I loved that guyFor old hats like myself, the king of special teams is gone, R.I.P
Former NFL player, assistant coach Rusty Tillman dies at 75
Rusty Tillman, who spent 30 years playing and coaching in the NFL, died Sunday, the Seahawks …
Yes they were
Dematha was one of the top high school basketball teams in the country for many years under Wooten. I think his first big name grad was James Brown of TV fame. Dantley, Adrian Branch, Sidney Lowe, Whittenburg, Jerrod Mustaf, Danny Ferry and many more. They have one hell of a football program too. AAU changed the basketball landscape and the HS were in demand like they had been. Still Dematha is a basketball hot bed. Jimmy V scored two of those guys and a national championship. Thurl Bailey too who went to Bladensburg which isn't far from Dematha but not a Catholic school.
Rumor has it .... I think before Lefty was hired Morgan wanted the job. I could have the wrong one but I think it was Lefty. Maryland never did very well recruiting at Dematha. They did get Adrian Branch and that was a big get. I am probably forgetting a player or two but the only other guy I can think of right now is Duane Simpkins who played for Gary.
Funny story .... Dantley was in HS at the same time I was. He and Dematha were playing Carroll in a huge game at PGCC. My buddy and I went and the game was sold out when we got to the door. We wanted to see the game badly. We found a ladder and took it and put it up to one of the locker room windows, climb and got in that way. A crowd formed behind us but we avoided detection, slipped into the gym and got to watch the game. Sometimes it pays to be a little bad.
I loved Lew Alcindor but I was watching SC (back when they were in the ACC) play MD. Lefty played slow down the entire game. Jim "Bozo" O'Brien hit a jumper from the corner very late and Maryland won. I was hooked. Elmore and McMillan followed soon after and John Lucas right behind them. Not sure how many remember Moses Malone committed to Maryland but the new ABA league let him play at 18. That cost Lefty an NCAA Championship. Moses would have crushed in college.
No, Dematha wasn't known as the "hotbed of high school basketball," that name belonged to the entire D.C./ Baltimore region. No doubt, Dematha was a long term regional powerhouse, but there were others coming from public and private schools during that time who were as good or better depending upon the season. Seasonal games were great and ranking titles were voted on by sports writers but the real championship, one played on real basketball courts and officially sanctioned, was determined with the post-season, eight team K of C (Knights of Columbus) tournament. Ask almost anyone from James Brown (yeah that one) to anyone who's ever followed the game during that era which team was the best of them all and they will (or should) tell you McKinley Tech ( a DC public school team) There's an ongoing debate between DC and Baltimore over this because Baltimore says Dunbar of Baltimore, for me, that's a joke! Ask the same people who Morgan Wooten and Dematha were deathly afraid of playing during that same time and that answer would have to be the John Thompson coached St. Anthony's squad. In fact he (Wooten) refused to play them repeatedly in an official game, until finally relenting and agreeing to play them unofficially in the Jelleff summer league. Thompson was so pissed that he kept his guys off of the court and recruited guys in the stands to face them. Enter Dunbar of Baltimore, another team that Wooten wouldn't play but after relenting under the same circumstances, as he did with Thompson, Baltimore's coach had actual toddlers (5 year old kids) take the court. This is legendary stuff, but damn those were great times, ah, er, um, basketball wise.
