Schenley nice and sharp 50 years later
As the team bus pulled up in front of Schenley High School after the Spartans defeated mighty Farrell in the 1971 PIAA Western Regional boys basketball final, Jerry Harvey shouted 12 words out the window to his fellow classmates waiting to greet the team in front of the school.
“To be a Schenley Spartan, you’ve got to be nice and sharp!”
That school motto embodied Schenley’s 1971 state championship team — considered one of the greatest high school basketball teams ever to come out of Western Pennsylvania — and some 50 years later, Harvey and his teammates continue to live by those words.
Six members of that star-studded squad, which was coached by Spencer Watkins, showed up in style to the Wyndham Hotel in Oakland on Saturday night to attend the 50-year reunion for Schenley’s Class of 1971 — Harvey, Norrie Coney, Ralph Smith, Tom Thornton, Jeffrey “Fro” Matthews and the legendary Ricky “Black Magic” Coleman. Dressed in their finest red-and-black attire, they gathered with their former classmates for an evening of dinner, drinks and dancing, while also taking some time to look back on their historic championship run, which culminated in a 77-60 win against Norristown at the Civic Arena.
Fittingly held inside the Schenley Ballroom, the event featured a familiar theme with the whole room decked out in the now-defunct school’s signature red-andblack color scheme.
“It’s probably the biggest honor I’ve had. I never realized I would be in this position today,” Coleman said. “To start out with these guys from grade school. … You never could have told me that we could accomplish what we did in 1971.”
The players cherished the opportunity to come together and relive their glory days, even if only for one night. Still, there was a hint of sadness in the building without the presence of two of the team’s most memorable players — the late Maurice Lucas and Robert “Jeep” Kelley, who died in 2010 and 2008, respectively.
Most viewed Lucas as the thirdbest player on the 1971 team, but he would go on to have by far the most successful post-high school playing career of the bunch. He was a standout at Marquette under coach Al McGuire and played in the 1974 NCAA championship game, then went on to score more than 12,000 points in the NBA while making four All-Star teams and playing a key role in the Portland Trail Blazers’ run to the 1977 NBA championship.
Lucas was a late bloomer in high school, breaking out toward the
end of his junior season before emerging as a dominant force as a senior. The 6-foot-9 power forward, nicknamed “The Enforcer,” was one of the toughest and most feared players to ever step foot in the NBA.
“He was like that in high school, too,” Matthews said. “When we weren’t doing what we were supposed to do, he’d let us know.”
Kelley was only a sophomore on the 1971 team, but his reputation preceded him as one of the most talented players in the area even before he got to high school. His presence as a new addition on the 1971 team helped propel the Spartans over the top after falling just short in the Western Regional final vs. Beaver Falls in 1970.
“Man, ‘Jeep’ was phenomenal,” Matthews said. “The first time I met him was when I was in ninth grade and he was in seventh grade, and I couldn’t believe this kid. … After we lost [in 1970], me and Ricky and Maurice said, ‘We’re going to do it next year. ‘Jeep’ is coming.”
Matthews and Thornton teamed up with the “big three” of Coleman, Lucas and Kelley to round out the starting five. Matthews played point guard and spent most of his time facilitating scoring opportunities for the playmakers around him, and Thornton was a quiet, steady power forward who went on to play two years of college ball at Detroit under coach Dick Vitale.
“It’s very special to get the guys together, especially for an occasion like this,” Thornton said. “I never, ever thought that this was going to happen. It happened. We’re still together out here. The guys are still together.
“I take the bitter with the sweet, and I’m very happy with how things turned out.”
Of course, there were several stars on the team, but it was Coleman who shined brightest. A do-it-all combo guard equally adept at driving, slashing, shooting and passing, he went on to play college ball at Jacksonville — considered a national powerhouse in those days. Coleman then got drafted in the sixth round by the Boston Celtics, but never panned out in the NBA.
Many believe Coleman might be the greatest guard to ever come out of Western Pennsylvania. He fell into drugs soon after giving up on his playing career, but Coleman got himself clean in 1993 and has since turned his life around.
“It’s just been quite a blessing to be able to be here and give back and be an example,” Coleman said. “I walk around the community and hear, ‘ Hey, ‘ Black Magic,’ Mr. Rick!’ It just gives me a sense of purpose that I never thought I’d have, sitting up there in those projects as a grade schooler.”
Growing up in the Hill District in the 1960s, all the aspiring young players wanted to be like Kenny Durrett, Petey Gibson and the rest of Schenley’s 1966 state championship team. When the 1971 group raised the school’s second state championship banner, they left behind an imprint future Spartans would seek to emulate for generations to come.
“We weren’t just talented. If you don’t know anything about the Hill, back then, it was so competitive,” Coleman said. “We took basketball very seriously back there in the early ’70s as far as representing that Hill District. It was something special.”
Schenley went on to win a third state title in 1975, then a fourth in 1978. After a 23year hiatus, the Spartans made it back to the title game in 2001 and again in 2006, losing both times. Schenley then returned in 2007 and captured a fifth state title with another legendary team led by DeJuan Blair and D.J. Kennedy, also considered one of the area’s best teams ever.
The school closed its doors for good in June 2008, but the Spartans’ legacy will live on as one of the most prestigious and decorated programs in PIAA history.
“It never dawned on me. It seemed like it came with time over a period of years — the impression and how phenomenal we were,” Coleman said. “We never dreamed of being amongst the elite. But as I get old, I can look back and see what we did.”