Yugoslavia (do I have that right?) for many years after leaving Portland. The crowning glory of my playing days was Charlie Y nicknaming me, honoring me with the nickname, “Hambone”.
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Ross said
Hi, you’ll be pleased to know Charlie Yelvelton is still alive and well and living near Milan, Italy. He still plays basketball.
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Hobie Jones said
Steve-I live in Georgia but in late 60s early 70s, as a kid, I was a big fan of the old University of South Carolina basketball program coached by the Irishman Frank McGuire and assisted by Donnie Walsh and the late Buck Freeman. I knew the school boy backgrounds (from reading game programs and summer camp gossip)of guys like Cremins, Roche, Owens, Riker, Joyce, Winters et. al. McGuire had an uncanny recruiting “underground railroad” bringing New Yorkers down south for very very formidable teams in the late 1960s and 1970s. Do you the whereabouts of any of the previously mentioned “names” in college basketball (and some with pro careers as well)? I am just a huge fan who has three favorite subjects…sports, history and sports history. Love your work.
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Jorge W said
Last I heard John Roche was an attorney in Denver.not sure about Owens Joyce was on TV a few years ago speaking about loss to Russians in Olympics.They use to call him White Tornado in HS
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Steve Bzomowski said
Hobie – – The answer to the question, “who won the 1967 CHSAA championship”? http://www.times-standard.com/sports/ci_5211038
Confirms you were right! The article brings up a name or two you might enjoy reading about, as well. I played against Kevin Joyce at Jack Donahue’s Friendship Farm camps in The Catskills when I was in 9th grade. He was two years ahead of me and a monster. Billy Schaefer, forward for St. John’s, Holy Cross High, introduced me to NYC basketball at that camp with a forearm to the head I can still feel.
I’m going to get in touch with some people I still know in the Fordham Athletic Dept and see if anyone knows what Charlie Y is up to.
Thanks for your comments AND your compliment. Much appreciated.
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Kevin Hobbs said
I was a classmate and friend of Charlie’s at Fordham for the years ’67 – 71′. I also was very well acquainted with PJ Carlissimo who also played for Fordham… I attended practically every game in those four years and did attend every game in ’71, Fordham had had some success in years prior to ’71 but nothing compared to the heights they reached in ’71. Charlie was an incredible athlete and an even better human being…I saw him outplay Dr. J. in Massachusettes that year…something I will never forget. The toughest game that year was versus Army. Fordham was losing by 5 pts with 30 seconds left in the game and won as Army turned the ball over twice and we took advantage… The coach of Army…Bobby Knight…
I had an address for Charlie in Italy, which is where I believe he still lives. I had written him a number of times but never heard back…
I attended Archbishop Molloy HS from ’63 to ’67 and had occasion to see Charlie play in the city championships with Dean Meminger et.al. I had never seen a high school team play with the skill and abandon that they did…truly amazing….
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Daniel said
Kevin
If you remember Charlie and PJ you may remember John Cook who was my brother.
John passed away 9 years ago yesterday.
I had a chance to meet with PJ a few years ago at a Laker game and introduce him to my son. John and PJ lived together John’s first year at Fordham and he shared some fun stories.
Daniel Cook
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Jap Trimble said
Charlie Y still is still in Italy, outside of Milan. Charlie and I talk periodically. He was like a brother to me, even though I played at Power(70 Champions),
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annie guido said
Kevin Hobbs I believe I know you from the late 60’s. You visited me at the Louis H. Pink Houses and we walked all the way to the Aquaduct Racetrack. You banged your head on a stop sign as we were walking, and I fell in love with you.
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Steve Bz said
Damn! Jap Trimble! As I said in Comment # 7, a high school teammate of mine (at Shaker High outside Albany) travelled to NYC to see you (Power) play the Catholic HS championship against Brian Winters and Molloy. I know you had a great career at Maryland after that. My only other brush with any of you guys was when I was playing freshman ball at Fordham, we scrimmaged St John’s freshmen and Ed Searcy blocked a left handed runner of mine that I had aimed for the top left corner of the backboard. I said to myself, “man, this is another world”. It’s a mazing how all these comments and stories about Charlie Y have collected here.
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Hobie Jones said
Thanks for indulging my interest in the minutiae of high school sports…but “It’s Never Too Late” seems to be receptive to old hoop stories.
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James said
Glad to hear that someone else remembers Charlie Yelverton. I was a freshman at Rice When Charlie and Dean won the national Championship. I saw Charlie many years later(around the early 1990’s) He became a successful Euro-leaguer in Italy, with a wife and children there.
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oskar said
Great to hear talking about my friend Charlie Yelverton, I am from Varese, the Italian city where he played, became a Euro-league star and where he still lives and coaches to kids. Like all my friends in the earlie 80’s I grew up playing basketball in Italy but never had the pleasure of having Charlie as a coach, nonetheless many years later he became my saxophone teacher. Please contact me if you have stories about him to share I see Charlie in Italy every summer when I go back to Italy to visit my family.
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Rufino Aviles said
Oskar,
I am an old friend of Charlie’s. I’ve known him since kindergarten and played ball with him at St. Cecilia’s and then Rice. He was there when Mr. Supple and I duked it out in the cafeteria…he’ll remember me from that. I’ve been trying to locate him to re-establish contact. If you could pass this message on to him, I’d greatly appreciate it.
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michael stainback said
Hi, I am a schoolmate of Charlie and Dean (Rice). I played ball with both of them when Charlie eventually developed head and shoulders above the rest of us. The last I heard of Charlie at our old neighborhood reunion I was informed he is indeed thriving in Italy playing salsa music (he introduced me to the late Joe Cuba’s music). If there is any way you can contact and/or pass my info to him it will be greatly appreciated, thank you.
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Oskar said
Sure Michael and thanks for getting back!
Send me an email at oskarlandi@hotmail.com
Best
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Malachy Grange said
HI
–to all you guys who remember the glories of HS basketball in NYC in the 60s. I graduated from Cardinal Spellman HS in 1967. I played ball there and in our league were Rice, LaSalle and Power Memorial. There were great heroes (most mentioned above) then in the CHSAA (Catholic HS Athletic Association): Dean the Dream and Charlie the Super-Sub (He actually didn’t start for Rice!), Roche and Owens, Jackie Bettridge and Lew Alcindor at Power (Class of 66 I think), the Cronins and Larry Golden at Mt. St. Micheal, and many more. I remember that Archbishop Molloy from Brooklyn was a great team that won it all some years; they had tall blonde twins and great guards. We had no idea who played in the public school leagues back then. They were foreign territory.
I went to Fordham and became friends with Charlie Yelverton. As was said, he had a spectacular senior year at Fordham and the team went far into the playoff with Digger Phelps as coach who was a HS coach from upstate NY the year before. He incurred the wrath of the campus when he left for Notre Dame the next year after he said he wouldn’t. (Who could blame him?) In fact, watching the Nova-Pitt game yesterday, Nova was 20 for 20 at the line and they flashed a stat on the screen that said they were approaching the long held record for perfect free throw attempts in NCAA playoff games that was held by Fordham in 1971 when they beat South Carolina, coached by Frank McGuire, in the consolation game for the regional finals (they had consolation games back then). In fact, I think Howard Porter on the Villanova team beat the Rams and went on to the Final Four. On that South Carolina Gamecock team were Owens and Roache! However, Nova missed their 21st attempt, preserving the Rams record. It’s interesting to see Digger Phelps on TV as a commentator. It’s not a stretch to say that Charlie Y. made Digger’s career. If Charlie didn’t have the phenomenal year he did during the 70-71 season, it’s doubtful Phelps would have wound up in South Bend the next year.
Charlie was drafted first pick in the second round by the Portland Trailblazers, who also took Sidney Wicks of UCLA with the first pick of the first round. I rambled around the country after graduation and spent the winter months living with Charlie in Oregon. I attended most Blazer games with courtside seats, courtesy of Charlie. They were awful that year, their second in the league. Most games were contests between Geoff Petrie from Princeton (fist pick of the year before) and Sidney Wicks over who would score more.
Charlie started his NBA career well, coming off the bench often and changing the energy and momentum of games with his defense and acrobatic moves. He usually guarded the other team stars like Connie Hawkins from Phoenix, Billie Cunningham of Philadelphia, Spencer Haywood of Seattle and Havilicek of the Celtics, though at 6-3 he was much smaller than the people he guarded. He usually did quite well. If my memory serves me well, he won an award for ‘rookie of the month’ or something like that.
But, like me, Charlie was a child of the 60s and our lifestyle reflected that. Over time, he missed planes, forgot his uniform, came late to practice and similar things frowned upon by the authorities. I wish now that I had enough wisdom to give him better guidance and support to preserve and enhance his NBA career. He got less playing time as the year went on and the final straw for the Blazers was when he sat down at the midline of the court during warmups and refused to get up. He then refused to get up during the National Anthem (in the crowd, I never stood up for it either, as many others did also – this was Nixon/Vietman era and protests were as common then as flag waving is now).
I think Charlie was protesting that a black guard, Willie something, had been let go. As I remember the story, Willie had been obtained from the Lakers (where he warmed the bench) with the offer of lots of playing time in Portland. He left the Lakers (where he would be with a winner and have gotten playoff money), with the idea he would get court time and exposure in Portland. Charlie felt his release was racist, something to do with Petrie’s good old white boy image. I don’t know what the reality was, but I sure wish I knew what he was gonna do, because I would have tried to talk him out of it. However, this was the era of Black Power and protest,even in sports. We all remember the iconic image of Juan Carlos and Tommy Smith standing on the podium at the Olympics in Mexico City giving the Black Power salute when receiving their medals. Like Charlie, they too were blackblisted (ironic term) immediately.
Charlie never played another minute that season I think. And the Blazers, though he had a 2 or 3 year contract, left him off the roster the next year and that was it for his NBA career. I hear he had a successful career in Europe.
Charlie was an afficiando of John Coltrane and owned tenor, alto and soprano saxophones. We were always listening to jazz records and playing along. I think he bought his tenor from Lew Alcindor, then of the Milwaukie Bucks (soon to become Kareem Abdul Jabbar), who told him he shouldn’t be hanging around with ‘white hippies’ (me). I met a lot of NBA players that year when Charlie would invariably have a party after a game. I remember almost all the young guys came, and all the older, more established players stayed away, as if they knew what was good for business.
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steve O'C said
I AM THE YOUNGER BROTHER OF ROB O’CONNOR OR “OKIE’. i VISITED CHARLIE IN ITALY LAST APRIL WITH MY FAMILY. I CALLED HIM UP AND TOLD HIM WHO I WAS. HE SAID ANY BROTHER OF OKIE IS A BROTHER OF MINE. I THOUGHT THAT WAS VERY NICE. WE STAYED WITH HIM FOR ABOUT THREE DAYS AND HE PUT US UP IN HIS PLACE. CHARLIE IS VERY KIND AND GENEROUS. HE IS DOING WELL BUT DOES’T HAVE MUCH MONEY. I SAW HIM PLAY TENOR SAX AT A CLUB IN ITALY. HE WAS PRETTY GOOD. cHARLIE WAS MY IDLE WHEN I WAS GROWING UP I LOVE HIM.
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Thomas P Ross said
52 years later I ran across you on this page. I also was a friend of Charlie at Fordham and attended all the home games and as many away games as possible. Charlie had a successful career playing for Varese in the Italian league. So many highlights in ’71. We only lost 3 games that year, Temple, Marquette in a double OT thriller at the Garden, and Villanova in the sweet 16. In the Marquette game, our bigs had all fouled out and Charlie at 6’3″ had to cover All American Jim Chones. I attended the loss to Villanova and the win over S.C at Chapel Hill. Charlie is still playing Sax in his club in Varese, last I heard. I might get to visit him there one day. Mal, contact me at the email below. We had some really good times in the Bronx. What ever happened to Henry Baker?
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Oskar said
Thanks Malachy for sharing this.
Please you and everyone else feel free to contact me at anytime with more stories about my friend Charlie at the email address above.
I will see for sure him next summer in Italy
Ciao
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Oskar said
Hi Malachy,
were you present at the game when he did his protest? Charlie told me the story decades go…
I know it was completely different times and almost nobody could afford video cameras in those days, but in your opinion do you think it could be possible that anyone (from the public, relatives of players, someone of the team, local Oregon TV’s) could have filmed and still have footage of the protest?
Please let me know
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Paul Marshall said
I knew Charlie as I was a ball boy for the Blazers. He and Sidney Wicks were room mates in an apartment in SW Portland. I was invited over there a couple of times. They were livin the good life. What amazed me about Charlie was how tall he played. He and Charles Barkley are the smallest big guys I’ve ever seen play.
That year Charlie always brought a boom box into the locker room, much to the disapproval of many of the older players. One day he gave it to me and I cherished that box for years. Charlie was always friendly to me and the other ball boys as opposed to some of the other players to whom we were invisible. It sounds like he’s doing OK.
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Oskar said
Paul,
thanks so much for sharing this, this is exactly how Charlie has always been with people in the town where I grew up in Italy, even if it was a small snobby city in a foreign country.
To Paul, Malachy, James and everybody else, does anyone have an idea if it could be possible to find some footage of Charlie’s protest in Portland? If we can find some images from that day we may start to work on a documentary film.
Please let me know.
Ciao
Oskar
oskarlandi@hotmail.com
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Eddie Rivera said
Charlie Yelverton is standing behind me as I type this at a friends house near Perugia,Italy, regaling us with stories of his NBA days. He was emotional when he saw the name Malachi here on the screen. He is running basketball camps and teaching kids in Italy. He is also playing his saxophone (that he bought from Lew Alcindor)regularly and is playing a show in Pesaro this weekend. He has no computer or email, but he said his son put him on facebook. Send me a note and I will make sure he gets it. He knows Oscar as OKI.
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howard cusack said
Please show Charlie my reply and let him know I’m in the music biz these days.
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Thomas P Ross said
Howie, my teammate on the Mob. Fordham Intramural Basketball Champions in 1971. Joe Alessi hit 10 for 10 at the line in our victory over the Pocket Rockets. Jimmy Pagano, Rich Weishaupt, Coached by PJ for the title game, although we would have won anyway.
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Daniel Cook said
Eddie
Please let Charlie know that John Cook passed away Feb.9th 2001. John use to tell me some great stories about Kenny & Charlie.
It is sad to say that John took his life but his memory lives on through his basketball camp for kids in the City of Kingston,NY.
Daniel Cook
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Jap Trimble said
Please tell Chalie to get in touch with Jap Trimble. Last saw him in NY in 2007 when his sister passed away. Hope he has finally learned to use email…smile.
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Malachy Grange said
Hi Oskar
Don’t know if you’ll get this…… it’s been over 4 years! With Dean Meminger’s recent death, memories of Charlie Y have bloomed. I would love to know more about his life in Italy over the past several decades. I’ve U-Tubed him and seen some of his playing – both sax and basketball. He excelled in both. I found Mathew Yelverton, apparently his son, on FB and asked him to pass my contact info on to his father, but don’t know if he did. I would consider going to Italy to see him. My wife spent several years in Italy as a kid and speaks rust Italian.
Don’t know if I answered before, and I don’t know if there’s anything out there re: Charlie’s protest. There probably is a print story in the Oregonian, if they go back that far (1971).
Any contact info would be great!
Aloha
Mal Grange
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Oskar Landi said
Hi Mal,
so sorry to hear about Dean I didn’t know until i read yr email… I met Dean last fall at the NYC Basketball Hall of Fame when Charlie Y was inducted… Dean was in great shape/spirits that night and gave me his contact, I was really looking forward to interview him…
I just spoke to Charlie who flipped out when I mentioned your name, he’ll love to talk to you or see you if you make it over to Italy, he now lives in a picturesque area of Piedmont right by Lake Maggiore.
Please feel free to contact me at anytime at the email below and I’ll give you Charlie’s phone number, I also would love to hear more stories and possibly interview you.
Best,
Oskar
oskarlandi@gmail.com
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howard cusack said
A close friend of mine sent me the link to the story about Dean Meminger and the crack pipe fire. Good God. What can you say?
He also gave me this link to this site as well.It’s awesome. Great job, Steve.
When I started reading it I felt like I was back in the Bronx.
I grew up in the Riverdale section of the Bronx where basketball was the king. We played from sun up til sundown in all seasons in all weather. Two inches of rain; two inches of snow. We played. By the time we were 12 years old we routinely would jump on the #20 bus and go all over the Bronx looking for the best games which usually could be found in Parkchester or sometimes down Inwood way. Really really tall guy named “Little Louie” played down there we heard.
He ended up going to Power and was coached by Jack Donahue who was the uncle of my closest friend’s wife.
On hot summer evenings in Riverdale, when I was very young, throngs (or so it appeared to me)of people used to surround the “big guys” court watching the “big guys” play 3 on 3. The crowd pleaser was always Donnie Walsh. And there was frequently a distinguished looking white haired gentleman, Buck Freeman, keeping a close eye. Donnie was the CHSAA Player of the Year via Fordham Prep in 1957 I believe.
1957, incidentally, was the first year North Carolina won the NCAA championship and Donnie was recruited at that time by Buck and Frank Maguire ( a product himself of Xavier HS).
I believe his backcourt mate at UNC was a fellow named Larry Brown.
Donnie had perhaps the most perfect jump shot I have ever seen and he was one tough mother.
Steve mentions Frankie McLaughlin and Julio Diaz in several of his posts. Frankie kind of succeeded Donnie Walsh as the next basketball god at Fordham Prep and was ahead of me by 3 years at the Prep, and remains a good friend. And, of course, Frankie pretty much kept Fordham U on the basketball map as well. And Julio is his Asst AD at Fordham. I coached Julio when he was a freshman at the Prep and I was a sophomore or junior at Rose Hill.
So, Charlie Yelverton? Let’s see I began playing against Charlie and Dean Meminger in 7th grade while they were at St. Cecilias and I was at St. Gabriel’s. We lost in the last second by one point for the grammar school basketball championship of NYC.
I subsequently spent 4 years at Fordham Prep being pummeled by Charlie and Dean while the Rice squad trounced us time and time again. Senior year CHSAA playoffs:
RICE 78
FORDHAM PREP 29.
And my lord, there was nothing we could do to stop John Roche or Tom Owens either. I think John Roche had a successful ABA career but in high school he was always puttin’ ’em up from way beyond the arc and never missing. One of those endlessly shifty white guys who made you nuts.
Charlie and I and PJ Carlisimo, among others, all played on the freshman team at Fordham. Charlie and I became great friends for the next four years. I don’t think I ever remember seeing him without a smile on his face and a greeting for everyone as he rolled across campus sometimes wearing outrageous Hendrixian outfits.
The guy that said Charlie played like a big man was right. Charlie was no 6’3″. He was a straight 6’2′ but he was an original leaper. And he loved the look of terror that would come over the eyes of a 6’7″ opponent who he had just tomahawked!
Greatest thing you ever saw when you were on the court. You could almost smell the guys sweat change odor they were so terrified:-).
Yup, Digger had a great run but I think he maybe was the coach at Rider or a small NJ college before he came to Fordham. And Fordham basketball never did recover from him leaving. But as I recall it, we finished #9 in the country in 1971. George Zambetti, who I believe is still the team doc for the NY Giants, was the tallest guy on the squad at 6″6”. And there were some great games rockin’ the Garden that year.
Having had the great fortune to watch and play against and with Charlie for 10 years is an indelible part of my life and I am luckier for it!
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Oskar said
Howard thanks for sharing this!
Please write more often
Oskar
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Douglas Broderick said
Dear Coach Howard Cusack:
Appreciate seeing your name and comments
thanks for the note on Julio and our 69-70 freshman team at the Prep. Great days.
John O’Donnell, Dan Kilcullen, Jimmy Walsh, Kevin Carlisimo, Joe Caraballera, Julio Diaz, Tommy Murphy are some of the Prep names which come to mind also from early 70s.
Hope you are well.
regards
Douglas
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Ray Vance, Brooklyn Prep 1972 said
Digger Phelps was freeman coach at Penn before going to Fordham. Chuck Daly was Penn’s head coach at that time.
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Tom Ross said
I see my good friend Malachi and teammate Howie Cusack have contributed.
Howie and I played together on the 1971 Fordham Intramural BB Champions.
(The MoB – Rich Weishaupt, Joe Alessi , Howie Cusack, Tom Ross, Jimmy Pagano, Dom Sica).
Joe Alessi went 10 for 10 from the foul line in the championship game.
We defeated the Business School top team the Pocket Rockets, who featured some other players from the 67-68 Freshman Team.
They were heavily favored, but we had a secret weapon. Jimmy Pagano got PJ Carlessimo, to be our game coach for that one game.
Which was great except that PJ replaced me with Pagano in the starting lineup.
PJ’s first coaching championship?
Playing on that team and attending every one of the Rams home games and most of the road games as well,
was the peak year of my basketball life.
I’m still playing, but, at 60, I’ve gone from “Got Game” to “Old School” to “Too-old School”.
I started watching Charley Y in our freshman year. Ray Lazczyck told me we had recruited a top recruiting class that year.
The Frosh would play just before the Varsity at home games. Since we went to the Frosh games, we always got to sit in the first row for both games.
Fordham played top competition all 4 years we were there. We were independent, as were all of the big-time Catholic Universities, including St. Johns, Seton Hall, BC, Georgetown, Marquette, Notre Dame, Villanova, Providence. Most of that group made it into the Big East when it was formed, but Fordham didn’t get in after Digger Phelps took the money and ran, along with our top recruits, ruining our program. Other big-name colleges we beat that year:
Syracuse, Mass, RI, Florida, Miami, Cal, Pitt, Army, Rutgers and Princeton.
We lost by 1 to Temple, in OT to Marquette, and by 10 to Villanova in the Sweet 16.
The Sold Out Marquette game at MSG was Epic. Marquette Was #2 under UCLA at the time.
Jim Chones was their big star, along with future Knick Dean Meminger.
No team ever lead by more than a basket or 2 all night. Our 2 Centers Zambetti and Sullivan were both in foul trouble,
trying to control the 6’10” Chones. Who had to fill in at center? 6’2″ Charley Yelverton, who also fouled out during OT.
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George Zambetti said
WOW. What an incredible trip down memory lane reading all the great Charlie Y stories has been. After playing at Fordham Prep with Howie Cusack (above – also a grammar school bud) I was a junior teammate of Charlie’s at Fordham. The last time I saw CY was when he surprized me by showing up at Fordham for my induction into the FU Hall of Fame in 1993.
All the wonderful stories only reinforced for me my own fond memories of what a truly unique person CY was for me as well.
We would often go together to play either in Harlem, or even more memorably, to the old Columbia University amphitheater vs. Jim Mc Millan and Haywood Dotson – fellow NYC superstars.
Many of the stories above mention CY’s living his life to the beat of a different drummer – and time schedule. My favorite story is when Digger one time scheduled a short practice for the next day saying that it would be from “5 to 6”. We went through the whole practice wondering where Charlie was, until he showed up punctually at 5:55 – 5 minutes to 6. We all just shook our heads in disbelief but no one doubted his sincerety.
I,for one, would love to reunite with CY as many of you would. I have some very tentative plans to be in Europe in early June and could divert to Italy. What a great tribute it would be if this forum could be the impetus for some of us to converge on Varese at the same time. My email is gjzambetti@aol.com if anyone wants to contact me on this.
Charlie’s other great friend who lives close by is Warren (Joe) Isaacs (Power and Iona star – and Haggerty Award winner in ~1965).
Jap Trimble should remember Coach Isaacs from Jack Donohue’s camp. As well as, my driving him and John O’Donnell (Fordham Prep & UNC) down from camp to NYC. My remembrance of that car trip is of two very sleepy campers who awoke only to eat at all 3 McDonald’s on the 2 hour ride home.
All great memories.
I hope to read many more in the future.
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Steve Bzomowski said
Damn! Jap Trimble AND George Zambetti both leaving comments on a basketball instruction blog posting about “Going One-on-One” that off-handedly mentioned Dean Meminger, which brought up mention of Charlie Y, which brought an onslaught of memories and stories about a great player, a unique individual, and great friend to many. Sign me up to go see Y in Italy this summer!
For those of you who don’t know, George Zambetti was the undersized center on that great Fordham team in 1971 whose only losses were 1. to Temple on The Game of the Week (every team is entitled to one bad game, and this was it) 2. in OT to Marquette (who was #2 nationally) and loaded with future NBAers in a sold-out Madison Sq Garden and 3. in the NCAA tournament to eventual Finalist, Villanova, a team that was later disqualified for illegal stuff involving their star player, Howard “Geyser” Porter. Zambetti later became the orthopedic surgeon for the New York Giants, I believe.
I have one Zambetti story: As I said, I was on the freshmen team that year. When Fordham played Columbia, the frosh travelled with the varsity (and played the game in the amphitheater that Zambetti mentions in his comment) for the short bus ride to Amsterdam Ave. The varsity easily handled Columbia (and the frosh won, too!) and everyone was in a good mood. At one point, Digger, who was in the first row on the bus, sits up, turns around and intending to rib his center yells, “Zambetti? How in the world did you wind-up with 8 rebounds?” Zambetti, not missing a beat, replied, “Perseverance!” Everybody cracked up.
Also, I actually quoted Warren Isaacs to someone the other day. I was doing a clinic and at one point I said something about hook shots and recalled something Isaacs said to me one day when I was a camper at Jack Donahue’s Camp (friendship Farm in Saugerties, NY) many summers ago. It was about extending your arm to get the ball away from defense. I think Isaacs led the country in rebounding his senior year and had a stint in the NBA.
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Jap Trimble said
I remember our time that year at Jack’s camp and sharing the ride back to NYC….In hinesight, I wish I’d stayed in NYC vs. playing for “Lefty” at Maryland…
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Oskar said
Dear all
to anyone of you based in the New York area, would you be interested in being interviewed for my documentary project about Charlie Y? We’re still at an embryonic phase but it would be great to have you guys on board and have yr help to get in touch with people around the country. I am trying to get funding from Italy and travel nationwide to do more research and interviews and hopefully be able at some point to fly Charlie to the US and follow him with my camera as he walks back into his past.
Please let me know where all of you are based and if you are up for an interview at some point. I am also trying to get in touch with PJ Carlesimo, Willie McCarter, Ron Knight, Sidney Wicks, Stan McKenzie or other Portland players from those years, anyone can help?
I talked to Charlie Y the other day and he was very excited at the idea of having a group of good old friends visiting him this summer, if you guys will end up going I want to be there with my camera. Please let me know if you manage to organize yr trip to Italy and when would it be.
Thanks
Oskar
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Jap Trimble said
Oskar, Charlie and I grew up in the same housing projects in East Harlem. Would enjoy telling my Charlie Y stories…I’m in Maryland, Charlie visited his sister here when he was in US. Unforunately she passsed in 2007. Jap Trimble
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oskar said
Ciao Jap
thanks for your stories!
I would love to meet you and hear more, this will most likely happen in a few months from now as I will stay in Europe (France right now) probably untill the end of the year.
I saw Charlie 2 months ago where he leaves in Italy, a beautiful area on Lake Maggiore where also the Charlie Yelverton Basketball Summer Camp takes place every year in June, what can I say… his optimistic spirit is always so inspiring and I am discovering more and more about his life. This summer I interviewed, John McLaughlin (Director of athletics at Fordham), his buddy musician performer Andy Hernandez a.k.a. CoatiMundi, who showed me around at Rice High Shool and Harlem Projects, and his friend Charles Jackson ex husband of his sister Catherine who I also interviewed last year, also in Italy I’ve interviewed other people from the basketball world like Joe Isaac and others…
Any information you can share is welcome, I am also trying to get in touch with the african-american team mates who were present at the time of the protest in Portland, if you can think about anything please let me know.
Thanks
Oskar
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George J Zambetti, Jr said
Fordham University is celebrating the 40th Anniversary of our 1970-71 team on November 8th. We are trying to contact CHARLIE Y to make sure he – especially – attends. Anyone who has any leads should contact him and have him email me at gjzambetti@aol.com.
Thanks
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Mordechai said
Dr. Zambetti, I am trying to reach you to see if you are still practicing or if you can refer me to someone else. Please call me 917-689-0996.
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George J Zambetti, Jr said
CY is definately coming back to NYC for the reunion. He will be in town from November 5 – 12.
There is an informal dinner planned for friends on Sunday, November 7th 6pm @ Pasquale Rigoletto’s on Arthur Ave. ($100 per person – any money leftover goes to CY’s travel expenses)
Respond to my email if you want to come – gjzambetti@aol.com
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Jorge W said
By the way Jap does anyone ever hear from Frank Cortez.None of us could ever hold him when he played against us in HS. Also been years since I have seen Harry Hart or Kenny Thompson.
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Harry Hart said
I happened upon this site. Well are you inquiring about the Harry Hart from Power Memorial? Well if you are he happens to be sitting behind me in his recliner.
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Jorge said
One and the same. I know Harry went to Iona after Power. Moved from NYC many years ago and lost track of many of players from our era.Glad to hear he is doing well. I would love to hear his comments on some of our discussions.
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Harry Hart said
Jorge,
Reading the comments here brought back so many memories of New York was the mecca of basketball. The names you mentioned were all great players. The Rice teams and players really hit home as I played against so many of the guys and count Charlie as a great friend. Patterson Project also brings back memories. I remember Boobie Green and Bimbo Pitts playing for Chick’s Jewelers in summer league games. I also remember Hilton White and the Falcons. One name that I have not seen is Harold “Funny” Kitt. Great player but a great person. He was a fun guy to play with. I had the opportuniyu to play with a team “young Life” and Funny and Billy Chamberlain were the big guns. It is also great to here Eric Brown’s name mentioned a true warrior on the court. It is good to hear those names. Basketball was different then.
Take care and keep the comment flowing
Harry Hart
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Jorge said
Glad to hear the comments brought back some pleasant memories. Interestingly enough hearing you speak about Charlie reminded me of the last time I actually saw you and Charlie. It was in the summer of 79 and the old Pro Am was played at Xavier HS downtown on 16th St. I remember Tiny was on a team with Richie Silvera ,Gus Williams and Jim Bostic were on another. If I am not mistaken Charlie was playing with David Britton. When Charlie spotted you sitting in the stands he climbed up to greet you.After the game we all talked briefly I inquired about Tony Morgan a Hayes alum and your former teamate. I also asked about KennyThompson somene we all knew. Time really flies.Finally thanks for being part of the greatest HS rivalry of the sixties Rice Power.
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Lawrence LaSalle said
You guys seem to have forgotten the most valuable player of the 1966 Rice High School undefeated New York CHSAA champions. He was my brother. His name was Lou LaSalle. He was first team all city. Charlie Yelverton was the sixth man on that team. Dean Meminger and Bob Lienhard were also first team all city selections that year. Rice was also slected the best high school basketball team in the nation that year by all the sporting magazines.
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Frank said
This reply is a few years late and I don’t know if anyone will ever see it now. But I definitely remember Lou LaSalle and so does anyone who ever actually saw that legendary Rice team in action. (My first time: ’64 JV city championship game, St. John’s, about 8:00 on a Sunday night after 4 varsity quarterfinals. Coming from Queens, we were used to being stomped on by Molloy in those days but Rice just tore them apart – really, terrorized them, probably starting with all the dunks in the layup line – and that was my first-ever taste of real NYC basketball.)
The next year, Rice was competitive against Lew Alcindor’s senior team at Power but never beat them – I think they lost in the finals at Fordham by like 7 points. That was reversed in the 1965-66 championship – Rice was a big favorite, Power stayed close most of the game off some great play by Norwood Todmann and especially Eric Brown but came up short, again by about 7-8 points as I recall. I’m pretty sure Lou LaSalle was leading scorer that day and he definitely won the MVP trophy.
Lou was long and gangly – I can still see him wearing glasses and kneepads. Just to look at him you might not think he’d be much of a player – until he picked up a basketball that is. A lot quicker than he looked and a real good shooter. If I remember, he went off to Texas Western (they had won the NCAA the same spring).
Lou LaSalle passed away far too young. RIP.
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Lawrence LaSalle said
Frank, thanks for your kind words.
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Jorge W said
Just read about Deans passing but did not realize Louie had passed. Ironically the last time I spoke to Tido was at a Rice Power game he had come to watch you play. Do you ever see Cody or any of your other teamates? I ran into Relton James and big Russ Daniels year ago when we played in Arkansas. Jorge W
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Jorge W said
I just ran upon this site by accident and the memories are just continuing to flow.Larry Lasalle Jap Trimble Wow where should I begin.Well when I
think of Jap Commander Shea ,Lenny E Dwight Butler, Beany and Pecky come to mind. and of course Eddie Searcy.As for Larry the two Tidos his brother one on the most underrated players in NYC SchoolBoy History and Vincent Tido Bass(RIP),Angel Campos,Jose Paris(who by the way is a Sports Agent in Puerto Rico)and the list
goes on.Lets not forget about the Green Brothers. Funny(Harold) who I last saw
@pro Am game at City College back in the 80s and David(Sonny)
Ironically my son ended up going to Rice instead of my beloved Cardinal Hayes.I returned to Rice a few years back when I decided to write a litte article on the 40th anniversary of Kareems last game. In doing so reconnected with Ed Archibald who was doing well also glad to report Barry White was still living in France at the time. I could go on and on but interested in knowing
if you guys still play.
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Lawrence LaSalle said
Jorge you have mentioned some names of some good friends of mine that I have not seen in quite some time. Relton James, Glen Cody, and Russell Daniels. You also mention the Power players, many of whom were also firends of mine, Dwight Butler, Beany, and Pecky. My best friend in high school was Tito Bass. Angel Campos, and Jose Paris were great friends, teammates, and classmates. I grew up with Boobe and Sonny Green. Sonny saved my life once. Harold “Funny” Kitt was also a good friend from the old neighborhood, the Patterson projects.It was Charlie Yelverton who talked me into going to Rice. I wanted to go to Tolentine. I also remember Eddie Archibald and Barry White very well. Barry graduated too soon to be a member of the National Champion 1966 team. Eddie Archibald was a starting forward on that team. My brother of course was the MVP and first team all city, as was Dean Meminger.
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Jorge w said
Great to see you remember all of the guys do you also remember my good friend Louie Rendell? I remember the first time I met your brother was when he took me to a game at ps 18.we met years ago during during a game at mount Morris park You an your brother were there to see Charlie play for young life. What ever happened to Tony nap? You also played with one of grammar school classmates John Kiernan.:-)
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Lawrence LaSalle said
Jorge, I remember Louie Randall very well. I knew him since the first grade, since we both attended St. Rita’s. I knew his parents and his two sisters. We were life long friends, and I miss him. Tony Nap is a teacher in Florida. If you look at his Facebook page, you will see him, his brother Joey, and his younger brother Mike. Mike made all-city and won the city championship playing for Clinton. John Kiernan was a good friend and a great shooter, one of the best I’ve ever seen. If they had the three point shot back then, John would have been a legend.
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oskar landi said
Hey y’all!
Charlie Y is is being honored by fordham this coming Saturday at the A10 turnament at Barclay center nets arena!!!
Come or spread the word
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Rich Dillon said
I found this string when I was looking for some info on Coach Donohue’s basketball camp. I’ll be near it later this summer and wondered if it was still in operation.
Who didn’t know, respect and enjoy Charlie Yelveton and his fabulous teams at Rice and later at Fordham? I remember from the mid 60’s the thrill of watching Rice’s dynamic warm-up lines and then their lock-down defense against Power, LaSalle and others.
I was a kitchen boy at Coach Donohue’s camp for a few summers in the late 60’s. Jap was one too as was his teammate at Power, Steve Duthie, with whom I recently renewed contact. So to was John O’Donnell who was mentioned above and the Molloy guys in Kevin Joyce, Brian Adrian and Kevin Winters. Dave Twardwick from NJ was there for some time and later made a name for himself with the Portland Blazers. My Holy Cross HS teamates, Billy Schaefer, and Kevin Stacom were part timers.
Anyway, as George knows, I am trying to find Warren Isaacs. He gave me rides home from camp to Bayside and also took me to work with him for a period at the early Five Star camp run by the Great Garf. There, Dave Newmark of Columbia and later the Bulls showed me what a real pick was. Warren later encouraged me to assemble a team of fellow varsity castoffs at West Point to play his Iona freshmen team. We did and the guys still talk about it.
Warren was a kind, gentle man who knew when to turn on a switch to rebound and play basketball.
So, thank to all for the good memories, starting with Charlie.
Regards from Dallas. If anyone has a contact for Warren, please let me know.
Rich Dillon and dillonrein@aol.com.
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Willie said
I played at St. Helena’s when we lost to Rice in the semi finals in 1965. The Dream hit two jumpers which decided the game, supposedly with a 101 degree fever. I met Dean about some years ago when he came to the school I teach at to talk about his life with drugs. He was always a gentleman on the court and I wish him well in his struggle. I think, and I could be biased, but the mid to late 1960’s was the golden age of NYC high school basketball.
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Andy Jackson said
Charlie had a tryout with the ABA Carolina Cougars in ’73. Larry Brown was the head coach beginning his second year at the helm. He had a great first year taking the Cougars to the finals of the Eastern Conference playoffs where they were upset by the Kentucky Colonels.
I used to see Brown at the golf course where I played. He and his assistant, Doug Moe, were inseparable buddies from their days as UNC teammates, and when they weren’t coaching they were at the course. The local paper was playing up the fact that Yelverton was getting a tryout, and me and my Cougar loving buddies were interested to see if he could earn a roster spot.
Preaseason practice had started and we were talking to Brown about how things were looking for the Cougars. He was always kind of reserved in his answers which was disappointing to us. So I piped up and said I was excited about Yelverton and how were things looking for him. For hoop junkie kids like me and my buddies, Charlie was a legend after the ’71 season. I was disappointed when Brown responded negatively about it. I knew right then that Charlie wouldn’t be around long. I guess that’s when he decided to head overseas. Really glad it worked out so well in Europe for Charlie.
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cung cap cua chong muoi said
cung cap cua chong muoi…
[…]“Going One-on-One” « Never Too Late Basketball’s Tips & Tales[…]…
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Jorge said
Glad to hear you remember Louie he was a good friend. Question who would be your starting 5 if you picked an all Patterson project team ? Mine would be Tiny Toto Boogie Bimbo and Duck.
Jorge
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Lawrence LaSalle said
Jorge, I’m sorry it took so long to respond. I haven’t visited this site in a while. It is very difficult to pick an all Patterson starting five. There were different generations with great players. When I was very young I used to go with my father to watch a team with some very good Patterson players who played in the various tournaments around the city. The best player was a guy named Gerald Harkness who starred on the national champion Loyola of Chicago team of 1963. He later played for the Knicks and then played in the ABA. Stanley Keene did not go to Loyola but was a great guard on those New York City teams. Stanley and Gerald lived in 315. They used to butt heads with Pablo Robertson who also played on the Loyola national champions.
The next great generation of Patterson players included B.B. Graham, Nellie Bertran, Eddie Gaylord, and LeRoy Wilder. They used to butt heads with Hilton White’s Falcons who had Neville Shed, and Willie Cager. Shed and Cager played on the national champion Texas Western team. B.B. Graham went on to star at Nebraska.
Then there was the St. Rita’s teams coached by my father. The first year they started Eric Brown, Mike Switzer, Ray Hodge, Bubba Dukes, and Sherman Hicks. My brother Tito, Boobe Green, and James Brown came off the bench. The next year St. Rita’s started Eric Brown, Mike Switzer, Tito, James Brown, and Dean Meminger. Tiny Archibald was a great player, but back then Bubba and James were better. Most people forget that Tiny did not start for Clinton his senior year. The starting guards were Walter Robertson, Pablo’s younger brother, and Kenny Jackson who also was from the Patterson and St. Rita’s, but who moved to the Melrose projects. Tiny played for Hilton’s Falcons his senior year and it was Hilton who was instrumental in Tiny going to Ranger Junior College with Mike Switzer. Tiny later went to Texas El Paso where he really blossomed as a player.
If you forced me to pick five out of that group it would be totally unfair. Nevertheless, it would be Gerald, B.B., Nellie, Tito, Ray Hodge, and Bubba. I realize that is six guys. I also am having a tough time excluding Eric Brown, who by the the way, attended Power Memorial, and was a close friend and teammate of Lew Alcindor, who later became Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
I should also mention Sonny Green and Victor Kelly. Whenever I played against Kelly, I made sure I guarded the other guard. Finally, I should mention Machito Cruz another good friend who played professionally in Puerto Rico and starred on the Puerto Rican Olympic team. I guess the bottom line is there were a lot of great players who came out of the Patterson projects. I remember guys coming from the Lincoln projects across the bridge in Harlem, or the Forest projects to play us because basketball was always played at a high level in the Patterson.
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Jorge W said
Great to hear from you Larry,its always good to speak tto someone who remembers the old days.Your answer was very well thought out and I must admit I had forgot some of the players you mentioned.I remember eric brown very well.I notice you did not mention bimbo pitts also I remember ed archibald mentioned he would play with his cousin a lot also. Just for fun Im going to throw a couple of names tell me what you think ron beahagan butch jenkins and tinys brother hiawatha.As I mentioned my son attended Rice and I have never been able to convince him the 66 crew would have destroyed despite Felipe. As always a pleasure to sroll down memory lane PS as great a shooter
as John was Frank Cortez from Power was the man.
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Lawrence LaSalle said
I agree with you Jorge, Frank Cortez was a great shooter. He certainly torched us every time we played Power. Eddie Archibald (Tiny’s cousin) was a good player who was the starting center on the varsity as a sophomore. Bill Goodfellow was the star of that Rice team and was second team all city. He later starred at Manhattan college. After graduating from Manhattan he came back and taught at Rice.
Bimbo Pitts was a good player. If you did not know that, all you had to do was ask him. Ron Behagen was a friend of my best friend, Tito Bass. They both lived in the Forest projects. Ron was on Clinton’s junior varsity team in 1967. Tito and I were on Rice’s junior varsity that same year. Back then we used to scrimmage public school teams. However, we played them a real game at Rice’s gym. They had a great team with Behagen, Henry Price, Ricky Polite and a host of other great players. However, Rice’s gym was small. It was a converted YWCA. The back court line was the other team’s foul line. We played a 2-2-1 half court press where we picked them up at the foul line. Needless to say, despite having future NBA players, we beat them easily. The final score was 73-57.
That same year Franklin high school fielded a team that was basically the Patterson projects all stars. They started Boobe Green, Funny Kitt, Bimbo Pitts, Sonny Green, and Gomez Archibald, (we always called him Monkey) who was Tiny’s brother. It was an all Patterson projects starting five. That year Erasmus won the PSAL with Coak Cannon, George Thompson, Oliver Shannon, Frank Payton, and Sol McMillan. My brother played with those guys in the various tournaments around the city. Oliver Shannon was my brother’s roommate at Cameron Junior College the next year.
I think you are referring to Geronimo Archibald who was Tiny and Monkey’s younger brother. When Tiny played for Kansas-Omaha in the NBA he took Geronimo to live with him in Kansas City to get him away from all of the bad influences in the Patterson projects. After that I heard several bad rumors about what happened to Geronimo. Since I am not sure what exactly happened, I won’t repeat the rumors here. Geronimo was taller than Tiny but looked just like him. The one big difference was Geronimo was right handed and played forward. Tiny and Monkey were left handed and played guard.
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Jorge said
You are absolutely correct it was indeed Geronimo to whom I was referring .This time I am going to pose a few questions regarding teams the 66 Franklin squad the Gary Springer ,Richie Adams crew or the Walter Berry Kenny Hutchinson squad? The 65 Lew Alcindor Norwood Toddman Eric Brown team or the Lenny Elmore Ed Searcy Jap Trimble team? Also on pure talent Best Clinton guard Tiny Butch Lee or Arnold Duggar .By the way Victoria Good Tiny`s sister wrote an excellent piece on growing up in the Patterson Houses for the Bronx Historical Society. Also some years ago I ran into Gary Springer here in Atlanta also use to see Charlie Scott the Doctor was also an Atlanta resident. Atlantas ok but there is no place like NYC..
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Lawrence LaSalle said
The best high school teams I ever saw were the Boy’s high team with Connie Hawkins and Jackie Jackson, The three Power Memorial teams. The first Power team had Lew Alcindor and George Barbezat. The second Power team had Lew Alcindor and Jack Bettridge. The third Power team had Lew Alcindor, Norwood Todman, and Eric Brown. The best team, in my opinion was the 1966 Rice team, with Bob Lienhard, Ed Archibald, Gerry O’Shea, Dean Meminger, most valuable player Tito LaSalle, and sixth man Charlie Yelverton. I should also mention the Erasmus team with Coak Cannon, George Thompson, Frank Payton, Sol McMillan, and Oliver Shannon, and the Boy’s High team with Vaughn Harper, and Eldridge Webb. I should also mention that the Vaughn Harper, Eldridge Webb team lost in the finals to the Nelson Whittaker, and Willie Worsley led Clinton team. That year in the warmups every Boy’s player could dunk. Clinton did not have a single player who could dunk. But Whittaker and Worsley led Clinton to a 48-47 victory.
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Jorge said
I must admit the teams you mentioned lined up very much with my selections. I always felt the ’65 Rice squad never got the recognition it deserved. It’s only losses were to the number one team in the country and one in particular had the outcome in doubt until very late in the game. At this point I must admit I am not exactly the most objective person when it comes to Rice. A little in the way of background, when I received the results of my coops, Rice was my first acceptance letter and would have been my choice had it not been for Cardinal Hayes and its great tuition. I attended St Francis De Sales Grammar School and lived in the Washington Houses in East Harlem. Two of my classmates Buddy Purcell and Ronald Thompson were going to Rice. In addition, one of the guys from the building, David Jenkins, was also going and it seemed like everybody from St. Cecelia’s was already there. While I went to Hayes I always rooted for Rice. Also, in full disclosure, when Louie Randall, who was one year ahead of me at Hayes, took me to 18 center, I met your brother Tito who would later become my favorite player. Do not get me wrong, I loved our Hayes squads, especially the 65 squad with Tony Morgan and Louie Diaz.. I remember when we played Power in our Gym my freshman year, Barry White and your brother were there and I went over to Tito after the game and told him you are going to beat these guys and they almost did .I saw all three Power games as well as when Rice played us . Needless to say, I also believed the ’66 team would have beaten the Power teams you referenced. Two funny stories; first, I was so afraid of not getting a ticket for the ’66 final at St. Johns that I forgot that I had asked 6 different people who went to Rice to purchase a ticket for me and I ended up having to pay for 6 tickets. Secondly, Mike Owens, a friend at Hayes was always afraid that his brother Tom who played for LaSalle Academy would find out that Tito, and not his brother, was his favorite player. I should also say that the one asterisk was in ’67, though we were no longer in the same division, at my urging, Coach Werkman scheduled scrimmage games with Rice and LaSalle. We had a good team Louie Mike Lee Marvin Johnson and a young Gene Doyle I added my support from the bench. Though it was no contest in either game this was the one time I really wanted to beat rice. By the way I really think you should have some sort of blog to share your B Ball wisdom. speaking of which do you remember Renee Hawkins from Bishop DuBois his Dad was Coleman Hawkins he was a real good player a few more names for you a guy you played against Gary Watson he was a beast also AJ Chappelle from Roosevelt . One last question one I asked your brother Charlie and Ed Archibald but I curious as to your take why did Coach Brown start Gerry O!Shea over Charlie?
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Lawrence LaSalle said
Jorge, your may have forgotten that I played in the 1966 JV championship game that day against Molloy. When the freshman season ended Mr. Browne moved John Kiernan, Richie Poveromo, and me to the JV. I do remember Rene Hawkins who indeed was Coleman Hawkins’ son. Rene’s mother was French, hence the name. However, Rene went to LaSalle. A lot of people felt that that Rene should have started over John Roche. However, that was not to be and Rene eventually left LaSalle. He never blossomed into the great player he should have been. Gary Watson was the same year as me. He was a great shooter and always gave us trouble. AJ Chappelle from Roosevelt played in the City Wide tournament in 1965. He made the all star team with my good friend Glen Cody. Cody was 6’2″, built like a tank and could leap. However, he had trouble with tall guys like Len Elmore from Power. Our senior year we played in a Christmas tournament In D.C. We went down in the same bus as Power since we had the same brothers, the Irish Christian brothers. The tournament was organized so that Power would meet DeMatha in the finals. However, Power lost in the semi-finals to a team from Pennsylvania. We lost in the semi-finals to DeMatha. DeMatha’s star player was their center who was 6’6″ and seemed to block every shot Cody took. The center’s name was James Brown. He later went to Harvard and now announces the football games on TV. Mr. Browne started Gerry O’Shea over Charlie out of loyalty. He was a senior and Charlie was a junior. Because Gerry was a senior, the starting job was his to lose. He never lost it because Rice destroyed everyone we played that year. the great teams that gave us no trouble included the PSAL champions Erasmus, the other great PSAL team Clinton, DeMatha High School from D.C., and Boy’s High from Brooklyn. The only close game was the city championship game against Power. Norwood Todman and Eric Brown, our classmate and friend from St. Rita’s, came out on fire. Despite having beaten Power easily two times, we found ourselves down by ten at the half. My brother took over the game in the second half and we beat them by ten points. My brother was MVP. Dean Meminger, Eric Brown, Norwood Todman, and Bob Lienhard were all stars.
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Jorge said
Thanks Larry for info on Rene, I never knew about his mom.I have definitely met my match when it comes to NYC basketball from our era. Interestingly, regarding your ’66 JV game, I missed most of it due to my playoff ritual of hitting White Castle before the game whether they were held at Fordham University or St.Johns. When I wrote last, I gave Kudos to the ’65 Rice squad and deservedly so. However, I would be remiss if I did not show a little love for the ’67 Rice team. If it were not for the John Roche, Tom Owens, LaSalle squad we would be looking at two straight City Championships . Speaking of DeMatha, didn’t Charlie outplay Sid Catlett on the way to victory that year? I was at the Rice/Mackin game held at Powers gym when Dean outplayed the great Austin Carr and put on a dribble show at the end of the game. I felt that in the ’67 Final, David Jenkins was in a similar situation to Glen when he had to guard Owens .Another thing about the 67 team, and correct me if I am wrong, I think everyone on the team could dunk.The only player who I am not certain about regarding dunking was Ed Bonilla. Rice and Power definitely had the best stuff lines.By the way, do you remember the Philly/New York games played in the Bronx in the summer of ’66? I believe there were 4 games: Biddies,Juniors,Seniors,and Unlimited. If memory serves me correctly, NY took three of the four. The junior team had Ron Beahagen, Ricky Polite and Ed Sampson. The Senior team had Tiny, Joe Hammond and Billy Chamberlain from Long Island. We won the Biddies,Juniors and Senors. The Unlimited squad for NY was formidable: Pee Wee Kirkland, Ric Cobb and Barry Lebowitz. Unfortunately we did not have Earl Monroe who led Philly to victory. Finally, a little help please, I am forever trying to convince a lot of young players that all the great leapers did not start with Lebron or the Levine Kid. This is my list of great leapers: Jackie Jackson, Herman (Helicopter) Knowlings, Al (Boobe) Green ,Ric (Elevator) Cobb, (The Goat),Ed Searcy, Louis (Tito) LaSalle, Kenny Thompson and if Long Island counts,The Doc?
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Lawrence LaSalle said
Jorge, in 1967 we could not beat LaSalle although we played them tough every game. They were just too big for us with the 6’11” Owens, and the 6’6″ Gary Watson. Our starting five was Dean at 6’0″, Eddie Bonilla at 5’11”, David Jenkins at 6″1″, Charlie Yelverton at 6’2″, and our center Demetrius Bond at 6’1″. They played zone which nullified Dean who was a great player but his strength was his ability to go to the basket. Dean could not get inside the LaSalle zone with their bigger players. Demetrius and Eddie Bonilla could not dunk. The best leaper was David Jenkins who could fly.
You are correct, Rice did beat DeMatha and Mackin that year. The better team was Mackin. We played them at Power’s gym. The first half Mackin led. Charlie was guarding Austin Carr who didn’t miss a shot. In the second half Mr. Browne switched and put Dean on Austin Carr. Dean locked him up and we won the game despite the fact they were much bigger. They had a 6’8″ center, two 6’5″ forwards, and Austin Carr who was 6’3″. People forget that Dean was a lock down defender. The year the Knicks won the NBA they were in danger of losing to the Celtics in the Eastern finals. They main reason was Jo Jo White was torching them. Red Holzman put Dean on Jo Jo in the second half, and that was the end of the Jo Jo White fire.
I agree with your list of great leapers. I would add Willie Mangrum who was Earl Manigault’s teammate at Franklin. He could jump higher than the Goat which is mind boggling. They had a great team with the Goat, Mangrum, and Larry Newbold who later starred at LIU. However, they did not win the city championship; Clinton won with Nelson Whittaker and Willie Worsley. They beat Boy’s High in the finals. Boy’s had Vaugn Harper, and Eldridge Webb.
Boobe was also a great leaper. Cobb could also leap. He played center for Marquette despite being only 6’5″. Marquette lost in the regional finals in Cobb’s junior year to Purdue. They started Cobb at center, George Thompson from Erasmus who played forward despite being 6’2″, Joel Thomas a 6’5″ forward, and Dean, at guard. Rick Mount who never missed a shot,ever, hit a buzzer beater to win the game. Purdue lost the next game to North Carolina who starred Charlie Scott, another great New York City player.
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Jorge said
The quiet storm himself Vaughn Harper was definitely an excellent ballplayer.I must also take time to shout out The great Luther Green.one of Clintons best. Since the Met Gala has fashion on every ones mind these days, I would be remiss if I did not also point out that the Rice teams were by far the best dressed teams in the City. Beau Brumell himself would have been hard pressed to keep up with you guys. I should also point out everyone in our school was envious you guys were allowed to wear suede playboys to school.We were also privy to some of the best players never to play in the NBA whose star do you think would have shone brightest had they played Pee wee, Joe Hammond,or perhaps again someone I have forgotten?
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Lawrence LaSalle said
As you know Rice made us wear jackets and ties to class. Mr. Browne also made us wear jackets and ties to games. Hands down, the best dresser at the basketball games was Demetrius Bond. I played against Joe Hammond many times in the various tournaments around the city. He not only was a great shooter who mostly used the back board, but he was also a very smart player. However, he did not have the blazing speed that most of the point guards in the NBA possess. He may have made it as a shooting guard, but I don’t think he was tall enough since he was only 6’1″. Nevertheless, I have to point out that Calvin Murphy played shooting guard for many years in the NBA at 5’9″. Pee Wee Kirkland was a good player, but I don’t think he could have made it in the NBA because he was not a shooter. His game was going to the basket. He would not have been able to go to the basket with reckless abandon in the NBA like he did in the New York playgrounds. I saw a good example of that in an Easter tournament at P.S. 18. Pee Wee’s team played a team from Brooklyn in the finals. The Brooklyn was loaded with great players from Boy’s High. Jackie Wilson, the former Boy’s teammate of Eldridge Webb and Vaughn Harper, showed Pee Wee what lock down defense was all about. The Brooklyn team won. There were many great players during that era who for various reasons did not make it to the NBA. I was going to list some but then I realized that I would leave out too many who deserve mention. A lot had great talent but were either too small, or too slow, or were not great shooters. The guys who made it to the NBA could at least one thing very well. For instance Happy Hairston was a great rebounder and defender and he was a powerful 6’8″. Compare Happy Hairston to Herman the Helicopter who was also 6’8″. The Helicopter could do one thing better than anyone. He could block shots. But he could not play tough man to man defense like Happy Hairston, nor could he score like Happy Hairston. That was true of most of the New York playground legends. They could do one or two things very well, but did not have everything required by the NBA.
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Jorge said
Larry, you will get no arguments from me, Demetrius wins hands down. With regard to Joe Hammond and Pee Wee Kirkland, they were both in attendance last summer at the 50th anniversary of Rucker. If you want to know why they would have made it in the pros, like Bimbo Pitts, just ask them (smile). Your comment on the Easter tournament at 18 Center has me thinking again about the Pattersons. I have no expectations that you will make a pick but, none the less, I will ask. I am proposing two tournaments, first, for “most talented building,” I am naturally going with 414, building 281 is my second choice. The second tournament, “best brother duo”. No doubt, this would be a tough one to call, however, for fun, let’s pit you and Tito vs Artie and Andre Green, And Boobie and Sonny vs the Bailey brothers. The winner faces Allen and Boogie Jones for the chip.
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Lawrence LaSalle said
I like your brothers two-man tournament. Of course it would have to be when each duo was playing its best ball. That is at a different time for each pair. Tito and I, when we were both at our best, would beat Artie and Andre Green. Boobe and Sonny would beat the Bailey brothers. Me and Tito against Boobe and Sonny would be a great game. We could not stop them and they could not stop us. Who knows? If we get by Boobe and Sonny, we would beat Allen and Boogie Jones. I correspond with Allen from time to time. He did well. He played professional ball in Germany. When he stopped playing, he got a job working for a German bank. He lives in Germany now. I recommend his book, “The Rat That Got Away”. It is all about the Patterson projects during the era we are talking about. He mentions my brother and Boobe and a lot of others.
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Jorge said
Thanks for the heads up on the book.I will again recommend The Bronx African American History Project.Its done through the auspices of Fordham University and the Bronx Historical Society. Professor Mark Naison started the project in 2002 with an interview with Victoria Archibald . Since then then have amassed over 100 Oral Histories. Many of these histories are with people you know. I will mention just a few,Nathan Dukes,Ray Hodge,Ron Carson, AJ Chapelle,Rob Minus,William Everch, Ray Mantilla, and Howie Evans..
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Lawrence LaSalle said
Jorge, I forgot to include Tiny Archibald and his brother Monkey Archibald. That would be a tough duo to beat.
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Steve Bzomowski said
Hey you NYC 1960s basketball historians. Did you guys know and play with Kevin Joyce, Billy Schaeffer, Frank McLaughlin, Richie Dillon, Brian Farrell, Lenny Camano? I watched Farrell play at Siena when I was a kid. I think he played at Holy Cross HS before Kevin Stacom. Frank McLaughlin was my freshman coach at Fordham and was the guy who eventually hired me onto his staff when he was head coach at Harvard. He played at Fordham Prep. The other guys I played with at Jack Donahue’s Friendship Farm camp in Saugerties where it was mostly NYC players. Kevin Joyce, I think, went to Molloy. I remember he played on the ’72 Olympic team (that got robbed by the refs and Russians). The biggest and best being Lew Alcindor, of course. I was from Albany and was at the camp first when I was about 15 y/o old and weighed about 110 lbs. Billy Schaeffer hit me with an elbow that I still feel. It was like “welcome to NYC basketball”. I thought Jack Donahue was god.
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Lawrence LaSalle said
Steve, Kevin Joyce and Billy Shaeffer were the same year as I. Kevin Joyce played for Molloy, Billy Schaeffer played for Holy Cross. I played for Rice. Are you referring to the same Lenny Camano who went to St. Rita’s? If you are, he and I were good friends until he moved away from the neighborhood while we were still in grammar school. I never heard from him after that.
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Steve Bzomowski said
Lawrence. I am amazed that you know that name Lenny Camano. I remember three things about Lenny Camano: 1) he was an interesting guy, had a swagger, maybe a chip on his shoulder; a different dude for sure; 2) at camp, he had this funny way of shooting layups in warmups, kind of with his head down, an almost not looking kind of shuffle layup. When I went back to Albany, all my friends and I would shoot our layups like that, goofing around, and would say “Lenny Camano” while we did it (little did he know that a bunch of kids who lived a 150 miles north of him used to say his name all the time); 3) again at camp: there was a game and there was just a second left and there was a jump ball at the FT line nearest the hoop of the team that was down one. Lenny was involved in the jump and he – ready for this? – tipped it in. No one had ever seen it before and it was the talk of camp for the next couple of days. Other than running into him at camp that one week, I knew nothing about him. Have no idea what became of him or what became of him as a basketball player. Kind of surprised I even remember his name.
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Jorge said
Steve, let me first thank you for this site, it’s a godsend. Regarding the players you mentioned, Kevin Joyce and Billy Shaeffer stand out. I first saw Kevin in the 1967 semi-finals (Molloy vs. Rice). Although, only a sophomore, you could already tell he was destined for greatness. He was a standout at South Carolina and if it were not for injuries, his fruitful stint in the ABA would have been equaled in the NBA. As for Billy Shaeffer, the fact that it was Holy Cross that hoisted the championship trophy in “69 says it all.
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Lawrence LaSalle said
Steve, I have not heard the name Lenny Camano in a long time. Thanks for bringing back the memory of a childhood friend.
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Lawrence LaSalle said
Jorge, you keep mentioning names that bring back old pleasant memories. Nathan Dukes and Ray Hodge both played on my father’s team. No one called him Nathan, by the way. He was Bubba. Ray’s father and my father played semi-pro baseball together. Ray’s father was a pitcher. My father played the infield. Mark Naison was a young professor at Fordham when I attended. He is now my Facebook friend. Ray was the last guy cut by the Knicks the year he came out of college.
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Jorge said
Memories are the lifeblood of history and it’s always a pleasure to share them. I feel we were privileged to bear witness to an under appreciated period in basketball history and it is our responsibility tell their stories. With regard to omitting the Archibald brothers, let me say, Mea culpa,mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. Finally, two more names to ponder, both of whom called Dewitt Clinton high school home, Tom Henderson and Ricky Sobers.
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Lawrence LaSalle said
The list of great basketball players from DeWitt Clinton is too long to include everyone. By the way, Ricky Sobers never played for Clinton. He made a name for himself playing outside ball. Tom Henderson did play for Clinton.
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Jorge said
I have always encouraged my students to seize the opportunity when it presents itself. I would be remiss if I did not do the same, so let me take this opportunity to ask a few questions. We are all witnesses to history; in your case, the 65, 66,and 67 Rice teams, all of whom reached the city championships. What stands out to you about these teams? Dean, Charlie, Big Bob and Barry all went on to have excellent college careers and each was drafted by the NBA. Dean won a ring with the Knicks and Charlie, Bob and Barry had many wonderful years in the European League. Talk about tough acts to follow, how did the 68 and 69 teams approach this challenge? Lastly, given Rice’s proximity to one of America’s most iconic thoroughfares, 125th.St., and surrounding neighborhood, you were privy to some of Harlem’s most memorable treasures. For me,as a teen, that meant the Schomburg Library, George’s bakery, the Apollo theater,and hot dogs at Teddy’s Shanty, just to name a few. What were your go-to spots?
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Jorge said
I am glad you reference the fact that Ricky Sobers never played for Clinton .I always found it fascinating that while Tom Henderson was was making All City at Clinton, Ricky Sobers was walking the halls. I remember in 1970 Henderson led the PSAL All Stars against a CHSAA squad featuring Brian Winters and Ed Searcy in a game held at Xavier high school .As we all know, both Henderson and Sobers went on to have successful careers in the NBA; Henderson wining a ring with Washington, while Sobers participated in the greatest overtime game of all time. It just goes to show no matter the circumstance,NYC cream always rises to the top.
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Steve Bzomowski said
Lawrence and others – – You guys mention a lot of names. A friend of mine played at Van Buren and they apparently were in the PSAL Final Four his last 3 years of school: ’67-’69. He mentions some of his teammates: Ronnie Johnson (Parade 1st Team All-American), David and Ray Edwards, Spider Whitted, Juney Smith, Jeff Kleinbaum. He says they were undefeated his senior year (he was their pt gd) until they lost to Boys High by 9 in the championship game. You play against or know any of these guys?
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Lawrence LaSalle said
Steve, I did not know the guys you mention, but I was very familiar with the Boy’s high 1969 team. They had Mel Davis and Ron Williams. Mel later starred at St. John’s and the Knicks. The Knicks called him killer, because he was a fierce rebounder. Ron Williams started on Boy’s varsity as a freshman. I played with Ron Williams in a couple of tournaments our freshman year.
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Lahh Woods said
All I want to know is, “Who the hell are you guys??!!” I stumbled across this site, been on it for hours, and i am floored.
You’ve named people, and players that i haven’t heard mention of in over forty years. My older brother is Gus Palmer,
and he would tell me larger than life stories about the great Eddie Gaylord, The Patterson Rens, and above the rim
battles played at P.S. 18 and Wagner Centers. I’m in shock and I am elated that so much of the Patterson, and NYC
Hoops History is being discussed and celebrated. Your commentary, recollections, and analysis, is spot on authentic.
And journalistically, even John Peter Zenger [PS 18] would be proud of your efforts. However, I’ve never seen the
LaSalle brothers do their thing in “the Square” in front of the rent office, but if I was a betting man i would have to go
with the Edwards brothers [Mike & Hank] or the Grant twins winning that Patterson Two on Two Tournament…Wait a
minute…Have i lost my mind. No. Hold-up! Artie and Andre Green from 281 in their prime,,,[God Bless Artie] …
would wear that Two on Two Crown i’m sure. Lastly, did you guys know that a few years ago NIKE created a shoe
design that was named after Patterson Projects? It is called ‘The Patterson Square Garden Shoe”
http://www.sneakerfiles.com/nike-air-force-1-low-patterson-square-garden-purchaze/
i don’t know about yall but i’m gonna make it my business to get out to Oregon to get to the bottom of this! Yall with Me!!
Lahh Woods Buildings 281/324 & 325 http://www.NYDLBALL.com
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Jorge said
Thanks for the kind words. After visiting your website, I know that the task of keeping New York City’s B-ball history alive has fallen into good hands. Regarding the Two on Two tournament, you’ve added some worthy new opponents to the mix, which should make for some intriguing match-ups, including your brother Gus and yourself. However, at the end of the day, while I have much love for Artie and Andre, no way do they come out on top. That honor belongs to the Archibalds’.
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Lawrence LaSalle said
I remember big Gus. He played with B.B. Graham, Eddie Gaylord, Nellie Bertran, and LeRoy Wilder on the Renasons. Those guys used to give Hilton’s Falcons all they could handle. Finally Hilton had enough and stole Nellie Bertran. The Falcons beat them easily with Nellie playing for the Falcons. Nellie was a wizard with the basketball.
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Lawrence LaSalle said
Lahh, it would appear that your memory of the Patterson projects suggests that you may be younger than I or the people I have mentioned. Do you remember Gramercy Boy’s Club and Mr. Santos, or that area before the Mott Haven projects were built? Do you remember Red Hots, or when College Avenue and Morris Avenue were all Italian. Do you remember when Willis Avenue was all German and Irish? Do you remember when the third avenue el went all the way downtown to the battery? Do you remember when 18 park was locked every night at dark, or when Mr. Magee and Miss White were the parkies at 18 park? The sprinklers and the water fountains worked, and you could rent sports equipment by giving them your house keys.
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Lawrence LaSalle said
Jorge, as you know, the 125th Street of 1965 was much different than the 125th Street of today. The Irish Christian Brothers did not allow Rice students to walk down any street other than Lenox Avenue and 125th Street. If you were caught walking down any other street you would be suspended. However, I did explore that great neighborhood and I remember the Apollo where I saw many great shows. At that time, as as has been pointed out, Rice students’ engaged in a fashion contest. We shopped at Mr. Tony’s and many of the shops for our vines. I used to go to Mount Morris park which was right up the street from Rice, to watch the summer basketball tournament. That is where I first saw Pee Wee Kirkland work his magic for C.C. 43.
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Jorge said
Wow! Mr. Tony’s; that does bring back memories. It’s funny that you mentioned Mount Morris Park and Pee Wee Kirkland. I might have shared this story, but I think it’s worth repeating. It was the summer of 1966 and I heard Pee Wee and Elevator Cobb were playing in the second game up at Mount Morris, so I got there early and the first game was in progress. Charlie was playing for Young Life against another team when who do I see strolling into the park but you and your brother who had a hamburger or hot dog in his hand. In one spontaneous moment Charlie runs, greets you and your brother, grabs Tito’s hamburger, stuffs it in his mouth and runs back down court to finish the play… pure Charlie… By the way, did you ever walk across the Willis Ave Bridge to get to the games ? A few more blasts from the past; do you remember playing against Larry Riddick who played with Bob DeMarco for Spellman? Larry was quite an athlete. Did you ever play against Henry Seawright?, I think he ended up at Manhattan. Finally, Bernie told us that he could have a starter for the ’67 Rice squad if he had not been hurt a lot that season.
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Lawrence LaSalle said
I liked your Charlie story. He was a good friend. It was Charlie who convinced me to go to Rice. I wanted to go to Tolentine where I would have been the man. But Charlie convinced me that I would have more fun at Rice. Spellman was not in our division. We never played them. The only possibility would have been in the playoffs and back then they never made the playoffs. I did play against Henry Seawright. He used to play in the outside tournaments with Hilton’s Falcons. I used to play for Chick’s Jewelers. He also played for Clinton. We used to scrimmage Clinton every year. He was a teammate of Glenn Cody in the city wide tournament. Cody was my good friend and teammate at Rice. Bernie was a good player. However, he was a forward. The starting forwards on the ’67 Rice team were Charlie Yelverton and David Jenkins. Bernie was not starting over Charlie. I would have to give the edge to David Jenkins who could leap. Bernie would have had to compete with Jose Paris for the spot of first forward off the bench. I would give the edge to Paris.
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Jorge said
First let me say Larry Lasalle in anything other than a Rice uniform is a foreign concept. I would also like to thank you for your insight on Bernie.I have anotherFantasy tournament to throw at you any St Ritas/Patterson team of your choosing to face my St Cecelia/East Harlem squad Dean,Charley,David Jenkins,Jose Paris,Joe Hammond,JapTrimble,John Kiernan,Boobie Garcia and last but not least Pee wee Kirklamd. do we win?
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Andy C. said
I was doing some research on Charlie Yelverton and came across this. I knew most of these guys from the CHSAA especially Charlie Jackson and Yelverton having worked with Cathy for many years at JHS 13 back in the 70’s(RIP). There are a couple of other players you need to be in the comvo from back in the glory CHSAA. I went to Hayes so I came up with Louis Randall, Lou Diaz and sharpshooting Mike Lee. Here are a couple of players who were not mentioned Neptali Rivera and Felix Santiago both were tremen
dous players at St. Helena’s
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Lawrence LaSalle said
Andy, I remember Felix Santiago. Everyone called him Lenny. He was a year ahead of my brother. Rice beat them Lenny’s senior year which was my brother’s junior year. Dean was a sophomore that year. Rice lost in the finals that year to Lew Alcindor, Eric Brown, and Norwood Todman from Power. We returned the favor and beat Power in the finals the next year while Alcindor was a freshman at UCLA. Nep Rivera played and coached in Puerto Rico. Louie Randall was a friend of mine since the first grade at St. Rita’s.
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Andy C said
You have the best memories. You bought them all back. Speaking of leapers I still have sneaker burns on my chest from Eric Brown coming down the lane and I tried to draw the charge, NO DICE.
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Lawrence LaSalle said
Andy, I’m glad someone mentioned a great friend of my family, Eric Brown. He was a great friend of my family. He was my brother’s classmate and teammate at St. Rita’s. My father coached the St. Rita’s basketball team. My family always thought highly of Eric. Once when Eric and my brother were in the sixth grade, and I was in the third grade, we were outside playing crack tops. Eric was tall then and threw his top which hit me square on the top of my head and put a hole in my skull. He carried me home and helped my mother patch me up.
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Jorge said
First Andy Let me say up Hayes and all its Loyal men. Monsignor Pavis (RIP} I am glad you shouted out Louie and Mike.but if you are going to mention Lou Diaz you must also show love for Tony Morgan and Donald Ward and Coach Bernie.
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Matthew J. McCullough said
Hey -I just came across this site in looking for Charlie Yelverton related stuff….I am wondering if any progress was ever made on making a DOC on his life or any such thing – I am particularly interested in the infamous sitdown during the anthem in,what? – ’72? – I saw him play along with Sidney Wicks and 7′ Bill Smith and a bunch of Portland Trailblazer draftees and free agents vs. the same cast of characters for my hometown Seattle Supersonics in the Summer of 1971 – Only the Sonics had Spencer Haywood officially as a member of the team by that point – He and Super Sidney were the Marquee names ,but I really remember Yelverton standing out — I had never heard of him being considered a “negative” force or whatever sorry assed label was put on him in those Nixon era times until a few years back……I was also clueless of his Career in Italy and the Sax playing – a Facebook friend who is Italian got me hip to all of that….I really enjoyed reading all theses memories,although aside from the NBA – ABA’ers I don’t recognize the HS stars from the 1960’s – What of Don Smith from John Jay High?…later and now Zaid Abdul-Aziz? – He went #5 in the 1968 NBA Draft out of Iowa St. – Played with Kareem and Bobby Dandridge in 1969-70 with the Bucks,then was traded to Seattle for Lucius Allen and Bob Boozer – Great talent – injury problems,although he played 10 years in the NBA……Please let me know if you ever did anything on Charlie Y.’s NBA career and all that….I was and remain a big basketball fan of the late 1960’s through the ’70’s – I have another NYC friend named Sy – he played with Paultz,Tom Owens, Barry Kramer – and others back in the day on the playgrounds – He was/is a photographer with a lot of shots of Columbia with Dave Newmark,Jimmy McMillian and others when they played at The Garden – he told me he could have gone to Pasadena City College to play with John Q. Trapp under Jerry Tarkanian but he passed on the opportunity – anyways – Great site here – I hope you all read / check in here periodically…..Take it E Z, ya hera?…..MJM
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Oskar Landi said
Hey – The doc is still in progress although a bit stalled because of budgetary issues as it often happens with indipendent films… been funding and shooting all by myself and ran out of resources… but please let me know if you have contacts in Portland from those days, it would be interesting to hear their memories… Also if possible please provide Sy’s contact it would be great if he had photos of Charlie from those days… Ciao
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Joe said
wow, some great history here…. Can someone help settle an argument? Some guy swears his old coach went to Rice and that Kareem, (Lew at the time) actually enrolled at Rice for short time? I read a few books and many stories on Kareem and never heard this, nor is it mentioned on the Web…. Did Lew/Kareem ever go to Rice?
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Jorge said
To the best of my of my knowledge Kareem went directly from St Judes to Power after visiting with a friend who was already playing for Coach Donahue..
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Lawrence LaSalle said
Jorge, you are correct. Lew Alcindor never went to Rice. The confusion may have occurred because the building that became Rice High School on 124th and Lenox was initially Power Memorial. Power eventually moved to Lincoln Center and Rice took over that building. It was a converted YWCA.
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Jorge said
Larry, I appreciate the info on Powers original site on 124th st I was not aware. Question were any of the games ever taped? While these games are etched in our memories,Id love for the younger generations to actually see some of the great Rice and Power players we have been talking about..All I ever seem. to see are a few minutes from the 65 championship game.
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Lawrence LaSalle said
Jorge, the 1965 Rice vs. Power city championship game was taped. I also know that the Power vs. DeMatha game, which DeMatha won, was taped. I bet other games were taped, but if they were, I bet they would be hard to locate today.
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Jorge said
Hard does not begin to describe how difficult it has been, As you said I am certain some tapes do exist ,but finding them is another story.Back in 2005 several people were very helpful when I told them I was doing a little piece on 40th anniversary of Kareems last game. Unfortunately the 1966 game remains a challenge. None the less I am determined to find something before the year is out(can you believe it has been 50 yrs). Speaking of that day besides Dusty,Paris,you and John who else participated in the JV game? Also unless I am mistaken didn’t Ralph Abraham play in a prelimnary that day?
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Lawrence LaSalle said
Yes, Ralph Abraham played for St. John’s. He and his teammate Smythe made second team all city that year. They won the varsity consolation game. We lost the JV consolation game that year (1966) to Molloy. Molloy had Brian Adrian, Kevin Joyce, Brian Winters, and Bob Carver. Winters played many years in the NBA. Joyce played on our Olympic team that won but had the victory stolen in the 1972 Olympics. Bob Carver was ambidextrous and could shoot from 30 feet with either hand. Our JV team was led by Relton James (“Dusty” – we used to call him high flying Dusty), and my good friend Jose Paris. Paris later played professional basketball in Puerto Rico for many years. He is now a sports agent in PR. He was a teammate in PR of another good friend of mine from the old neighborhood, Machito (“Munch”) Cruz. Munch led the Puerto Rican team to a victory over a Yugoslavian Olympic team that had Vlade Divac and Toni Kukoc. Munch later mysteriously disappeared and no one knows what happened to him.
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Jorge said
Wow, I totally forgot about Brian Adrian and Bob Carver. The thing I recall most about Ralph Abraham was his ability to dunk two balls. Am I imagining or did you play our Hayes team that year? I seem to remember you,Tito,Angel,and Boobie Garcia.Boobies cousin Jimmy and Larry Ellis were playing for us. It must have been 65 or 66. That same year I believe Powers JV had Beany,Pecky,Dwight,and Alan was there Big man. Speaking of Hayes shout out to all fellow Hayesmen as we celebrate our 75th Anniversary.
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Lawrence LaSalle said
Yes, Ralph Abraham and Jim Smyth played for St. John’s in the consolation game. Richie Poveromo, Ignacio Pena, Tom McNulty, my friend Dotto also played for JV that day.
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Jorge said
Since we last corresponded I had a chance to read the Rat that got away Thanks for the heads up.Alan mentioned meeting Kareem for the first time in the elevator in his building.He went on to recount him playing on the courts there.Did he play at Pattersons often? I did not know Alan went to St Ritas for a while, did he ever play for your Dad? Finally the book got me thinking of Louie Randall and also a classmate of mine Joe Rivera who also attended St Ritas I believe he lived in the 300 building on Morris.
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Lawrence LaSalle said
Jorge, Power’s JV that year started Ed Searcy at center, Toody Alvarado at forward, Dwight at the other forward, and Pecky and Beany at guard. We beat them in the finals for the JV championship.
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Jorge said
Thanks , I must assume based on what you said I must have be thinking of 1967. If memory serves me correctly that was the year Rice teams played for the championship in the Varsity,JV and Freshman finals.
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Lawrence LaSalle said
Kareem did not play at the Patterson court often. He dated a girl who lived in the same building as Eric Brown and Allen Jones. Allen did not play for my dad. He left St. Rita’s and went to Clark before the sixth grade which was when he would been able to play. Since we last corresponded I had a chance to read the Rat that got away As I mentioned earlier, Louie Randall was a great friend of mine. Do You know what class Joe Rivera was in?
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Jorge said
Hi Larry, I believe Joe would have been one class before you at St Ritas. He graduated from Hayes in 68..I may have mentioned that Louie was the one who introduced me to Tito and some of the other guys when I would visit his building. As a guy from Harlem it was good to know someone when asked where you were from. In Nov I received a reply to a comment I made quite some time ago to my pleasant surprise it was from Harry Hart.He mentioned he enjoyed our comments on the Rice and teams.He also spoke about the Pattersons.. He mentioned Bimbo and Boobie playing for Chicks,the Falcons, and the summer He and Funny played for Young Life..
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Talk Hay Fever said
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Smitty from NJ said
Went to Jack Donohue’s Basketball Camp in the Summer of 1972. It rained the entire time, so we had to be bussed each day to the local high school gym. There was much anticipation every day that Jack would show up, and as he was Lew Alcindor’s high school coach, that was going to be a defining moment. He never showed. No big names showed up. No stars were born at the camp that year.
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Harry Hart said
Frank Cortez is alive and well living in PR.
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jorge said
Glad to hear all is well Harry. Do you ever hear from Tony Morgan? He was a classmate at Hayes a few years ahead of me. PS did you coach at Hayes?
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Harry Hart said
Jorge I believe Tony Morgan passed away. He was a teammate of mine at Iona College. Yes I did coach at Hayes. 1971-74 and I came back again 2013-2016
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jorge said
Sorry to hear about Tony. He was a good ball player and a nice guy. Its Ironic thinking of you coaching Hayes. I remember we played you twice my junior year and we got blown out twice. My buddy Louie Randall(RIP) drew the unenviable task of covering you(smile). A lot of people not of our era do not realize what a great shooter Frank Cortez was. Mike Lee our best player was also a fine shooter. Again always good to hear from you.
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john y lorena said
you think tameside
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write my essay no plagiarism said
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“Going One-on-One” « Never Too Late Basketball's Tips & Tales
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