sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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- Aug 15, 2011
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SU News
Ernie Davis versus Boston University in 1959
The Real Meaning of 44: A Widow Recalls What Ernie Davis Did for One Young Couple (PS; Kirst)
Bob Hopkins, Left, in 1956 with Fellow Nat Rookies Jim Ray, Forest Able and Don Savage
...
Lloyd left for Detroit in 1957. Hopkins was here until 1960. He said black players on the Nats, during that era, formed a close bond. Hopkins said he used to play cards at his apartment with Hal Greer and Dick Barnett, two of his teammates, while the occasional fourth at their table was an SU student, a football player who had friends living nearby:
Ernie Davis.
Lloyd had told me many times - with emphasis - that Hopkins could have been a star in the NBA, but an injury ended his career all too early. Hopkins went on to coach in college before the great Bill Russell, a cousin, hired him as an assistant with the NBA's Seattle Supersonics. Hopkins, briefly, was head coach in Seattle, and he served as director of scouting before returning to the college game.
Last week, I called Beverly to offer condolences, which caused her to share some reflections on the couple's stay in Syracuse. She told me she came to Central New York, as a young woman, just after she and Hopkins were married. Their first child, Lynnetta, was born here in 1960.
Beverly said she went into labor on the day of a game, and she didn't want Hopkins to skip a chance to play. She hid her discomfort from him, and she didn't go to the hospital until after he left for the Onondaga County War Memorial.
Somehow word got out, and she said her husband was startled – at halftime – when the public address announcer told the crowd Bob Hopkins had just become a father.
A harder memory was their attempt to find a new apartment, when most African-Americans in Syracuse lived – by unspoken edict – within the neighborhood known as the 15th Ward. Beverly said her husband made many calls during that search about apartments advertised around the city, and people would say, sure, come over, take a look.
Once a prospective landlord saw Hopkins' face, it would turn out the apartment had somehow, magically, just been rented.
They were rejected so many times that Hopkins had to ask Nats management for help. The couple finally rented a furnished place, near the university. Beverly said it belonged to a Czechoslovakian woman who had no problem with her tenants being black.
Beverly remembered how Russell and other black players in the NBA, on the road in Syracuse, would often stop at their apartment for a meal or companionship because there were so few other places they could go. Such harsh realities caused players of color on the Nats to make a point of showing up at SU football and basketball games to support the handful of young black athletes of that era, on the hill.
"We all stuck together," Beverly said. In that way, she and her husband grew close to Davis, described by Beverly as an extraordinarily humble and gracious young man.
Indeed, in the months before Beverly gave birth to Lynnetta – whenever Hopkins was away, traveling with the Nats – she said Davis, aware that Beverly was alone and needed help, would make a point of stopping by to take out the garbage or to move their car from one side of the street to the other.
Imagine. Davis was carrying the trash to the curb, to help some friends, at the same time that he was building a national reputation - and his Orange had turned into one of the best teams in American college football.
A few years later, when Davis died of leukemia, Beverly said she and her husband had an almost paternal sense of grief, as if they'd lost someone in their close family.
"We were very fond of him," Beverly said.
...
WR Target Frank Darby Details Visit Plans, Decision Timeline (PS; Bailey)
Syracuse will host one of its first post-spring practice visitors on Tuesday in Lincoln (Jersey City, N.J.) High School wide receiver Frank Darby.
The Class of 2016 prospect has a host of schools he wants to visit this summer before making a decision in August, he said in a series of text messages on Sunday.
"Every school says they have a great academic program that when I graduate will be good for a great job if the NFL Draft doesn't work out," Darby said. "But I can't really say (what stands out about a school) until I visit the coaches in person."
Thus far the 6-foot-1, 180-pound Darby has visited only Towson and Temple. He plans on visiting Pittsburgh, Iowa, Old Dominion, UMass and possibly Georgia State this summer — all schools that have offered him. Rutgers could join that list, Darby said, if the Scarlet Knights extend a scholarship.
Looking at his relationship with Syracuse, Darby said his main point of contact has been wide receivers coach/recruiting coordinator Bobby Acosta. Acosta, whose territory includes the Garden State as well as southern Florida, brought in a handful of New Jersey recruits during the 2015 cycle.
...
Syracuse Must Recruit Nationally (espn; Hamilton; insider article)
After signing 10 prospects on the offensive and defensive lines in February among a class of 26, the Orange are in search of potential difference-makers on offense and continued adding of key depth on the lines. With only three commitments in the fold, there is plenty of growth potential in the class.
...
Ernie Davis versus Boston University in 1959
The Real Meaning of 44: A Widow Recalls What Ernie Davis Did for One Young Couple (PS; Kirst)
Bob Hopkins, Left, in 1956 with Fellow Nat Rookies Jim Ray, Forest Able and Don Savage
...
Lloyd left for Detroit in 1957. Hopkins was here until 1960. He said black players on the Nats, during that era, formed a close bond. Hopkins said he used to play cards at his apartment with Hal Greer and Dick Barnett, two of his teammates, while the occasional fourth at their table was an SU student, a football player who had friends living nearby:
Ernie Davis.
Lloyd had told me many times - with emphasis - that Hopkins could have been a star in the NBA, but an injury ended his career all too early. Hopkins went on to coach in college before the great Bill Russell, a cousin, hired him as an assistant with the NBA's Seattle Supersonics. Hopkins, briefly, was head coach in Seattle, and he served as director of scouting before returning to the college game.
Last week, I called Beverly to offer condolences, which caused her to share some reflections on the couple's stay in Syracuse. She told me she came to Central New York, as a young woman, just after she and Hopkins were married. Their first child, Lynnetta, was born here in 1960.
Beverly said she went into labor on the day of a game, and she didn't want Hopkins to skip a chance to play. She hid her discomfort from him, and she didn't go to the hospital until after he left for the Onondaga County War Memorial.
Somehow word got out, and she said her husband was startled – at halftime – when the public address announcer told the crowd Bob Hopkins had just become a father.
A harder memory was their attempt to find a new apartment, when most African-Americans in Syracuse lived – by unspoken edict – within the neighborhood known as the 15th Ward. Beverly said her husband made many calls during that search about apartments advertised around the city, and people would say, sure, come over, take a look.
Once a prospective landlord saw Hopkins' face, it would turn out the apartment had somehow, magically, just been rented.
They were rejected so many times that Hopkins had to ask Nats management for help. The couple finally rented a furnished place, near the university. Beverly said it belonged to a Czechoslovakian woman who had no problem with her tenants being black.
Beverly remembered how Russell and other black players in the NBA, on the road in Syracuse, would often stop at their apartment for a meal or companionship because there were so few other places they could go. Such harsh realities caused players of color on the Nats to make a point of showing up at SU football and basketball games to support the handful of young black athletes of that era, on the hill.
"We all stuck together," Beverly said. In that way, she and her husband grew close to Davis, described by Beverly as an extraordinarily humble and gracious young man.
Indeed, in the months before Beverly gave birth to Lynnetta – whenever Hopkins was away, traveling with the Nats – she said Davis, aware that Beverly was alone and needed help, would make a point of stopping by to take out the garbage or to move their car from one side of the street to the other.
Imagine. Davis was carrying the trash to the curb, to help some friends, at the same time that he was building a national reputation - and his Orange had turned into one of the best teams in American college football.
A few years later, when Davis died of leukemia, Beverly said she and her husband had an almost paternal sense of grief, as if they'd lost someone in their close family.
"We were very fond of him," Beverly said.
...
WR Target Frank Darby Details Visit Plans, Decision Timeline (PS; Bailey)
Syracuse will host one of its first post-spring practice visitors on Tuesday in Lincoln (Jersey City, N.J.) High School wide receiver Frank Darby.
The Class of 2016 prospect has a host of schools he wants to visit this summer before making a decision in August, he said in a series of text messages on Sunday.
"Every school says they have a great academic program that when I graduate will be good for a great job if the NFL Draft doesn't work out," Darby said. "But I can't really say (what stands out about a school) until I visit the coaches in person."
Thus far the 6-foot-1, 180-pound Darby has visited only Towson and Temple. He plans on visiting Pittsburgh, Iowa, Old Dominion, UMass and possibly Georgia State this summer — all schools that have offered him. Rutgers could join that list, Darby said, if the Scarlet Knights extend a scholarship.
Looking at his relationship with Syracuse, Darby said his main point of contact has been wide receivers coach/recruiting coordinator Bobby Acosta. Acosta, whose territory includes the Garden State as well as southern Florida, brought in a handful of New Jersey recruits during the 2015 cycle.
...
Syracuse Must Recruit Nationally (espn; Hamilton; insider article)
After signing 10 prospects on the offensive and defensive lines in February among a class of 26, the Orange are in search of potential difference-makers on offense and continued adding of key depth on the lines. With only three commitments in the fold, there is plenty of growth potential in the class.
...
