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Post by Commissioner on Jul 9, 2020 15:48:55 GMT -5
#78. Larry Hughes.6-4 G/F, 1959-1961
Larry Hughes, a big guard from Walled Lake, was a key member of Detroit’s first two post-season teams in 1960 and 1961. Hughes averaged 13.1 points and a team best 8.5 rebounds as a soph in 1959, and 11.7 points and 8.1 rebounds as a junior. He was team captain as a senior, but a series of nagging back and hamstring injuries limited Hughes to just 20 games, most coming off the bench. He averaged career lows of just 6.1 points and 4.0 rebounds. However, even that year--on a team with Dave DeBusschere and Charlie North--a mid-season review in the Varsity News described him as “the drive, spark, and spirit” of the team.
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Post by Commissioner on Jul 10, 2020 6:15:00 GMT -5
#79. Tom “Cookie” Marsh, 6-0 G, 1971-1973.
A legendary player at St. Cecilia’s gym, and rated one of the top 100 recruits in the nation out of Detroit Northern, Cookie Marsh was a starter on the 1972 and 1973 teams. He averaged 5.8, 11.7 and 13.7 points per game in his three Titan seasons. Marsh was a good outside shooter who would have benefited from a three-point line. As it was, he had a good if unspectacular Titan career. The high point may have been when Cookie powered the Titans to an 84-77 upset 15th-ranked Ohio U. in December, 1972, by scoring 12 points in the final 11 minutes. He finished with 25 points for the game.
In 2017 Marsh and his longtime friend, Tom “Whitey” Daniels, published “Black and White Like You and Me,” a memoir of their long-time friendship, growing up and living in Detroit. For those who grew up in the Detroit Metro area in the 1950s, 60s and early 1970s, it’s filled with nostalgic references to Motown, local sports teams, and such. But it’s also a warm story of cross-racial friendship that merits attention as the country has erupted in protests triggered by the death of George Floyd.
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Post by Rogobob77 on Jul 10, 2020 6:45:37 GMT -5
#79. Tom “Cookie” Marsh, 6-0 G, 1971-1973.A legendary player at St. Cecilia’s gym, and rated one of the top 100 recruits in the nation out of Detroit Northern, Cookie Marsh was a starter on the 1972 and 1973 teams. He averaged 5.8, 11.7 and 13.7 points per game in his three Titan seasons. Marsh was a good outside shooter who would have benefited from a three-point line. As it was, he had a good if unspectacular Titan career. The high point may have been when Cookie powered the Titans to an 84-77 upset 15th-ranked Ohio U. in December, 1972, by scoring 12 points in the final 11 minutes. He finished with 25 points for the game. In 2017 Marsh and his longtime friend, Tom “Whitey” Daniels, published “Black and White Like You and Me,” a memoir of their long-time friendship, growing up and living in Detroit. For those who grew up in the Detroit Metro area in the 1950s, 60s and early 1970s, it’s filled with nostalgic references to Motown, local sports teams, and such. But it’s also a warm story of cross-racial friendship that merits attention as the country has erupted in protests triggered by the death of George Floyd. Here’s a link to to ordering info on the memoir you reference: www.amazon.com/Black-White-Like-You-Sometimes/dp/1946653004The authors had a booth at a recent Homecoming where they were selling and signing the book.
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Post by motorcitysam on Jul 10, 2020 7:11:42 GMT -5
#79. Tom “Cookie” Marsh, 6-0 G, 1971-1973.A legendary player at St. Cecilia’s gym, and rated one of the top 100 recruits in the nation out of Detroit Northern, Cookie Marsh was a starter on the 1972 and 1973 teams. He averaged 5.8, 11.7 and 13.7 points per game in his three Titan seasons. Marsh was a good outside shooter who would have benefited from a three-point line. As it was, he had a good if unspectacular Titan career. The high point may have been when Cookie powered the Titans to an 84-77 upset 15th-ranked Ohio U. in December, 1972, by scoring 12 points in the final 11 minutes. He finished with 25 points for the game. In 2017 Marsh and his longtime friend, Tom “Whitey” Daniels, published “Black and White Like You and Me,” a memoir of their long-time friendship, growing up and living in Detroit. For those who grew up in the Detroit Metro area in the 1950s, 60s and early 1970s, it’s filled with nostalgic references to Motown, local sports teams, and such. But it’s also a warm story of cross-racial friendship that merits attention as the country has erupted in protests triggered by the death of George Floyd. Great guy to talk basketball with. Had the good fortune of sitting with him during a couple of Titan games.
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Post by larrytitan on Jul 10, 2020 7:34:02 GMT -5
I have ordered Cookie’s book.
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Post by Rogobob77 on Jul 10, 2020 7:47:51 GMT -5
A nice WXYZ video feature story on the Marsh book:
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Post by Commissioner on Jul 10, 2020 20:08:53 GMT -5
#80. Chris Jenkins, 6-7 F, 2015-17.A product of UD Jesuit, Jenkins transferred back to Detroit after originally signing with and taking a redshirt year at Colorado. Jenkins got jobbed by the transfer rules and ended up with just two and a half seasons at UD—today, he would probably have gotten 4 years to play in Detroit. In any case, in 81 games as a Titan, Jenkins established himself as a solid, steady player who did a lot of things well. For his career, he averaged 10.7 points, peaking at 12.0 his redshirt junior year, and 5.8 rebounds, peaking at 6.7 in his redshirt senior season. He had a highly unorthodox shot, the result of adapting to an injury many years before, but was quite effective, making over 40% of his three point attempts, good for 8th on the Titan career list, including 43.2% as a redshirt junior (6th on the Titan single season list) and 46% as a redshirt sophomore (but falling short of qualifying for the record book due to his shortened season). As a senior, he knocked down 83% of his free throws. Jenkins ‘doo always made him easy to spot on the court, and his all-around game made him worth watching. After UD, he played professionally in Finland. Chris Jenkins' hairstyle made him easy to spot on the court.
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Post by Laurence on Jul 11, 2020 16:04:03 GMT -5
Waiting for Ralph Brisker...only played 34 games in a year and a half....but. Scored over 500 pts and averaged 16.6ppg in 67-68. Plus he was the most exciting Titan of my lifetime! A legend at Hamtramck HS.
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Post by motorcitysam on Jul 11, 2020 16:24:11 GMT -5
#80. Chris Jenkins, 6-7 F, 2015-17.A product of UD Jesuit, Jenkins transferred back to Detroit after originally signing with and taking a redshirt year at Colorado. Jenkins got jobbed by the transfer rules and ended up with just two and a half seasons at UD—today, he would probably have gotten 4 years to play in Detroit. In any case, in 81 games as a Titan, Jenkins established himself as a solid, steady player who did a lot of things well. For his career, he averaged 10.7 points, peaking at 12.0 his redshirt junior year, and 5.8 rebounds, peaking at 6.7 in his redshirt senior season. He had a highly unorthodox shot, the result of adapting to an injury many years before, but was quite effective, making over 40% of his three point attempts, good for 8th on the Titan career list, including 43.2% as a redshirt junior (6th on the Titan single season list) and 46% as a redshirt sophomore (but falling short of qualifying for the record book due to his shortened season). As a senior, he knocked down 83% of his free throws. Jenkins ‘doo always made him easy to spot on the court, and his all-around game made him worth watching. After UD, he played professionally in Finland. View AttachmentChris Jenkins' hairstyle made him easy to spot on the court. Chris was one of my favorite Titans of recent years. Super smart kid, and quite a character.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2020 16:42:03 GMT -5
I haven't seen him listed yet, but I'm hopefully one of my favorites, Thomas Kennedy, sneaks onto the list. A very solid 2 year Titan career for the native Detroiter, and a very good overseas professional career
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Post by Rogobob77 on Jul 11, 2020 18:48:07 GMT -5
#80. Chris Jenkins, 6-7 F, 2015-17.A product of UD Jesuit, Jenkins transferred back to Detroit after originally signing with and taking a redshirt year at Colorado. Jenkins got jobbed by the transfer rules and ended up with just two and a half seasons at UD—today, he would probably have gotten 4 years to play in Detroit. In any case, in 81 games as a Titan, Jenkins established himself as a solid, steady player who did a lot of things well. For his career, he averaged 10.7 points, peaking at 12.0 his redshirt junior year, and 5.8 rebounds, peaking at 6.7 in his redshirt senior season. He had a highly unorthodox shot, the result of adapting to an injury many years before, but was quite effective, making over 40% of his three point attempts, good for 8th on the Titan career list, including 43.2% as a redshirt junior (6th on the Titan single season list) and 46% as a redshirt sophomore (but falling short of qualifying for the record book due to his shortened season). As a senior, he knocked down 83% of his free throws. Jenkins ‘doo always made him easy to spot on the court, and his all-around game made him worth watching. After UD, he played professionally in Finland. View AttachmentChris Jenkins' hairstyle made him easy to spot on the court. I had a nice long conversation with Chris at the University’s Career Center a few months ago. He is working for a startup company called Hyer, essential an app-based staffing solution for filling positions in the evolving “gig economy.” In addition to playing hoops in Finland, Chris also had a stop in Japan.
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Post by Commissioner on Jul 12, 2020 18:11:33 GMT -5
81. Ralph Brisker, 6-2 G, 1967-1968Waiting for Ralph Brisker...only played 34 games in a year and a half....but. Scored over 500 pts and averaged 16.6ppg in 67-68. Plus he was the most exciting Titan of my lifetime! A legend at Hamtramck HS. Good timing... Academics hurt Ralph Brisker. He spent his first two years of college at a juco in Wyoming, working to get his grades up, before joining UD for the 1966-67 season. By the conclusion of the Motor City Tournament in December, 9 games into the season, “Rapid Ralph” was averaging a team-best 19.9 points, plus 6.6 rebounds. But he found himself academically ineligible when fall grades came out, and missed the rest of the year. He came back as a senior to lead the Titans in scoring with 15.4 points per game, plus 5.4 rebounds, in 1968, although he may have been shooting too much—his shooting percentage, at 38.6%, was the lowest of the team’s starters by nearly 10 points. Still, Brisker was one of those guys who could get on a roll and be a dominant player on the court. Brisker’s younger brother was John Brisker, runner up to Spencer Haywood for ABA rookie of the year in 1970. John Brisker averaged over 26 ppg over three seasons in the ABA, then played a couple years alongside his former neighbor, Haywood, with the Seattle Super Sonics. An infamous bad ass who was booted from his college team at Toledo, and known for fighting with both opponents and teammates, John Brisker boarded a flight for Uganda in March 1978. Supposedly he was working to set up an import business in the central African nation, then ruled by the murderous thug Idi Amin. He called his girl friend in Seattle a few weeks later, and after that was never heard from again. He was legally ruled dead in 1985. As Laurence suggested in his post, Ralph's short Titan career pushes him down this list. But some say that Ralph was a better player than John, and Bob Calihan agreed that Ralph could have played pro ball. Ralph, however, went straight into business, eventually settling in Georgia.
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Post by larrytitan on Jul 12, 2020 19:27:52 GMT -5
Glad to see Ralph make Top 100. If anyone wonders why so many posts from Larrytitan using different names, I am often asked to sign in as a guest whenI reply and I am unable to duplicate my Larrytitan signing. So I have to use Larry andLaurencevariations. Make no mistake, I am the original Larrytitan, class of ‘69 from Bklyn NY..now residing in the cuse.
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Post by Commissioner on Jul 13, 2020 6:04:10 GMT -5
#82. Corey Allen, 6-3 G, 2017-2018
My personal feeling is that Bacari Alexander’s greatest failing as Titan head coach was wasting Corey Allen. I could be very wrong—Corey's first season at Georgia State wasn’t much different, statistically, than his two in Calihan Hall (in fact, it was a bit worse, across the board). But Corey Allen could dominate a game, as in his 33 point performance against IPFW in December of 2016, a true freshman record for the Titans, or his 39 point performance the next year at Houston Baptist. Allen was voted Horizon League Freshman of the Year in 2017, and the Titan offense should have been built around Allen in his sophomore year. Instead the focus was placed on Jermaine Jackson, Jr., a talented freshman who was neither Cory's equal as an offensive player, nor ready for that role, and in the end the Titans lost both players after the season. I think Allen could have put up Tony Tolbert/Antoine Davis-type numbers and improved the team in the process.
Allen’s two Titan seasons were very similar: he averaged 14.4 ppg each season, and his other quantity stats—rebounds, assists, blocks, steals—were also very similar. The primary difference is that his three point shooting percentage dropped, from an outstanding 44.8% in 2017 (2nd best in Titan history) to a merely very good 38.2% in 2018, while his two point percentage rose from 42.9% to 47.9% and his free throw shooting jumped from 63.7% to 79.0%. His career 41.7% three-point shooting is second best in Titan history after Archie Tullos. Allen was not a great defensive player, but he worked hard at that aspect of his game and was more than adequate. Had he been used properly and stuck around Detroit for two more years, I imagine he would be much further up this list.
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Post by Commissioner on Jul 13, 2020 12:00:07 GMT -5
#83. Sam Fortino, 6-0 F, 1947
Had he played his full career in Detroit, Mario “Sam” Fortino would likely have blown away all of Bob Calihan’s Titan career records and be ranked amongst the greatest Titans. But Fortino played his first 3 seasons for Michigan State, where he was the leading scorer on the 1945 and 1946 teams, and MVP of the latter. Some sources describe him as an “All-American,” though he is not listed as such in the Spartan record books and I can’t find any clear reference to his being so honored. But he was certainly a very good player. In 1945, he was part of what was dubbed the “Iron 5”—5 MSU starters (including future baseball Hall of Famer Robin Roberts) who played 13 consecutive games without a single substitution. He finished his Spartan career as the school’s all-time leading scorer. After earning his undergraduate degree in 1946, he enrolled at the UD Dental School, and as a grad student led the 1947 Titans in scoring in his final season of eligibility—a true grad transfer long before anyone had ever heard of the concept. His 312 points was the second most in a season in Titan history to that date, trailing only Calihan’s consensus All-America season in 1940, and his 12.5 ppg average was the highest of any Titan since 1916, except for Calihan. The Tower notes that he did this despite not being able to practice regularly with the team because of his class schedule at the Dental School. I wonder how many of today’s grad transfers would have to deal with that!
Fortino practiced dentistry in the Lansing area, and stayed involved in athletics all his life. He won a gold medal in men's basketball at the 1991 National Senior Games (aka "the Senior Olympics"). He died in 2012 at age 88.
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