Mike Guardabascio - Basketball in Long Beach

Published by The History Press

Charleston, SC 29403

www.historypress.net

Copyright 2015 by Mike Guardabascio & Chris Trevino

All rights reserved

First published 2015

e-book edition 2015

ISBN 978.1.62585.461.2

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015940378

print edition ISBN 978.1.60949.975.4

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the authors or The History Press. The authors and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

For Vincent, my favorite little baller.
Mike

For Mom, Dad and Tomas, my biggest fans.
Chris

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Though our names are the only ones appearing on the cover, this book is really the collaborative effort of a number of people. Unfortunately, space prohibits us from individually thanking everyone who helped in some way. Please forgive any omissions.

First, our thanks to Jerry Roberts, Will McKay, Megan Laddusaw and the rest of the team at The History Press for their guidance and hard work.

Our gratitude goes to everyone who shared his or her time for an interview. We are especially grateful to Frank Burlison, Ron Palmer, Bill Odell, Tim Sweeney, Joan Bonvicini, John Atkinson, Sharrief Metoyer, Darrick Martin, Lorene Morgan, Jim McCormack, Ed Ratleff, Gary Anderson, Tap Nixon, Dan Monson, Lute Olson and Donna Prindle.

Our thanks go to Press-Telegram/Gazettes photographers Stephen Dachman, William Johnson, Thomas Cordova and Scott Varley, as well as Long Beachs high school yearbook photographers from the last one hundred years for being generous with the art in this book.

FROM MIKE

My thanks go to two of the Gazettes and Press-Telegrams other writers (and two of my best friends), JJ Fiddler and Tyler Hendrickson, for helping pick up the slack during the two years this book was being researched and written. Thanks to my mother-in-law, Joyce, for being a willing babysitter and to the administrations of Long Beach State, Jordan, St. Anthony, Millikan, Lakewood and Long Beach Poly for their help. Principals Joe Carlson and Victor Jarels at Long Beach Poly set me up in an office on that campus and gave me space to research for a month. Thanks, once again, to three English teachers thereJudy Haenn, Laura Leaney and Rob Pigottfor helping me find my way.

Thanks go to Brian Walsh at St. Anthony, Lamar Biffle at Jordan, Lorene Morgan at Millikan and Andrea Ohta at Long Beach State for facilitating research and providing temporary office space. Thanks, as well, to my coauthor and fellow Press-Telegram writer Chris Trevinohe was the shot in the arm this book needed.

And last but not least, thanks to my family. My wife helped give me the time I needed to write this book and the support I needed to see it through. Our toddler, Vincent, makes for a pretty good distraction and already seems to have taken a liking to hoops. My father-in-law, Mits Higa, passed away during the writing of this bookhe was an amazing dad and grandfather and a great fan, and hes missed daily.

FROM CHRIS

My biggest thanks go to the co-writer of this book, my boss and my friend Mike Guardabascio, for asking me to be a part of this journey and allowing me to accomplish a dream of mine. His guidance and advice meant the world to me during this project.

Thank you to my fellow writers at the Press-Telegram, JJ Fiddler and Tyler Hendrickson, for being friends and helpful sources.

A huge thanks to Long Beach State, especially Roger Kirk for all the mornings I spent barging into his office for media guides; to Long Beach Wilsons Jeff Evans and Lia Ladas; and to the Long Beach City College Foundation and the always-helpful Lois Schneider.

While they may be many miles away from me, thank you to all my friends back home in Marylandtoo many to name, but thank you for all the encouragement. Special recognition to my unofficial editor since freshman year and one of my closest friends Robert DiMauro for your input on this project. Also thank you to Pauline Ziadeh for all her love and encouragement throughout.

Of course, a huge thanks to my parents, Lucy and Enrique, my biggest fans, to whom I can always turn for love and support.

And last but not least, thank you to my younger brother, Tomas, for all your support from overseas. Hopefully, you will think about our epic one-on-one basketball games in the driveway when reading this.

INTRODUCTION

Pull open the double doors and step inside, out of the harsh sunlight. The gyms in Long Beach are hot, but at least theres shade and plenty of stories to pass the time. On the walls is the citys history, numbers representing the years gone by. Every gym has a banner, and every banner has a legenda star player, a thrilling victory, an elated fan base.

The citizens of Long Beach started playing basketball in the early 1900s, just a decade or so after the sport was created in a gymnasium across the country. It took a few years for it to catch on, but once it did, the sport took root and flourished.

While you lace up your sneakers and warm up, were going to give you a tour of the history of basketball in Long Beach, a history rich with championships and great players.

Youll learn about the tradition of ferocious girls hoops players, established in the first years of the twentieth century as midwestern migrants brought with them the radical idea that women were capable of working just as hard as men. The daughters of Iowa farmers established a proud precedent of women trailblazers in the city that extended from the early years at Long Beach Poly to the NCAA Final Four teams of Joan Bonvicini at Long Beach State.

From the earliest days, Long Beach was well known for its top-notch coaches. Three former coaches of the Long Beach State mens basketball teamJerry Tarkanian, Lute Olson and Tex Winterare enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, and men like Ron Palmer and Ron Massey were praised from coast to coast for bringing discipline to the athleticism-rich high school courts of Long Beach Poly and Jordan. That tradition held sway at Long Beach City, as well, where great coaches led the Vikings to many championships.

Their stories and so many more are contained within the pages of this book. As with any exploration of a city with as rich a past as Long Beach, there wasnt room to mention every great team and player. An effort to trace the highlight years of the 49ers and Jackrabbits could easily have filled two books by themselves. Weve opted instead to try to include the top teams from each of the citys schools, from the Moore League stalwarts like Poly, Wilson, Jordan, Millikan and Lakewood to St. Anthony and the colleges, Long Beach State and Long Beach City. Special attention has been paid to each schools CIF or state championship teams.

We also take a look at the NBAs Summer Pro League and other professional forays in the area and profile Frank Burlison, the sportswriter who has watched more Long Beach hoops than anyone else.