By Fred L. Jones, Jr.
The 5th annual Booker T. Washington (BTW) /McLain Alumni Basketball challenge takes place Saturday April 15, 2017 at The Nate Harris Field House on the campus of BTW.
The BTW/TMC alumni series is 3-1 with BTW alumni leading the challenge, the TMC alumni put together a strong game last year at McLain and came out victorious with a game closing dunk from Prentiss Elliot. This year’s game promises to be as thrilling as ever with BTW alums RW McQuarters and Junior Blount with TMC led by Elliott and team captain Solomom Smith.
This year’s Honorees feature Nate Harris along with one of the most decorated Hornets ever, two-sport All-American, Melvin Gilliam. This year’s game will also honor current McLain principal Enna Dancy and the 2017 McLain varsity basketball team with Coach Cordell Love.
Harris’ career record is 632-239, he and Varryl Franklin, the longtime boys coach at Millwood High School in Oklahoma City, are tied atop the state list of most state basketball championships won as a coach.
Harris, a 1965 graduate of BTW, played on Oral Roberts University’s first basketball team. He has coached in the Tulsa Public-Schools’ (TPS) system since 1973, and when he was named Mason High School’s head coach in 1975, and he became the first black head coach in a boy’s revenue sport at a predominantly white high school in the TPS system.
He later coached at Edison High School before moving to BTW in July of 1982. Under Harris, the Hornets won four straight titles from 1984 to 1987 and three straight from 1995 to 1997, as well as crowns in 1999, 2001 and 2002. Harris guided BTW to 10 Sate high school boys’ basketball championships.
BTW Alumnus Melvin Gilliam is one of the most decorated student athletes to ever come out of Tulsa North. Gilliam was a three-time state champion in basketball and the quarterback on his 1985 state championship football team. Gilliam was a two-sport All-American and two sport All State player his senior year with offers from every major college in America.
Enna Dancy is the current principal at McLain, she is from Chicago, Illinois, and has been the principal at McLain for the last three years. McLain has seen tremendous improvements in enrollment and student teacher relationships. Dancy is a great leader and many of the McLain students have showed major improvement in testing on both the local and national level.
The Tulsa McLain Boys Varsity Basketball team and Coach Cordell Love had a tremendous season, despite a total enrollment of less than 500 students. Coach Love continues to produce a competitive team of student athletes each year. McLain’s varsity basketball team had a great year and continues to represent the Tulsa North community in a positive manner.
This year’s special entertainment will come from the Walt Whitman Baby Hornets Drill Team and the Prancing Pearls of Excellence Dance Team.
There will also be a Tulsa North Alumni mentoring session at McLain from 12 noon to 3 pm on Friday afternoon the 14th with a BTW/TMC bowling challenge at Sheridan Lanes beginning at 7 pm Friday evening the 14th afterward the TMC Class of 1985 will host the Alumni at The Retro Bar and Grill.
Saturdays events start at 1 pm with a tailgate in the BTW parking lot all are welcome to come out and socialize with the alumni teams. The tailgate ends at 5 PM promptly, the doors to the game open at 5:15 PM with the game and festivities beginning at 6 PM. Cost is $8.00 for adults and $5.00 for Tulsa Public School students and children over 10 years old.
The BTW/TMC Alumni Challenge V official after party celebration is at Sax on Cherry street located at 1402 S Peoria Ave, doors open immediately after the game.
