The Decade of the 1960's

This is the second of seven articles about great high school basketball programs and the coaches that contributed to that success. Next week I will talk about the programs and the coaches of the 1970's.

State Farm Center (Assembly Hall) — Opened 1963

Home of the IHSA State Basketball Tournament, 1963–1995 · University of Illinois, Champaign

The Illinois State Tournament moved from the old Huff Gym, which had a seating capacity of about 7,000, to the new Assembly Hall with a capacity of over 16,000 in the early 60's. The iconic dome opened on March 2, 1963, and from 1963 to 1965 it was the largest dome structure in North America.

I have referred to the 60's in Illinois basketball high school as the "Golden Era". No, it is not because that is when I played. I believe that is when high school basketball in Illinois accelerated in popularity. The state tournament games were first televised and more importantly the Chicago Public schools began to play a major role in raising the talent level by playing games "downstate". High school fans saw players like Cazzie Russell, George Wilson, and Jim Brewer for the first time. Each played a major role in their school's success along with some great coaches, some I have mentioned here.

This could be the decade of the best of the best for Collinsville. They were 256 and lost only 31 games during this decade. Their '61 team was undefeated (32-0) and many Illinois high school basketball pundits say this is one of the top 2 or 3 teams ever in the state. (This team had their stiffest challenge in the Super-Sectional where they beat an outstanding #2 ranked Centralia team 66-64.) Coach Fletcher finished his remarkable 32-year coaching career with a 747-170 record.

Chicago Carver could have an argument as "the team of the 60's". The Challengers won the state tournament in '60 and again in '63, after finishing 2nd in '62.

Quincy was 247-71 during the decade and won a 3rd place trophy in '62 and a 2nd place trophy in '65. Sherrill Hanks had 354 wins and only 89 losses in his 15-year HOF career at Quincy.

Centralia was 227-78 and finished 2nd in the state tournament in '63.

Pekin, another basketball program with deep roots in basketball in the state, won the State Championship in '64 and '67 under the leadership of Dawson Hawkins. Pekin had a 208-76 record in the 60's.

Another Chicago public school made an appearance "downstate" in 1962, the Carver Challengers won the State Tournament in '63 after finishing 2nd in '62.

Decatur Stephen won the State Tournament in '62 after a 4th place finish in '60. They also finished 3rd in '64. The Runnin Reds coached by Gay Kintney, who was 649-268 in his 32-year tenure, was 249-71 during the 60's.

Maywood Proviso East won the State Championship in '69 and would make several more appearances in the decades to come. East had a record of 203-50 for the '60's.

The Benton Rangers, coached by HOF'er Rich Herrin, made their first of several trips to the state tournament in '61. Benton was 185-91 during the decade.

Another HOF coach would also begin his illustrious career during this decade, Bob Dallas. Coach Dallas coached at Ridgway/Gallatin County for 46 years and won a state title in '73. Dallas career record was 772-408. (I am partial to any team or coach of the Greater Egyptian Conference; I played at Galatia from 1960-62 and wrote a book about the conference.)