Danny Green was physically imposing and mentally intimidating. Enjoyed watching him play back in the 70's. Some other names to consider from back in the 60's were fellow maned Ralph (Sampson or Simpson), Don Patton and better known for their baseball talents but very good basketball players would be Bob Barton and Leo Foster.

Zig .. Barton was good enough to have Adolph Rupp come to his home and offer him a grant. Had Gary seen him, he would be in the first 5. Leo Foster made the greatest play I ever saw on a basketball court. The ball bounced off a Holmes player and was heading for out of bounds at mid-court when Foster decided to try to save it. Everyone thought it was just wasted effort, buy Foster put it in a gear that only he and Beal had and picked the ball up inches before it went out of bounds. He did not have time to turn around so he threw the ball backward and underhand to a streaking teammate some 40 feet away who laid it in. The place went crazy! Later we realized that he did not know where the teammate was locatated and much luck was involved. On the other hand, it was those wrists that allowed Leo to spend many, many years in the majors He would certainly be the expert I would turn to for this list.

Bingo Jennings had a nice career "on the hill" after spending a year (I think) at Sullivan in Louisville. Good guy -- still a force in the Deveroes' League.

 

I think he actually played two years at Sullivan. He was a nice ballplayer at Western, and a lot of fun to play with on the pick-up courts. Always good for a laugh and was a world-class trash-talker.

 

Maybe someone can clear up something for me: Jennings always had this funny-looking "dent" in the back of his head — he always kept it bald in the WKU days — that I was told came as a result of someone drilling him in the back of the head with a chair or some other such object. Any truth to this? Or was his head just funny-shaped?

Why was his nickname "BINGO"????????

You know what, I have no idea. Jack, aka Bingo, spent every non-basketball weekend at our Fraternity house at WKU because we had several Northern KY guys from various schools (CCH, HHS, Dixie, etc). He was a great guy, very funny. He would hang out with a dude from Caldwell Co. (I think) named Xavier Bell and they would be some duo. Xavier had a glass eye and was always dropping it in people's drinks.

 

As far as the dent Jim, I have heard him tell 100 different people 100 stories, always laughing at the end. I don't know the "real" story, or if I do, I don't know which one it was. One of those guys that was great off the court and a monster on it. The transformation was unreal. I am always glad to hear that he is still mixing it up, with great success mind you, at the Deveroes league.

Why was his nickname "BINGO"????????

 

The story I heard was that his mom played a lot of bingo when he was little and always took him with her to the bingo hall. However, I never heard anyone call him "Bingo", it was always just "Bing".

Jack picked up he moniker "Mountain Man" his junior and senior years at Holmes. He once dropped 69 points on NCC in 1988. Missed the back end of a double bonus which would have given him 70 late in the game.

Not a real good leaper, but used his body very well and was an adept shooter from the outside.

One of the funniest people I have ever been around.

His nickname was "Bing".

Various versions as to why he was called that. One was that his hair had a reddish tint, so it may have been for the bing cherries.

THe dent in his head, I believe was actually from a ptch of hair that was pulled from his head...don't hold me to that...but he also had that at an early age.

Not positive, but he had that nickname at a very early age.

Made some good money playing overseas for many years, in Israel and so forth.

Still teaches the youngins how to play over in the Ceveroes Summer League.

Overall, a fantastic fellow.

 

Leo Foster before my time, but stories of him transcend generations. Still have a Leo Foster New York Mets baseball card.

IF anyone is familiar with the practice field at Holmes, the one that sits in the hole, next to the football stadium...

There used to be a small baseball diamond located in the Northeast corner of it, if you stood from the parking lot atop the practice field.

Foster hit the parking lot on a fly, one day in practice. So we are talking about 330-350 feet from backstop to the base of the hill, and a steep hill to climb after that. So that there is a bomb...

Overall, a fantastic fellow.

 

 

:thumb:

Jack picked up he moniker "Mountain Man" his junior and senior years at Holmes. He once dropped 69 points on NCC in 1988. Missed the back end of a double bonus which would have given him 70 late in the game.

Not a real good leaper, but used his body very well and was an adept shooter from the outside.

One of the funniest people I have ever been around.

His nickname was "Bing".

Various versions as to why he was called that. One was that his hair had a reddish tint, so it may have been for the bing cherries.

THe dent in his head, I believe was actually from a ptch of hair that was pulled from his head...don't hold me to that...but he also had that at an early age.

Not positive, but he had that nickname at a very early age.

Made some good money playing overseas for many years, in Israel and so forth.

Still teaches the youngins how to play over in the Ceveroes Summer League.

Overall, a fantastic fellow.

 

I don't remember Holmes being one-man show when Jack was senior. That team had Corey & Alphonso Pouncy on it and they were more than capable of lighting it up.

Zig .. Barton was good enough to have Adolph Rupp come to his home and offer him a grant. Had Gary seen him, he would be in the first 5. Leo Foster made the greatest play I ever saw on a basketball court. The ball bounced off a Holmes player and was heading for out of bounds at mid-court when Foster decided to try to save it. Everyone thought it was just wasted effort, buy Foster put it in a gear that only he and Beal had and picked the ball up inches before it went out of bounds. He did not have time to turn around so he threw the ball backward and underhand to a streaking teammate some 40 feet away who laid it in. The place went crazy! Later we realized that he did not know where the teammate was locatated and much luck was involved. On the other hand, it was those wrists that allowed Leo to spend many, many years in the majors He would certainly be the expert I would turn to for this list.

:thumb: Thanks for backing me up. Sometimes the memory doesn't always serve me as I would like. Both Barton and Foster were just simply tremendous all around athletes. Foster in my opinion was the best high school baseball player that I remember seeing play in NKY.