0:00

Mel Davis was thirteen years old

0:02

the first time he saw Boys Hot play basketball.

0:07

I heard so much about it, and when I went to a

0:09

boys high game, I was just blown away and

0:11

I said, well, this is a place for I need

0:13

to come to. It was just awesome, the

0:15

camaraderie, the electricity there,

0:17

and it was a Brooklyn phenomenal

0:20

event and I loved it.

0:22

At halftime, Davis went into

0:24

the locker room to meet head coach Howie

0:26

Jones.

0:27

He was incredible. He had heard

0:29

about me, and he didn't have a lot of time

0:32

to spend with me. He said a few things

0:34

to me that I remember to this day.

0:36

He said, wherever you go, Son, you're going to

0:38

be successful, he says, but one

0:40

thing you need to consider if you are

0:42

as good as you think you are when you come

0:44

here and try and play with the best. And that

0:47

was it. He said, good luck to you, and he went

0:49

back to talking to the team at halftime.

0:51

And I'll never forget that. And the

0:54

rest is history.

0:55

This is the story of the first high school

0:57

team in New York City that was big

1:00

given basketball. I'll

1:02

meet you dalk or the flyper Zombies, And

1:04

this is the legend of Boys High right

1:07

here on Basketball's Borough.

1:22

Everybody knew about Boys High.

1:24

Everybody talked about Boys High.

1:26

It was intimidated by Boys High, probably

1:29

because of what they did on the layup line.

1:32

That's Hall of Fame sports writer Peter

1:34

Vessi, who played ball at Auschbishop

1:37

Malloy and Queen's and graduated in

1:39

nineteen sixty one right

1:41

in the middle of Boys High, has run dominated

1:43

New York City high schools. That

1:46

same year, Billy Cunningham

1:48

graduated from Erasmus Hall before

1:51

going on to North Carolina and

1:53

then a Hall of Fame playing career in the

1:55

NBA.

1:56

In those days, Boys High was by far

1:59

the best high school basketball team in

2:01

Brooklyn, New York. They were quite unique

2:03

that the first eight players, if I

2:05

remember correctly, all could dunk, and

2:08

that was a big thing. You know, Oh my goodness,

2:10

all eight of them conduct. How could you absolutely

2:12

beat them? I think we're all were in

2:14

awe of the talent and

2:17

the abilities of Boys High. Everybody

2:20

told Boys High and how they were

2:22

doing competitively. Get the

2:24

Brooklyn Eagle to fight out the

2:26

scores the newspaper, and

2:29

as I mentioned, the opportunity to scrimmage

2:31

against Boys High, and they usually would

2:34

come to our place because we had glass backboards,

2:36

got an opportunity to play against

2:39

them. It was a great thrill. It was

2:41

bigger than just playing a game. They counted

2:44

the scrimmage to participate against

2:46

them. That was a wonderful

2:48

era for high school basketball

2:51

in Brooklyn.

2:52

Ask anybody about boys high and

2:54

the names they just spill out. It

2:57

always starts with Connie Hawkins,

3:00

Lenny Wilkins, and Tommy Davis.

3:03

But there's also Sahego Green and

3:05

Vinnie Cohen, Jumping, Jackie

3:08

Jackson and Billy Burwell,

3:11

Eldridge Webb, Sam Pencil

3:14

and Von Harper, Mel

3:17

Davis, Jerry Powell,

3:19

Haywood, Edwards.

3:21

Chet Walker, and Walter

3:23

Davis.

3:24

From nineteen fifty seven to nineteen

3:27

sixty four, they went to seven

3:29

PSAL championship games.

3:31

In eight years and won five.

3:34

They won a total of eight city titles

3:36

from nineteen fifty two to nineteen

3:39

sixty nine. There were

3:41

College All Americans, NBA

3:43

All Stars, Harlem Globetrotters,

3:46

and Hall of Famous, but it

3:49

was a team that built its lasting legend

3:51

on the playgrounds as much as the

3:53

high school gyms. For that part

3:55

of the story, we're going to start with

3:57

Connie Hawkins.

3:59

I tell every buddy this Contie

4:01

Hawkins that at seventeen and eighteen

4:03

might have been as good a player as only seventeen

4:06

or eighteen year old.

4:07

Ever, that's all of fame coach

4:09

Larry Brown, who got his basketball

4:11

education in Brooklyn by

4:13

coming back to playing the playground in places

4:16

like the Brownsville Boys Club, even

4:18

after his family moved out to Long Island.

4:21

Let's go back to Larry Brown's college teammate

4:24

Billy Cunningham.

4:25

Cottie was phenomenal.

4:27

We were good friends.

4:29

I can remember running down Flatbush

4:31

Avenue near a rismus holing the

4:33

different movies theaters, saying

4:35

who could jump higher? What letter could

4:37

you hit? Running down the street, then

4:40

we go shoot some pool. He was

4:42

so gifted. The game was

4:44

so easy to him at a

4:46

young age. Looking back,

4:49

ego was never an issue with that. He would

4:51

rather make a nice pass or simple pass

4:53

than score two points. He got more

4:56

joy out of doing those types of things.

4:58

And in many cases kids

5:00

and players the ego issue want to

5:02

score points to get a reputation.

5:05

He never had that. Peter VESSI

5:07

describe Hawkins the same way.

5:10

Connie was not to be believed

5:13

he did things you'd never seen before.

5:15

Everything that needed to be done, he'd get it done.

5:17

But he do it kind of casually.

5:19

He didn't really have passion. He

5:21

wasn't ruthless, he wasn't crude.

5:24

You know, he just got it done.

5:26

Lenny Wilkins graduated Boys

5:28

High in nineteen fifty six, just

5:30

before the Hawk came to high school.

5:33

Connie was from my neighborhood and

5:35

I saw him many times on the playground.

5:38

Incredible hands,

5:41

I mean had huge hands and he could

5:43

pick the basketball up like it was a grape

5:45

fruit. Everybody knew that he

5:48

was going to be a star, that he was going

5:50

to be an incredible player. He

5:52

was unselfish. He could run, he

5:55

could jump, he could block shots.

5:57

He was just an incredible player. Connie's

6:00

was unbelievable. I think he was still

6:02

growing in high school.

6:04

It got to be six ' nine. He was long,

6:07

lean, wiry, and

6:10

to be able to move like that, block

6:12

shots, rebound, get out,

6:15

run on the fast break, be able to

6:17

go to the basket, come up on the other side,

6:20

dunk it, or find that open man. His

6:22

skill was incredible, The control

6:25

of the ball, the way he could handle

6:27

the basketball, No guy his size

6:29

could handle the ball like that. Years

6:31

later, doctor J. Lgim

6:34

Baylor. But Connie, he

6:36

could take that ball, like I said, and just

6:38

swirl it around his head put it up on

6:40

the other side of the basket. He had

6:42

such control. The size

6:44

of his hands made it easy for him.

6:47

With Hawkins leading the way, Boys

6:49

High went undefeated in his junior and senior

6:51

seasons and went back to back PSAL

6:54

City championships. But

6:56

the game everybody remembers is

6:58

the one Connie foul out of in the third

7:01

quarter. They were up against another

7:03

Brooklyn team, win Gate High School,

7:05

in the nineteen sixty PSL semifinals.

7:09

There was a showdown. The whole city was looking

7:11

forward to win Gates. Roger

7:13

Brown went for thirty nine points that day

7:15

at Madison Square Garden, but Boys

7:18

held on for sixty two to fifty nine

7:20

win and then beat Columbus

7:22

for the championship. Documentary

7:25

filmmaker Ted Green as the producer,

7:27

director, and writer of the film

7:29

Undefeated. The Roger Brown story.

7:32

Still called by many the greatest schoolboys

7:35

showdown in New York City history, which is

7:37

saying.

7:38

A hell of a lot.

7:39

Some people remember it as the finals, but it was actually

7:41

the semi finals at Madison Square

7:43

Garden.

7:43

It's one of those.

7:44

Games where probably one hundred thousand

7:46

people say they were there, and there were actually probably

7:49

you know, eight or nine thousand. But that STEP's

7:51

the legend of this game.

7:52

And here's Peter VESSI.

7:55

I wish I was at that game when they played

7:57

Boys High wing Gate. I did a big

7:59

piece on it, I don't know, fifteen

8:01

twenty years ago. So and Connie used

8:04

to laugh at me, Man, you're the only guy

8:06

that I know that doesn't swear

8:08

that he was at that game at the garden. A

8:11

friend of mine was at it, but he

8:13

said, that's the second biggest lie

8:15

is that everybody said they're at Wilt's

8:18

one hundred point game in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

8:21

You know, amazingly to look it up, but I think

8:24

they were only like nine thousands the garden for

8:26

Connie's game. My friend who went

8:28

there, he became an NBA agent. He

8:30

cut school, he went. He's been talking about

8:32

that.

8:32

His whole life.

8:34

There was another player from that Boys, however,

8:36

who inspired the same kind of awe and

8:38

myth making on the playgrounds. You

8:40

could always find he and Connie together

8:42

on the courts all around New York City

8:45

or even playing together for the all them Globe

8:47

trotters. Let's let Connie

8:49

himself introduce you to the man so

8:51

nice. They named him twice jumping

8:54

Jackie Jackson.

8:55

And we had a guy w by named Jackie Jackson who

8:57

was like six foot four and actually touched

9:00

top of the backboard. I've heard people talk about guys

9:02

touching the backboard. This guy can do it. And

9:04

we ran a play and Whip used to shoot this fadeaway

9:06

jump shot. He used to draw up pine and shoot off the glass.

9:09

So we had a play that we would make Will shoot

9:11

the jump shot and Jackie would come over and block it, and

9:14

we had to play set up perfect, went in

9:16

and turned shot a jump shot. Jackie

9:18

came from the weak side and caught it and right at the top of

9:21

the of the backboard, and the crowd

9:23

went crazy. People were running around the place

9:25

and jumping off the fence and almost jumping

9:27

off the ceilings and stuff, and it was just phenomenal.

9:30

And we looked over at Wilton, what were staring at

9:32

us? And he woke called time out, just

9:34

called timeout like that, and everybody was still running

9:37

around screaming and.

9:38

Back then there wasn't high five. They'd give everybody low

9:40

five and stuff.

9:40

Everybody was clapping the can on and

9:43

then the next fifteen plays were dunked

9:45

by Wilt that I've never seen before in my life.

9:47

He dunked every single way he came to imagine for

9:49

him.

9:50

That was Connie talking to NBA TV

9:52

back in twenty thirteen about one

9:55

of the fame rucket games between New

9:57

York and Philly teams that brought together some

9:59

of the best players of the day. Back

10:02

in nineteen eighty nine, Philadelphia

10:04

basketball legend Sunny Hill told the La

10:06

Times, I have seen everybody.

10:09

The greatest leaper I ever saw was Jackie.

10:12

Nobody ever played the game could rise

10:14

any better than Jackie. I saw him

10:17

come down the floor once in the Eastern

10:19

League. On a fast break, Jay

10:21

Norman, an outstanding defensive

10:23

player, went into his defensive stance

10:25

at the foul line. Jackie

10:27

jumped over Norman's head and dunked the ball.

10:30

Here's Larry Brown.

10:32

Jackie was the highest jumper I've

10:34

ever seen. We played an All Star game

10:37

in Long Beach. Jack Blinis was

10:39

part of it. He brought Roger and Connie

10:42

and Jackie Jackson. A whole bunch of guys

10:44

played against a bunch of us from Long Island.

10:47

I remember I shot a set shot. I used

10:49

to shoot two hands. I shot a set shot

10:51

about twenty feet and Jackie Jackson

10:54

jumped.

10:54

Up and cornered in front.

10:55

Of the rim and soul body seemed

10:57

to be over the basket.

10:59

Even the ray Oscar Robertson out of Indianapolis

11:02

and Cincinnati knew the legend of

11:04

jumping Jackie.

11:05

Everybody knows about Jackie Jackson, I

11:08

mean famous in New York City in the playground.

11:11

Jacket Jackson's the old man Jacket Jackson.

11:13

He can jump and take.

11:14

The money off the top of the top of the backboard.

11:16

And then you talk to.

11:17

Will to say, yeah, I'd give him change.

11:21

That's what I did.

11:22

Not everybody believes that story about

11:24

grabbing a corter off the top of the backboard.

11:27

By the way, remember last week

11:29

when we were talking about myths and legends

11:32

and when the legend becomes fat print

11:34

the legend. Maybe there's a little

11:36

bit of that at work too. But

11:38

here's the thing. Even the guys

11:40

that don't buy it all know the story.

11:44

Here's Billy Cunningham, who could get

11:46

off the floor pretty good himself, so

11:48

good that they called Billy c the Kangaroo

11:51

kid.

11:52

He had that reputation for his ability

11:54

to jump. Of course, things tend

11:56

to get exaggerated. That he could take a quarter

11:58

off the top of the backboarder leave you some change.

12:01

It might have been a half a dollar.

12:02

I'm not sure.

12:03

I never saw anybody from Wilt chamber

12:05

On touch the top of the backboard

12:08

get up there, But to this day I

12:10

would like to see that, and I've never seen.

12:13

And Peter VESSI, I.

12:15

Don't believe the story about him, you know, touching

12:18

the top of the backboard, And to me, it's

12:20

a myth. You know the story, you know, yeah,

12:23

the fifty cents took change left change.

12:27

You know, every story

12:29

needs a starting point, and maybe

12:32

for Boys High and this particular

12:34

era, Basketball's borough.

12:36

It all starts with s Hugo Green.

12:39

I mean, if you ask

12:41

Oscar Robinson about Brooklyn basketball,

12:44

the first words he'll say are to

12:46

Hugo Green.

12:47

The greatest forward that I've seen about

12:49

six y three in my lifetime.

12:51

The Big Old discovered Green

12:53

while he was starring at the University

12:56

of Cincinnati, and Green was playing

12:58

for the Cincinnati Royals after

13:00

he was a two time first team All American

13:03

that du Cane. The Royals took

13:05

Green first in the nineteen fifty sixth

13:07

draft, right ahead of a guy named

13:09

Bill Russell. After Green

13:12

graduated Boys High, there

13:14

was Vinnie Cohen, who led the Way

13:16

to the city title in nineteen fifty

13:18

two, then was an All American

13:20

as Syracuse. He led the

13:22

Orange and scoring three straight

13:25

years while playing with football Hall of

13:27

Famer Jim Brown. Then

13:29

came Tommy Davis, all City

13:32

in basketball and best friends with Lenny

13:34

Wilkins. But it turned out Tommy

13:36

was even better on the baseball Domin he

13:39

signed with the Dodgers, went West,

13:41

and in nineteen sixty two he led

13:43

the league in Batten average, hits

13:45

and rbrs and finished third

13:47

in the MVP voting. In nineteen

13:50

sixty three, he went to his second

13:52

All Star Game, won another Batten

13:54

title, and the Dodgers won.

13:56

The World Series.

13:58

Billy Burwell, the six FO center,

14:01

started on an undefeated championship

14:03

team in nineteen fifty seven, then

14:05

one again teamed up with Connie Hawkins

14:07

in nineteen fifty nine. In

14:10

three years at Illinois, he averaged

14:12

fifteen points a game and won the

14:14

Big Ten title as a senior. Even

14:17

the graduation of the great Connie

14:19

Hawkins didn't slow the Boys

14:21

machine. They won the city again

14:23

in nineteen sixty two and nineteen

14:26

sixty four. In

14:28

between Clinton edged them by

14:30

a point in the nineteen sixty three

14:32

PSAL title game. They

14:35

had Sam Penzel and Von

14:37

Harper, who both went on to Syracuse

14:39

to play with Dave Bing and Jim

14:41

Beaheim, and guard Eldridge

14:44

Webb, who was so good they

14:46

retired his jersey number on the

14:48

spot after his last game.

14:51

Ray Haskins grew up.

14:52

In bed Star across from forty

14:54

four Park, which you know today as Solo

14:57

in the Whole. He graduated

14:59

from Boys High in sixty seven and

15:01

was championship coach in high school and

15:03

college in Brooklyn. Haskins

15:07

led Alexander Hamilton to the PSAL

15:09

title in nineteen eighty one and took

15:12

Long Island University to the NCAA

15:14

tournament in nineteen ninety seven ELVI

15:17

twelve.

15:18

He played with Von Harper. A lot of people

15:20

didn't know that Varn Harper was a radio personality.

15:22

They didn't know he was an All American basketball

15:24

player from Boys High and They

15:27

tell the story at Tulsa University

15:29

where they say the best player that ever

15:31

played at Telsa with all the pros they

15:34

had was Elvis Webb. He was an

15:36

amazing, amazing player. He never

15:38

went to the NBA. He wound up playing with for Marcus

15:40

Haynes's show team, the Musicians, where.

15:43

He traveled all over, but we had

15:45

a lot of grace.

15:46

Finally, there was Mel

15:48

Davis, who went to Boys High

15:51

to play with the best, just like

15:53

coach Howie Jones said he should. The

15:55

big man hit the championship

15:57

game winner with six seconds left against

15:59

clin And in nineteen sixty eight, then

16:02

had thirty five points when Boys rolled

16:04

over Van Buren in nineteen sixty

16:06

nine, making an even fifty

16:09

straight wins. That was

16:11

also the end of an era. Mel's

16:14

senior year was the last for coach Howie

16:16

Jones, who moved on to succeed another

16:18

Brooklyn legend, Dolly King, as

16:21

head coach at Manhattan Community College.

16:23

After King passed away, Jones

16:25

left Boys High with a spectacular

16:27

one twenty four to sixteen

16:30

record.

16:31

Here's Mel Davis.

16:33

I kept in touch with Howie weekly.

16:35

I mean, he was like a father figure to me. Dear

16:37

friend until he passed. I think

16:39

it was three years ago we lost him.

16:42

He was a phenomenal coach, a legend in

16:44

Brooklyn. He helped so many ball

16:46

players for my father figure to

16:48

advice to schooling. He

16:50

just meant so much to so many players that played

16:53

for him and well respected and well loved.

16:55

Jones had followed Mickey Fisher,

16:58

who coached Boys High for twenty six years.

17:01

Hall of Famer Lenny Wilkins remembers his

17:03

high school coach.

17:04

Our coach, Mickey Fisher was

17:06

a stickler for passing, for

17:09

defending, moving the ball, stuff

17:11

like that. Remember we had

17:14

a drill, the pregame drill,

17:16

and he would let us do it where

17:19

everybody had to dunk the ball at the end of

17:21

the drill. But he would not let us dunk.

17:23

In the game.

17:24

He wasn't into that, but to

17:27

use it to intimidate then opposing team.

17:29

He would let us dunk and warm up,

17:32

not in the game.

17:33

It's funny how things work out. Lenny

17:35

Wilkins actually didn't play much high school

17:37

ball at Boys. He had a job

17:39

after school, so he only played a

17:42

few games as a senior. After Tommy

17:44

Davis talked to him into coming out for the team.

17:46

But of all the legends that came out of Boys

17:49

High, the college stars, the

17:51

pros, and the playground ballers that inspired

17:54

decades of myth making,

17:56

nobody has had more accomplished basketball

17:58

life than Lenny Wilkins. Here's

18:01

Billy Cunningham.

18:02

As classy a man as you'll ever meet

18:04

your life, and obviously a great besketball

18:07

player. You knew what Lenny Wilkins

18:09

was gonna do, and you couldn't stop him.

18:12

He was going to go to his left, and

18:14

I don't care how hard you try to

18:16

push him to his right. Somehow he always

18:19

got back to that left and was a

18:21

great player and went on to Providence

18:23

as we go, and had a great career

18:25

there and made them a real

18:27

force during his period of time,

18:30

and then went on to play for the Saint Louis

18:32

Hawks. He represents everything

18:34

good that came out of Brooklyn.

18:36

The great Lenny Wilkins is in the

18:38

Hall of Fame three times as

18:41

a player, as a coach and

18:43

as an assistant coach with the legendary

18:46

Dream Team, the nineteen ninety

18:48

two Olympic gold medalist. And

18:51

we're going to talk about Lenny's coaching career.

18:53

In a few weeks hair on Basketball's

18:55

Borough when we've got an episode

18:57

dedicated to all the great coaches that

19:00

come out of Brooklyn. But for now,

19:02

we're gonna talk about the smooth lefty

19:05

point guard who was a two time All

19:07

American at Providence College and

19:09

the first round draft pick by the Saint

19:11

Louis Hawks in nineteen sixty.

19:14

Lenny played fifteen years in the NBA

19:17

for the Hawks, Sonics, Calves,

19:20

and Blazers and went to nine

19:22

All Star Games, winning the MVP

19:25

in nineteen seventy one. When

19:27

he retired in nineteen seventy five, he

19:29

was second in NBA history and assists,

19:31

behind only Oscar Robinson, who

19:33

he played against in the league for fourteen years.

19:36

Here's the big O on Lenny

19:38

Wilkins. He and I went into the NBA

19:41

the same year in nineteen sixty.

19:42

Matter of fact, Lenny was also a

19:45

member of the Olympic tryout.

19:46

Team, but he didn't make the team. He should have made the basketball

19:48

team. He would have made the team, but he didn't.

19:50

But that was a difficult situation because

19:52

they didn't want too many black people on the team.

19:54

Out said put it that way. Lenny

19:56

and I played on an All Star.

19:57

Team that big to Nicks at nineteen

19:59

sixty before the season started. Then

20:01

it was very good basketball player, very good. Went

20:03

to Saint Louis and stabilized at the offense

20:06

for for many many years. Was a great

20:08

player, and he was smart lieutenant

20:10

player. You know, he set up great point

20:13

guard. He didn't have the prolific

20:15

scoring type basketball, but he was

20:17

very good in that type of offense. And he played

20:20

years at Providence. Very good player,

20:22

All Star, All America.

20:24

What else can you say?

20:26

When the NBA had it say about

20:28

the greatest players of all time for

20:30

his fiftieth anniversary and seventy

20:32

fifth anniversary teams Boys

20:34

Highs, Lenny Wilkins made the cut.

20:37

I heard years later they would say I had a drag

20:39

shot. It was kind of like a hook shot,

20:42

a floater that you see a lot of guys

20:44

used today. I knew I could get

20:46

to the basket.

20:47

I had no.

20:48

Fear of being bumped or pushed

20:50

or whatever. But I could get to the basket,

20:53

and if someone came to help,

20:55

I knew where his man was. I

20:57

think that my court vision was very

21:00

good, so I could always find

21:02

the open man. And guys knew that

21:04

so a lot of times. The other thing that I

21:06

started doing was when I got close

21:09

to the basket, I could use either hand

21:11

and I'd put the ball up on the board

21:13

because I knew once it got on the board, if

21:15

you touched it, it was goaltending. To

21:18

me, that was the fun of the game, penetrating

21:21

finding the open man, making a

21:23

layup, putting the spinner on the ball, stuff

21:25

like that.

21:26

I pride it myself.

21:27

In my defense, I wasn't gonna let you

21:30

just walk to the basket. You couldn't put the ball

21:32

down in front of me because I could get

21:34

it.

21:35

The end of an ever in nineteen sixty

21:38

nine didn't mean the end of the story at

21:40

Boys High. There were more championships,

21:43

including three straight in twenty

21:45

ten, twenty eleven, and twenty

21:47

twelve, and more legendary

21:49

players like the great Pearl Washington.

21:53

But we'll talk more about him a little bit

21:55

down the road on Basketball's burrow.

21:58

In the meantime, let's go back to the man

22:00

who started his story for US, Mel

22:02

Davis. After Boys High,

22:05

Mel starred at Saint John's and was

22:07

the first round pick by the Knicks in nineteen

22:09

seventy three.

22:11

After his playing days were done.

22:13

Mel worked in the NBA League Office

22:15

and then with the NBA Retired Players

22:17

Association. All along

22:20

he kept the Boys High Race together

22:22

with regular reunions.

22:24

I think that Boys Hi sister standard

22:27

for all of the schools in Brooklyn, and

22:30

they won so many championships. They've got

22:32

so many players that's come out of there. They're

22:34

basically legendary. There's no question

22:36

about it. When you think about Boys

22:39

Hie, you think about Connie Hawkins, Lenny

22:41

Wilkins, Tommie Davis, and the list

22:43

is endlest. It was a wonderful time

22:46

and you just want to continue

22:48

that legacy.

22:50

Coming up next week on Basketball's

22:52

Burrow Black Ball From

22:55

Brooklyn to the ABA, we'll

22:57

have more on what happened to Connie Hawkins

23:00

Boys High and the journey of his

23:02

rival Roger Brown. They were

23:04

part of the wave of Brooklyn talent

23:06

that got a second chance in a renegade

23:09

basketball league and helped shape

23:11

the ABA