Growing up in the eastern end of Kanawha County, and having a father who worked across the river from Montgomery, I spent many winter nights watching a steady diet of West Virginia Tech Golden Bears basketball. I remember watching Mike Barrett, Onas Aliff, Bill Auxier, Tim Floyd, John Gourley, Tom Chaney, Matty (now Matthew) Watts and others.
Barrett, from Richwood, was the biggest name of the bunch. His name was spoken of in the same breath as other college stars in the state, even those who played in bigger programs such as WVU and Marshall. Just as Jerry West did in 1960, Barrett won an Olympic Gold Medal playing for USA Basketball in the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.
Tom Chaney is one of the few college basketball stars who played at Hurricane High School. He is considered by most in the Hurricane community as the best boys basketball player in school history. Longtime Hurricane coach Skip Cremeans has this to say about Chaney:
"His 1966-67 team was incredible as a double-A team. Former Charleston High coach Lou Romano said they might be the best team in the state, regardless of class. The top players were Chaney, Greg LeMaster, Steve Robinson, Kenny Smith and Doug Smith."
In those days, Hurricane had battles with Poochie Grooms and Cedar Grove, Ellis Long and the old John Marshall lab school, Milton, Guyan Valley, Ceredo-Kenova and others. Grooms was a highly touted football star, while Long went on to play at West Liberty and was named Most Valuable Player of the 1971 West Virginia Conference tournament.
Chaney went to Tech and became one of the best athletes in school history. After he finished playing basketball, he decided to give football a try and was the dominant wide receiver in the WVIAC. He had never played football before. According to Cremeans, Chaney came close to making the Virginia Squires roster in the ABA in the early 1970s, but they opted to keep former UCLA 7-footer Swen Nater instead.
nnn
This weekend was a time of wonderful memories for Marshall basketball fans. The greatest team in Marshall history, the 1971-72 squad, had a reunion.
Some of the biggest names were unable to be there, such as former head coach Carl Tacy, Russell Lee, Mike D'Antoni and Tyrone Collins. Collins is deceased. Lee had knee surgery recently and D'Antoni is coaching the NBA's Houston Rockets.
However, stars such as Randy Noll, Bill James, Barry Driscoll and Gary Orsini did make it back. This team finished 23-4 and was occasionally ranked in the top 10 in the country. Its home games were sold out and were televised on public television. A ticket was tough to get. Lee would be a first-round draft pick of the Milwaukee Bucks and Tacy would go on to coach at Wake Forest.
The return of this team brought back memories for Marshall fans of Leo Imperi singing the national anthem, WSAZ'S popular Budd Dailey on the PA system and campus pastor Father Scott and other local clergy offering a pregame invocation. Huntington was a happier town then. There were no thoughts of budget cuts and declining population. The biggest worries were how to get a Marshall basketball ticket and if the bleachers in the student section could handle the mass of students who rushed through the doors looking for prime seats.
nnn
Last week, I wrote about several great high school basketball teams that did not win a state championship. I could not mention them all. Here are a few that deserve a mention.
1961-62 Milton: The Greyhounds did not win a AA state title but did play in back-to-back state title games. They lost to Magnolia in 1961 and Lenore in 1962. The team was coached by John Allen and players included Don Perry, Orman Hall, Rod Lowe, John Cox, Donnie Stephens and Larry Powell.
1969 Mullens: Coached by a young Don Nuckols, this AA team had two future NBA players in Mike D'Antoni and Jerome Anderson. Mullens beat Pineville handily twice in the regular season, but got upset by the Minutemen in the sectional.
1976-78 Huntington: The Pony Express had Division I-caliber players such as Larry Watson, David Wade, Dane Price, Michael Price and others but could not past Logan in the regionals.
1990 Martinsburg: The team had two Division I signees in Marsalis Basey (WVU) and Spencer Ferguson (UMBC), but lost to Tink Brown and Woodrow Wilson in the AAA finals.
1991 Fairmont Senior: This team had future Kentucky Wildcat Jared Prickett and future WVU football tight end Chad Wable. The Polar Bears were 25-1 but lost to Woodrow Wilson in the AAA title game.
Contact Frank Giardina at flg16@hotmail.com.