Dandy Dons

W. Johnson James

Description

In the mid-1950s three unrecruited black basketball players, coached by a white former prison guard who had never before coached a college team, led a small Jesuit university in San Francisco to two national titles. The Dandy Dons describes for the first time how the unprecedented accomplishment of the Dons, led by coach Phil Woolpert and future hall-of-famers Bill Russell and K. C. Jones, paved the way for black talent in major college basketball and transformed the sport.

James W. Johnson traces the backgrounds of the coach and players, chronicles the heart-stopping games on the road to the championships, and details the Dons’ novel techniques: a more vertical game, more central defense, and intimidation as part of game strategy. He also gives a textured picture of life on an integrated basketball team amid a culture of racism and Jim Crow in mid-twentieth-century America.

Sujets

• Baloncesto
• Basketball
• California
• Basket-ball

Informations

• Publié par: Bison Books
• Date de parution: 01 juin 2009
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780803224445
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

J A M E S W . J O H N S O N

THE DANDY DONS Bill Russell, K. C. Jones,

Phil Woolpert, and One

of College Basketball’s

Greatest and Most

Innovative Teams

university of nebraska press lincoln and london

© 2009 by the Board of Regents of the

University of Nebraska. All rights reserved.

Manufactured in the United States of America.

All photographs courtesy of University

of San Francisco Athletic Department

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Johnson, James W.

The Dandy Dons : Bill Russell, K.C. Jones,

Phil Woolpert, and one of college basketball’s greatest and most innovative teams / James W. Johnson. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. isbn978-0-8032-1877-2 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. University of San Francisco—Basketball.

2. Basketball teams—United States—

History. 3. College sports—United States—

History. 4. Russell, Bill, 1934–5. Jones, K. C.,

1932-6. Woolpert, Phil. I. Title. gv855.4.j64 2009 796.04'30973—dc22 2008048163 Set in Scala by Bob Reitz. Designed by Ashley Muehlbauer.

To Don Carson, the best friend anyone could ever have.

CONTENTS

 Preface: The Changing Game  Acknowledgments  Introduction 1. Russell’s Coming of Age 2. A Road Trip to Discovery 3. On Catholic Schools and Race 4. Another Surprise Recruit 5. A School He’d Never Heard Of 6. Roommates and Friends Forever 7. Time to Produce 8. A Disappointing Season 9. An Unlikely Coach 10. A Surprising Move 11. The Trail to the Title 12. Russell Brings about Rule Changes

ix xix xxi 1 9 15 23 29 35 45 61 71 83 103 121

13. The Machine Rolls On 14. Into the Deep South 15. Holiday Travel and the Stall 16. Two in a Row 17. A New Sport for Russell 18. The Aftermath 19. Epilogue  Notes  Bibliography

129 137 145 161 175 181 193 205 237

PREFACE The Changing Game

“We changed the game. I think you can say we developed a whole new philosophy of basketball. We attacked the offense and made it react to the defense.” —Bill Russell

One of the first things that new University of San Francisco ( usf ) coach Phil Woolpert did when he walked into his office in 1950 was open a filing cabinet that predecessor Pete Newell had left for him. “My God,” he muttered, as he looked at folder after folder—each at least an inch thick—on high school prospects. Overwhelmed, he slammed the drawer, went home, and told his wife, Mary, “This is just beyond my capability.” He wanted to resign. Woolpert’s wife minced no words, calling him a quitter. He listened. And then he returned to work. “Frankly, she whipped the hell out of me that day, and I went back. She was right.” Had Woolpert called it quits, two extremely talented players might have been denied the opportunity to play basketball in