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Post by Commissioner on Jul 5, 2020 21:16:42 GMT -5
#68. Mike Walsh, 5-10 G, 1956-1958
Mike Walsh was the first player off the bench as a sophomore in 1956, and then averaged 14.5 and 15.8 points as a starter the next two seasons, leading the team in scoring as a senior. He was also co-captain and set a then-Titan record for free throw percentage as a senior (his 84%, however, is no longer in the top 10). Like many of the players from the 1950s and 60s, Walsh was a fine two-sport athlete, leading the Titan baseball squad in batting in 1957. He was inducted to the Titan Hall of Fame in 1989.
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Post by Commissioner on Jul 6, 2020 7:00:25 GMT -5
#69. Jim Jackson, 5-10 G, 1969-1971
James “Scrappy” Jackson played for the Titans during the turbulent years of 1969-71. He averaged 11.3 points as a junior and 15.7 as a senior. His career shooting percentage was a strong 47.2%, peaking at 50.7% as a senior, and he was a career 74% free throw shooter. Jackson closed his Titan career in style, scoring 36 points against Bowling Green in his final home game, and 24 at Duquesne in the season finale.
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Post by Commissioner on Jul 6, 2020 13:13:29 GMT -5
#70. Chuck Kemen, 6-2 F, 1943, 1946-49
Chuck Kemen is an interesting study in eligibility. I don’t know the NCAA’s rules from the 40s, but as a freshman in 1942-43 Kemen was the first man off the bench. That was one of the Titans best teams before the end of WWII, going 15-5 and leading the nation in scoring defense, and including future NBA players Lee Knorek (#22) and Art Stolkey (#55). Kemen played in the first 15 games of a 20 game schedule. But in mid-February, he was drafted. After spending two years as a P-38 pilot in Africa and Italy, Kemen returned to Detroit before the 1945-46 season. He was then a 4-year starter for the Titans from 1946-49, or almost 4 years, anyway. In 1949 he played in the first 16 games of a 22 game schedule, through February 14, at which point his eligibility ran out before the next game. I don’t know how they were calculating eligibility, but the result is that he played three-quarters of a season or more for 5 seasons in a Titan uniform. He was a consistent scorer with solid marks for the time, averaging between 7.6 and 9.8 points per game over his 4 post-war seasons, and was 3rd on the Titan career points list when his eligibility ran out. He's the only Titan to have played for Detroit's two longest serving coaches, and two of three winningest, Lloyd Brazil and Bob Calihan.
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Post by Larrytheman on Jul 6, 2020 17:15:24 GMT -5
Scrappy Jackson may have scored 36 pts vs Bowling Green, but his greatest game may have been his team leading 19 pts vs St Bona in the #14 greatest Titan victory in December 1968. That was the game where Haywood and Lanier neutralized each other. Scrappy was the difference.
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Post by Scrappy Larry on Jul 6, 2020 18:17:26 GMT -5
And Larrytitan was there!
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Post by Commissioner on Jul 6, 2020 21:09:04 GMT -5
#71. Jason Calliste, 6-2 G, 2011-2013
It’s too bad Jason Calliste and Ray McCallum didn’t stick around for their senior years at Detroit. Had they done so, the Titans would have had the Horizon League’s best backcourt, and instead of struggling to 14 wins with a backcourt of two true freshmen in Jerod Williams and Matthew Grant, we would have been a contender in the Horizon, and for a post-season berth. And if that happens, maybe Ray McCallum, Sr. isn’t canned after the 2016 season, and, well, who knows.
Anyway, young Ray went to the NBA, and Calliste left in the night for Oregon, where he had a fine season for the Ducks and returned to the NCAA tournament. Calliste’s sudden departure left a bad taste in some mouths, but Calliste had been a good player for the Titans, and his move was largely because the assistant who recruited him to Detroit, Carlos Briggs, had been canned.
As second fiddle to McCallum in the backcourt, Jason was a steady contributor, averaging 8.6, 10.2, and 14.4 points in three seasons. He hit 36.5% of his three point attempts, and was a deadly free throw shooter, knocking down 83.4% as a junior. Calliste’s free throw routine will be long remembered. He stands 6 inches behind the stripe; bounce bounce bounce; around the waste twice; bounce bounce; swish.
With Oregon, Jason averaged over 12 points, and shot over 50% from three and over 87% from the line. Even after McCallum entered the draft, the Titans might well have been a Horizon contender had Jason stuck around, and he would have moved up a number of all-time Titan lists. As it is, he scored over 1100 points for the Titans, is 8th on the career list for three pointers made, and started on what are still the last Titan teams to reach the NCAA and NIT tournaments. For the past several years he has played professionally in the G League, and in Latvia, Spain, and Canada.
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Post by Commissioner on Jul 7, 2020 5:43:10 GMT -5
#72. Terry Thomas, 6-8 F, 1973-1975
Terry Thomas was a mainstay of Dick Vitale’s first two teams, averaging 9.3 points and 6.1 rebounds as a junior in 1974, and 9.7 points (second on the team to John Long) and a team-best 8.0 rebounds in 1975. As a sophomore, he had averaged 7.2 points and 5.8 rebounds. Those are the numbers of a good contributor, a three-year starter, but not a star. But Thomas, somewhat surprisingly, is one of 22 Titans to play in the NBA. A muscular forward with a good mid-range jumper, Thomas was drafted in the 9th round of the NBA draft by the Pistons (the 151st pick overall). In those days of the extended draft, late round choices were normally garbage picks, often made in an effort to build local interest in the local NBA team. I mean, 9 picks? Or remember Al Cech (#47) drafted in the 15th round? That's more rookies in summer camp than roster spots on the team. How many rookies do you think are going to make the team? Surprisingly, Thomas, made the team. He played just that one season in the league, averaging 2.8 ppg, but that’s a lot more than a lot of bigger college stars. Trivia: In the 13 seasons from 1970 through 1982, 13 Titans were selected in the NBA draft. Thomas died in 1998, at the early age of 45. R.I.P. Terry Thomas for two as the Titans beat Dayton in overtime at Calihan in the 1974 season.
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Post by Rogobob77 on Jul 7, 2020 7:49:42 GMT -5
I remember seeing Terry Thomas BMOC my first two years at U-D, frequently he’d be wearing his varsity letter jacket. He was married during his college career, and was the father of twins while a player-athlete. Must have been quite a task to balance all that. Wiki bio says he had six children. It was sad to hear he passed at such an early age. I recall that he received a tryout with the Detroit Lions due to his size and athleticism, I believe at the tight-end position. He was a local recruit, went to Hazel Park High School.
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Post by Commissioner on Jul 7, 2020 16:32:48 GMT -5
#73. Bill Pleas, 6-5 F, 1972.I noted at the outset of these rankings that one of the toughest issues was comparing longevity to "peak" value. But I didn't see how to avoid it. How could Spencer Haywood not be near the top of a list of Titan greats? But if you based the rankings simply on "peak," given that the average player on this list played about 3 years, you'd just be listing the top single seasons. Not a bad idea, but a somewhat different project. Anyway, I've got no right answer and you can see that a bit in the rankings. But except for Haywood, everyone I've ranked so far was at least a two-year player, although Lee Knorek (#22) left for the NBA about three-quarters through his second Titan season. Anyway, Bill Pleas was, I think, a significantly better player than those ranked below him, and probably than several ranked above, and so despite playing just one Titan season, I've inserted him here. Ulysses F. “Bill” Pleas (rhymes with “says”) came out of the legendary program Mount Vernon High School in New York, and, decades later, he would be voted the best basketball player in the school’s history, ahead of Gus Williams, Rodney McCrae, and 11 other NBA players, not to mention numerous D-1 college players. He was known for his great leaping ability, and it is said that he could pluck a quarter off the top of a backboard. Pleas attended La Salle, but was hindered by injuries. He missed part of his freshman season and then his entire sophomore year to have surgery on both knees. As a red-shirt sophomore in 1970, playing alongside Ken Durrett and Fran Dunphy, Pleas averaged 14.1 points and 9.9 rebounds, but injuries limited him to 14 games. After that season, he decided to join his former La Salle coach, Jim Harding, at UD. (This was an interesting move in itself, as Harding seems to have been universally hated by everyone who knew him—someday I’ll have to do a full post on Harding, from having all his players quit at one school—Detroit--to having his players burn him in effigy at another. Fatty Taylor, who played 8 seasons in the ABA and NBA player after playing for Harding at La Salle, said at a team reunion in 2008, “Forty years later, if I saw him today sitting in a wheelchair, I’d walk over and smack him.” In fairness, it’s also worth quoting Frank Russell--#20 in this list—who participated in team walk-outs under Harding. Reflecting on his college days while playing for the Chicago Bulls in the NBA, Russell told the Varsity News, “Now, as I look back, it was all worth it. If I had to do it over again, I would choose U-D and I would want Coach Harding to coach me.” Harding was an ass, but he knew the game. Anyway, I digress.) Pleas played just one year for the Titans, but he was super, averaging a team-best 16.6 points and 12.4 rebounds for a very good UD team. Pleas led the Titans to a #18 national ranking with 18 points in a late February win over #2 Marquette, snapping the Warriors 56 game regular season win streak. He also had 18 points in the Titans’ win over #20 Duquesne five days later. But the Titans were jobbed out of an NIT bid when it was discovered that forward Daryl Johnson should not have been eligible all season (a long story). Pleas was selected in both the 1972 ABA and NBA drafts, but whether for physical or other reasons didn’t play in either league (Due to injuries and his transfer, Pleas had only played 3 years of college ball, but ran up against the NCAA’s “five to play 4” rule.) According to the Detroit Jewish News, in the summer of 1973, a year after graduating, Pleas signed with the top Israeli team, Maccabi Tel Aviv, for “a bundle of dough.” He arrived in Tel Aviv in August and stayed in Israel through the Yom Kippur War in October of that year. It didn’t work out, however. Because of the war both Israel and Egypt were both suspended from international play, and as a non-Jew and non-citizen, Pleas was not eligible to play in the Israeli leagues. Maccabi had signed him specifically for international play for which the team was now ineligible, and so Pleas returned home. Today, Pleas lives back in Mount Vernon, and coaches basketball at the Boys’ and Girls’ Club. As noted, Pleas is the first player I’ve listed, other than Haywood, to play just 1 season with the Titans. If Pleas had had more than one year as a Titan at anything close to his 1972 season, he’d leap quickly up this list. Over 8000 were on hand at Memorial on February 26, 1972, as the Titans slammed 2d ranked Marquette 70-49 behind Bill Pleas' 18 points.Pleas had 18 points and 18 rebounds in a win over #20 Duquesne just 5 days later.
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Post by rbj on Jul 7, 2020 17:01:47 GMT -5
#72. Terry Thomas, 6-8 F, 1973-1975
Terry Thomas was a mainstay of Dick Vitale’s first two teams, averaging 9.3 points and 6.1 rebounds as a junior in 1974, and 9.7 points (second on the team to John Long) and a team-best 8.0 rebounds in 1975. As a sophomore, he had averaged 7.2 points and 5.8 rebounds. Those are the numbers of a good contributor, a three-year starter, but not a star. But Thomas, somewhat surprisingly, is one of 22 Titans to play in the NBA. A muscular forward with a good mid-range jumper, Thomas was drafted in the 9th round of the NBA draft by the Pistons (the 151st pick overall). In those days of the extended draft, late round choices were normally garbage picks, often made in an effort to build local interest in the local NBA team. I mean, 9 picks? Or remember Al Cech (#47) drafted in the 15th round? That's more rookies in summer camp than roster spots on the team. How many rookies do you think are going to make the team? Surprisingly, Thomas, made the team. He played just that one season in the league, averaging 2.8 ppg, but that’s a lot more than a lot of bigger college stars. Trivia: In the 13 seasons from 1970 through 1982, 13 Titans were selected in the NBA draft. Thomas died in 1998, at the early age of 45. R.I.P. Does anyone know how Terry Thomas passed away?
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Post by Commissioner on Jul 8, 2020 7:23:35 GMT -5
#74. Jaleel Hogan, 6-6 F, 2015-18
After his junior year, Jaleel Hogan looked poised to take his place among the Titans best big men in history. His top line numbers had shown steady growth: over his first three seasons, he’d gone from 5.0 to 10.5 to 15.2 ppg, from 2.5 to 4.1 to 5.8 rpg; from 0.2 to 0.7 to 1.0 in bpg. His assists and steals numbers have also trended up. His junior year included a dominating performance against Oakland (39 points and 11 rebounds on 17 of 24 from the floor and 5-6 from the line; he went for 23 points and 9 rebounds in the rematch), and at year’s end he was a second team All-Horizon selection.
Unfortunately, Hogan ran into academic problems. After an aborted attempt to transfer to Alabama-Birmingham, he re-established academic eligibility by November, but was out of shape and never seemed to have his heart entirely in it. He sputtered through non-conference play averaging just 8 points and 3.4 rebounds, and then was ruled academically ineligible at mid-season. He did pass the career 1000 point mark before becoming ineligible. He finished his career with a .589 shooting percentage, second best in Titan history.
Since his Titan days, he’s played professionally in Mexico.
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Post by Commissioner on Jul 8, 2020 10:31:15 GMT -5
#75. Elijah Warren, 6-5 F, 2003-2004
Elijah Warren came to the Titans after two seasons at Pensacola JC. He made the Horizon All-Newcomer team in 2003, averaging 11.4 ppg, and was a second team All-Horizon player in 2004, albeit with relatively unimpressive top line numbers: 11.6 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 1.6 apg, 35.8% 3Pt%. Although Elijah was a good defensive player, he did not make the league’s all-defense team. But Elijah did lots of little things well, things that don’t always show up in the box score or stat lines, and in my humble opinion merited the honor.
After his Titan playing days, he played some professional ball in Ireland and Germany, coached at Pensacola for a bit, and then returned to Detroit, where he has been the head coach at Hamtramck and Detroit Denby. He is behavior interventionist in the public school system.
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Post by rbj on Jul 8, 2020 15:03:43 GMT -5
#75. Elijah Warren, 6-5 F, 2003-2004Elijah Warren came to the Titans after two seasons at Pensacola JC. He made the Horizon All-Newcomer team in 2003, averaging 11.4 ppg, and was a second team All-Horizon player in 2004, albeit with relatively unimpressive top line numbers: 11.6 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 1.6 apg, 35.8% 3Pt%. Although Elijah was a good defensive player, he did not make the league’s all-defense team. But Elijah did lots of little things well, things that don’t always show up in the box score or stat lines, and in my humble opinion merited the honor. After his Titan playing days, he played some professional ball in Ireland and Germany, coached at Pensacola for a bit, and then returned to Detroit, where he has been the head coach at Hamtramck and Detroit Denby. He is behavior interventionist in the public school system. Elijah Warren had a very good fan base from the city of Hamtramck. I remember seeing t shirts emblazoned with "The Elijah Warren Fan Club" in Calihan during his playing days. About 10 years ago I saw a guy walking on the Riverwalk with the a similar shirt on, I asked him about it, and I asked if he still attended games...he stated "when Elijah left...I left". I wonder if they got permission to use the UofD logo on those shirts?
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Post by Commissioner on Jul 8, 2020 21:25:05 GMT -5
#76. James Thues, 5-10 G, 2004-05
A first team All-Stater at Detroit King, James Thues went off to Syracuse for two seasons before transferring back home. In doing so, he became the rare high-major starter to transfer down, not due to any hardship or failure to cut it at the higher level, but just from a desire to play closer to home, and a good relationship with Coach Perry Watson, who had recruited Thues all through high school.
A fine ballhandler, Thues was a pass-first point guard who could score a bit when necessary, averaging 10.2 points as a redshirt senior. But he’s mainly here for his defense. He averaged nearly two steals a game both of his Titan seasons, rarely fouled, and was a Horizon All-Defensive Team selection both years. He also led the Titans in assists both years.
Am I ranking Thues too low? A Bleacher Report article from a few years back ranked Thues the 50th greatest player in Syracuse history; could he really rank only 76th for the Titans? BR probably overrates Thues, though he did average 4.9 assists and have a school record 101 steals for Syracuse as sophomore in 2002. He didn’t come close to those numbers in Detroit, but he was a very good ballplayer. BR probably overrates him, and I may underrate him. So maybe it’s a bit of both.
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Post by Commissioner on Jul 9, 2020 6:02:20 GMT -5
#77. Larry Moore, 6-7 F, 1968-70
An All-State center at Detroit Mumford, injuries kept Moore from reaching his full potential at UD, but the was still a very good player. He missed a number of games as a soph and was limited when he could play, averaging 5.5 points and 4.5 rebounds. As a junior in 1969, Moore emerged as the #2 man after All-Everything Spencer Haywood, averaging 12.8 points and 8.4 rebounds, both best on the team after Spencer. With Haywood’s early departure, Moore stepped up his performance to 14.5 points and 9.3 rebounds on the star-crossed 1970 squad, but he missed almost a quarter of the season due to various ailments. His career numbers totaled 11.8 points and 7.8 rebounds in 56 games, at a time when the Titans played some of their toughest schedules (Moore’s three varsity years featured the 13th, 2nd, and 7th toughest schedules, respectively, in Titan history, per Sports-Reference).
Moore later coached boys and girls basketball at Mumford for many years, and still resides in the Detroit area.
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