Connections of Basketball Threads: Connecting the Dots

A. I am from Bloomington, Indiana. I grew up a few blocks away from the IU campus. I attended Bloomington South from 1985 to 1989. I was a big basketball fan then and now. Church ball, high school, college and pro.

B. Another guy who attended Bloomington High School South those years was a big kid named Chris Lawson. He was 6'10" and pretty good on the basketball court. He signed with hometown school Indiana University and Bob Knight, in 1989, the year of our graduation.

 C. That freshman class with Chris had a number of talented players. Greg Graham, Pat Graham (no relation), Calbert Cheaney, Chris Reynolds and Alan Henderson. Did I leave anyone out? This was a very heralded class. Three of the above players went on to enjoy some years in the NBA, not a common feat for a Bob Knight class.

D. Alan Henderson went on to play a long career in the pros. He ended up playing with the Mavs and then the Cavs. He played with Nowitski and King James. The former is from Germany and the latter is from Ohio. Lebron has played with PG Eric Snow who starred at Michigan State in East Lansing.

E. Robert Montgomery Knight hails from the state of Ohio, where he then went on to play for the OSU Buckeyes, that went on to win the NCAA chmapionship with players such as Jerry Lucas and ________, coached by Hall of Fame coach __Fred Taylor. Coach Knight later would recruit and coach Uwe Blab, a 7'2" German center. He had bright red hair, a bit like Chris Lawson. (see B)

F. An hour east of IU's main campus in Monroe County is Indiana State in Terre Haute, Vigo County. Larry Bird attended both, leading one of them to the NCAA championship against Magic Johnson of Michigan State. In 1979, 10 years before yours truly earned that prestigious high school diploma. (see A)

G. Larry Bird, of course of Boston Celtic fame, hails from French Lick, Indiana, some 75 miles south of my home twon of Bloomington. Orange County, Indiana. Very rural. The Celtics currently (2008) have a red headed bench warmer named Brian Scalabrine. He played at USC, not Orange but Los Angeles County, a mere 15 miles from Orange County, California. Some redheads are actually viewed as having ":strawberry blonded" hair, which could also pass for orange.

F. The colors of IU are red. Michigan State's are green. Like the Celtics. The Trojans of USC are maroon and gold. Like the colors of Bloomington North, where Jared Jeffries and Sean May once played. They both went on to play in the NBA. One to the Wiz and the Knicks, the other to the Charlotte Bobcats. All three of those teams have blue in their colors, like the Indiana State Sycamores.  Jeffries played for IU, May went to UNC. Chapel Hill. Close to Duke and Coach K.

G. The Orangemen of Syracuse received help from a senior who hails from my hometown of Bloomington Indiana, Kueth Duany. Duany had one of the best dunks in the championship game against the Kentucky Wildcats, 2003. The Orange wear orange, the Wildcats blue. We don't like Kentucky. Hurrah Orange! But Illinois is the only orange color school in the Big Ten. Caveat.

 H. Heck, I could go on. But do you get the point?

Have you connected them?The world is a giant orange basketball, and don't think that redheads have not made their impact on the game.

Remember Bill Walton? Redhead. Redbeard. Celtics. Trailblazers. UCLA Bruins.

Wizard of Westwood. From Martinsville, Indiana. You do the math.

Can you connect the dots?

Arnju smart? Keith Smart? He is with the Golden State Warriors. He hit the game winning shot for IU in 1987, my sophomore year at BHSS.

He wore red. The Warriors have orange. All these colors are grand.

Clinch