Grambling Rose

[Wayne23]

Grambling Rose
May 1, 1957
Marcus Rose. You don’t know my name but I’m fixin’ to change that. I played here at Grambling way back when, graduated 23 years ago, in 1934, as a matter of fact. Been trying to get me a head college coaching job ever since. Started in a Louisiana high school and done good. In five years we went 101-23, two state titles. Then I got the #2 assistant job at Jackson ST, and I figured it was just a matter of time ‘til I got a head coaching job.

Of course when you’re a Negro (I will use the terms used at the time; as time passes they will change.), especially in the South, time can sort of stand still. Oh well, as my wife Callie says, bitterness will only stand in my way. So I try not to be too bitter. Anyway, I’m back here at Grambling at long last, at age 45, and it’s my job. Only two years, and the salary is a joke, not much more than a high school teacher makes, but Callie’s a biology professor here, so we’ll get by.

“Marcus, you got to do this. Forget the money. Build you a NAME, and we’ll go to some big school. I believe in you, love.”

Well, maybe. It’s 1957 and there aren’t any black head coaches at any of those big schools. It might be barely starting to change in California and up north, but just barely.

No idea what I’d do or where I’d be without that woman. We got three kids- more on all that later.

Okay, just got the job, start today. Got to hire assistants first.

I’m fixing to run Princeton and triangle on offense, probably about 60-40, and man and 2-3 on D, probably about 50-50. I don’t press much unless I’m real deep, and that won’t happen for a few seasons, likely.

Okay, I got me three assistants. I’m kind of surprised that my A. D., Whitney Brown is willing to pay for three, but he isn’t paying much.

Doug Short came with me from Jackson ST. He’s my #1, and he’ll scout; he was a #2 there so he’s happy to have the promotion. He did a great job at Jackson.

#2 is Kebo Clark, also from Jackson ST where he was #3. He’ll recruit, which could be a tough job, but there’s no quit in Kebo.

#3 is a local high school head coach, Ramon Hidalgo. I’ve known Ray for years and I think he’ll do a great job as my bench coach.

Needless to say, none of the three is white.

As to talent, it’s not so bad. My guards could be stronger but we’re tough up front. It’s all about the Point and that spot's up for grabs between three guys, but we got time.

We’re running a small kid camp here for two weeks in July. I don’t figure we’ll make a profit on it but Whit Brown agreed that I need to see my players, and the camp lets us do that legal like, and lets us pay 'em, too.

We decided to buy the Gold scouting report for our area, the Southwest, and the Basic national. Most of our recruits will probably be from LA and TX and the area nearby.

[PointGuard]

About freakin' TIME!

[Wayne23]

June 26

We’ll go to the Houston Classic. I told Whit I want a balanced schedule but not too tough this year. We’re trying to build a program and we probably don’t have the horses yet.

And we start recruiting. Everything starts here. If you can’t recruit it doesn’t matter whether you can coach. 5 spots. We need 3 bigs. Looking at 17 guys, only 9 bigs, but we’ll add some, drop some others.

The only goal Whit says we need to meet is not to finish last in the conference. Wasn’t planning on finishing last.

July 31

None of the recruits are talking to me but Kebo says they are talking with him. He says no one seems particularly interested, but it’s early.

We’re hoping August will begin to change that but honestly, it will likely be fall, maybe even winter or spring before we get any commitments- if we’re lucky. We’re asking kids to come into a program that doesn’t have a great history. If we can have a winning season this year next season will be easier, recruiting wise, but right now it’s going to take sweet talk and promises of playing time. I tell Kebo not to make the promises too specific. I am a big believer in playing time being earned!

Callie and I met at Grambling when I was a junior and she was a freshman. We were both kids from very, very poor families who were lucky enough to have gotten scholarships. There was no way either of us could have gone to college any other way. We were both serious, and very focused on our studies. Yes, I played basketball, but I was on an academic scholarship not an athletic one, and I needed grades of B or better to keep it. I got A’s and B’s. Math and science gave me a little trouble and if it wasn’t for Callie’s help I would never have gotten the B I needed in biology my senior year. By then we’d been together almost a year and we were talking about getting married once we both had jobs.

When she graduated and got hired at Jackson ST we did get married. I was commuting an hour and a half to work at the Loiusiana high school where I coached hoops and taught history, and she was commuting 45 minutes. That was the only way we could make it work, and it stayed that way until I got the assistant coach job at Jackson ST, three years after our marriage. But I needed to be with her. Callie’s the only woman I ever was with. I knew first time we met she was the one. Lucky for me she felt that way too.

We waited a little while to have kids. Wallace was born in 1940, Loretta in 1943, and Ruth Ann in 1945. Every one of them was born in early June so Callie didn’t miss any time at work. In those days she would have lost her job if she couldn’t get there at the start of the semester. Her mama kept the kids for us, still does. And our kids are being raised right. Wallace will graduate high school next June and he aims to go to school either at Jackson ST or here at Grambling. The girls are younger. All three are very good students, and none of our kids has ever been in a bit of trouble.

[Wayne23]

August 7

We had our two weeks of camp and the big guys I thought would help us all look like they will. I think I have two good candidates for the Point position, too. I like what I see from my assistants. Ray has some great ideas for practice drills and he’s very good with the guards. He also sees the little things. I’ve told him that if he sees it I want to hear it! I was a Center in my playing days so I work with the bigs.

Doug helps out with the shooters, mostly. He’ll be on the road once the games start, scouting our opponents. He has a very analytical mind and that’s what the scouting assistant needs.

We added 12 in state guys to our recruit list. Let’s see what happens.

September 4

A couple of in state guys are talking to me and even showing a bit of interest.

September 18

We’ve offered to 3 bigs and 2 PGs. There is definitely interest with at least three of these players.

We have a schedule that is soft, but again, let us build a program and then we will accept challenges. For now, a soft schedule is appropriate to our talent level.

September 25

Ryan Harris, a PF, currently #270, has accepted our offer. Two others signed at other schools. We will re-evaluate and make offers, probably next week.

October 2

Practice begins, at long last!

Our facilities are not bad considering the size of the school. I don’t believe they will bring anyone here, but they probably won’t cause anyone not to come.

I was the #1 assistant and bench coach at Jackson ST, as I’ve said. The recruiter, I won’t say which one as there were several during my time there, would bring recruits into the locker room and say,

“We don’t have enough lockers to go around. Freshmen, and sometimes sophomores, have to double up, but we don’t even worry about that.”

I considered that to be a truly awful approach. I would have mentioned efforts to solve the problem, talked about choosing a locker mate carefully- all sorts of things. “We don’t even worry about that.” To a student that would sound like a dismissal. I felt it could be read as the coach not caring about a problem that might affect a student’s well being. I have always wondered how many recruits decided against us based upon this.

Here at Grambling we have enough lockers to go around, even enough for walk ons.

We continue to chase recruits, sixteen at present, plus the PF we signed. His stock dropped considerably but it may well rise again. He was out with a calf injury for two weeks.

November 12

The season starts tomorrow. More on that in a bit.

We had our two exhibition games and made some changes based upon what we saw.

Starting back court stays as is. Marq Sinq will be at Point and Al Finn at the 2 spot, backing up at Point. Al looks like a true scorer. Den Ross moved up to #3 guard.

Jon Vurn will start at SF. He’s the kind of player who does all of the little things. He may be our best all around player.

Vern Rigs did not show a great deal in practice but he exploded in both exhibition games. He moved up from being our #8 or #9 player to starting at PF. He looks like a big time scorer and rebounder. Zak Cody will start at C, and he can rebound, and should do some scoring.

Tel Moss and Cory King will be our first two bigs from the bench but neither is much of a rebounder. Walk on Zal Moon may get his chance if Moss and King do not deliver.

I like my team. We certainly couldn’t challenge the top 25 but I feel we will do well in our conference.

Let’s see how we do in the early, pre-conference games. I expect we’ll make some adjustments along the way.

Callie and I were both born in the deep south, me in 1912, Callie in 1914. Now, a Negro learned early to keep his head down, and to “know his place.” You learned it early or you didn’t live long. I learned it. Colored women mostly tried to stay as invisible as they could. Our parents taught us well.

When we got to college it had to be an all Negro school down here, just like all the other schools we went to before college. Grambling wasn’t and isn’t Harvard. It is probably more a technical college than an academic institute, but if you work at it, as both of us did, you can get an academic education here. Course we were extremely fortunate to get to college at all. Not many colored folks did.

I always had an interest in history, especially ancient history, and Grambling had some mighty good professors in that field. Callie told me that the biology department was adequate, but it was as good as she was going to get.

Four years of college was plenty for me. I graduated and went on to that high school teaching and coaching job I mentioned.

Callie was more ambitious and much more intelligent. She stayed on at Grambling for her Master’s degree, and got that university professor job. In those days a Master’s was plenty for that, at least at a Negro college. She has always wanted to pursue a Ph. D. in biology but that simply isn’t possible for a colored woman in the south, and we’ve never wanted to be separated. Maybe some day.

We were poor, but very happy during those first few years of married life. We didn’t want, need, or expect very much in a material sense. We had enough to get by, and to save up a little bit. We needed two cars. Neither one was new but they ran, and I'm good at fixing them up and maintaining them so they last a long time. Course they were made to last way back then.

When I moved up to the assistant job at Jackson ST there was an increase in pay, but not much of one. Tell the truth, Callie has always made more money, which is fine with both of us.

We plugged along, year after year. I’d get frustrated waiting for that call that never came. The one offering me a job as a head coach. I never thought it would take eighteen years to come, but that’s how long I stayed at Jackson ST waiting. Only Callie’s calm, steady support got me through that time. Now, I do understand that there are only about a half dozen Negro colleges in the south where I could have been hired, and that was certainly a factor, but it was still very frustrating. Oh, and all those schools up north? Maybe someday they’ll be ready to hire a colored head coach, but not yet.

Anyway, I am about as excited as I can be waiting to coach my first game as a Division I head coach.

We’ll be going up against New Orleans, here at home. I know their head coach, Roosevelt Moore. He’s a fine man and a good coach, but he doesn’t have a lot of talent. He likes it wild and free on offense, and likes to press and play man on D. I think we have an edge inside. We’ll try our best to take advantage.

[Wayne23]

November 20

We got off to a great start, beating New Orleans 58-45. It went back and forth through most of the first half. Then with about five minutes left we went on a 12-3 run, and we never trailed again.

As I expected Al Finn did some scoring, getting 25. He was the only man in double figures but we were +9 in rebounding, +8 in turnovers, and we had 12 fast break points. Also as expected we were very strong inside, getting 24 in the paint, and 16 second chance points. We didn’t shoot well but we took 24 more shots and that did it. I have always been a big believer in controlling the boards. It simply pays off. Our bench did a fine job. I played 9, and all 9 contributed.

Callie was at the game, as were our children. We all celebrated at home afterward.

Next came San Diego, also at home. Like New Orleans they ran a very free wheeling offense. On D they played man, but they don’t seem to press much, according to Doug, who, incidentally, did a great job of scouting New Orleans. San Diego’s scorer is their 2 guard.

64-53 to put us at 2-0. They led 5-4, and that was their only lead, but it stayed close for a long time. Vern Rigs had 20, Al Finn 15, and Jon Vurn 13. Zak Cody had 8 points and 14 RBs. The stats were rather close. The edge was in fouls. We were quicker and they needed to foul too often. We shot 88.5% from the line and that was the difference.

Next up, Hartford, still at home. They may test us inside. I think we have an edge at the Point but this could be a challenge. They’re deep.

Then it’s Central Arkansas in our first road game. We think we’re better inside, and deeper, but the road is difficult.

We continue our recruiting efforts but we have only filled the one scholarship. Still four to give.

November 27

67-71 against Hartford. I don’t suppose I expected to go undefeated but no one likes to lose at home. We were edged in most categories on the statistics sheet, just edged, but it was enough. It hurt that Al Finn fouled out playing only 25 minutes, and that Marq Sinq battled foul trouble all night. Den Ross did not play badly covering for them, but he isn’t the player either of them is. That may have been the crucial factor. Well, they scored 21 on the fast break, we scored 6, so that was also important.

16 and 6 for Jon Vurn.

We bounced back, beating Central Arkansas, there, 61-49. It was close for about 33 minutes. At that point their Point Guard fouled out. The back up was not up to the task and we sprinted to the finish. 15, 4, 3 for Vurn, 14 and 6 for Cody, 9 and 10 for Rigs. We didn’t take care of the ball well, but +14 rebounds made a huge difference.

So we are 3-1.

This week we host 0-4 NJIT, then travel to 1-3 Harvard.

NJIT has had a great deal of trouble so far. They simply haven’t come together as a team in any way.

Harvard has more talent but has played a challenging schedule. To beat them in Cambridge our inside players will need to dominate over their good front line.

December 4

63-68 vs. NJIT here at home. This was not a happy evening. We fell behind, then we fell way behind, by 15. At the half it was 11, and we were never able to get closer than the final margin of 5. Our starting back court was in foul trouble all night long and both Sinq and Finn fouled out. That was more than we could overcome. The officiating was inconsistent at best. Five more fouls were called on NJIT than on us, but none of their players fouled out. This was my most frustrating night as a head coach so far.

And then it got worse, 54-66 at Harvard. For the second game in a row we fell behind early. Our first half defense was awful. We made corrections in the locker room and played much better defense in the second half, but our offense disappeared in the second; we made only 7 field goals. Marq Sinq fouled out for the second game in a row; he is averaging 4.0 fouls per game.

We are at 3-3. The Point is our problem. The staff met. We decided to lower our defensive intensity just a bit and will work that into our practices. We need to keep Sinq in the game, and Finn as well. Finn is averaging 3.5 fouls per game. If need be we will move toward playing more zone, but for now at least we will stay at 50% man, 50% 2-3.
Only one game this week. We are at 4-4 Texas Pan American. They are good outside but we think we have a strong edge inside. We will need to exploit it.

Wallace is a senior at the local high school. It was difficult for him to change schools for his senior year but he did it without complaint. He has made us proud. As a student he has never gotten a grade other than “A,” he is in the National Honor Society, he has sung in chorus throughout high school, and being 6’ 10” he has been a starting Center since freshman year. The new coach was thrilled to have him. He will attend the University of California, Berkeley next year on an academic scholarship, but will play basketball there. He could have taken an athletic scholarship but the academic scholarship was more beneficial. Callie and I could not ask for a better son. We would love to have had him play for me here at Grambling but the opportunity to attend Cal. Berkeley simply could not be passed up.

Loretta is in the eighth grade. She is very musical, playing classical piano. She has played piano since age three, and began lessons at age six. By that time she was already writing songs, and could play any song she heard. She is an “A” student.

Ruth Ann is in sixth grade. She is our little rebel. She is a fine girl, and is respectful at all times, but she also wants to know why, and challenges the why when she senses any sort of injustice. Callie and I worry about her and we try mightily to make her understand how dangerous it is for her to be too open about her feelings. At least so far she only issues her challenges at home and at school, thankfully. Like her siblings she is a straight “A” student.

[Wayne23]

December 11

56-48 over Texas Pan American. Vern Rigs had 25 and 8, Al Finn 23. Did easing up a bit on D help? Well, Al had 4 fouls but Marq had only one, so it didn’t hurt. On the stat sheet we held small advantages across the board. This was a good win. It puts us at 4-3.

This week 3-3 San Francisco is here. The great Bill Russell graduated two years ago, after leading them to back to back national titles. Now they are quite ordinary. They have a very good back court but we feel we are much better on the front line.

We continue to recruit, adding players, dropping others. We hope we’re making some progress but it is difficult to tell.

December 18

50-64 against San Francisco. As in our other losses we fell behind early. The critical factor in this game was bench play. Our bench had 6, 6, 2, theirs had 21, 9, 4. This is the first time our bench has been this completely dominated. The other factor was inside play. Zak Cody didn’t get the ball, and when he did he either missed the shot or turned the ball over.

On the positive side Al Finn had 24.

This is, of course, a process. When I took the job I knew that, particularly during this first season, and likely next year as well, we would struggle. It takes time to build a program. I am confident that I can and will build a successful basketball program here at Grambling but it cannot be done overnight. At this point in the season I can say that I expected more from Zak Cody, Jon Vurn, and Marq Sinq, but all in all we are doing about as expected. We are young. Neither of our seniors starts, so if we can recruit even two or three decent players next year could be very good. For this year we will do what we can.

We close out pre-conference play at home with 2-5 UMass Lowell.

December 25

53-55. This was a very tough loss. The two primary factors were poor shooting (32.7), and foul trouble in the back court (again). I am going to give back up Den Ross a bit of time at the Point, in the hope that this will help with the latter problem.

We head into conference play at 4-5. We are not scoring many points, 58.4, but we are giving up even fewer, 57.7. We are +1.7 in rebounding, and +0.7 in turnovers. Our primary issue of concern is fouls by our starting guards. Aside from that we need more production from Zak Cody.

Given that the Southwestern Athletic Conference is rather weak we are optimistic about finishing in the top half of the ten team conference. My unstated goal is to finish in the top three. Time will tell.

We start conference play at 1-8 Alabama A & M, and then host Mississippi ST, 6-3, favored to win the conference. So the first week may pit us against the best and worst teams in conference.

Our family is not religious, which is unusual for a Negro family, especially one here in the Deep South, but we certainly do celebrate Christmas. All of us were together, including Callie’s parents, who live with us. My parents have both passed away.

We had a celebration of a wonderful year, exchanged small gifts, and had a delicious dinner. It could be some time before we are all together again for this holiday. Wallace will be playing ball for Cal. Berkeley and may well not be able to be here for the holiday next year.

Callie and I discussed that in bed on Christmas night. We accept that time moves forward and that life is very much about adapting to change. We certainly do not want to hold Wallace back.

[Wayne23]

January 1, 1958

55-40 at Alabama A & M. We held them to an all but unbelievable 9 points in the first half. Our back court stayed out of foul trouble. Rigs had 15 and Vurn 12, and Zak Cody had only 5, but had 8 RBs and 5 assists. Our bench played well.

56-52 over conference favorite MS Valley ST. We were down 6 at the half, mostly because they were making shots outside. We went with more man to man to start the second. It worked in that they stopped making those outside shots, but as they worked the ball inside Zak Cody quickly got into foul trouble. Fortunately for us his back up, Tel Moss, rose to the occasion with 8 points and 8 rebounds. We took the lead with about eight minutes left, and held on. Vern Rigs had 13 and 10 to lead us, and Al Finn added 12 more. +10 rebounds may have been the critical factor. This was a big early season win!

This week 1-10 Southern is here, and then we go to 3-8 Alabama ST.

We add 12 recruits to our list.

Callie and I are not drinkers but we had a glass of wine after the MS Valley ST game to celebrate the new year.

Ruth Ann got in a bit of trouble at school. For some reason the troubles in Little Rock, Arkansas, came up in class and she expressed herself, apparently at some length, and with some passion. The teacher told us she had some difficulty calming Ruth Ann down. While our girl was not disruptive or even impolite, she was a bit more persistent than Miss
Blake felt she should have been. We agreed to speak with Ruth Ann, and we did so.

Once again, a Negro in the Deep South must tread lightly. Our daughter is very passionate in her beliefs. Callie and I are concerned. We do all we can, but Ruth Ann insists that times are changing, and that the time has come when Negroes must demand their rights.

Hopefully she will calm down as she grows older, and before she gets herself into real trouble.

January 8

A 57-45 victory over Southern put us at 7-5, 3-0 in conf. The game was tied at the half. I felt that our passing was sloppy so I addressed that in the locker room. We did not have a single TO in the second half. Zak Cody had another weak game but everyone else played quite well. This was definitely a team effort. The defense was excellent in the second half, when we went with mostly man to man and held Southern to 15.

60-65 in OT at Alabama ST. We came all the way back from 15 down to tie it at the buzzer of regulation, and then disappeared in overtime. Al Finn had a terrible night, fouling out in just 14 minutes, and scoring two points. Den Ross played very well in his place but we need Al. 10 and 13 for Zak Cody, 17 for Jon Vurn. 23 turnovers (-13) was probably fatal. This is a game we should have won.

The coming week will be challenging. First we host Arkansas Pine Bluff, 8-5, 4-0, alone in first place. Then we travel to 7-6, 3-1 Prairie View, tied with us in second place.

January 15

69-44 over Ark. Pine Bluff. Easily our best game of the year. 28 and 6 for Vern Rigs, but our front court completely dominated theirs. 9 and 14 for Zak, 11, 4, 4, 4 for Jon Vurn. +17 RBs.

56-49 at Prairie View. I’m thrilled to win on the road against a team that was tied for first in conf. Great D, excellent rebounding, and no foul trouble. Good play from all eight that I used.

The win puts us alone in first.

This week we host 5-10, 4-2 Jackson ST, my old school. Mixed feelings, but on the plus side I know what they do, and I know their players.

Then we go to 5-10, 3-3 Alcorn ST.

We’re filling the gym for our home games, which is great for my boys, very motivating.

“Marcus, I cannot tell you how pleased I am. 9-6, 5-1. Who would have believed it!”

“It’s early, Callie. A great many things can happen.”

“Yes, but I always knew that once you were able to have a chance to prove yourself you would be successful.”

Love that woman!

January 22

61-48 over Jackson ST. 18 for Al, 9 and 9 for Zak. I think a key factor in our recent success is the fact that we are giving #3 guard Den Ross more time, and specifically, more time at the point. The result has been fewer fouls and thereby more production from our starting guards. We have won six of our last seven, and the sole loss was in overtime.

55-52 at Alcorn ST. This was a battle all the way. 15 lead changes and 11 ties. Finally, we scored the last four points of the game. Sub Tel Moss was in because Jon Vurn was ineffective. Moss hit an eight footer to put us up by one. They came down and missed a foul line jump shot. Moss got the rebound, and was fouled with three seconds left. He made both, and they missed a shot from half court. 13 each for Moss and Finn, 13 RBs for Zak.

We have a two game lead in conference.

This week we host 6-11, 2-6 Texas Southern, and then host 3-14, 2-6 Alabama A & M, who we beat there by 15.

January 29

52-59. I can’t believe Texas Southern beat us here. All the bad things we have not been doing lately resurfaced. Both starting guards were in foul trouble all night long; Marq fouled out in 20 minutes. We were -7 in rebounds. We got off to a very slow start. Just a terrible night.

61-32 over Alabama A & M. My boys played like they had something to prove, which I suppose they did. 4 fouls for Al Finn but he played 34 minutes and no one else had foul trouble. Vurn had 16, Rigs and Finn 15 each. We committed only 7 TOs, and we were +5 on the boards. Now we need to take it on the road.

We go to 11-8, 5-5 MS Valley ST, then to 4-15, 3-7 Southern.

Wallace is having a great season at the local high school. He is #1 in the state of LA in rebounding, and #1 in his conference in scoring. Cal Berkeley seems thrilled that he is going there. He continues to get all “A” grades.

Loretta is playing what her piano teacher calls “professional level” piano, mostly classical but some jazz piano as well.

Ruth Ann continues to be very interested in current events. She has discovered Gandhi- heaven help us!

[Wayne23]

February 5

76-72 at MS Valley ST. This is a great road win! 24 for Al Finn, 18 and 6 for Vern Rigs, 12 and 9 for Zak Cody, 10, 2, 7 for Jon Vurn. It was close until midway through the second half. We then went on a run and opened a 14 point lead. After that we just hung on.

57-47 at Southern. 22 for Finn, 14 for Vurn. When we stay out of foul trouble we are very hard to beat.

Great week! One game up on Prairie View and Ark. Pine Bluff with six to play. Everyone else is at least three back.

This week we host 10-11, 7-5 Alabama ST, who beat us in OT there. Then we go to Ark. Pine Bluff, 13-8, 9-3. We won by 25 at home but they are much better than that, especially at home.

February 12

68-48 over Alabama ST here. 23 for Al Finn, 14 for Vern Rigs. Only 10 TOs.

We now have a two game lead in conf.

64-67 in OT at Ark. Pine Bluff. Tough loss. We blew a 16 point lead in the second half. The shots simply stopped falling. Then in OT the pattern continued. We had our opportunities but you need to make the shots. We played well, all in all, +17 RBs. 6, 20, 9 for Zak, his best game of the season. 27 for Al.

I’m 0-2 in overtime. Not happy about that.

We are now one game ahead of Ark. Pine Bluff, two over Prairie View, and three or more over the rest, with four to play. We’re at 15-8, 11-3.

This week we host third place Prairie View, 13-10, 9-5. Then we’re off to 9-14, 8-6 Jackson ST. We beat both teams last time we played.

February 19

Big win over Prairie View, 74-46. We didn’t expect it to be this easy. Even bigger, Ark. Pine Bluff lost. We’re two up with three to play.

We never trailed in this one. At the half it was 52-22. 22, 9 for Zak, who has really come alive lately. 13 each for Al and Vern Rigs. 9, 6, 6 for Marq, who played really well.

51-59 at Jackson ST. The fans cheered me when I walked out onto the court at the start of the game. We jumped out to an early 9 point lead and led by 7 at the half, but Marq committed his third foul during the first minute of the second half, and his fourth almost immediately when I put him back in a few minutes later. That was that. 20 for Al, but we shot only 34.1%, 22.2% in the second half.

We’re now one up on Ark. Pine Bluff, and two over Alabama ST. If we end up tied with Ark. Pine Bluff they will receive the #1 seed in our conf. tournament.

We end the regular season this week. First we host 10-15, 8-8 Alcorn ST. We won by only three there. Then we’re at Texas Southern, 10-15, 6-10. This could be an important game.

59-44 over Alcorn ST. Ark. Pine Bluff lost so we have now clinched first place! 18 for Al, 14 and 8 for Zak, 8 and 8 for Joe Vurn.

69-53 over Texas Southern. 15, 6, 5 for Al, 18 for Vern Rigs. Vern strained his abdominals. Out for about ten days. First serious injury of the season. I knew we get one or more; too bad to get it at this time. But we don’t play for eight days so that helps.

We end the regular season 18-9, 14-4. I am amazed and delighted. We won the conference by three games over three teams.

[Wayne23]

March 4

#5 seed MS Valley ST beat #4 Ark. Pine Bluff. We beat them by 4 both times we played. We’ll play them Vern Rigs is not 100% but he’ll play at least some.

March 5

69-65 over MS. Valley ST. Strange. We’ve played them three times. We’ve won by 4 three times. Al Finn had 25, Jon Vurn 15 and 7, Zak Cody 8 and 10. Vern Rigs gave us 24 minutes. Great bench play.

It’s Prairie View in the final. We won by 7 there and then 28 here, but the latter should be tossed out; this will be a battle. They have good guards. If we can force the game inside we’ll have a very good chance.

March 6

54-61. All the stats were about even except shooting %. We shot 32.1%, they shot 50%. In the second half we were 7-28, and that did us in. We didn’t make shots and we didn’t play good D.

Now we need to sign some recruits. We have one signed, and we’ve offered to four others, all of whom are interested.

Prairie View is a #16 seed and they lose by 21 in the opening round.

We end up +6.3 PPG, +4.0 RBPG, +1.6 TOPG.

March 26

The LA state high school basketball awards were given out at a banquet last night. Wallace was named Player of the Year. It took the stung out of his team losing in the title game of the state tournament. I can’t believe he’ll be leaving for California in five months.

#11 North Carolina won the national title.

April 4

Awards: Al Finn was SWAC POY, and first team. Vern Rigs was Freshman OY, and second team. Jon Vurn and Zak Cody were first team. I got the coach award.

And it still comes down to recruiting. We need to grab some kids.

We struck out in recruiting. Very disappointing. I’m shifting Kebo Clark to bench coach. We hired Jabari Butler to take over recruiting for next year. Ray Hidalgo is moving on.

I was given a five year contract extension with a $4,000 salary increase. In 1957 $4,000 is a lot of money. I signed.

We ask Whit Brown for a facilities upgrade. Didn’t get it. Whit said it just isn’t in the budget but he’ll work to get it into the budget for next spring.

I couldn’t be happier with my first season here at Grambling, 19-10, 14-4. Sure, it would have been great to win the tourney and go to the NCAA, but I’ll take it. We exceeded expectations.

Everyone who played is back. Only one recruit and lots of open slots, but hopefully we can land a transfer or two.

Callie has been, as always, more than supportive.

I look forward to next season. We’d love to win our conference tourney and play in the NCAA. That’s our goal!

[Wayne23]

May 1

We buy the Gold scouting report for our region and the Basic national report.

May 8

Two graduations in two nights. First Loretta, from eighth grade. She won all the music awards and finished second in her class academically. Then last night it was Wallace. He won all of the sports awards and finished second academically.

Ruth Ann was feeling a bit left out. She will enter Grade 7 in the fall.

June 5

We’re looking at several transfers.

June 9

We offer to a PG, 2 SFs and a PF.

June 12
We got three: PG Bret Bent, junior, from Vanderbilt. He was a long shot but our new recruiter, Jabari Butler, and I managed to talk him here.

Ken Reis is an SF, a soph from Texas Southern.

Don Toby is a junior PF from Tennessee. He has tremendous potential but he has some serious academic issues. We will need to work to get him eligible, and he’ll need to work harder. Grambling is noted for doing fine work with struggling students, and when I arrived I began a program of academic support for our players. I am certain that this is what drew Don to us.

We’re looking to fill one more spot with a transfer. We have four seniors and I’d rather try to fill four scholarships than five. But we’re happy with what we have achieved.

June 19

We pick up soph Pat Hall, an SF from Villanova. He wasn’t getting playing time and didn’t feel he would get it.

We need guards but there was really only one in the transfer pool. We’ll try to recruit some.

June 24

It was about 2:30, in the middle of the night.

“Marcus, there’s someone at the door.”

“Stay here. Don’t let the children leave their rooms.”

“The Klan?”

“Who else, at this time of the night.”

“Be careful, Marcus.”

“I will.”

I went down, opened the door.

“Hello, sir. Will you come inside?”

“No, you step out here, boy.”

“Yessuh.”

There were at least a dozen, all in white robes and hoods. The one who spoke was Willis Blakely, owner of the hardware store in town.

“Marcus, you makin’ a name for yourself.”

“Sir?”

“You heard me, ni—er!”

I stood still, did not make eye contact, waited in silence for whatever was to come. I knew that I should only speak if ordered to. When I did speak it would be in the "Yassuh" manner. To show eloquence or even intelligence was to invite certain trouble.

“Well?”

“Sir, I’m stayin’ right clear of the white world.”

“Thas why we speakin’, an' not lightin’ yo house on fire.”

Still standing still.

“This here’s a warnin’, boy. Whatever you do at that ni—er ‘college’-”

“More like a trade school fer dummies!”

“Shut up, Raymond! As I was sayin’, whatever you do at that school, long as they’s no white coaches, no white players, they won’t be no trouble. But…”

“I hear you loud and clear, sir. No way I’d ever think about doin’ them things sir.”

“See you don’t, boy. See you DON’T!”

With that they were gone. There was a cross burning on our lawn but it was a small one, again, just a warning.

When I got back in the house Callie and Loretta were both crying and both ran into my arms.

“It’s all right. They just came to warn me not to do some things I never would have done anyway. It’s all right.”

Wallace was clearly upset. All I could think about was how glad I was that he was headed for California soon. I’m sure it wouldn’t be paradise, but he would be safe at Berkeley- as safe as we can be anywhere.

My concern was Ruth Ann. There was smoke pouring out of her ears. She was crying, like her sister and her mother, but her tears were not out of fear, they were out of rage. I knew that anything I said would only make things worse so I said nothing. I planned to speak with her in a day or two. And she would not leave the house for at least a day. I simply couldn’t take the chance that she might say something that would be dangerous for all of us.

Thankfully it was summer and school was not in session.

Ruth Ann saw me looking at her and looked back.

“It’s not going to be this way for much longer. We need to stop being afraid and rise up. I can’t WAIT ‘til I’m old enough to fight those monsters!”

Callie and I didn’t even try to go back to bed. We stayed up, just held each other for support. Didn’t really talk much.

It’s not that we were completely surprised by this visit. We certainly had hoped we’d be left alone, but we knew this could have been much, much worse.

We lived in a very modest home. It’s true we owned it outright, but it was in a poor neighborhood, all Negro, of course. We could have afforded a better house but you don’t draw attention to yourselves that way.

“Marcus, I hope and I pray that before too long this family can move to California or Oregon or Washington, or even up North.”

“I do too, Callie. All I can do is try to keep building a successful program here at Grambling, and hope that we catch a break.”

June 26

Recruiting starts today. We hope to land at least two guards. Looking at 18 players to begin with.

July 31

We have four players showing a little interest.

We held our kid camp. We had lots more kids this year, almost sold out the first week, and a good turnout for the second. From what I saw we should have some talent this year. The goal will be to win the conference and the tournament.

I finally had that talk with Ruth Ann. It did NOT go well. It frightened me to see how much anger my little girl feels. She is twelve, soon to be thirteen years old. I suppose that is part of it, hopefully anyway. She feels the unfairness of the prejudice against us very passionately. I suppose all of us do. But she is determined that she will join those who are trying to change things. Well, things do not seem to change very much, and certainly they don’t change very quickly, down here.

“I will NOT live my life bowing down to those stupid people!”

When I try to explain the dangers she is very clear that she will not allow fear to prevent her from acting. She understands that throwing her life away will do no good, and she says she intends to be careful, but it is clear that she will act. There’s really nothing she can do at present, but I have no doubt that when the opportunity presents itself she will act. My greatest hope is that I may get this family away from all this soon. I know it will be several years, probably. I hope it will not be too late.