Old School Ballers was birthed from my experiences on the basketball courts of Charlottesville, Virginia in the 1970s and high school rivalries with Albemarle, Western Albemarle, GW Danville, and George Wythe. I’ve been blessed to have played with and against some of the best damn talent anywhere… including MY boys, the Knights of the Roundtable, All-State players Rahsul “Rock” Burney from Martinsville, VA, and Victor Tate, from Columbia, TN.
Many cities are known for bolstering a hoop’s haven; a place where the best of the best would come out to showcase their talents. Places like Holcombe “Rucker Park” in Harlem NY, which provided an NBA list of Hall of Fame talents such as Julius Dr. “J” Erving (my idol), Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Earl “The Pearl” Monroe. Mosswood Park in Oakland, CA is another hotspot that hosted players like Bill Russell, Jason Kid, and Gary Payton. Another legendary court is The Cage located in Manhattan, New York. This court showcased greats like Rod Strickland, Lloyd Daniels, Lamar Odom, Ron Artest, Eric Barkley, Smush Parker, Filipe Lopez, Booger Smith, Kenny Anderson, and Anthony Mason.
Charlottesville, Virginia was no different. Several local courts, such as Washington Park, Tonsler Park, and Forest Hills Park, attracted the best players in the area. But if you wanted to test your skills against the best talent from miles around, there was no place like the University of Virginia’s “The Dell,” which was home to athletes like Marc Iavaroni, Ralph Sampson, Bobby Stokes, Ricky Stokes, Gus Gerald, John Johnson, Jeff Lamb, Lee Raker, Jeff Jones, Rick Carlisle, Olden Polynice, Craig Robinson, Othell Wilson, Bill Batts, Barry Parkhill, Brian Stith, and Richard Morgan. A Who’s Who list of phenomenal players from the Shenandoah Valley - aka “the Valley” - also graced the courts of Charlottesville; including Harlem Globetrotter, Jerry Venable; All-State player, Mike Madden; and NCAA North Carolina Tarheel, Kevin Madden.
These guys matched their skills against some of the city’s best talent: such as my favorite “wingman”, Pip Arnette, and his brothers, Greg and Harry; Howard Randolph; Van Johnson; Butch Smith; Dick Ward; Harold Terrell; Kenny Leatherwood; Harold Young; Thomas Calloway; Reggie Steppe; Phil Stinnie; Andrew Bonetti; and the crews from Forest Hills Park, Tonsler Park, and Washington Park. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Al Drummond who, in 1971, became the University of Virginia’s first Black basketball player.
Charlottesville’s basketball pedigree is historically rich. I could spend hours naming some of the best players from the area… players before my time and long after my days on the court. Old School Ballers is my way of paying homage to all of the great old school ballers worldwide. Wearing the brand is a tribute to us.