My Bad sisters...you wrote DANNY [as in D'Antoni] instead of donnie. Happy 2017 from Charlotte (It's SNOWING or as my deceased Father in law from Pineville, WV would say...."IT'S TOEIN')
HerdZilla22
DONNIE JONES...Where Have I Been....
- Thread starter CarolinaHerdZilla22
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My Bad sisters...you wrote DANNY [as in D'Antoni] instead of donnie. Happy 2017 from Charlotte (It's SNOWING or as my deceased Father in law from Pineville, WV would say...."IT'S TOEIN')
HerdZilla22
Danny is your good friend. You could have really ripped me. I appreciate your wisdom that comes from many years of following marshall.
No kidding - as one of the hoops mgr's 70-72 ( I am sworn to secrecy) you would be amazed at some of the stories that could be told.
Yes i would believe you but the youngsters are totally ignorant that the Herd once was a top ten team
In the 71-72 season we were ranked as high as #8. We entered the NCAA 32 team field as an independent at large pick.
MU was ranked 8th for one poll week as they immediately lost to Miami at Withrow Court and dropped to about 11. They did place 14th I believe in the final AP poll. Sisters saying they were ONCE a top ten team was unintentionally very accurate.
I don't wish ill towards Donnie and hope he and his family are doing fine. With that said, my favorite game probably since the Huck years was the game when DJ came back to Huntington and we absolutely wiped the floor with UCF. One of the best environments for a college game I've been around.
I was at that Miami game. Drove through a snowstorm back to Huntington.
Here ya go Tim -
The time Willie decided he was going to New York City - we had a curfew of something like 1 am ( very unusual most times it was 11 maybe 12) just because of where we were , everyone is pretty well on their way back to the hotel , I was walking back with Russell and Mike and I think Randy , not sure about Randy. Anyway we are almost back to the hotel and I look to my left and see Willie walking toward a subway station , told the others to go on and I would get Willie so he was not late for curfew.
Willie proceeds to tell me he is going to New York regardless of the curfew , the Big Apple NY NY..he kept saying at when we were flying north , all the way about ever 15 min or so.
Anyway knowing if he gets to NYC and especially where he wanted to go ( Broadway etc) the chances were we might leave to come home without him as I knew he would get lost.
So - I go with him figuring Coach Tacy while he might be mad at Willie would not be mad at me for going with him so he would not become lost or worse.
We get to Broadway , figure this I am 6'1 (at the time) Willie is like 6'10 -6'11 but listed as 6'9 here we are in NYNY both wearing these ( remember the time now style wise) below knee length black coats with fur collars , black mafia looking hats and me with a white silk scarf to boot , he is about 2 steps in front of me , looking like my body guard..we parted the sea so to speak as we walked down the street as no one even in New York was going to mess with a guy the size of Willie.
Next thing we are in a boom boom room ( strip joint) some girl hits on Willie , he buys here a watered down drink , about 10 min later here comes another girl and again he buys here a drink informing me that "these girls must really like me".
I had to explain to him that what he thought was them liking him was their job , to sell more drinks and ah whatever.
Anyway after a few hours of basically walking and wandering around "the Big Apple" I convenience him we might be wise to head back to the hotel.
We get on the subway , he has forgotten the stop ( this is what I eluded to about him possibly becoming lost) I knew the stop , he didnt want to get off but did. We get back to the hotel at 4:45 - I was rooming with John Hagan the equipment mgr on this trip ( thats another story as to why and yes it has to do with more antics ) anyway Hagan had called the NYPD to have them start looking for us since Russell had told them what took place earlier that night. By the time they were looking for us we were on the subway headed back to the hotel...anyway
I ended up staying in Willies room with Willie and John Sark ( who I normally roomed with).
since I wasnt about to try to get into my room with John Hagan in there..lol.
Somewhere around 5:30 or so there is a knock on the door , I answer it and there is Coach Tacy..not amused at all , glad we are ok but far from being amused. Coach seriously ran a very tight ship ,quite the disciplinarian to say the least and anyone on that team will attest to that fact. Tells me we will discuss things at breakfast at 6:00 and to not be late or allow Willie to get lost from the room to the dining area ( lol)
We fly back to Huntington - end of the story , Willie and I ran and ran and ran , all kind of wind sprints as well as just running around the outside of Memorial Field House in the cold , that and Willie having his in town curfew moved back to 8:00 for two weeks and could not leave campus for two weeks unless it was for a game. Me..well lets just put it this way in the end (after all the running) Coach Tacy told me I did the right thing with keeping track of Willie but considering the rest of the team I could not go unpunished , had to follow the rules just like any other team member and the best way to make sure Willie did not get lost running around Memorial Field House was for me to run with him.
Coach Tacy did more for and with hoops at Marshall in one and a half years as the head man than any other coach has accomplished sans maybe Cam Henderson and the NAIA title team. For want of a few thousand dollars ( Joe Mac's bull headed stupidity) there is no telling where the program would be today had Coach Tacy stayed for a few more years vs going to Wake. We went 23-4(.852) that season alone.
There are so many other great stories , will share more if anyone is interested
The time Willie decided he was going to New York City - we had a curfew of something like 1 am ( very unusual most times it was 11 maybe 12) just because of where we were , everyone is pretty well on their way back to the hotel , I was walking back with Russell and Mike and I think Randy , not sure about Randy. Anyway we are almost back to the hotel and I look to my left and see Willie walking toward a subway station , told the others to go on and I would get Willie so he was not late for curfew.
Willie proceeds to tell me he is going to New York regardless of the curfew , the Big Apple NY NY..he kept saying at when we were flying north , all the way about ever 15 min or so.
Anyway knowing if he gets to NYC and especially where he wanted to go ( Broadway etc) the chances were we might leave to come home without him as I knew he would get lost.
So - I go with him figuring Coach Tacy while he might be mad at Willie would not be mad at me for going with him so he would not become lost or worse.
We get to Broadway , figure this I am 6'1 (at the time) Willie is like 6'10 -6'11 but listed as 6'9 here we are in NYNY both wearing these ( remember the time now style wise) below knee length black coats with fur collars , black mafia looking hats and me with a white silk scarf to boot , he is about 2 steps in front of me , looking like my body guard..we parted the sea so to speak as we walked down the street as no one even in New York was going to mess with a guy the size of Willie.
Next thing we are in a boom boom room ( strip joint) some girl hits on Willie , he buys here a watered down drink , about 10 min later here comes another girl and again he buys here a drink informing me that "these girls must really like me".
I had to explain to him that what he thought was them liking him was their job , to sell more drinks and ah whatever.
Anyway after a few hours of basically walking and wandering around "the Big Apple" I convenience him we might be wise to head back to the hotel.
We get on the subway , he has forgotten the stop ( this is what I eluded to about him possibly becoming lost) I knew the stop , he didnt want to get off but did. We get back to the hotel at 4:45 - I was rooming with John Hagan the equipment mgr on this trip ( thats another story as to why and yes it has to do with more antics ) anyway Hagan had called the NYPD to have them start looking for us since Russell had told them what took place earlier that night. By the time they were looking for us we were on the subway headed back to the hotel...anyway
I ended up staying in Willies room with Willie and John Sark ( who I normally roomed with).
since I wasnt about to try to get into my room with John Hagan in there..lol.
Somewhere around 5:30 or so there is a knock on the door , I answer it and there is Coach Tacy..not amused at all , glad we are ok but far from being amused. Coach seriously ran a very tight ship ,quite the disciplinarian to say the least and anyone on that team will attest to that fact. Tells me we will discuss things at breakfast at 6:00 and to not be late or allow Willie to get lost from the room to the dining area ( lol)
We fly back to Huntington - end of the story , Willie and I ran and ran and ran , all kind of wind sprints as well as just running around the outside of Memorial Field House in the cold , that and Willie having his in town curfew moved back to 8:00 for two weeks and could not leave campus for two weeks unless it was for a game. Me..well lets just put it this way in the end (after all the running) Coach Tacy told me I did the right thing with keeping track of Willie but considering the rest of the team I could not go unpunished , had to follow the rules just like any other team member and the best way to make sure Willie did not get lost running around Memorial Field House was for me to run with him.
Coach Tacy did more for and with hoops at Marshall in one and a half years as the head man than any other coach has accomplished sans maybe Cam Henderson and the NAIA title team. For want of a few thousand dollars ( Joe Mac's bull headed stupidity) there is no telling where the program would be today had Coach Tacy stayed for a few more years vs going to Wake. We went 23-4(.852) that season alone.
There are so many other great stories , will share more if anyone is interested
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Remember the Miami guard Mike Wrenn - sole reason we lost the game one of the worst no calls I have ever witnessed. Coach went wild , Coach Starling I thought was going to have a stroke then I had to somewhat hold on to him as he was contemplating going after the official. The basket Wrenn made put them ahead by 3 very very late in the game. Tough one to lose.
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Uniforms were actually sent to the dry cleaners. Jock straps , socks were washed by I have no idea , was not my responsibility.
Hey Marshall 77, remember that Tacy coached one year at MU, then left for Wake. His success was achieved, however, with just about all players having been recruited by Ellis Johnson. Ellis had gotten into some trouble and, by most accounts, was hoodwinked into resigning as basketball coach by an egghead bozo named Roland Nelson (and some others in Huntington), MU's president at the time. I think Stewart Way replaced Johnson and Way stepped down to an assistant's position to make way for Tacy.
OldHerd - Coach Way was the head man when I first started with the team , Coach Tacy for all intents and purposes took the helm about half way through the season then was officially named as the head coach at the end of the season.
Russell and Gene Lee were definitely at Marshall due to Coach Johnson - as was Blain Henry , and Bob Depathy , Randy Noll transferred from UK , Mike obviously followed Danny -
Do you remember when the freshman games in 69-70 had more in attendance than the regular season games?
Russell and Gene Lee were definitely at Marshall due to Coach Johnson - as was Blain Henry , and Bob Depathy , Randy Noll transferred from UK , Mike obviously followed Danny -
Do you remember when the freshman games in 69-70 had more in attendance than the regular season games?
A
anon_0314hp8ssprnn
Guest
A lot of the players called Coach Way,"Tewey" who apparently repeated over and over to them to "Keep a good attitude."
No 77, but I do vividly remember as a freshman, 63-64, how Ellis's first couple of teams struggle mightily and when he signed frosh classes including Danny D, Bob Allen, Bob Redd, George Stone, a former Huntington East great, the late Joe Dawson, Orville Stepp, a high scoring prep player from Inez, Ky, Glen Justice, from down in southern Mingto County, later Jim Davidson transferring in from Concord, etc. That's when MU produced an undefeated freshman team, fans, students included, flocked down 5th Ave. to the Field House, watched the frosh game, and then about 2/3 of the fans went home. Start of the rebirth of MU basketball in the 60s culminating in NIT runs; later recruits including Noll, Mike D., Russell Lee, Blaine Henry, Bernard Bradshaw, Big Dave Smith from Dayton, OH, etc., that led to further success into the Way-Tacy "era". Great times, "Golden Age", if you will, of Herd basketball which, I am sure we all agree and hope, that Danny D. is on the verge of restoring!!! GOOOO HERD!!!!!
dcherd, Coach Way might have used that phrase, but Coach Johnson had made it, or one quite similar, popular. After leaving the Herd as Coach, Ellis spent a stint as a tv sportscaster at the "old" channel 13, the old WHTN. He always signed off his show with the phrase "Have (keep) a good attitude".
Keep a good attitude was Ellis Johnson's phrase.
Coach Way's nickname was Touee - but if you had a brain you never referred to him by that name. Only those that were really close to him were allowed to use it and that was far and away NOT the players or managers
Something sad is if you google Marshall basketball , there is no mention of the Coach Way era. Goes from Coach Johnson to Coach Tacy
The night Ellis was stopped for ...well , the night Ellis was stopped in his pocket he had a list of players that he basically had coming to Marshall and included on that list was Artis Gilmore who ended up at Jacksonville. Ellis had the team that he thought he could go to The Dance with and stay for quite awhile. Ultimately that traffic stop is what if I remember ended his career at Marshall.
Coach Way additionally smoked a pipe , some referred to him as "the pipe"..lol
Coach Way's nickname was Touee - but if you had a brain you never referred to him by that name. Only those that were really close to him were allowed to use it and that was far and away NOT the players or managers
Something sad is if you google Marshall basketball , there is no mention of the Coach Way era. Goes from Coach Johnson to Coach Tacy
The night Ellis was stopped for ...well , the night Ellis was stopped in his pocket he had a list of players that he basically had coming to Marshall and included on that list was Artis Gilmore who ended up at Jacksonville. Ellis had the team that he thought he could go to The Dance with and stay for quite awhile. Ultimately that traffic stop is what if I remember ended his career at Marshall.
Coach Way additionally smoked a pipe , some referred to him as "the pipe"..lol
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