These items are adjusted and/or expanded from posts on social media. All are worthy of inclusion here, I think, but aren't long enough to post as a separate story. I will not post personal items, only those of general interest.
I stopped by to see Hallie Bryant this afternoon. The oldest living Mr. Basketball and Globetrotter had some difficult moments last year after falling at home and spending considerable time in the hospital and at a rehab center. He's not getting around as well as he once did but is as sharp as ever.
Last summer, when he was at a rehab facility, I gave him a copy of the Norman Vincent Peale classic, "The Power of Positive Thinking." It had been my dad's, purchased in the early fifties. You can see part of it in the photo below. Thanks to Hallie, it was dog-eared and marked up with underlines and notes in the margins, like a college textbook. It was great to see it get so much use. He was in a positive mood, too. I practically heard a sermon while there.
Someone at Crispus Attucks, from where Hallie graduated in 1953, wants some of Hallie's memorabilia for the school's archives. I pulled out a few items - his Globetrotters warmups, the Globetrotter jersey he wore while performing his one-man shows, and the "letterman's jacket" he was given when honored as one of the 50 greatest players from Indiana in 1999.
The sportswriter John Feinstein died today. It is to his credit that a lot of people other than sportswriters knew of him.
His first book, A Season on the Brink, was a groundbreaking, eye-opening and game-changing national bestseller that removed the veil from Bob Knight's basketball program. Regardless of what you thought of Knight, you found content to support your opinion. That was a tribute to his objective approach.
Some people thought he exaggerated the tirades, but John told me he toned them down because they came off differently in print than in person. The book opened with Knight screaming at Daryl Thomas. John said it would have gone on a lot longer if he had presented it exactly as it happened.
John had a big ego and turned off some people, but I respected the fact he didn't let the book's success go to his head. He remained a dedicated reporter, and I never saw him big-time another journalist.
He was always supportive of whatever I had going on. I was pleasantly surprised to see that he opened a story for the Washington Post on Purdue's basketball team a year ago with a reference to my 1988 book, Passion Play. My book obviously was inspired by his, although I directed more attention to the players than he did.
I didn't consider John a great writer, but he was a great reporter and had a great work ethic. That's more important. He also had great courage and ambition. Not many journalists would have even considered asking Knight to follow his team for a season and write a book. The two had a falling out because Knight expected Feinstein to soften his language and tirades. As I stated earlier, John did to some degree. But to take out the profanity would have been laughable. It was hardly a state department secret that Knight cussed a lot
In the end, the book did Knight no lasting harm. And it did Feinstein a lot of good. I remember him saying before IU's game at Purdue the following season that he had learned he had become a millionaire that day because of the book's sales.
Rick Mount has not attended a game at Mackey Arena in nine years and before that had not gone to a game since the late 80s. But he plans to be there tonight for Purdue’s game against UCLA.
His first game there as a sophomore on Dec. 2, 1967 remains the greatest game played there. It was his debut, the arena’s debut and was played against defending national champion UCLA, featuring Lew Alcindor and coached by former Purdue all-American Johnny Wooden. It was also a meaningful game for South Bend native Mike Warren, who was back in his home state and playing in front of his parents for one of the few times in his college career. He once told me it was one of the worst games he ever played because he wanted so badly to do well.
Mount, playing with a steel plate in his shoe because of a stress fracture, hit his first two shots and scored 28 points. His last shot rimmed out. Alcindor grabbed the rebound and threw an outlet pass to midcourt to a teammate, who passed to a reserve player named Bill Sweek, who swished a shot from beyond the top of the key at the buzzer. And that was that. No handshake line in those days. Everybody just walked off the court. Purdue's coaches were clearly angry about something.
Sports Illustrated, which had put Mount on its cover in February of 1966, covered the game and gets credit for the Rich Clarkson photos shown below.
Channel 6 in Indianapolis televised the game. Tom Carnegie once told me he had noticed nobody was televising it so he called up and asked to do it. They said sure; he didn't even think the station had to pay for the rights. You can see the game on this site, shot from a single camera atop the arena with no sound.
There is no plan to make a big deal of Mount’s presence at the game tonight, which is just how he wants it.
Feb. 27, 2025
Had lunch today with Donnie Walsh, Derrick McKey and Darnell Hillman. Great conversation as usual despite the noise factor. We talked about Mel Daniels, Larry Brown, horses, and even some basketball.
Donnie traded Detlef Schrempf for McKey and considers him a truly great player who did all the things that tend to go unnoticed by fans but was weakened by persistent injuries. (Remember, he was the one who threw perfect inbound passes to Rik Smits for his game-winning buzzer-beater against Orlando in the 1995 playoffs and to Reggie Miller for his famous three-pointer against the Bulls in the 1998 playoffs.)
Donnie first saw Hillman when Darnell was in the Army and played in a tournament at South Carolina, where Donnie was an assistant coach. He obviously grew to know him better during the years they spent together in the Pacers front office.
One man came over to the table and said he had noticed these tall guys and the Pacers gear Donnie was wearing. Said he was a big Pacers fan who had gone to the first game at the Coliseum in 1967. But darn if he didn’t know who anyone was. I had to introduce them to him.
Feb. 20, 2025
The Washington High School gymnasium was officially named after George McGinnis this evening. A ceremony was conducted between the JV and varsity games.
Credit goes to school board member Diane Arnold for initiating the process. She’s the wife of Jim Arnold, a teammate of George's on the 1969 state championship team.
Mayor Hogsett participated in the ceremony. All but one of his living high school teammates were on hand as were McGinnis’s Pacers teammate Darnell Hillman and former players from Crispus Attucks and Shortridge.
You've probably seen the television commercial that Caitlin Clark and Peyton Manning do for Ascension. They both show up on national ads as well, as do Reggie Miller and Larry Bird. They are paid handsomely for their time, to say the least.
There was a time, however, when the local sports stars - mostly ABA Pacers - endorsed products for $50, free shoes, use of a car or some other pittance. Or, if it was an ad in a game program, absolutely nothing.
Mel Daniels sat at a piano in a program ad, although he didn't play. He did participate in a national commercial for Adidas shoes, but they only showed him and Julius Keye below the knees.
Billy Keller had a contract with the American Dairy Association for all of $3,000 over three years. For that he had to travel the state for speaking engagements and milk a cow at halftime of a game. Rick Mount posed in a tuxedo. Bob Netolicky's name and likeness were used in a paint ad. Jimmy Rayl recorded a TV commercial for Chesty potato chips. His wife sat next to him, holding their infant son. He wiggled out of her control and nearly banged his head on the coffee table in front of them.
Feb. 13, 2025
Rick Mount has signed a few of these Sports Illustrated covers over the years. It's from a 1966 issue for which he become the first high school athlete from a team sport to appear on the cover. Olympic swimmer Donna de Varona was the first high school athlete.
Notice that he writes left-handed. A lot of a great right-handed shooters write left-handed. Larry Bird, for example. Alan Karpick, publisher of goldandblack.com is in the background.
Feb. 7, 2025
Hubie Brown, 91, will broadcast his final NBA game on Sunday. Piece of trivia about him that not many know, but you do, is that he broadcast both the first and last game Reggie Miller played with the Pacers.
Miller's debut came on Nov. 6, 1987 in Philadelphia. Brown was working as the analyst for the 76ers' broadcasts that season. Miller's last game came on May 19, 2005, in Game 6 of the second-round playoff series with Detroit. Brown was a network analyst by that point.
You can see Reggie's first and last field goals in the audio-video section of this site. It's too bad his feet were barely over the three-point line on his first, it would have been appropriate if both his first and last field goals were three-pointers.
Knee-length stockings once were a fairly standard part of basketball uniforms. I wore them in junior high school and high school. As you can see from the photos, Purdue wore them in the 60s, although they were discarded at the end of the decade.
Some brave team needs to bring them back. Players like to have their legs covered these days to stay warm and promote circulation and the stockings would do the job. It would take some courage, but it would start a fashion trend.
I’m not talking about tube socks. I’m referring to the colorful stockings that were not made of cotton. They had stirrups, like baseball stockings.
Bob Uecker, who passed away today, played eight games for the Indianapolis Indians in 1960. He batted just .227 but did have the highlight of hitting an eighth-inning home run in a victory less than 12 hours after his daughter was born.
He went on to play six Major League seasons from 1962-67 with a lifetime batting average of .200. He lasted that long because he was a good defensive catcher with a strong arm.
Because of his popularity as a broadcaster and commercial celebrity, the suite named after him is among the most popular at Victory Field.
I took John Ritter to the game at Marian University this afternoon to see a couple of people from his basketball past.
He and Marian athletic director Steve Downing were in the same recruiting class at IU and both were three-year starters. As seniors, they led IU to the Final Four in 1973.
We were waiting for coach Pat Knight to come out of the Marian locker room to see him as well. Downing, who was an assistant athletic director at IU when Pat played there for his father, hired Pat last summer to coach Marian's NAIA team. Ritter remembers Pat as the little kid who rebounded for him after practice. Pat’s version is, “I just got in the way.”
John still ranks as one of the greatest shooters in IU basketball history. Bob Knight got on him routinely and loudly to shoot more often. After one of those occasions following a loss at Ohio University during his junior season - Knight's first at IU - John outscored Notre Dame all by himself, 31-29, in a 94-29 victory on Dec. 18, 1971. He pulled off the same feat in high school at Goshen, outscoring South Bend Clay something like 49-47.
After graduating and trying out for the Pacers in the fall of '73 - he was one of the final cuts - John got a call from his former coach at work at his job at Eli Lilly. Knight wanted him to get to Bloomington as quickly as possible to accompany him on a visit to a high school recruit. That recruit was Larry Bird of Springs Valley High School. Knight had heard Bird was an admirer of Ritter's from watching him on television and thought Ritter could help make a positive impression.
Ritter remembers Bird’s mother saying her only concern was whether Larry could handle the academic challenges at IU. John said he didn’t think it would be a problem and that tutors would always be available to help if needed. That was easy for John to say, however; he was an academic all-American. Knight reminded him of that on the way back to Bloomington. Bird did not commit on the spot but of course did later on. And, much later on, Bird got his degree at Indiana State and went on to prove himself plenty smart enough.
I was in charge of the sports section makeup for The Journal-Gazette in Fort Wayne one day in the early eighties when this photo moved on the wire. Bird was about to conduct a charity game at Market Square Arena and wanted to work out so Pacers trainer David Craig loaned him a practice jersey.
I remember my headline for the photo caption was "Dream On." Bird could have been a Pacer if ownership had enough patience and foresight to take him when he first became draft eligible and wait a year for him to finish at Indiana State. They took Rick Robey instead.
The backstory:
The Pacers were coming off a 31-51 season and losing money as fast as they were losing games. They were desperate to improve and sell tickets, so they ignored the suggestion of Slick and Nancy Leonard to draft Bird and wait a year on him. (Bird was draft eligible but had one season left to play at Indiana State because he had sat out a year after leaving IU.)
As Nancy recalls, one of the owners said he had a daughter who attended Kentucky and believed Robey, who had starred on UK’s national championship team, was as good as Bird. They took her word for it.
Robey played 43 games for the Pacers while averaging 8.6 points and then was traded to Boston midway through his rookie season for former Pacer Billy Knight. Robey went on to play eight NBA seasons and average 7.6 points before retiring.
You know how Bird’s playing career turned out. This photo of him in a Pacers practice jersey mocks them for what could have been.
Jan. 4, 2025
I took this photo at Pacers practice seven years earlier, during the 2017-18 season. It's quite the time capsule in retrospect.
At the time, Oladipo and Sabonis were in their first season with the Pacers, having been traded to them for Paul George. Oladipo was an emerging star, an all-star selection in fact, and on his way to averaging a career-high 23.1 points and becoming the team's most popular player. Sabonis was a sixth man, as he would be the following season as well.
Fast forward to today. Oladipo is essentially retired, his career derailed by injuries. He's played for five teams, two since the Pacers traded him in 2020, (Miami and Houston) and been waived by another (Memphis).
Sabonis, meanwhile, became a two-time all-star for the Pacers and then was traded to Sacramento for Tyrese Haliburton. He's continued his all-star status with the Kings, a dominant center with a complete skill set.
Nobody could have predicted those outcomes when this photo was taken. Life moves fast, not to mention dramatically, in the NBA.
Dec. 29, 2024
Matt Painter played at Purdue when Bruce Weber was an assistant coach there and was an assistant coach under Weber at Southern Illinois from 1998-2003.
Roles were reversed on this date when Weber handled the commentary for Purdue's game with Toledo. His duties included interviewing Painter after the game.
Just goes to show you never know where life will take you. You could both Painter and Weber were a little uncomfortable in this scenario, with the former mentor asking questions of his former student and understudy.
Painter got his first head coaching gig at Southern Illinois after Weber left to take the job at Illinois. Painter went to Purdue one year later, working one season as an assistant coach in Gene Keady's final season before taking over as head coach. Weber later coached at Kansas State before being forced into retirement.
Frank Kendrick, who passed away yesterday, had a memorable association with Purdue.
He played for the Boilermakers and was a key player on their NIT championship team of 1974. He was an assistant coach in the nineties, helping recruit Glen Robinson and other players who led them to Big Ten titles, and then had an unhappy break from the university.
Kendrick was fired for committing minor NCAA violations. He was bitter over that and stayed away from the program for many years. He even showed up in Mackey Arena for a game against Indiana wearing a red sweater and sitting behind IU's bench.
Matt Painter helped mend that wound, bringing Kendrick back into the fold. He even played in the annual alumni game late in life.
Kendrick became known outside the Indianapolis area when he played in the annual Indiana-Kentucky all-star series in 1970. The Indianapolis Tech graduate hit the game-winning shot in the first game in Louisville and scored 17 points. He came back the following week to lead another victory in Indianapolis with a game-high 27 points. He combined to hit 19 of 30 shots in those games so it’s not like he was being selfish. Mr. Basketball Dave Shepherd was injured so there were more shots to go around.
Kendrick originally announced he would attend IU. Or at least someone thought he did. The Star ran a small item about it the summer after he graduated from high school. But he wound up at Purdue and led the Boilermakers to the NIT championship in 1974. That Purdue team finished two games back of the Big Ten championship after losing at MIchigan State by two points, at Iowa by one point, and at Indiana by one point. He was the second-leading scorer behind John Garrett.
Kendrick was a third-round pick of Golden State in the NBA draft and played 24 games for the Warriors in the 1974-75 season. He wasn't on their playoff roster but still was given a ring for their championship, which he wore proudly for the rest of his life. He then had a decade-long playing career overseas.
He had a divorce from Purdue after he was fired from his assistant coaching position for a minor recruiting violation. He felt he had taken the fall. He was bitter for a while and one year even showed up at Mackey Arena for a game against IU while wearing a red sweater and sitting behind the IU bench. That kind of thing happens sometimes. Former IU All-American Kent Benson attended Purdue games while wearing a gold sweater one season when he was living with a woman in Lafayette and was angry about the Kelvin Sampson scandal.
Things eventually got straightened out, as they tend to do, and Frank was back in the fold. He was inducted into Purdue's athletics hall of fame and attended many events, even playing in their annual alumni game.
I don't think I've met anybody more outgoing than Frank. Always upbeat, always talkative. He was a big help to me whenever I called him, both during and after his time as an assistant coach.
I last saw him in February when I emceed a gathering to honor the Dust Bowl on the Tuesday before the NBA All-Star game. Frank was on the panel with Mike Woodson, Hallie Bryant, Wayne Pack and Bill Hampton.
I've posted a photo from the Indianapolis Star's book on the all-star series with Kentucky along with a couple of photos I took at the Dust Bowl gathering.
The Indiana Mr. Basketball connections run deep.
I had not talked with Rick Mount or Billy Keller for a few months but got a call from Mount last night and from Keller this afternoon. They were nudged to check in after hearing of Dick Van Arsdale's passing.
Mount, Mr. Basketball in 1966, recalled playing with and against Jon McGlocklin and one of the Van Arsdales (it's always difficult to tell them apart) at his high school gym in Lebanon the summer before his senior year. They played Scuttle, a two-on-one game, but their primary purpose for dropping in was to encourage him to attend IU.
Keller (1965) recalled going to Phoenix one summer to hang out with Pacers teammate Art Becker. They played in pickup games against some of the Suns and other NBA players, including both Van Arsdales. He became acquainted with them then.
Neither had kept in touch with the Van Arsdales over the years, as they lived in Scottsdale and rarely returned to Indiana, but the connection remains when you share the Mr. Basketball title. It's an unspoken bond.
Dec. 16, 2024
Dick Van Arsdale passed away today. He and Tom are historical figures at all levels of basketball as twin brothers who had nearly identical careers. They were co-Mr. Basketball in 1961 out of Manual High School, which finished runnerup in the state tournament - which never ceased to haunt them, were All-Americans at IU and three-time NBA all-stars, although not in the same three seasons.
They finished their playing careers together as members of the Phoenix Suns. Dick had joined the Suns in the NBA's expansion draft and became known as the original Sun while Tom joined for the last season of their careers, in 1976-77.
I stopped in to see them four years ago at their art studio in Scottsdale. They were sitting out front smoking cigars and drawing when I arrived. I called George McGinnis and Slick Leonard so that Tom could talk with them. I remember Tom saying to George, "You know, I never thought you were as great as everybody said you were." Just friendly trash talk.
Dick had suffered a stroke in 2006, but it wasn't that noticeable. He would occasionally get words mixed up , such as saying "last week" when he meant "last year" or "hello" when he meant "goodbye." But he was easy to converse with.
Tom and Dick hardly came across as social activists, but they were in their own quiet way. They helped integrate the Dust Bowl while in high school, thanks to fellow Manual alum Carl Short, who was the first white guy to cross the color line and play there on a regular basis. They also were selling T-=shirts promoting racial harmony.
The Pacers tried to sign both of them to contracts after forming in 1967, but they didn't want to make the leap to a new league that might not last even a season.
That's Dick on the right in the photo I took below. I've also shown the artwork I bought from Dick for $60 and later gave to Slick.
Dec. 14, 2024
Watch Pacers guard T.J. McConnell after a game and you're likely to see him behaving like a one-man welcoming committee. He hugs and talks with players and coaches on the other team, most of whom he seems to know, and sometimes with fans as well.
These shots are off the telecast after the Pacers won in Philadelphia. He played there, so he obviously knew a lot of people.
Nov. 11, 2024
Nov. 5, 2024
I recently came across this photo, which ran in a magazine - probably Slam - during the 2005-06 season after the Pacers won at Miami in their second game, a 105-102 victory.
Reggie Miller was in his first season as a broadcaster and Ron Artest stopped by afterward to visit. Reggie doesn't exactly look thrilled to see his former teammate who had been suspended for most of the previous season for his part in the brawl in Auburn Hill, Mich. but this is just a micro-second in time. I'm in the background doing what I did best as the beat writer for The Indianapolis Star - loiter, in case something interesting happened.
Artest played well in the game, scoring 22 points, and the Pacers were on their way to a 9-4 start. But Artest blurted out a trade demand in December and the resulting breakup led the Pacers to a 41-41 record and first-round playoff exit.
That trade demand, more than the brawl, led to the downturn that lasted until late in the 2011-12 season, when Frank Vogel took over as coach and sparked a revival.
Aug. 29, 2024
I had lunch today with Carl Nicks and Donnie Walsh, which guaranteed a lengthy, entertaining and insightful conversation about basketball.
Carl, who is now a pro scout for the Pacers, played for the Denver Nuggets when Donnie coached them. He asked for this picture to be taken so he could send it to a couple of friends.
The waiter recognized Donnie and immediately offered his opinions about the current Pacers team. Just imagine how often that happened when Donnie was still the general manager/team president and dared to venture into a restaurant.
I should add, he always handled it by telling people they were right regardless of what they said. That kept the conversation shorter.
I covered the Pacers for 12 seasons for The Indianapolis Star and had countless conversations with Walsh during that time. He was perhaps the only GM in the NBA who would take a call at home from a reporter. I didn't take that as a personal favor as much as a sign of respect for the fans. He also realized media people had a job to do and respected that. He didn't talk about ongoing negotiations until they were complete, but you often could tell what was going on by reading between the lines.
Talking with him now, whether over lunch or the phone, is a different experience now that he's retired but still enjoyable and informative.
The Indiana Sports Hall Of Fame conducted another induction banquet today at the Marriott East in Indianapolis.
These guys, Troy Lewis and Delray Brooks, were among the inductees. They were co-Mr. Basketballs in 1984. Troy was a two-time first team all-Big Ten selection at Purdue. Delray went to Indiana and then transferred to Providence, where he was a starter on their Final Four team in 1987.
I first saw them play at an All-Star game in Huntington after their senior season in high school. I had heard a lot about them and knew they were big scorers so I was surprised by their lack of elite athleticism. Talking with them afterward, though, I was impressed with their maturity. That maturity continues to pay off 40 years later as both are doing well in their real-world careers. Troy lives in Dayton and Delray in South Bend.
Aug. 21, 2024
As a follow-up to yesterday's post on Bill York, here's a shot of him (on the left) from the early seventies when he was part of an effort to build a new arena. This concept was much simpler than what Market Square Arena turned out to be and fortunately Mayor Lugar stepped in to get it done.
Bill, however, was the kind of guy who tried to make things happen. He also was well-known within the Pacers world for hosting an annual Fourth of July pool party at his home. Front office members and players alike attended with their families.
He was a good guy, too, as exemplified by this personal memory.
I had a press credential for Pacers games when I was in college. One of the IU basketball student managers asked to borrow it to attend a game. I knew it wasn't supposed to be loaned out, but this guy had been good to me and was in a position to help me do my job, so I told him to just use it to get in the building and go find a seat in the stands.
He said sure but of course hung out in the media room and drank beer and schmoozed instead. Bill told me about it the next time I attended a game and reminded me of the policies. He could have been a jerk about it but was understanding of the naive student journalist.
Aug. 20, 2024Bill York just passed away. He ran the press room and stat crew for the Pacers, Colts, Racers and Indianapolis 500 and is a legend among local media members. Indirectly, he was an asset to fans because of the work he performed.
He was hired to organize and manage the stat crew for the Pacers from the very beginning in 1967. In the early years, he typed the play-by-play on a manual typewriter. His responsibilities never stopped him from baiting referees from courtside, though. But I should add he would have done it with a smile and probably would have given them a beer if not a ride after the game.
In later years he directed a large crew that was one of the best in the NBA from a back room at the fieldhouse. He did the same for the Colts and the Speedway, managing an efficient, friendly operation that always seemed to impress reporters from other cities.
The fact his crew members stayed with him for as long as they were physically able to work was a great tribute to his leadership. They all have endless stories, particularly from the Fairgrounds Coliseum era. Such as the time when York turned 40 and some of the crew members went to his house, put him in a casket and drove him around town in a hearse before taking him to Slick and Nancy Leonard's house for a birthday party. Rumor has it things got a little rowdy that night.
I took this photo on what might have been his last visit to the fieldhouse, in April of 2016. He's in the middle, with veteran stat crew members Bill Bevan (L) and Bob Bernath (R), both of whom also went back to the Pacers' first season. Bevan died in 2020 and Bernath is still with us.
I received a few classic photos from Nancy Ousley Rayl (Jimmy's wife) the other day. I forwarded this one to Rick Mount. Talking on the phone, we were trying to determine when it was taken and the identity of the Black guy.
I eventually figured out it was from the 1991 Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame induction. Mount was there as a member of the Silver anniversary team. Robert Netolicky and Jimmy Rayl were there to support their former Pacers teammate Ron Bonham, who was being inducted.
I originally thought the man in the middle was another inductee, Herschell Turner, a Shortridge High School star who also played in the ABA. Upon further review it is more likely Bailey Robertson, which would help explain Oscar Robertson‘s presence that night. I don’t know why Bailey would have been there, however. He was not being inducted as Turner was and his name was not mentioned in the newspaper articles. Perhaps he and Oscar were both there for Turner.
Aug. 2, 2024
I helped put together a great luncheon today in the Joyce Center at Notre Dame for the IN*SOURCE charity.
I rounded up Darnell Hillman, Billy Shepherd, Dave Shepherd, Steve Downing and James Arnold to be part of the inaugural Hoops With Heart event. The theme was a tribute to George McGinnis, whose grandson had benefited from the organization.
I introduced these guys, who each spoke for about five minutes on McGinnis. Darnell was a Pacers teammate who joined the team the same year as McGinnis, the Shepherds sandwiched McGinnis as Mr. Basketball and Downing and Arnold were high school teammates.
It was a first-class event all the way around but the drive up and back (the Shepherds went separately) alone would have made for an enjoyable day. Some great stories were told. I rented a large vehicle to accommodate the 6-foof-9 guys, then drove and listened.
Time was, "Old-Timers Games" were a thing in basketball. Not so much today.
Below you'll see an ad that ran in the Star for what was optimistically called the "1st Annual Pacers Old-Timers Game" to be played on Nov. 10, 1984. It was conducted after the Pacers-Bulls game that featured Michael Jordan's first appearance at Market Square Arena.
A capacity crowd of 16,920 turned out, mostly to see Jordan, but most of them stayed to watch the former Pacers play a team of former Indiana high school and college stars. Slick Leonard coached the Pacers team in what might have been his first return to MSA after being let go as coach in 1980. Former Attucks coach Ray Crowe coached the "Indiana Greats" team that included Oscar Robertson. Hopefully you can read the rosters at the bottom of the advertisement. It's an impressive collection for an exhibition game.
Robertson received the loudest ovation of all the players, one both lengthy and loud, when introduced. He then backed it up by scoring 13 points and hitting all six of his field goal attempts to lead the "Indiana Greats" to a 75-61 victory. Walter Jordan scored 12.
Bob Netolicky led the ex-Pacers with 15 points and Jimmy Rayl added nine. Darnell Hillman, 35 years old at the time, proved he could still dunk. Billy Keller received the loudest ovation of the ex-Pacers.
Although it was billed as the "1st Annual," I don't believe there was a second one. A few months later, though, a Legends game was played at MSA as part of the NBA All-Star Weekend. Robertson, Mel Daniels and Roger Brown played in that game as well, and Slick coached a team.
As for the NBA game, Chicago won by two points. It was a good showing for a Pacers team that would go on to win a franchise-worst 22 games. Jordan didn't disappoint, finishing with 27 points, nine rebounds, four assists and five blocked shots.
The Pacers did a cool thing, putting the name of every player who has appeared in a game on the wall in their practice facility. Hall of Famers in gold, all-stars in blue and everyone else in black.
This kind of thing can mean a lot to the lesser-known players. I texted a photo of this to John Fairchild and Everette Stephens, both of whom had brief careers with the Pacers, and they were pleased to be remembered.
The Pacers' original front office was at 638 E. 38th St., about a mile west of the Fairgrounds Coliseum. It remained open until Market Square Arena was built. The top photo shows fans lined up to buy tickets for Game 7 of their first-round series with Kentucky in 1969.
I took the bottom photo on Friday. It's sitting empty now, after a beauty supply store vacated the premises. A staff of about six fulltime employees worked there in the first season. There's a basement that was used for storage. Nobody I've talked to can recall what was on the second floor.
Pacers office, 1969
June 12, 2024
Jerry West, who died today, is one of the most iconic figures in basketball history, the literal logo for the NBA. He covered all the bases as was one of its greatest players, a successful coach and a multi-championship executive.
He also was an admirable human. He talked openly of his anxieties and depression in his autobiography, "West by West: My Charmed, Tormented Life," and was an approachable, down-to-earth human who didn't carry himself like a superstar. I only talked with him once, over the telephone, when he was the GM of the Memphis Grizzlies, but it was an easy conversation. I had to resist the temptation to start firing unrelated questions at him about his playing career.
Donnie Walsh once told me West was so wound up as a GM in Memphis that if he called Walsh and proposed a trade and Walsh said no, West would start yelling at him. Like, "C'mon, Donnie, you should do this! What's wrong with you!?"
West only played in Indianapolis one time, as a member of the Lakers when they met the Cincinnati Royals at the Coliseum on March 9, 1966. The Royals once played a few games there each season before the Pacers came into being to cash in on Oscar Robertson's popularity, and this game happened to be the one in which the Lakers clinched the Western Division title. West led the Lakers with 31 points. Robertson had 39 for the Royals but took nine more shots.
The photo below shows the Purdue basketball coaching staff, along with broadcaster Larry Clisby, posing in front of a statue of West when the Boilermakers played a game at West's alma mater, West Virginia, in January of 2011. They asked for the photo to be taken, one small indication of West's legendary status.
June 3, 2024
Sorry to hear of the passing of an Indiana basketball icon, Duane Klueh, at age 98. He was a standout in basketball and tennis at Indiana State - and later coached both sports successfully - and a great guy to talk with. Was upbeat and sharp to the very end.
Klueh (pronounced Klee) played for John Wooden at Indiana State and remained a close friend. Wooden once wrote him a letter after he had won yet another national championship and said the pressure was becoming almost "unbearable."
He also was Bob Leonard's basketball idol when Leonard was a young boy growing up in Terre Haute. I put them in touch with one another after writing a story for the Indianapolis Business Journal four years ago and they had a few lengthy telephone conversations. Slick was thrilled to reconnect.
Duane might have been the oldest living NBA veteran. I asked someone in the league office about that last year and they were not sure. He certainly was one of the three oldest. He played for Denver and Fort Wayne in the 1949-50 season. The road trips from Denver, made in automobiles in the dead of winter, were brutal.
He was a standout high school and college player in Indiana, played in the NBA, was a member of the Fort Wayne Pistons team in the game that inspired the 24-second shot clock, had a successful coaching run at Indiana State in both basketball and tennis, and was on the broadcast crew for Indiana State's games when Larry Bird played. You might say he experienced a lot of basketball history.
I don't often get into the "underrated" thing, but Klueh qualifies.
Like everyone else who has met Bill Walton, I have nothing but good things to say about him.
When I was the Pacers beat writer for the Star and they were going deep into the playoffs he would call me in advance of the games he broadcast to gather information. No other announcer ever did that. Meanwhile, he was always accessible and helpful when I needed information.
He also was willing to do a favor. I once told him about a friend who was a fan of his and was having a birthday. I gave him the friend’s number and asked if he could send him a text. Bill called him instead and left a lengthy voicemail message.
Another time I told him about the back issues George McGinnis was having, which were similar to the ones Bill had experienced. Bill asked for George’s address and immediately mailed a copy of his book in which he described that experience along with a nice letter.
His passing is a great loss, to basketball and beyond.
I didn’t ask for the photo below to be taken, but I’m glad it was. It was at a fundraising event in which Larry Bird was the guest speaker, about 10 years ago. I should add, someone I worked with in Fort Wayne used to call me Small Walt. I’m not sure about the resemblance, but I took it as a compliment.
TJ McConnell’s dad sent this picture to me five or six years ago. It’s from his freshman year in high school when he started on the varsity for his father’s team.
He might look like a cute kid still today, but he plays a man’s game. Never more than today, when he had 12 points and seven assists in the Pacers’ playoff victory over the Knicks. He more than anyone blunted the Knicks comeback in the third quarter.
TJ and his father had some rocky moments. TJ once picked up a third foul in the first half and had to leave the game. The opposing team then made a run and his father turned to him on the bench and yelled, “This is your fault! This wouldn’t be happening if you were in the game!“
When TJ went back in, he got a steal and dunked the ball and then turned to his dad and yelled, “How do you like that?!”
Dad shouted back, “You’re grounded tonight!” And he stuck to it.
They didn’t talk for a few days after that, until Mom intervened and called a truce. TJ, however, went on to have a great high school career. He took a scholarship to Duquesne and played two seasons, but felt he could make it at a higher level. It sunk in when he and his father attended an NCAA tournament game in Pittsburgh and watched Ohio State's Aaron Craft play. TJ thought he was as good as Craft, and If Craft could excel for a Big Ten team, surely he would play for a major program as well. He talked with Purdue's coaches but chose Arizona. His number was retired there in the 2024-25 season.
May 18, 2024
George McGinnis’ older sister, Bonnie, hosted a lunch today for some of his friends and teammates at Workingman’s Friend.
Bonnie is shown below with Darnell Hillman. The other photo includes Steve Downing in the green shirt and to his left fellow state champion Washington Continental Jim Arnold.
George was famously generous among friends, even to a fault. He loaned out untold thousands of dollars to former teammates and friends that never came back to him and sometimes gave money to people who didn't ask for it.
May 18, 2024
IMS President Doug Boles often stops kids at the Speedway to give them a souvenir pin. I caught him in the act on this day.
Boles defies the odds against perpetual motion and is a one-man welcoming committee for the track.
Sorry to hear of the passing of former Pacers guard Bobby Joe Hooper, who played 54 games for the team in the 1968-69 season.
He was a favorite of Slick Leonard's after Leonard took over as coach early in the season and was put into the starting lineup for a stretch in early December. As I wrote in "Reborn: The Pacers and the Return of Pro Basketball to Indianapolis," Leonard explained it by saying, "He's smart and he's got it here," pointing to his heart.
The Pacers won the first three games in which Hooper started, the beginning of the turnaround from their 6-15 start. He later was beat out by Steve Chubin and Ron Perry but remained a vital part of the roster for the remainder of the season.
His aggression occasionally overflowed, such as in a January game against New York. He was hounding Nets guard Bobby Lloyd fullcourt, Lloyd threw an elbow, and Hooper retaliated with a left cross to Lloyd's cheek that cleared the benches. The Pacers won, 96-94, in what was regarded as a unifying victory.
Afterward, Roger Brown turned to Hooper in the locker room and asked, "How's everything, Cassius?" Meaning Cassius Clay, as Muhammad Ali was known as at the time.
Hooper broke his left thumb in a game in February but returned before the cast was removed and continued to contribute the rest of the season. He then returned to Dayton, where he had starred for a team that reached the championship game of the NCAA tournament in 1967, and worked as an assistant coach for a couple of seasons. He then returned to the Pacers, becoming their first assistant coach.
He floundered after returning to Dayton again. He said his life consisted of little but coffee, cigarettes, booze and golf for a while and lost his marriage. He overcame his alcoholism and took construction jobs for a few years, enjoying the hard labor, and eventually became a minister.
His reputation was such that when the Pacers drafted Billy Keller late in the 1968-69 season, general manager Mike Storen said, "He has tremendous desire. I put him in a class with our Bobby Hooper for ability and desire."
Bobby Joe Hooper in a 1969 playoff game, guarded by future Pacers coach Larry Brown.Great evening at Primo last night for the annual Oldtimers fundraising banquet.
Dan Issel was the featured speaker, subbing in on short notice for Bob Costas, who had a death in the family. Scott was honored as the Man of the Year for his tireless efforts gaining recognition benefits for former ABA players.
Some ABA alums joined the frivolity. Pictured below are, from left and around the table: Steve Green, Bob Netolicky, Issel, Dave Robisch, Darnell Hillman, Wayne Pack, David Craig, and Joe Hamilton.
Issel told some great stories and a lot of money was raised, thanks to the capacity crowd. Here's one of the stories:
When he was playing for the Kentucky Colonels, he hosted a Christmas party for the team one year. Adolph Rupp, for whom he played in college at Kentucky and was working as a consultant for the Colonels, was among the guests. When Rupp arrived, Issel met him at the door with Rupp's favorite drink, a bourbon. But Rupp said, "My doctor told me I have to stay off the hard stuff. Just give me a vodka."
The Pacers were desperate to draw fans in the waning days of the ABA and tried all sorts of promotions to get people to Market Square Arena.
They had postgame concerts with the likes of Al Hirt, Bill Cosby and Chuck Berry. They brought in a trained, muzzled bear to wrestle local celebrities. They passed out green bagels on St. Patrick's Day - that one resulted in a food fight because the interns handed them out before the game ended.
This one didn’t seem to work out too well, either. From Bill Benner’s article in the Star during the 1975-76 season.
March 30, 2024
Had the pleasure of chauffeuring former Mr Basketballs Hallie Bryant (1953) and Larry Humes (1962) to Pacers games this season for their “rev up the crowd” pregame tradition. Stayed for the games, too, and they were good hangs. Took Hallie for the game vs Dallas and Larry for the game vs the Lakers on Friday. The Pacers won both, so having that Mr. Basketball vibe in the building must’ve helped.
Feb. 15, 2024
I had the pleasure of emceeing a panel discussion for an event for the Dust Bowl at Salesforce Tower downtown ahead of the NBA All-Star game.
Here’s four Indianapolis high school standouts: Mike Woodson (Broad Ripple), Frank Kendrick (Tech), Hallie Bryant (Attucks), and Wayne Pack (Washington). All developed their skills on the outdoor courts as much as they did in school. All received college scholarships and played professionally as well.
Feb. 14, 2024
The NBA's All-Star Weekend once included a "Legends" game that was a fan favorite. Some of the greats from past seasons participated, and some of them were still young enough to remind everyone how they played.
The game was eventually taken off the weekend schedule, probably because of the threat of injury and perhaps a lawsuit or two.
Here's the box score from the 1985 Legends game played at Market Square Arena. Combined with the slam dunk contest, it drew a sellout crowd. Seven players with ties to the state played - former Pacers Mel Daniels and Roger Brown; former Mr. Basketballs Oscar Robertson and Tom and Dick Van Arsdale; former IU star Walt Bellamy; and former Fort Wayne Piston George Yardley.
Brown led the West scoring with 10 points and Daniels was its leading rebounder with seven. Their participation was notable because both were regarded exclusively as ABA players, although Daniels played 11 games in an NBA season with the Nets.
It also was significant that Slick Leonard coached the West team. He had been separated from basketball since the Pacers let him go in 1980. This event helped bridge the gap and get his competitive juices flowing again. He said afterward he was ready to return to basketball in some capacity and, lo and behold, he was part of the Pacers' television broadcast crew the following season. He later switched to the radio broadcast and stayed there until he passed away in 2021.
I remember Rick Barry played with a camera strapped to his chest in a mostly futile attempt to provide unique video for the broadcast. It didn’t help his shooting any, but he played hard as usual. Also note that the Van Arsdale twins scored the same number of points - of course.
Feb. 3, 2024
A great but belated 90th birthday celebration was held for Hallie Bryant tonight at the Jewell Event Center with about 75 guests.
Hallie, who is the oldest living Mr. Basketball, turned 90 on Jan. 24. The surprise party his wife Deloris planned was supposed to be on the 20th but they caught Covid - probably from attending the Globetrotters game on the 14th. Deloris managed to reschedule it and keep it a secret from him - she told him they were going to a book club meeting.
Feb. 1, 2024
I thought at first they had put actual hardwood down at the airport in recognition of the NBA All-Star Game, but it’s just painted tile. It's still impressive and they should keep it like that.
Would have been nice to have balls to shoot with, but they probably wouldn't have lasted long.
Jan. 16, 2024
Unless I missed something, Purdue's 21-point victory in Bloomington tonight was its most one-sided win there since 1934, when the Boilermakers won, 47-13.
That one was expected to be a tight game and a record crowd of 7,000 braved icy weather to attend. Future Purdue coach Ray Eddy led the scoring with 10 points.
IU hit just 3 of 44 field goal attempts (less than 7%), which seems awfully hard to do.
It would have been interesting to know what the participants thought about the game, but the newspaper coverage didn’t include quotes from anyone - or even the first name of the players.
Bill Fox of The Indianapolis News wrote about the game in the Monday afternoon paper but from a distance. Noting that Purdue shot 40 percent (a great field goal percentage in that era) and IU shot 7 percent, he wrote, "It is not likely that Indiana ever again will be as bad as it was in this game and Purdue fans are willing to agree that if Purdue's boys are ever as hot again it will take something akin to a third alarm in New York city to put them out."
Jan. 14, 2024
Hallie Bryant is the oldest living Globetrotter, just as he's the oldest living Mr. Basketball. When you're 90 years old, you're the oldest living a lot of things.
With the Globetrotters coming to Indianapolis for their annual games, Hallie's wife Deloris asked me to arrange for him to be recognized at the game. The Globetrotters' PR person was happy to help, and we were given front row seats for the game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Some of the players talked with him before the game and he and Deloris posed with them afterwards for a team photo.
Jan. 6, 2024
Took this shot off of the television broadcast after noticing a Purdue fan's shirt. Great touch of sarcasm, just hoping both teams have fun.
Dec. 30, 2023
From left: Sarah Harkness (wife of former Pacer Jerry), Dave Robisch, David Craig and Robisch's wife.Lunch today with these two guys, Carl Short and Rick Mount. Their friendship goes back more than 50 years.
George McGinnis, who had just died, came up in the conversation. Carl, a 1956 Manual graduate, taught at Washington High School and opened up the gym so George and his friends could play pickup games there in the late 80s.
Mount and McGinnis were teammates for one season with the Pacers. Mount had no bigger fan than George, who along with high school teammates Steve Downing and Jim Arnold drove up to Lebanon just to look at the sign off the interstate recognizing Mount as Mr. Basketball and an all-American.
George once told me he got chills the first time he shook hands with Mount after joining the Pacers and then begged Mount to play a game of h-o-r-s-e. (George did not win.) Seeing Mount on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1966 when George was a freshman in high school really made an impression.
That just shows you George’s humble nature. He was a great representative of Hoosier Hysteria, far more interested in expressing admiration for other players than accepting praise for himself.
Nov. 2, 2023
Like so many others in the media, I had encounters with Bob Knight over the years. Of all varieties.
As a reporter for the Indiana Daily Student, I had the "privilege" of covering his only team that didn't qualify for a postseason tournament, in the 1976-77 season. Players quit the team before, during and after the season, some of them criticizing him on the way out the door. I couldn't have asked for better on-the-job training. I also covered his teams for The Journal-Gazette in Fort Wayne and The Indianapolis Star. I was there for some of his most memorable moments, such as the chair throw and his postgame tirade against Michigan coach Bill Frieder. Would have hated to miss them.
He wanted you in his corner and worked to manipulate you to get there. It sometimes worked with newspaper and television people. I tried my best to keep a distance. There was a price to pay for being in, and a price to pay for being objective. Sometimes you felt like you were covering a dictator, and at times he had that kind of power over the university and his fan base. He loved to intimidate. But he could be charming, too, especially during the NCAA tournament when the national media was present.
He was nice to me on several occasions ... he also once kicked me out of practice for another reporter's mistake ... he made a good joke at my expense when I introduced him at a banquet, for which I give him credit ... he refused to speak with me for an entire season because I had dared write a book on a Purdue season, even when I lobbed a softball seeking comment on Brian Evans' career ... I had the whole range of experiences.
He was never boring, that's for sure. I think he craved the attention.
Oct. 22, 2023
Ran across this Los Angeles Times article on Reggie Miller committing to UCLA in May of 1983.
Unaware he would become a Naismith Hall of Famer, he said he chose it for academics because he knew he couldn’t count on an NBA career and because it was close to home. He left UCLA with a history degree and then managed to land a job in the NBA after all. (Who says a history degree is worthless?)
As you can see, the “Cheryl’s Brother” tag was with him from the start of his college career.
Oct. 25, 2023
Oct. 12, 2023
I was flattered to be asked to be the keynote speaker at the Best Practice for Ministry Heartland conference at the Cornerstone Lutheran Church in Carmel.
They were going to show the movie "Hoosiers" later in the evening, so who better to take with me and make the feature attraction than Bobby Plump?
He told the stories he's told a million times but always tells them like it's the first. The audience loved him, and he made it easy for me. I just had to throw out a few questions or comments and he took it from there.
Plump as always was happy to pose for pictures. And as always, he threw an arm around the person or people posing with him, an act of friendship but also a chance to show off the state championship ring he won with Milan in 1954.
We are lucky Plump is the one who hit the most famous shot in the history of Indiana high school basketball, as opposed to an introvert, grouch or egomaniac. He wears his fame well and never tires of talking about it.
Oct. 9, 2023
Terry Dischinger, who passed away today, is one of the greatest ever to play college basketball in Indiana. I've never seen video of one of his games at Purdue, but the numbers and honors are proof enough.
The Terre Haute Garfield grad should have been Mr. Basketball in 1958 (Mike McCoy was) as he proved in the two games in the all-star series with Kentucky when he won the Star of Stars award.
He was a consensus second-team all-America as a sophomore at Purdue and then started on the legendary 1960 Olympic team along with Oscar Robertson and Jerry West.
He was a first-team all-America as a junior and senior at Purdue and then was voted the NBA's Rookie of the Year despite playing only 57 games because he was working on his graduate degree on Purdue's campus. He still averaged 25.5 points on 51 percent shooting.
His talent was hidden somewhat by playing on mediocre Purdue teams, but I remember Bob Knight speaking to a large luncheon group in Lafayette in the mid-eighties and saying the Big Ten to that point had never had a better player than Dischinger.
He was an all-star his first three seasons in the NBA, then went into the Army for two years, and then returned to the NBA for six more seasons. (He played his last season in Portland, where he opened his orthodontics practice after retiring.)
He came out of the Army in 1967 and talked with the Pacers about signing with them as they began operations. He badly wanted to play in his home state but the two sides couldn't agree on a deal and it wasn't certain he could get out of his contract with Detroit. He would have been a great addition to the Pacers as both a player and a fan attraction.
Sept. 23, 2023
I took Hallie Bryant to Bloomington for the IU Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony tonight.
Six people were admitted, but we had particular interest in George McGinnis. I know some people wonder why it took so long for George - who played one varsity season there in 1970-71 - to get in, but IU had a policy of only inducting athletes who had achieved their degrees. Bob Knight was behind that policy but it was changed recently.
George gave his speech from his table and did a great job. A lot of people turned out for him, including high school teammates Steve Downing and Wayne Pack, former Pacers trainer David Craig, other friends from Indianapolis and relatives from Alabama.
It also was great to see so many previous inductees. Hallie, 89, was the oldest in attendance, something he has gotten used to. He’s also the oldest living Globetrotter and oldest living Mr. Basketball.
IU coach Mike Woodson paid for a limousine to transport McGinnis from his home in Indianapolis. He sent one for Steve Downing, too. Woodson was a senior in high school when McGinnis was on top of the basketball world, a first-team all-NBA selection for Philadelphia in his first season there. Woodson played against some of the Pacers while growing up and was a huge fan of McGinnis. He has stayed in touch over the years, mailing shirts and shoes to him from every place he has coached.
It was a classy evening all the way around, including Don Fischer's emceeing. Thanks to IU athletic director Scott Dolson for getting Hallie and me in on short notice. I should also mention, John Ritter, George’s IU teammate and Bill Keller, George’s Pacers teammate, both planned to attend but had to cancel late because of illness.
Aug. 18, 2023
I arranged a summit meeting of historic Mr. Basketballs (and a couple of other guys) at Plump's Last Shot today.
Hallie Bryant, Bobby Plump, Larry Humes, Ron Lovett and I gathered at the restaurant for lunch. Plump used his influence to get us in a half hour before it opened. Great conversation, as you would expect when the Mr. Basketballs from 1953, '54 and '62 get together.
They grew up in worlds apart in some respects but none of them had it easy. All three had outhouses for bathrooms at one point in their lives, for example.
Bryant's mother died when he was five. His father married twice more, got it right the second time, and the family moved to Indianapolis to be closer to his stepmother's sister.
Plump's mother also died when he was five. He's the youngest and wore hand-me-downs throughout his childhood. He also got the leftover bathwater. He grew up in a house without electricity, running water and a telephone.
Humes was one of nine kids. His father was a laborer and his mother took in ironing. Segregation was such in Madison he couldn't go with the team to the drug store for an ice cream sundae after wins. They wouldn’t let him sit at the lunch counter.
Bryant ended his high school career as Indianapolis' all-time leading scorer, as well as the record holder for a season and a single game (43). Plump and Humes ended their college careers as their school's all-time leading scorer.
All three have done all right for themselves after basketball, too. Bryant played for the Globetrotters, then worked for them in promotions, did one-man shows in his Globetrotter attire and was a motivational speaker. Plump is an insurance broker and financial advisor. Humes taught and coached in the Indianapolis public school system.
Ron Lovett is a close friend who is a retired firefighter and works security at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Aug. 16, 2023
Enjoyed being part of the State Fair Harvest Dinner tonight at the Coliseum. It turned out to be a much bigger deal than I expected. I participated in a panel discussion of the ABA Pacers with Nancy Leonard, Darnell Hillman, Bill Keller and David Craig. Bill Benner, like me a former Pacers beat writer for the Star, moderated.
The Pacers won three ABA championships while playing in this building, although it has been renovated in a major way since then. Quite well, I should add. The Pacers clinched all three titles on the road, although they had a chance to win two of them here. Sometimes homecourt advantage isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Aug. 11, 2023
Gene Keady will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday. Honestly, I never thought it would happen. But I'm glad it will.
I first met him at his introductory press conference at Purdue and covered his teams throughout the eighties. I was given a leave of absence by Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette editor Craig Klugman to spend the 1987-88 season with Keady's team to write a book, which turned into "Passion Play: A Season with the Purdue Boilermakers and Coach Gene Keady."
We have been in touch off and on over the years - off, lately - but he has enjoyed retirement. He stayed in touch with Purdue's program and recently moved back to the Lafayette area with his third wife to be closer to his comfort zone.
The bottom line for his coaching career is that his teams achieved their potential and surpassed preseason expectations more consistently than those of any other coach I've seen.
June 27, 2023
While researching something else, I got to wondering who the NBA's all-time lowest draft pick might be.
Turns out it's Dan Trant, who was the 228th player selected in the 1984 draft. The league's draft consisted of 10 rounds for a while in the eighties, although some teams sat out the later rounds. More players were drafted that year than in any other and Trant happened to be the last one selected. He had played at Clark University in Worcester, Mass. and was given a shot by the Celtics.
Afterthought that he was, the 6-foot-2 Trant made a solid impression in summer workouts with his shooting and passing skills. Celtics general manager Red Auerbach called him “a smart little player,” wistfully adding, “if he only were an inch or two taller.” After he was released, Trant played briefly in Ireland before settling into the corporate world.
He eventually became a bond trader, but his life ended tragically. He was among the occupants of the World Trade Center on 9/11.
This is the house where the Manning family grew up in New Orleans. According to our tour guide, it is currently owned by the son of the Cleveland Browns owner, although it's currently under renovation.
You would think the Mannings would’ve had a bigger yard to play in, but it doesn’t appear to have held them back.
April 20, 2023
Willie McCarter has passed away. He was the Pacers’ first-round draft pick in 1969 but he signed with the Lakers, who had made him the 12th overall pick in the NBA draft.
McCarter was a hot prospect after scoring 24 points in Drake’s 85-82 loss to UCLA in the championship game of the Final Four. Pacers general manager Mike Storen sent Jerry Harkness to recruit McCarter and gave him permission to tell McCarter the Pacers would buy him a house to match the Lakers’ offer. The Lakers, however, had Wilt Chamberlain wine and dine him, and that made the difference.
McCarter wound up playing parts of three seasons in the NBA and never averaged more than 7.7 points (as a rookie). It’s probably for the best that he didn’t sign with the Pacers. They wound up getting good guard play from a late-round draft pick named Billy Keller. And they didn’t have to buy Keller a house. Or even give him a guaranteed contract.
Side note: Keller was Mr. Basketball in 1965 and McCarter didn’t even make the Indiana All-Star team. He obviously was a late bloomer. He was Gary Roosevelt’s third-leading scorer that season and scored just four points in its afternoon loss to Fort Wayne North in the final four of the state tournament while Keller was leading Washington to the championship. Four years later, McCarter was more highly regarded than Keller. But it worked out much better for Keller in the long run.
April 5, 2023
Here's some old-fashioned sports writing for you ...
A Chicago Tribune article described the excitement of the 1929 Indiana state championship game rather colorfully. Don't think it would fly today but it does paint a picture. Untired fans, sirens and locomotives, swinging hats, shaking fists ...
April 5, 2023
This newspaper article reports terrible acts of vandalism from rioting youths. What could have precipitated such ugly and illegal behavior? Frankfort winning the state championship in 1929. The townsfolk went crazy.
Feb. 23, 2023
Here's another fan wanting to be photographed with George McGinnis today at Workingman's Friend. It's not an unusual occurrence and George accommodates everyone.
It reminds me of Scott Skiles’ response when NBA reporters kept asking him why he didn’t play for Bob Knight at Indiana. “Man, if I had a dollar for every time I’ve been asked that question … Oh, wait, I guess I do,“ Skiles said.
It’s safe to say George has at least a dollar for every time he’s been asked to take a picture with someone.
George’s former teammate and current best friend Steve Downing is off to the right. He doesn’t get asked for photos as often but doesn’t care. His checked ego helped him succeed as a sidekick to McGinnis and as an associate athletic director before taking over Marian University’s department.
Feb. 1, 2023
This list of the holders of the Big Ten single-game scoring record ran in The Indianapolis News after Rick Mount scored 61 points against Iowa on Feb. 28, 1970. It hasn't needed an update in the 53 years since.
Mount's 61-point effort against Iowa will be difficult to surpass in a 40-minute college game, even with the 3-point line, given the increased emphasis on defense.
Note how many players from Purdue and IU have held the record. All of them attended Indiana high schools as well.
This list made me curious about Don White, who scored 29 of his team's 63 points in 1920. He also went to Lebanon High School, was voted an All-American and had a long coaching career. He lived until 1983. Somebody should have called him after Mount's game for a follow-up story.
Jan. 27, 2023
Purdue fans owe a debt of gratitude to Billy Packer, who passed away on Thursday.
Packer played at Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, NC, graduating in 1962, and then became an assistant coach there. Herm Gilliam came out of high school in Winston-Salem in 1965 but Wake wasn't offering scholarships to Black athletes at the time (not until 1969, in fact) so Packer recommended Gilliam to Purdue assistant coach Bob King.
Gilliam became one of the stars of the 1969 Purdue team that reached the final game of the NCAA tournament and went on to play eight seasons in the NBA.
Jan. 4, 2023
Jesse Owens competed in the Butler Relays at the fieldhouse in March of 1936, less than five months ahead of his historic Olympic performance in Germany.
Here's two examples of how The Indianapolis Star covered his appearance. Black athletes were always identified as such in newspapers throughout the country into the Sixties, usually as "Negro."
One sportswriter, who sometimes went by his nickname of "Blondie" in his byline, got a little too creative in his description, I think. And it seems strange that a photo caption needs to identify Owens' race when it's obvious from the image.
These clips ran in the Sunday, March 22, 1936 edition of the Star. The track meet included 13 teams. Michigan won and Ohio State finished second as Owens won three events. The state basketball finals were played at the fieldhouse the following weekend.
Dec. 17, 2022
The Indiana High School Basketball Hall of Fame in New Castle is overflowing with stuff to display as donations keep pouring in. That's why they are in the early stages of a massive expansion that will help clear out the storage rooms and make room for more donations - and inductees.
(Update: The expansion is complete and open as of 2024.)
It was commonplace for the family of a hall of fame member to deliver that player's memorabilia upon his passing. The family didn't have room for everything in their homes and perhaps there was a dispute over who would get it. At some point it became easiest to leave it all with the hall, whether they wanted it or not.
Dec. 2, 2022
If you sit with Matt Painter at a high school game, such as the one tonight in Noblesville, you spend a lot of time getting out of the way of photographs. There was a non-stop succession of requests for a picture, mostly from kids but also from a few adults. He handled each one gracefully.
Painter was there primarily to watch the Haralson kid from Fishers.
Oct. 14, 2022
One of the great things about being a journalist is that it gives you an excuse to call interesting people and ask if you can visit.
I was heading to Nashville, Tenn. for a golf outing and made two stops along the way - one to see former Kentucky Colonels trainer Pink Gardner in Louisville and then on to Bowling Green to meet former Kentucky Colonels guard Darel Carrier.
He's one of the greatest shooters the game has known (look it up) but his pro career was cut short by injury. He and Louie Dampier were a deadly backcourt combination for the Colonels in the early seasons of the ABA.
He's a fascinating guy who seems to know everybody and everything and has had great personal and business success. He's also a talented auctioneer, as he displayed when we called Bill Keller.
We had only talked on the phone a couple of times before meeting but wound up spending nearly seven hours together. He and his wife invited me to spend the night, but I needed to move on. We had great basketball conversations, though.
He's got a fullcourt under cover on his many acres - his very own Carrier Dome, as he calls it.
Gardner also took time out of his workday to talk with me for a few hours. He was another great resource and conversationalist who couldn't have been more accommodating. He might be the only guy who can get Louie Dampier to come out of hiding and talk with someone. He got him to participate in an ABA documentary, for example.
Oct. 12, 2022
Larry Bird's name first appeared in a major newspaper on Feb. 25, 1972, when The Courier-Journal in Louisville reported on the sophomore hitting two game-winning free throws for Springs Valley in the final seconds of a sectional game.
Bird had missed every game of the season to that point because of an ankle injury. He recalled years later that when the coach called him into the game in the final couple of minutes, he thought it was coming from a friend sitting in the stands and ignored it. The coach had to walk over and tell him again. He hit his first shot and later was fouled with 13 seconds left and converted the one-and-one free throw opportunity to finish with six points in a 58-57 victory.
Bird said that moment inspired him to always want the ball at the end of a close game.
Billy Keller turns 75 today. He led Washington High School to a state championship in 1965, was captain of the Purdue team that reached the final game of the NCAA tournament in 1969 and played seven seasons for the Pacers.
Back on April 1, 1974, he wasn't just fooling around in a playoff game against the Spurs. He hit nine three-pointers and finished with 39 points. He hit two more, but one came after the final buzzer and he was ruled out of bounds on another.
Nice informal event at Workingman's Friend today.
Members of Washington High School's 1969 state championship team were given new rings for their accomplishment. Some of them had lost their old rings so George McGinnis, Steve Downing and Jerry Peirson from the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame conspired to have new and better ones made. They are huge. They'll make great paperweights.
Former IU player Jerry Memering stopped by for a while as well.
Aug. 13, 2022
Former Colts center Ray Donaldson played 17 NFL seasons and appeared in six Pro Bowls. He likely would have been selected to more if he had been surrounded by better talent.
He played in just one playoff game in 13 seasons with the Colts before they let him go. He went on to have two strong seasons in Seattle playing for OL coach Howard Mudd and then earned Pro Bowl honors at ages 37 and 38 while playing for Dallas. His career also has historical merit as the first Black person to become a fulltime starting center in the NFL in 1981.
It was a career worthy of NFL Hall of Fame consideration and certainly merits inclusion in the Colts Ring of Honor. He was a man, however, who spoke his mind when he felt it was necessary, most notably in standing up to head coach Ted Marchibroda. That appears to have cost him in his relationship with the Colts but has earned him respect from his fellow linemen who appreciated his leadership.
Eric Dickerson is in the Ring of Honor despite two extended holdouts, the second of which led to him being traded. He famously called Jim Irsay "Daffy Duck." Marshall Faulk also had a contentious holdout that led to a trade but went into the Ring the same time as Dickerson. Donaldson never held out and never publicly criticized anyone, just privately refused to accept criticism of his fellow linemen that he thought was unfair.
Donaldson lives less than two miles from Lucas Oil Stadium but his only association with the franchise is that he buys tickets for a few home games each season. You often pay a price for taking a stand in the corporate world but at least you keep your pride. Donaldson at least has the respect of the men who played next to him.
Aug. 1, 2022
Other than his brief coaching stints with Seattle and Sacramento, which brought him to Indianapolis when his teams played the Pacers, Bill Russell didn't have much history in Indiana.
He attended a Pacers playoff game on May 6, 2004 as part of an "NBA Legends Tour" but didn't grant interviews. It seemed appropriate, however, that one of the league's greatest defensive players be on hand because Ron Artest was presented a trophy for being voted Defensive Player of the Year that night.
One of Russell's other experiences in Indiana was less pleasant but more memorable. The Celtics and Chicago Packers played a three-game exhibition swing in Indiana in October of 1961. One game was played in Marion, on Oct. 11. The mayor presented Russell with a key to the city on the afternoon of the game. Afterward, however, Russell and three teammates (two of them Black) were refused service at a restaurant. Russell is reported to have gone to the mayor's house to get him out of bed and return the key.
The two teams had played the previous night in Logansport. Slick Leonard and Carl Braun got into a fight in the first quarter and were ejected. The wire service report stated Russell blocked nearly 40 shots in that game. I'm a bit skeptical of that, but it's safe to say he blocked several.
July 18, 2022
Time was, "Old-Timers Games" were a thing in basketball. Not so much today.
Here's an ad that ran in the Star for what was called the "1st Annual Pacers Old-Timers Game" on Nov. 10, 1984. It was played after the Pacers-Bulls game that featured Michael Jordan's first appearance at Market Square Arena.
A capacity crowd of 16,920 turned out, mostly to see Jordan, but most of them stayed to watch the former Pacers play a team of former Indiana high school and college stars. Slick Leonard coached the Pacers team in what might have been his first return to MSA after being let go as coach in 1980. Ray Crowe coached the "Indiana Greats" team that included Oscar Robertson. Hopefully you can read the rosters at the bottom of the advertisement. It's an impressive collection for an exhibition game.
Robertson received the loudest ovation of all the players, one of the lengthy and standing variety, when introduced. He then backed it up by scoring 13 points and hitting all six of his field goal attempts to lead the "Indiana Greats" to a 75-61 victory. Walter Jordan scored 12.
Bob Netolicky led the ex-Pacers with 15 points and Jimmy Rayl added nine. Darnell Hillman, 35 years old at the time, proved he could still dunk. Billy Keller received the loudest ovation of the ex-Pacers.
Although it was billed as the "1st Annual," I don't believe there was a second one. A few months later, though, a Legends game was played at MSA as part of the NBA All-Star Weekend. Robertson, Mel Daniels and Roger Brown played in that game as well.
As for the Pacers-Bulls game, Chicago won by two points. It was a good showing for a Pacers team that would go on to win a franchise-worst 22 games. Jordan didn't disappoint, finishing with 27 points, nine rebounds, four assists and five blocked shots.
July 2, 2022
Someone posted this photo on Facebook a while back. I passed it along to Hallie Bryant and Hallie sent it on to Oscar Robertson, who is pictured with his wife shortly after they were married in 1960.
So, tonight I'm sitting at my desk minding my own business when the phone rings at 10:23. Oscar Robertson's number is in my phone, so it popped up. I played it off and answered with a simple hello. You never know, it could have been a pocket dial. But it was indeed him, calling to say thanks for passing along the photo.
I met Oscar in Cincinnati once to record an episode of my One on One radio program and have talked with him on the phone a couple of other times, but would never have expected him to call me for anything. This might rank as the most unexpected call I've ever received.
Poor guy thought it was going to be a quick chat, but I kept him on for half an hour - 34 minutes, 24 seconds to be exact. Actually, it was a relaxed, pleasant conversation. I learned a few things and brought up some mutual friends he was happy to talk about. Such as Carl Short, the Manual High star who took white guys over to the Dust Bowl to integrate the city's playground games.
Oscar remains the gold standard for Indiana high school basketball, and still is the most influential player. Rick Mount says he idolized him while growing up in Lebanon. Billy Keller ran cross country at Washington High School because the coach told him Oscar had done it to get in shape for basketball. Keller was hardly built for distance running, but that endorsement was enough to convince him to do it. (I found out a year or so ago it wasn't true, but Keller doesn't regret running.) George McGinnis vividly recalls watching Attucks' state championships as a young boy and how they inspired him to play. He adopted Oscar's one-handed shot, which probably wasn't a great idea.
Oscar lives in Orlando now. His wife's health is not good. Perhaps that's why he enjoyed seeing this picture so much. It was a great time in his life - just out of college, newly married and headed to the NBA.
I was impressed he would go to that much trouble to call and say thanks for such a simple favor, especially when Hallie Bryant had put as much effort into passing along the photo as I did. Just goes to show you never can tell.
April 23, 2022
They used to do this sort of thing before Pacers games. Sometimes to raise money for charity, sometimes because they thought it would entertain the fans. This one is from the 1974-75 season. Last one I remember occurring was in the mid Eighties. Kind of like donkey basketball, with media members being the donkeys.
April 20, 2022
The Class of '92 is one of the greatest for the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. It includes Dennis Blind, Tom Bolyard, Del Harris, Bill Keller, Alberty Maxey, Rick Mount, Pete Mount, Dave Schellhase, Dave Strack and Mike Warren, all of whom are featured in this video that I managed to acquire.
Tom Carnegie, one of the founders of the Hall of Fame, hosted this event. Rather than have the inductees give speeches, he called them up, read off their accomplishments and sent them on their way. Made for a shorter evening, but all these years later I wouldn't mind hearing what they had to say. Fortunately, Howard Kellman interviewed a few of the inductees.
This program was televised on Channel 40. It cuts off after an hour but remains a time capsule of Hoosier Hysteria.
April 8, 2022
Baseball is a game of streaks. DiMaggio's 56. Rose's 44. Etcetera.
Here's one that stands alone in the game's history in Indianapolis, if not everywhere else. Joe Drescher has attended 70 consecutive home openers for the Indians. It began in 1952 when he was 12 years old and continued on Tuesday when he hosted friends in suites at Victory Field.
UPDATE: As of 2025 the streak is still alive, and Drescher plans to attend this year's home opener as well.
April 6, 2022
Lee Rose, who passed away yesterday, had one of the more interesting coaching careers. He took North Carolina-Charlotte to the Final Four in 1977, then did the same with Purdue in 1980. He was a great tactician and seemed to get the best out of his players either because of or despite his rather prickly personality.
I've talked with some Purdue players who didn't like him, but I've also talked with others - Joe Barry Carroll and Jerry Sichting, for example - who really admired him.
He was a poor fit at Purdue, primarily because of his poor relationship with athletic director George King, and left after two highly successful seasons to initiate a program at South Florida. He then moved on to the NBA as an assistant coach and front office member.
His career always seemed a bit wasted to me. He could have had great success in college if he found the right home.
My One on One conversation with him can be heard by clicking on the link below. Feel free to loiter while you're on the site.
Feb. 9, 2022
The Pacers really knew how to celebrate "family night" back in the day: a date with a Playboy centerfold! This is from March of 1978. The Pacers beat Seattle in the game by the way, so presumably everybody went home happy - especially the prize winner. But wouldn't it have made more sense to reserve the prize for single men?
Feb. 5, 2022
Sunlight through the windows.
Jan. 26, 2022
This charity game in 1981 brought together an interesting mix of Indiana basketball players. Larry Bird and most of his 1979 Indiana State teammates on one team and former ABA Pacers on the other. It was a benefit game for ISU recruit Kevin Thompson, a Terre Haute native who was in New York fighting a cancer battle he later lost.
Before you go too far giving credit to Bird for 29 rebounds, keep in mind most of the guys he was going against had been retired for about five years. The Terre Haute Star Tribune story said the game was "surprisingly well-played." Attendance was 9,100. The crowd was loud and gave standing ovations during pre-game intros.
Along with the former Pacers mentioned in the story, Mel Daniels, Roger Brown, Darrell Elston and Tom Thacker played.
Jan. 10, 2022
I had lunch today at Shapiro's, on the day of the national championship game between Georgia and Alabama. I met with these two guys, who have known one another for a long time. They used to play fullcourt one-on-one games at the park in Lebanon.
The guy on the left is Carl Short, one of the greatest players you've never heard of. He is a 1956 graduate of Manual who honed his game at the Dust Bowl against Oscar Robertson and others. He enrolled at Butler originally and then transferred to DIvision II Newberry College. He was an All-American there, and after two years in the Army had a tryout with the Cincinnati Royals.
That's Rick Mount on the right, of course. He doesn't need an introduction in Indiana.
Before I arrived, they entertained a couple of women from Georgia - a mother and daughter - with Indiana high school basketball stories. I showed them a photo on my phone of the Sports Illustrated cover from 1966 that featured Mount.
Jan. 5, 2022
Here's a rare example of a refreshingly honest college athlete transferring to another school.
Lapel's Mark Barnhizer was plenty frustrated when he left Purdue for Auburn in 1974. Rather than give a flowery farewell full of thank yous and gratitude as we usually see today from exiting players, he let his raw feelings be known after not playing as a freshman.
The kicker is that it didn't go much better at Auburn, where he scored just 30 points in three seasons. But the ultimate kicker is that he went on to become a successful high school coach. His team at Lafayette Jeff last season finished 25-3 and won the sectional. I'm guessing he's honest with his players.
His son, by the way, played at Northwestern and didn't transfer.
Nov. 21, 2021
In a world in desperate need of harmony and selflessness, it is gratifying to watch Purdue's basketball team. Their depth is so good that playing time is widely distributed. But the players on the bench, most of whom could get more minutes on most other teams and some who have been demoted from Purdue's starting lineup, always cheer on their teammates.
(2025 UPDATE: Purdue's program has continued to stand out for inner harmony. Players don't transfer out as often as in other programs, and their bench is always supportive of those in the game.)
Darnell Hillman wore a Bottle Shoppe shirt as a warmup in the NBA slam dunk contest in 1977. It was a softball jersey worn while he played for the Pacers. At the time of the contest finals, at halftime of Game 6 of the NBA Finals game in Portland against Philadelphia, he had been traded to New Jersey but had not yet signed a contract - therefore was unattached.
Replica shirts were made and sold at the Bottle Shoppe. All profits went to the Dropping Dimes charity.
The photo shows Darnell Hillman with the Bottle Shoppe's founder, James Bovis. Scott Tarter, founder of the Dropping Dimes charity and Lana Sports, which sells the shirt and ABA ball, is on the right. The photographer is Tom Bovis, current owner and operator of the store.
Nov. 8, 2021
Sorry to report the passing of the man on the right, Cleveland Harp.
He worked as an usher in the end zone at Pacers games for many years and was always a delight to see. He was an Attucks graduate and played for the Harlem Globetrotters one season. He went on to play 12 more seasons with offshoots of the Globetrotters led by Marques Haynes and Goose Tatum. By the end of his career, he filled the "Clown Prince" role for the Harlem Astronauts that Tatum and Meadowlark Lemon made famous.
He's pictured with another prominent Attucks graduate and Globetrotter, Hallie Bryant. Cleve had suffered from throat cancer and could barely speak, but a smile and a handshake were always enough with him.
I recall Donnie Walsh did Cleve a solid by paying for his travel expenses to attend the induction of the Globetrotters into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002. I returned on the same flight with him and got a chance to know him better then. I offered him a ride home from the airport, but Smooth Operator had a girlfriend picking him up.
I wrote a story on the team's induction for The Indianapolis Star before the ceremony. Cleve told me, "When I started out with (Coach Ray Crowe) as a sophomore at Attucks, I was the worst player he had - probably ever. But the man stuck with me, and I went from not being able to catch a basketball to being a showman."
Cleve was wildly popular with the fans who sat in his end zone section, just by being himself.
Oct. 26, 2021
Dusty Baker has managed the Houston Astros into the World Series. Back in the sixties in Sacramento, he was better known as a standout basketball player - along with future Pacer Darnell Hillman.
They played together on an all-star team that toured Mexico the summer after their senior year and still keep in touch.
The photos are from the Sacramento Bee when both were named to the all-city team.
Sept. 16, 2021
Ron Artest once went into the stands after a fan threw a beverage on him, and was suspended for the rest of the season. But Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach had a habit of going up there after mere hecklers and was never suspended for it.
The first clip below is from a game in Indianapolis against the Olympians in the early fifties. The second is from a game in St. Louis against the Hawks in the 1962-63 season. That confrontation lasted five minutes and required police officers to break it up.
Sept. 14, 2021
Not claiming this is a big deal, but it had stumped me for a long time.
I had always wondered who scored the first basket in the Pacers' history. The newspaper accounts of their first game against the Kentucky Colonels on Oct. 14, 1967 didn't mention it. That's not surprising because we usually don't recognize the historical impact of something until long after the fact. But one article did mention who scored the 100th point in the game and who scored the last basket, so why not the first?
I had researched it as best I could but never found proof until Rick Gaither emailed a link to a Tom Keating column in the Indianapolis Star from 1975. It mentioned Oliver Darden hit a 20-foot shot with 11:13 remaining in the first quarter for the historic honor. It's safe to say with that kind of detail the information came from an official stat sheet.
I called Darden to let him know. He has no memory of it but is pleased to own that bit of history. He lives in Sunrise, Florida now after a successful business career.
The photo below shows Darden grabbing a rebound in the first game. He finished with 16 points.
I wonder if any of the other ABA franchises know who scored their first basket.
Sept. 5, 2021
Who knew there were so many ways to spell Indiana?
Aug. 24, 2021
Sorry to report that Jerry Harkness, a man of many accomplishments in and out of basketball, passed away this morning.
He was the captain of Loyola's 1963 NCAA championship team, a first-team All-American, and an original Pacer. He also hit the longest game-winning shot in basketball history (88 feet), and was a crusader for all things good.
Out of basketball, he was Indiana's first Black television sportscaster, an executive with United Way and instrumental in the development of Black Expo and 100 Black Men. He performed many charitable acts, such as being part of a group of men who spent weekends in prisons to mentor inmates.
I was honored to lend a hand with his autobiography, "Connections," and to spend many hours with him in conversation over the years. He's got one of the best backstories of any sports figure I've known, but most of all was an exceptional human being.
The photo below shows Harkness shaking hands with Mississippi State captain Joe Dan Gold before an historic game earlier in the 1963 NCAA tournament. Mississippi State had to sneak out of the state to play in the game, defying an edict against competing with integrated teams. Flashbulbs popped like popcorn when the two met at center court. Years later, in 2011, Harkness was a pallbearer at Gold's funeral.
July 18, 2021
Mr. Basketballs tend to flock together. Here sit Hallie Bryant (1953), Larry Humes (1962), Bill Keller (1965), and George McGinnis (1969). They are gathered at the home of Jeannie Brown, wife of former Pacer Roger, to honor former Pacer Jerry Harkness. Jerry couldn't make it, however, as he was in the hospital receiving cancer treatment.
Bryant is the second-oldest living Mr. Basketball and the oldest living Globetrotter.
Humes was a two-time All-America at Evansville and was the last player cut by the Pacers before their inaugural season - Harkness barely beat him out. Keller led Washington to the 1965 state title, was captain of the Purdue team that reached the final game of the NCAA tournament in 1969 and was a member of all three Pacer championship teams in the ABA. McGinnis led Washington to the state title in 1969, played on two Pacer championship teams, was the MVP of the ABA in 1975 and is a member of the Naismith Hall of Fame.
June 23, 2021
Had lunch with this crew today. Between the five of us we have an undefeated season and state championship, an NCAA Final Four appearance, two ABA championships, four Division 1 scholarships, three professional careers, a Mr. Basketball honor, and a Naismith Hall of Fame induction.
None of those accomplishments are mine, of course, but I enjoyed getting together with George McGinnis, Wayne Pack, Jim Arnold and Steve Downing - four of the five starters on Washington High School's 1969 state championship team.
They are 45, 21, 31 and 43 in the team photo.
Every once in a great while, a player manages to put his basketball shorts on backward without realizing it. Future coach Steve Alford took his turn as a member of the Dallas Mavericks.
This photo is among the dozens on the walls of the Steve Alford All American Inn in New Castle. You would think they would have more respect for the guy whose name is on the sign out front.
June 5, 2021
Newspapers covered sports a little differently back in the day, especially those from smaller towns and cities. Here's an item from the Kokomo Tribune in 1971 regarding Pacers guard Wayne Chapman - Rex's dad. Quite the personal touch.
June 4, 2021
This man, Dr Richard Bennett, has attended every Indy 500 that was open to the public since 1939. He could be given credit for 1938 as well, because he was on the Speedway grounds inside his mother's womb.
He's shown here at Sunday's race with his wife and grandchildren, all of whom have ongoing streaks of their own. Bennett brings a busload of fans from his home in Pittsburgh. They stay at the Steve Alford All-American Inn in New Castle and bus from there - usually with a police escort to get into the grounds.
May 12, 2021
Reception before the Slick Leonard celebration of life. Jerry Harkness on the left, Wayne Pack in blue, Billy Keller in back and George McGinnis talking with one of Slick's sons, Bill.
May 4, 2021
Took 1953 Mr. Basketball Hallie Bryant to the Channel 8 studio to record a segment with Patty Spitler. It will air Saturday morning, preceded by a live conversation with me. The festivities will begin about 9:40 a.m. on WISH-TV.
April 21, 2021
Former Pacers and spouses and Hallie Bryant gathered at a reception for Slick Leonard.
Darnell Hillman, George McGinnis and Bob Netolicky spoke at the service. His other former players in attendance were Jerry Harkness, Billy Knight, Dave Robisch and Wayne Pack. Former Pacers who didn't play for him also attended - Jeff Foster, Clark Kellogg, and Derrick McKey among them.
Impressive appearances were made by two former Pacers employees, assistant coach Dan Burke and front office executive Peter Dinwiddie. Both work for the Philadelphia 76ers now but skipped Wednesday night's home game to attend the service.
April 18, 2021
There were some interesting games in New York City over the weekend of March 27-28 in 1954, with a lot of Hoosier flavor.
On Saturday, IU's Bob Leonard led the West to a 103-95 victory over the East with 22 points in a college all-star game at Madison Square Garden before 17,515 fans. The New York Daily News described Leonard as "loaded down with press clippings proclaiming him the 'greatest player in the history of the Big Ten.'" Leonard converted a three-point play late in the game, then got assists on two late field goals.
The next day, the best players from the two teams combined into one to play two games against the Harlem Globetrotters at the Garden, one in the afternoon and again that evening. The Globetrotters won both games, but the all-stars were competitive enough to force them to play seriously throughout both - to the disappointment of the fans.
Leonard led the scoring for the college stars in the afternoon game with 18 points before a capacity crowd of 18,243 fans. He was described as a "court magician" who "was another Bob Cousy ... only he shoots better." Leonard scored 11 points in the first quarter, including a one-hander from near midcourt at the first quarter buzzer. He sat out the second quarter.
"Leonard was the field general, the defensive demon and the set-shooting star" according to the Daily News article.
Leonard scored four points in the night game before 15,139 fans but was described as the "standout of the entire program."
The Globetrotters' box score includes three Indiana high school players - Willie Gardner, Johnny Wilson and Bill Garrett.
Leonard and the other college stars who also competed against the Globetrotters played three games in about 36 hours before a total of 50,897 fans. Not a bad weekend.
April 15, 2021
Leroy Keyes, who passed away today, probably ranks as Purdue's all-time greatest football player because of his versatility. He finished second in the Heisman Trophy balloting one year, and third in another.
I remember talking with him at halftime of a game before he came back to the university to work in athletic administration, and he talked about how badly he wanted to do so. He said he would be back "posthaste." He badly needed a job, I suspected, but he became a beloved figure in the department. Had a confident, winning spirit about him that was appreciated by all.
Rob Hummel told me one story. In that infamous game at Minnesota when he suffered a season-ended knee injury without being touched, Hummel rejoined the team after being examined in the locker room. He sat at the end of the bench next to Keyes. Someone called Keyes while the game was going on to ask about Hummel. Keyes gave a quick summation and then said, "I've got to go, we're about to blow these guys out of here." Keep in mind, Purdue was trailing at the time.
Another time one of the coaches showed him a basketball team photo. Everyone was looking serious, trying to be tough, as coaches and players tend to do in team photos these days. Keyes said, "Look at you guys! You've got good jobs, you've got pretty wives ... can't you smile just a little?
They say you can't go home again. They also said there are no second acts. Leroy Keyes proved them wrong on both counts.
April 14, 2021
Slick Leonard’s first activity related to the Pacers occurred on June 20, 1967, when he helped direct the team’s open tryout. His last one came earlier this week, on Sunday, April 11, when he participated in the radio broadcast for their game with Memphis. He did it by phone from home, as he did all others this season, but remained a presence.
Subtract the five years between the end of his coaching run in 1980 and the start of his broadcasting career in '85 and you have a 49-year affiliation with a single franchise.
I don't think anyone other than Red Auerbach has surpassed that record.
April 4, 2021
The lady in yellow, Malissa, is the daughter of former Pacer Roger Brown. I was able to arrange for her and some of her family members to meet Slick and Nancy Leonard for the first time on Saturday.
Malissa and her family live in Brownsburg but never had the opportunity to meet Roger's coach. Slick must have seemed a mythical creature to her, because when she walked in the front door and first saw him she said, "You're really real!"
I had to leave shortly after they arrived, but they had a pleasant and length visit.
(Malissa's mother is the sister of former Purdue player Frank Kendrick.)
March 28, 2021
As a senior at IU, covering the basketball team for the Indiana Daily Student, I went to Mike Woodson's dorm room to interview him.
He was a skinny, clean-shaven freshman with a big Afro. Now he's a filled-out 63-year-old with a shaved head and plenty of facial hair. How's that for a 180-degree turn? He'll be back on campus soon to coach the team. And that's a 360-degree turn, going full circle.
March 24, 2021
Elgin Baylor's passing reminded me of the time the Lakers played the Cincinnati Royals at the Fairgrounds Coliseum in March of 1966. It was the only time Baylor played in Indianapolis.
The Royals played several "home" games at the Coliseum in the Sixties to capitalize on Oscar Robertson's local popularity. They peaked with four games there in the 1965-66 season, this being the final one.
This game was the best of all those the Royals played in their substitute home and turned out to be the last professional game played here until the ABA was formed.
Jerry West scored 31 points and Baylor 27 to lead the Lakers' three-point victory, which clinched the Western Division championship. (The NBA consisted of just nine teams then, five in the Western Division and four in the Eastern.) Baylor had scored 46 points the previous evening in New York, so this completed an impressive back-to-back set. And according to the game story, he was playing with a "bad knee."
The Lakers were coached by future Purdue coach Fred Schaus. The Royals' roster included Indiana native Jon McGlocklin and future Pacer Tom Thacker. Attendance was 6,310 for the weeknight game, a strong indicator the city could support professional basketball. It would have another chance to prove that in a couple years, when the Pacers were formed.
March 22, 2021
Elgin Baylor died today. He was a Naismith Hall of Famer but more than that - one of the NBA's all-time greatest players and coolest guys.
Baylor once scored 71 points for the Lakers in a game against the Knicks in Madison Square Garden, hitting 28-of-48 field goal attempts. He added 25 rebounds in the meantime. The Lakers had cufflinks made with "71" engraved and gave a pair to each of the players. Slick Leonard, who played two scoreless minutes in the game, kept them, but said, "Only problem is, I can't afford shirts that have french cuffs."
In my One on One episode with Slick, he told the story of playing cards with Baylor, Hot Rod Hundley and Frank Selvy in an airport in Philadelphia after a game and becoming so involved in it they didn't hear the call to board the flight. They had to spend the night in Philly and fly out the next day to catch up with the team for its next game. Baylor got them all off the hook by walking up to coach John Kundla in the locker room and, in an aggressive tone of voice, saying, "Johnny! What's the big idea leaving us behind in Philadelphia?!" Kundla was so taken aback he said nothing about it and didn't levy fines.
March 20, 2021
The NCAA tournament is all about perspective, and perspective is determined by expectation.
Fans of Purdue, Ohio State, Michigan State and other teams are really disappointed now after their team's losses but I watched Hartford lose to Baylor by 24 points today and its fans were cheering the team as it left the court, as shown below. The players and coaches stopped and applauded the fans in return.
It was Hartford's first trip to the tournament, so they were all just happy to be there. I should add, Hartford covered the spread of 25.5 with a late layup so many of its fans were cheering wildly when the game ended. They made money on it.
March 19, 2021
Great view for Baylor - Hartford!
March 16, 2021
Most sports fans know about Oscar Robertson's basketball career at Attucks. I knew he ran track. And here's proof he also played baseball. Another article reported he pitched a three-hitter against Manual High School.
March 15, 2021
The NCAA basketball tournament that puts a fullcourt press on Indiana beginning this week has come to be familiarly known as March Madness. It seems to fit, given all the emotion that goes into and comes out of the event, and you can never go wrong invoking alliteration when labeling something.
Or naming a kid. Thanks Mom and Dad.
Who thought of such a nifty nickname? (See what I did there?) The man generally credited for it is Henry V. Potter, a teacher, coach and executive with the Illinois High School Association who in 1939 wrote an essay titled “March Madness” that extolled the virtues of that state’s tournament. The NCAA trademarked the term in 1986.
Brent Musburger, however, had begun using it to describe the NCAA’s tournament in 1982. The NCAA began selling merchandise with the name in 1996, because why not make a buck or billion off amateur athletes when the opportunity presents itself? Legal minds in Illinois objected and the conflict was settled when both sides agreed to share the trademark.
Breaking news! Ol’ Henry Potter didn’t invent “March Madness” any more than he wrote the lyrics to the songs “Monday Monday” or “Maggie May.” Indiana happens to have a state tournament of its own and I’ve found references to it in newspapers as far back as 1931. It was in common use by 1939 when Potter got around to it.
A small item in the Rushville Republican on March 11, 1931 was headlined “March Madness.” It mentioned the elimination of some traditional powers in sectional play and predicted more in the upcoming regional rounds. It also took a shot at an Indianapolis Star sportswriter for reporting incorrectly that Columbus had been eliminated.
A headline in the Lafayette Journal and Courier in 1937 also utilized the term, as did a headline in the South Bend Tribune in 1938.
It’s impossible to credit anyone for coming up with a nickname as simple as March Madness. Those words had been used for other purposes in newspaper accounts long before the thirties, such as in stories about the month’s blustery weather or battles in World War I. They were even applied to advertisements for retail store sales.
It was inevitable they would eventually be applied to a basketball tournament in March, whether high school or college. The first person to do it was likely some random and anonymous sportswriter or headline writer. Maybe in Rushville, Ind. Maybe not.
Sorry, Henry. Sorry, Illinois. Sorry, Brent. Sorry, NCAA. You don’t get credit for conjuring up the nickname, just cashing in on it.
Feb. 27, 2021
It's a sad day for Purdue basketball fans with the passing of longtime announcer Larry Clisby.
I've never known of an announcer who was a bigger part of a basketball program than he was, thanks to Gene Keady, Matt Painter and Elliot Bloom. The photo below, taken when Purdue was playing at West Virginia in 2011, seems appropriate given his place in the middle of the coaching staff. They treated him like one of them.
"Cliz" called me when he was diagnosed with cancer to ask for advice, as I had also dealt with it. He was able to squeeze out a few more good years by following a similar program of treatment, and he was generous with his gratitude toward my brother Rick and me.
Larry had quite a story, and told it bluntly in my One on One episode with him. He was an adopted child with an abusive stepmother. His honesty and vulnerability were qualities that made him beloved to everyone who knew him around Purdue.
Feb. 19, 2021
Former Pacers trainer David Craig began working with George McGinnis when McGinnis joined the Pacers as a rookie in the fall of 1971. Now, nearly 50 years later, Craig is making house calls to help McGinnis be able to walk again without the aid of a walker.
I should add, the photo in the background is of George's wife, Lynda, who passed away a few years ago. Next to that is his trophy for being inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and next to that is a trophy from Youthlinks for receiving the Pathfinder Award for service to youth.
The New York Knicks shirt McGinnis is wearing was sent by Mike Woodson when he coached the Knicks. Woodson, a big fan of McGinnis when he (Woodson) was in high school and McGinnis was starring for the Pacers, has sent McGinnis shirts and shoes from all of his coaching stops.
Jan. 23, 2021
Henry Aaron played part of the 1952 season for the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro League. He was with them for three months, earning $200 per month, before his contract was sold to the Boston Braves.
The Clowns, who played their home games at Victory Field, received scant coverage in the local newspapers, usually nothing more than a one-paragraph report of their home games. This article from June 10 of '52 is the only time Aaron's name appeared in either the Star or News during his time with the Clowns.
Little did anyone know at the time ...
In December of 1960, two airplanes collided over Brooklyn and crashed to the ground, killing everyone on board and other people nearby. It was described in newspapers of the day as the worst accident in aviation history.
News of the crash sent panic through a Brooklyn family because one of its members, a freshman at the University of Dayton, had a ticket for one of the flights. They spent a few horrific hours trying to get information, with no luck. But right about the time they were accepting the likelihood he had been killed he walked through the front door.
He had an annoying habit of tardiness, but in this particular instance it saved his life. He had missed the flight out of Dayton (which passed through Columbus, OH) and had taken a later one. And that's how Roger Brown miraculously avoided a tragedy that would have had a major impact on the Indiana Pacers franchise that would begin playing seven years later.
I was told this by Roger's sister, Judy, and her memory of the tragedy was backed by newspaper accounts in New York and Dayton. Nothing was written about Brown not being on the flight of course, but that detail is newsworthy now.
Just imagine if Brown had been on the flight. He never would have been available to the Pacers, and their chance of surviving their early seasons in the ABA would have been greatly reduced.
Dec. 20, 2020
Bill Marvel, who passed away today, was the Pacers' original media relations director. He was so dedicated he literally worked himself into a heart attack in their inaugural season. He helped put on the first ABA all-star game that season and was instrumental in getting the franchise and the league off the ground.
He was best known for his career in racing, however, particularly at the Indianapolis 500, and had one of the longest streaks of consecutive races attended as both a fan and employee. He was so trusted that he convinced the big-name drivers of the late sixties to put on cute racing/basketball uniforms and play a fundraising game before a Pacers game in 1968. Imagine A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Johnny Rutherford, etc. playing basketball in short pants with racing stripes. It happened, and it wouldn't have happened without Marvel.
Also imagine him being hypnotized by Bob Netolicky at the all-star game banquet at the Marott Hotel. He put his head on the seat of one chair and his feet on another and stretched out. Netolicky commanded that he was stiff as a board and then stood on him. Netolicky also told him he was burning hot, and Marvel started sweating. And then told him he was cold, and he started shivering. Those things happeed, too.
Dec. 7, 2020
Donald Davidson has announced his retirement from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, effective the end of the year.
The speedway is full of great stories, and his is among the leaders. The initiative he showed to get to the race in 1964 was matched only by his incredible memory. He displays both in our One on One conversation on this site.
Davidson completely divorced himself from the speedway after retiring. He lived nearby in a humble abode but didn't go to the track. He didn't particularly like to talk about the race, either, although I have spent a couple of afternoons on his front porch while researching some of its history. He could still tell you who finished ninth in 1949 or started 22nd in 1960. The memory hadn't faded.
Nov. 29, 2020
Back in 1980, this fan from Sheridan was incensed over athletes' salaries and urged a fan boycott. Didn't quite come off, did it? The numbers have changed but the challenge for fans remains the same. This ran in the Indianapolis News within a Wayne Fuson column.
Nov. 20, 2020
Mel Daniels and Jimmy Rayl were Pacers teammates for about half of the 1968-69 season. But that was enough of a connection for their one and only wives - Nancy on the left, Cece on the right - to get together for lunch in Kokomo today. We had a drop-in visit from Rayl's son, Jimbo, too.
Cece requested this occasion. They didn't know one another. Maybe never met, because Nancy rarely went to the Pacer games. But had plenty to talk about.
Nov. 16, 2020
Now and then you find some interesting crossovers in sports. It turns out that former Pacer Darnell Hillman and baseball's Dusty Baker were on the same all-city basketball team in Sacramento in 1967. They both played on an all-star team that competed in a tournament in Mexico the summer following their senior year.
Baker was a three-sport star and signed with the Atlanta Braves out of high school. Hillman attended San Jose State for two years and then was drafted into the Army for two years. He mostly played basketball in the service, but had to perform the usual duties.
The two have stayed in touch over the years.
Nov. 1, 2019
Five Mr. Basketballs: Hallie Bryant (1953), Dick Van Arsdale ('61), Dave Shepherd ('70), Bobby Plump ('54) and Tom Van Arsdale ('61).
Butler's Graham Honaker put on a great event today, hosting the Van Arsdales to reminisce. The other Mr. Basketballs from the city were among the invitees.
Aug. 29, 2020
Happy 71st birthday to Darnell Hillman, a more complex man than you might think. He has great respect for authority, growing up with a strong father, having served in the Army and having played for Slick Leonard. He also has great desire for social justice, which is why he participated in marches and protests while at San Jose State.
The attached newspaper clip mentions one example, his participation in the boycott of a basketball game in which he was to start. The idea for his iconic afro came from activist Angela Davis and he invited another prominent activist, Harry Edwards, to be present when the university retired his number about 10 years ago.
Hillman has done more for the Indianapolis community than any former Pacer because of his role in the front office. He does a lot of "grunt work," participates in basketball camps for kids and visits sick kids in hospitals. He also serves as a reminder that "activists" should not be labeled as radicals or insurrectionists. He's proud of his stand in the sixties and hasn't changed his outlook since then.
Aug. 7, 2020
One of the state's most historic sports figures lives in a senior community in Terre Haute, still spry at 94.
Duane Klueh played for the Indiana State basketball teams coached by Johnny Wooden, earned All-America status, and later coached basketball and tennis there. He remains the school's all-time leader in wins in both sports. He was a standout tennis player, winning national senior tournaments into his seventies. And, he played in the first two seasons of the NBA. He's not quite the oldest living NBA veteran in the world, but he's close. Klueh played in the NBA when players drove to games, sometimes long distances.
UPDATE: Klueh passed away on June, 2, 2024 at age 98. He had been in good health to the end.
Aug. 5, 2020
Here's a tip for all you aspiring play-by-play announcers out there. Luke Walton was the voice of the Indianapolis Olympians in the early NBA seasons. He also originated the "right down Meridian" phrase that Slick Leonard adopted for when a player drives the lane.
Here's a list of his descriptions for free throws.
July 22, 2020
I had a great three-hour lunch with this guy today. A former pro athlete veteran fans in Indianapolis are well aware of. Can you identify him?
July 20, 2020
Today would have been Mel Daniels' 76th birthday. He's one of the most respected players in franchise history, the heart and soul of their three ABA championship seasons. He was equally capable of throwing fists for you or writing a poem for you.
To give you an idea of his selflessness, when I called to congratulate him on his selection to the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2012, he immediately started griping. Not about how long it took for him to get in, but because Slick Leonard and some of his teammates and other ABA players weren't in yet. "What does it mean, really?" he said.
Hopefully it meant a lot as time passed. He was unable to go to Springfield for the induction so had to record his speech. As emotional as he could be, that probably was for the best.
My One on One conversation with him on this site is worth a listen. He'll tell of his rise from a blue-collar upbringing in Detroit and his career with the Pacers. He'll also read a poem he wrote to convince Reggie Miller to stay retired.
I also have articles about him here, written after he passed. As a bonus, here's a link to my speech at his funeral service in 2015:
July 19, 2020
Visiting Slick and Nancy Leonard on a Sunday afternoon, along with former Pacers trainer David Craig. My primary purpose was to show them video of their 1972 championship season and gain insight, but their video equipment did not work.
Slick was in the hospital for nearly a week recently with a buildup of fluid on his heart but is doing much better. He turned 88 the other day so I'm thinking of adopting his health plan: Smoking and drinking to your heart's content. Actually, he said he hasn't had a beer in 10 years. And he wouldn't dare smoke a cigarette when Nancy is nearby. He doesn't miss that. But he does miss going to the horse track and playing poker with friends.
He said he's not sure being 88 is such a good idea. But as long as he's able to stay in touch with former players and other friends, his life is pretty damn good.
Billy Keller happened to call me while we were there, so all three of them got a chance to talk with him.
July 1, 2020
Today marks the 77th birthday of former Pacers point guard Freddie Lewis. He was the captain of all three ABA championship teams, MVP of the 1972 playoffs and the MVP of the All-Star game as a member of the Spirits of St. Louis.
I don't normally get into underrated and overrated conversations, but Lewis qualifies as underrated - except in the eyes of fans who watched him play. The Pacers were lucky to get him. He was an eighth-round draft pick of the Cincinnati Royals in 1966 but was stuck behind two veteran point guards - one of whom happened to be Oscar Robertson. Fortunately for the Pacers, the Royals' promotions director was a guy named Mike Storen, who became the Pacers' general manager when they were formed in 1967.
I have long argued - verbally and in print - that Lewis should have his jersey number retired. It seems every fan who saw him play agrees. But the Pacers have not budged.
Lewis has the rare distinction of being the only player to begin his career in the NBA, play all nine ABA seasons, and finish his career in the NBA.
My One on One conversation with him is on this site.
June 15, 2020
Stunning news out of West Lafayette. Former Purdue athletic director Morgan Burke has passed. He came under plenty of criticism, as all AD's do eventually, but I found him to be professional and honorable in all my dealings with him. Purdue fans can complain about specific coaching hires, but no AD gets every one of those right. No one. He hired Joe Tiller and Matt Painter, along with several successful coaches in non-revenue sports.
He also oversaw the addition and improvement of numerous facilities. It's important to remember that ADs are often restricted by the university president and other officials who control the budget.
I recorded a One on One conversation with him in his office back in the day. You can find it on this site.
June 3, 2020
Wes Unseld, the NBA Hall of Famer, recently passed.
He went to high school in Louisville. Former Butler assistant coach Bob Dietz once told me Unseld gave Butler a serious look, and in fact his mother wanted him to go there because it was relatively close to home and she thought he would get a better education at Butler. Whether that's true or not, I can't say, but it's what Dietz believed.
So, when Dietz was ready to leave for Louisville to talk with Wes, Tony Hinkle grabbed a baseball bat sitting nearby and said, "Here, give this to him." All Dietz could think to say was, "What am I supposed to do, hit him over the head with it?"
That's how Hinkle went all out to get the best recruits of the day.
Unseld wound up staying home and going to Louisville. And he probably got a lot more than a baseball bat. Some say his mother got a new house to replace the one they had with a dirt floor.
Ron Bonham was born on this day in 1942 and passed away on April 16, 2016. He's one of the best players to come out of Indiana and would be remembered more often and more fondly today if he had stayed in the state to play college basketball.
"The Blond Bomber" was a runaway choice for Mr. Basketball in 1960 after leading Muncie Central to the final game of the state tournament. He scored 40 points in the afternoon game and 29 in the final game, but the Bearcats were left with the mixed blessing of being widely regarded as the best team not to win a state championship.
Bonham also was voted MVP of each of the games against Kentucky in the annual all-star series. He was 6-foot-5, a great shooter from distance and a great athlete who could score around the basket. Didn't care much for defense, but that was the prerogative of scorers in that era.
He enrolled at Purdue and in fact was living in the dorm for a couple of days before abruptly changing his mind and enrolling at the University of Cincinnati. That was a controversial topic in its day, as you can imagine. He was a first-team All-American at Cincinnati, played on a national championship team, and finished his career as the school's second all-time leading scorer behind Oscar Robertson.
A second-round pick of the Boston Celtics (18th overall), he was a backup on two championship teams. He had plenty of double-figure scoring games, but nearly always in blowouts, of which the Celtics had plenty.
Too slow to play guard and too short to play forward with great success in the NBA, Bonham was left exposed in the expansion draft and claimed by the Chicago Bulls. That expansion draft affected a lot of lives. Future Georgetown coach John Thompson also was claimed by the Bulls, as was future Pacer Tom Thacker and future NBA coach Jerry Sloan. The influx of NBA backups to the Bulls hindered the opportunity for the players the Bulls drafted out of college, including Purdue's Dave Schellhase and Evansville's Larry Humes.
Bonham sat out a season rather than report to the Bulls because of personal issues, primarily a divorce. He then signed on as a member of the first Pacers team in 1967. He caught the mumps from his roommate, Bob Netolicky, and only played in 42 games. Truth be told, he had lost his love for the game by then and was ready to get on with his true ambition as an outdoorsman.
He was a unique talent. He appeared as a tap dancer on the Homer and Jethro television show in the fifties and cut a single with a doo-wop group, the Originales.
I last talked with him in the fall of 2015. We talked about going to Kokomo to visit with Jimmy Rayl after he (Bonham) got back from his hunting trip out West. I never heard back from him, though, and he died of cancer the following April.
May 22, 2020
Jerry Sloan has passed away after a long struggle with Alzheimers. He and Larry Humes led Evansville to small college national championships in 1964 and '65.
Sloan was an Illinois version of Larry Bird, a small-town kid who took a scholarship to a Big Ten university (Illinois in Sloan's case) but didn't like it and found a better fit at a smaller school. Both were quiet, hard-nosed players who went on to have notable playing and coaching careers in the NBA. And, like Bird, he was a great interview - not because he was talkative, but because he was blunt and had a sharp sense of humor.
I didn't have many personal interactions with Sloan, but Humes really liked him and stayed in touch with him over the years so that's all the necessary endorsement.
May 7, 2020
Sorry to hear of the passing of Mike Storen, a prominent figure in the ABA. He was the first GM of the Pacers and built the core of the team that won three championships. He also helped build a championship team in Kentucky, was the ABA commissioner for one year and then became part owner of the Memphis Sounds where he (very briefly) reunited former Pacers Mel Daniels, Roger Brown, Freddie Lewis and Rick Mount.
He figured prominently in my book, "Reborn: The Pacers and the Return of Pro Basketball to Indianapolis" because he was so instrumental in getting the franchise up and running. I called him several times over the years and he was always a cooperative and insightful interview. I met him at his downtown hotel when he came to Indy for the Pacers' celebration of their 50th anniversary and had a great conversation.
Storen was known as a bit of a con man as GM - which was hardly unusual for men in that position, especially in that era - but he worked extremely hard and set a high standard to establish a winning culture for the Pacers. It is not an exaggeration to say the Pacers might not have survived if a lesser GM had been in charge in the formative years.
My One on One conversation with Storen can be heard on this site.
May 7, 2020
Today is the 80th birthday of former Pacer Jerry Harkness. He's been the oldest living Pacer since the day he made their inaugural team in 1967 and hopefully will remain so for years to come.
No athlete in Indianapolis has a better story to tell than he does, and I turned to him when I had an opportunity to do the One on One program on 1070 The Fan years ago. Program director Kent Sterling wanted an idea of how the show would turn out, so I went to Harkness' house and sat at his dining room table with a hand-held microphone to record the conversation. It became the second episode to air.
It can be heard on this site in the One on One section.
His story about his chance meeting with Jackie Robinson is the greatest sports anecdote I've ever heard. A few simple words changed the course of history for him and a lot of other people.
On May 4, 2000, Travis Best hit what I consider the biggest shot in the history of the Pacers' franchise. His three-pointer in the final minute didn't clinch their Game 5 (in a five-game series) victory over Milwaukee in the first round of the 2000 playoffs, but it provided the most important points of the game.
Twenty years later, I talked with Best to recapture the moment that was beautifully captured in Randy Baughn's photograph from Game 5 of the first-round playoff series with Milwaukee.
You can read about it on this site under the Stories tab or by clicking the following link:
May 1, 2020
First appearances make a lasting impression, especially when you're a naive kid.
I first saw the University of Evansville's classic basketball uniforms when they played at Butler in the mid-sixties. Although their school colors are purple and white, they wore orange uniforms on the road in that era - with short-sleeved jerseys. And while they had traditional warmup tops, they also had boxing robes to wear on the bench.
There was a method to the sartorial madness of coach Arad McCutchan. I once wrote a lengthy article on it for the Indianapolis Business Journal, but to summarize it: the orange uniforms were easy to pick out by teammates when they played on the road in small arenas (gyms, often) that were poorly lit. When you grabbed a rebound and looked for a long outlet pass to initiate a fastbreak, it was easier to spot a teammate. They also made it more difficult for opponents to see the ball because the colors blended.
The satin robes were a practical accessory, easy for players on the bench to put on and take off. They were provided by a former Evansville All-American, Gus Doerner, who owned a sporting goods store in the city and provided them for the team. They came in various bright colors.
McCutchan's teams won five small college national championships because he was a bold out-of-the-box thinker. His uniforms reflected that.
I was so impressed with the uniforms that they gave me a positive image of the entire city of Evansville. I figured it must be a really cool place if such a glamorous looking team came from there.
Evansville's team no longer wears short-sleeved jersey or robes. Too bad. They were one of a kind, and the current team needs all the help it can get to stand out. Maybe today's players wouldn't want to wear them, but who knows? A lot of players wear short-sleeved T-shirts underneath their jersey and I bet they would go for the boxing robes.
April 10, 2020
A lot of people know about the telethon to save the Pacers in 1977, but not many know the Indianapolis Indians needed a similar display of public support to survive in 1955.
They were owned by the Cleveland Indians at the time and were losing money. The parent club said they would move or sell the franchise if someone didn't step up to buy it for Indianapolis, so stock was sold to the public at $10 per share under a tight deadline. All three newspapers in the city got on board and publicized the effort relentlessly. They even ran the names of all the people who bought a share.
Now get this: If you bought one lousy share for $10 in 1955 and then kicked in another $106.80 for the reverse split in 1985, that share would have been worth $46,000 last November. What were your parents or grandparents thinking for not getting in on this deal?
My high school Business Law teacher, Joe Drescher, was a young boy in Spencer, Ind. at the time. He bought a share, much to his mother's dismay. He was smart enough to participate in the reverse split and then sold it around 2013 for an extremely handsome profit. He has always been a wise investor but considers that one his greatest hit.
(NOTE: I wrote about this in the Indianapolis Business Journal near this time. For more than four years after it came out, I got calls from people who had a stock certificate that had belonged to a parent or grandparent wondering if it was worth anything. I directed them to the Indians but told them it wasn't going to have great value unless they had participated in the reverse split. And most people didn't.
April 1, 2020
On March 31 in 1975, UCLA won the NCAA championship with a victory over Kentucky. Pete Trgovich was a starting guard for the Bruins, completing an unpredictable four-year transformation from a high scorer to a defensive specialist.
Trgovich was a sensation on East Chicago Washington's undefeated state championship team, scoring 40 points in the afternoon game and 28 in the final against Elkhart. He was often compared to Pete Maravich because their names rhymed and both were skinny, pale kids with floppy hair who scored a lot.
Trgovich has a great story about his first game as a freshman at UCLA, when the point was made he wasn't there to score. He thought about transferring but stuck it out and was rewarded with a national championship in coach John Wooden's final season. Trgovich went on to win a state championship as a coach for East Chicago Central, a team led by future Purdue star E'twaun Moore.
You can hear my conversation with Trgovich in the One on One section as well as with his high school teammate Tim Stoddard. I tried to get Ulysses Bridgeman as well but failed to connect.
March 27, 2020
On this date in 1982, Scott Skiles scored 39 points to lead Plymouth to the state championship with a double-overtime victory over Gary Roosevelt. It was the closest the state has come to another Milan Cinderella story, as Plymouth's enrollment was the smallest of all the champions that followed before multi-class basketball was instituted.
Skiles wanted to go to Purdue but an assistant coach blew the recruitment, so he went to Michigan State and became the Big Ten's leading scorer and MVP in 1986, as well as earning All-America honors. He played 10 NBA seasons, including two with the Pacers, and still holds the NBA's single-game assist record of 30 while playing for Orlando.
He's coached all or part of 14 seasons in the NBA. He was the kind of coach who would make a team better but wear out his welcome after a few years, kind of like Billy Martin in baseball. He last coached in the 2015-16 season, with Orlando, but abruptly retired after one season there.
He's one of the most entertaining players I've ever watched, partly because he was a great passer but also because of his cocky bad boy nature. (Remember, he spent a brief time in jail for drug possession while in college.) He played with a chip on his shoulder, an undervalued small-town kid who took on the world with a bounce in his step and a glare for all the doubters.
One example: While lining up next to pudgy Antoine Joubert for the opening tip at a game at Michigan he said, "Show me what you got, fat boy." And then he went out and led Michigan State to a victory.
To my mind he's the closest the state has had to another Larry Bird. Similar background, similar personality, minimal ego, and plenty of pride. Also, a better athlete than assumed, hard-nosed with no interest in self-promotion and an easy guy to get along with as long as you don't try to BS him.
I think it was one of Donnie Walsh's rare missteps when he failed to protect Skiles in the expansion draft. Skiles wound up in Orlando, where he set an NBA record for assists in a game (30) that still stands.
You can find my One on One conversation with him on this site, recorded while he was coaching in Milwaukee.
(NOTE: I've kept in touch with Skiles somewhat over the years, but he lays low. Last I talked with him he mentioned he had homes in Key West, North Carolina and about a half-hour north of Orlando. He doesn't watch basketball at all, having totally divorced from the sport, but he's always willing to talk with aspiring coaches.)
Feb. 26, 2020
Slick Leonard spends halftime of every Pacers game out on the smoker's porch at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. It gives him a chance to light one up and mix with fans.
You might say an 87-year-old man with a heart condition shouldn't be smoking. On the other hand, you might say an 87-year-old man with a heart condition might as well do whatever he wants.
Feb. 26, 2020
Dave Alexander, Purdue's former baseball coach, has passed away. He was famous to those who knew him for his practical jokes. Loved to write prank letters, especially to take jabs at IU.
Two examples come to mind.
When Tony Kiritsis (Google him if you don't know of him) was about to be released from jail, he wrote a letter to Bob Knight pretending to be Kiritsis, asking for a job. He wrote something like, "I'm a big fan of yours and we have a lot in common and I think I could really help your program." He even went to the trouble of having it mailed from the penitentiary where Kiritsis was jailed to make it more authentic. He knew someone who worked there so was able to pull it off.
He also had a letter to Michigan State coach Jud Heathcote mailed from Bloomington, pretending to be Pat Knight when Knight had been kicked off the team by his dad at IU. Alexander wrote something like, "It's not working out for me here. I need a fresh start, and I'd like to play for you." Heathcote called his friend Gene Keady wondering what to do, but Keady knew right away it was Alexander's practical joke.
I tried to get Alexander to send me copies of those letters but he never got around to it.
He died of Alzheimer's, sadly. Keady remained a friend to the end, visiting him whenever he was in Lafayette although Alexander couldn't remember him. Alex was an easy guy to get to know and always a fun one to talk with.
Feb. 22, 2020
Dr. J turns 70 today. He's a classy guy who really propped up the ABA.
He also was the star attraction at the 50-year reunion a couple of years ago despite the presence of several Hall of Famers. This isn't a great photograph, but it shows an example. Freddie Lewis, an All-Star game MVP and MVP of the 1972 ABA finals, really wanted his picture taken with Erving.
My only face-to-face encounter with Erving came when he played his last game in Indianapolis, at Market Square Arena. A lot of people wanted to talk with him after the game, including several who were waiting outside the Philadelphia locker room. But he gave me nearly 10 minutes of one-on-one conversation before he left. I was working for The Journal-Gazette in Fort Wayne at the time so it's not like he owed me anything. Like I said, classy guy.
Feb 6, 2020
Kokomo put its affection for one of its greatest basketball legends in writing yesterday when the street running in front of the high school gymnasium was officially renamed Jimmy Rayl Boulevard.
Rayl, who died on Jan. 20 of last year at age 77, was a member of the first Pacers team in the 1967-68 American Basketball Association season, was Indiana’s Mr. Basketball in 1959 when he led Kokomo to the championship game of the state tournament and earned all-America recognition at Indiana University, where he still holds the single-game scoring record of 56 points – which he achieved twice.
A ceremony conducted inside the gymnasium where Rayl played featured local dignitaries as well as Jerry Harkness, who played against Rayl in college and with him with the Pacers; Purdue coach Matt Painter; and Tom Bolyard, a teammate of Rayl’s at IU. Former Pacer Darnell Hillman also was on hand to represent the franchise, but did not speak.
Harkness played against Rayl in Bloomington on Dec. 20, 1962, when both were seniors. Loyola, which went on to win the national championship that season, won the game, 106-94, but Rayl outscored Harkness in their personal matchup, 26-24.
Harkness recalled reading the scouting report for the game and being stunned by the marks that showed from where Rayl had shot in IU’s previous game.
“Some were almost to halfcourt,” he said. “I thought no, this can’t be right. I called the coach and he told me, ‘I scouted him, Jerry, that’s where he shoots.’”
Harkness said Rayl’s first three shots in the game came from about 30 feet.
“I was flabbergasted the guy would shoot way back there,” Harkness said. “And he made the first three shots. I was so hurt. I really was. I’ll never forget that.”
Painter gave credit to Rayl for promoting him to college coaches while Painter was playing outside the mainstream of high school basketball at Delta High School near Muncie. Rayl had watched Painter play in the sectional and considered him a legitimate Big Ten prospect, so he contacted Gene Keady at Purdue, Bob Knight at Indiana and Jud Heathcote at Michigan State.
Painter wound up playing at Purdue after the offer from IU was retracted and he turned down Michigan State. Painter and Rayl remained friends thereafter, with Rayl often attending Purdue games in Mackey Arena wearing a gold sweater.
Painter said Rayl’s unselfish gesture impacted his coaching philosophy.
“A lot of times when people help you out, they have an agenda; he didn’t have an agenda,” Painter said. “He just wanted what was best for me. That’s something I’ve carried with me for a long time.
“It’s a player’s game. Do everything you can for your team during the season, and then outside the season do everything you can for that individual.”
Feb. 1, 2020
Walt Frazier went with a more conservative look tonight when in town for the Pacers' game against the Knicks. He's famous for his sartorial splendor and never fails to disappoint.
Jan. 27, 2020
Steve Downing has his picture taken to go with my upcoming story for the Indianapolis Business Journal.
A sidekick to George McGinnis on Washington High School's state championship team in 1969 and in their lone varsity season at IU two years later, Downing has proven himself as the "star" performer as well. He was an all-American as a senior on IU's Final Four team in 1973 and a first-round draft pick of the Celtics.
He was an associate athletic director for many years at IU and then held the same role after following Bob Knight to Texas Tech. He has since thrived as the athletics director at Marian University. Most of the teams there have performed well, winning several championships, and - not coincidentally - fundraising for the university has never been better.
Jan. 13, 2020
Slick Leonard took a break from his halftime smoke break to greet a fan from China tonight. He is wheeled out to the "smoker's porch" at halftime of every game, where he's just another guy.
Jan. 10, 2020
Tributes for Pete Dye are pouring in after it was learned he had passed away on Thursday.
I recorded a One on One episode at his home, which is available on this site. I had been given the impression he probably wouldn't want to do it, or that he couldn't. But he and his wife could not have been nicer.
Nov. 25, 2019
Wilt Chamberlain thought seriously about going to Indiana, as this clip from the Indianapolis Star indicates. He considered them the front-runner at one time. But he wrote in his autobiography that he was told by members of the team that Branch McCracken's wife made all the important decisions and that McCracken wasn't all that fond of blacks. He also wrote that McCracken sent word through one of the players, Wally Choice, that he would double whatever offer Kansas made to him.
Chamberlain would have been a sophomore on the IU team that tied for the Big Ten Championship in 1957. Probably would have made it a national champion.
Chamberlain attended a game in Bloomington but must have made at least one other visit. Hallie Bryant recalls hosting Chamberlain on a recruiting visit and taking him to the Indiana State Fair. You can imagine the attention they attracted.
Chamberlain never played a game in Indiana. He did coach one, with the San Diego Conquistadors when they played the Pacers at the Coliseum.
Nov. 23, 2019
Hallie Bryant and Cleveland Harp. Both played at Attucks (together) and for the Globetrotters (separately).
This was taken at the Pacers game when Bryant was honored as an Indiana basketball icon. He was voted Mr. Basketball in 1953, played at IU and then had a lengthy career with the Globetrotters as a player and public relations official.
Harp played one season with the Globetrotters after high school and then a season with a knock-off team led by Marquis Haynes. Harp was an usher at the fieldhouse for several seasons and was a popular attraction on his own with the fans in the end zone where he worked.
Nov. 2, 2019
After more than 30 years as the Pacers' general manager/president, Donnie Walsh is now a consultant for the Pacers, in semi-retirement basically. Still, he attends virtually every practice - even the ones on a Saturday.
Nov. 1, 2019
Butler University brought back the Van Arsdale twins to relive some Hoosier Hysteria today, and invited the other former Mr. Basketballs in the area to attend.
From left: Hallie Bryant (1953), Dick Van Arsdale ('61), Dave Shepherd ('70), Bobby Plump ('54) and Tom Van Arsdale ('61). Chris May, director of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame moderated, and Tom made it easy for him as an interview subject. Dick had suffered a stroke and can speak well but isn't as sharp as he normally would be.
Oct. 31, 2019
Bobby Plump, speaking at the Kiwanis luncheon at the Columbia Club today - much to host Graham Honaker's amusement.
Plump has told his Milan stories thousands of times but always tells them like it's the first time. Indiana basketball fans are lucky he's the guy who hit the game-winning shot for Milan. Another player might have turned out to be a grouch, or introverted. Plump is forever upbeat and open.
Oct. 23, 2019
Bob Bernath attended his 53rd season opener for the Pacers tonight. He's never missed one. He was a member of the stat crew every year but the first, when he worked the microphone for the preliminary games at the Coliseum.
He's seen a lot of changes over the years. When the ABA Pacers played at the Coliseum, the stat crew members felt closely connected with the team. Slick and Nancy Leonard hosted parties in the summer, as did other stat crew members. That connection faded as the NBA became a larger corporate enterprise.
Bernath has memories of riding with the team to play a game in Fort Wayne and playing cards with Bob Netolicky. He also recalls holding a cigarette for P.A. announcer Bill Donella at Market Square Arena while Donella read the announcement asking fans not to smoke in the building.
(NOTE: Bernath lost his position on the stat crew a few years later, ending his streak. It was a decision made by the company behind the television broadcasts, not the Pacers.)
