There were more than 16,000 fans in attendance, but few saw it happen. All of a sudden, Xavier University’s Eddie Johnson was on the ground.
It was the January 30, 1985 Crosstown Shootout at Riverfront Coliseum. It was the usual heated battle between the Bearcats and Musketeers.
Myron Hughes and Johnson were battling under the basket.
“We started running down the court and he shot me two elbows,” Hughes said. “I just reacted. I turned around and slugged him and knocked him down. I hit him pretty good. He wasn’t knocked out, but he was stunned. I didn’t think about being kicked out of the game or anything.
“A lot of people say they saw it even though they didn’t. The three officials working the game missed it. No one else on the court saw anything. I would venture to say no more than 15 people actually saw it. The referee came up to me and said, ‘I don’t know what happened but I know something happened. You guys need to clean it up.’”
No foul was called. Hughes was not ejected. Xavier went on to win 55-52. There was no mention of the incident the next day in the morning newspaper.
Hughes is often reminded of the incident before Crosstown Shootouts. But he has no regrets.
“I’ve been hit in the mouth and upside the head and punched in the side,” he said. “When you’re playing underneath the basket, there’s no telling what will happen.
“There were no hard feelings. He knew what he had done. We’ve even gone out and had drinks. It is weird. I didn’t think too much about it. I would never have thought I’d be talking about it 19 years later and they’d still be showing it on television.”
The funny thing is, those who know Hughes off the court would think it was so out of character. But those who played with him, know a different side of Myron Hughes the basketball player.
“He was our protector,” Roger McClendon said. “He was the father figure, the big brother. Out of character? Not on the floor. You know how some people could get in the ring, like Muhammad Ali, and punish a guy, but then off the floor he’s kissing babies? Myron had that split personality. You knew when you were on the court, if you went through the lane, you’d better be prepared no matter who you were.”
ANOTHER “BIG O” ASSIST
Oscar Robertson says University of Cincinnati players have had an “open invitation” to work with him individually for decades. But few over the years have asked for guidance from one of the greatest basketball players of all time.
The summer of 1984, before his senior year, Derrick McMillan was talking to Yates about Robertson.
“Give him a call,” Yates said.
“No,” McMillan said. “You don’t just call Oscar.”
“Call him, Derrick,” Yates said.
Yates gave Robertson’s phone number to McMillan, who soon called.
“He had a shooting problem,” Robertson said.
The two met at the Armory Fieldhouse, steaming in the summer heat. McMillan came from a factory job. Robertson came from his office. They got together every day between 4:30 and 5 p.m. for roughly an hour. Robertson showed McMillan a proper shooting technique. He taught him about studying film and watching other players.
“It’s amazing, the things he taught me still work today,” McMillan said 19 years later. “The things that he taught me in that period of time are things that I share right now with kids.
“There’s something about him that really led me toward the things I wanted to do with leadership. I watched the way he carried himself on and off the floor and how he went about approaching things. Even when I’m around him now holding conversations about the way people do business, he just really makes you feel good and makes you look at things that you should be correcting.”
It should be noted that as a senior, McMillan averaged a career-high 11.7 points—more than twice his average from his junior year—and was selected second-team all-Metro Conference.
“I tell all the players before the season, if you want to work on some things, here is my number,” Robertson said. “Whatever they want to do is fine with me. If they want to work every day, I don’t mind. For some reason, most of them never took advantage.”
McMillan couldn’t be happier that he did.
CLOSE, BUT NO
Going into the final game of his injury-plagued career, Hughes still had a chance to reach the 1,000-point mark. He needed 17 points against Louisville in the 1986 Metro Conference tournament.
“I knew what I needed,” Hughes said. “But at that time, I was more worried about how we could win the tournament and get to the NCAA. That was one of my goals, and we never did do it.”
Hughes had scored 12 points, and with 12:53 to go in the game he was called for a foul. He thought he only had four, but then he heard the buzzer and saw a person at the scorer’s table hold up five fingers. He had fouled out and finished with 995 career points.
“Unfortunately, I did not know how many fouls I had,” he said. “It would’ve been a milestone, but I didn’t think about it that much. I knew I missed a lot of games. If I would’ve played in another couple games, I would’ve made it to that level with no problem. I was mostly concerned with winning.”
Hughes estimates missing roughly 25 games during his career. He had four surgeries on his left knee (including one reconstruction), bursitis in his right knee, a broken finger and nose, a tooth knocked out, 14 stitches above his eye, and torn muscles in his thigh.
Hughes served as executive director of the University of Cincinnati Alumni Association from 2008-14 and is currently UC’s senior associate vice president of development for diversity & inclusion.
STUDENT ATHLETE
Roger McClendon was a McDonald’s All-American coming out of Centennial High School in Champaign, Illinois, but in choosing a college, he had more on his mind than just basketball.
His father was a professor of African-American History at the University of Illinois. His parents stressed the importance of education. McClendon was interested in majoring in engineering.
When it came time to meet in person with Division I head coaches, the McClendon family prepared just as hard as the coaches. Roger and his parents came up with a list of 25 questions that every coach wanting to sign Roger would have to answer. Among the questions: If Roger got injured his first season and couldn’t play anymore, would the school honor his scholarship for as long as it took to get a degree? Or, what if Roger wanted to grow a mustache or beard or wear a goatee? Was facial hair allowed?
It was that one that tripped up Villanova coach Rollie Massimino, who said the rules of his program prohibited facial hair. McClendon’s father objected.
“I guess the point was, as you’re growing up as a young adult, there are certain decisions you should be able to make, and whether you have a mustache or not doesn’t impact the way you play basketball and doesn’t define your personality,” McClendon said. “You do need some freedom of choice. You’re growing as an individual.”
So, they all answered the questions. Denny Crum from Louisville. Bobby Cremins from Georgia Tech. Lou Henson from Illinois. C.M. Newton from Vanderbilt. Even Bob Knight, whose Indiana program was not in McClendon’s final five.
Of course, there was also Yates, who was in his first year as head coach at the University of Cincinnati. Yates had known McClendon’s family for years because he was an assistant at Illinois and had been hoping to lure McClendon to the Fighting Illini.
The more McClendon learned about UC, the more it climbed on his list. He had no idea how successful the program had been in the 1960s. He didn’t realize the university boasted a top-flight engineering program and that it had a co-op program that would allow him to gain practical job experience while in school.
“Really what I was looking for was a combination of an academic school that focused on engineering in addition to a high-caliber basketball program,” McClendon said.
“The challenge for me would be to carry both of those torches at the same time.”
THE PACT
McClendon attended the University of Cincinnati’s basketball camp in 1984. Among the other players at camp: Elnardo Givens from Lexington, Kentucky, Levertis Robinson from Chicago and Ricky Calloway from Cincinnati’s Withrow High School. Unknown to Yates at the time, the four made a pact to sign letters of intent to attend UC.
All but Calloway—who went to Indiana University—followed through.
“We did talk about it, that it would be a great place to build the program together,” McClendon said.
By the way, another player at that camp was Ben Wilson, the top-rated high school player in the country from Chicago who was tragically shot and killed in November 1984.
“Ben Wilson was very interested in coming to Cincinnati,” McClendon said.
BALANCING ACT
McClendon was UC’s leading scorer for his first three seasons all while holding a double major in chemical and electrical engineering.
How did he pull that off?
“I probably missed out on parties that a lot of people had a chance to make,” he said. “I knew where all the action and all the fun was at. You had to make a choice. I didn’t regret it. What I had to do was find a balance.”
He remembers when a band called Red, White and Blue was performing at Bogart’s on Short Vine, and there were rumors Prince was going to show up. A lot of players and people McClendon knew went to the show—and Prince did show up.
When his friends returned to Dabney Hall, one had a tambourine from the band and another had a drumstick. They couldn’t stop talking about what a great concert they had seen.
“And I’m under a light reading a physics book getting ready for a test,” McClendon said.
One of his favorite extracurricular activities was when he was co-campaign manager for Stan Carroll, a candidate for student body president.
McClendon spoke on Carroll’s behalf around campus and helped have flyers printed up. “I enjoyed that,” McClendon said. “There were things that I wanted to do, and I had to make an extra effort to do them and not be just one-dimensional. I did try to find that balance. But it’s always a struggle to try to reach your peak in both academics and athletics.”
OLD SCHOOL
McClendon became close friends with teammate Romell Shorter, an exciting player from Chicago Martin Luther King High School. McClendon remembers one game during the 1985-86 season when Shorter, a five-foot-five guard, dribbled four times between his legs, once behind his back, then went around an opposing defender for a layup.
The next day, Yates showed the play on video three or four times in a row and asked the players to analyze whether all those moves were necessary for Shorter to get in position to make the shot.
“Coach Yates was an old-school style of coach,” McClendon said. “To him, that was a fancy move. We all laughed. With Romell, that’s his game. Without him using that ability, he becomes like everybody else.”
WHAT A SHOW
When McClendon was a sophomore, the Bearcats played at Louisville when the Cardinals were ranked 18th in the country (January 20, 1986). Yates calls it “the most fantastic show” McClendon ever put on.
Louisville was ahead 56-43 with 13:20 remaining. From that point on, the UC offensive plays were all called for McClendon. The Bearcats went on a 14-4 run with McClendon scoring 10 of their points.
“We tried eight or nine different players on him and it didn’t make a difference,” Cardinals coach Denny Crum said afterward.
Always the outstanding student, Roger McClendon (21) passed up a professional basketball career and obtained his UC degree in engineering. Today, he is chief sustainability officer for YUM Brands, Inc., in, of all places, Louisville, against whom he had some of his most spectacular games. (Photo by University of Cincinnati/Sports Information)
“We were all over him and he filled it up anyway,” Louisville player Billy Thompson told the media.
McClendon scored 24 of his 35 points in the second half and led Cincinnati to an 84-82 upset victory.
“I just know it was one of those rhythmic type of games where you didn’t hear anybody in the stands and things felt like they were in slow motion,” McClendon said. “It was easy.”
He was 10 of 14 shooting from the field in the second half.
“He hit from all over the place,” Yates said. “Louisville played a switching defense. He just beat them all. He penetrated, he pulled up, he shot from the corner, he shot from the wing, and he shot from the top of the key. Everywhere. That was really a special game.”
Yates kept a tape of that game and said he plays it every once in a while.
“There was something special about playing Louisville,” McClendon said. “I had the opportunity to go there. I knew Milt Wagner. They just had that type of team that would peak at the right time. But there was always something about playing Louisville that brought the level of the game up for me.”
UC beat them twice that season. Louisville went on to win the national championship.
SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO?
UC finished 12-16 in 1985-86, McClendon’s sophomore season. Though he had led the Bearcats in scoring two years, McClendon’s parents had concerns about Yates’s coaching style and philosophy. They attended a lot of games and were not sure their son was reaching his potential as a player.
There were discussions about possibly transferring, though McClendon never contacted another school.
“My dad thought I was probably not reaching my full potential,” McClendon said. “I was frustrated but not unhappy. I was frustrated with not winning. The tough challenge with not winning is that nobody’s happy. You don’t have to be the star of the team. I would’ve much rather been on those 1960s teams and won a national championship than be the star of the team.”
What kept McClendon at Cincinnati was probably this: His priority was not preparing for an NBA career. If it were, he knew there were better places for him to play.
“I was there really to get an education,” he said. “That was my focus.”
NOT SO EASY GOING
As basketball stars go, McClendon was a pretty levelheaded, calm, easygoing guy. But that demeanor went by the way-side February 16, 1987 when the leading scorer in the Metro Conference (19.7 ppg) learned that he was being benched for the start of a game against Memphis State.
Yates decided to sit McClendon, Joe Stiffend and Calvin Pfiffer and start Marty Dow, Don Ruehl and Romell Shorter.
“It’s like being helpless being on the bench,” McClendon said. “Not being able to do what you do was a tough thing. For me, it was all about the competition. I’m competitive to this day.
“He probably got the reaction he was looking for. Sometimes as a young player, you can’t see what a coach can see with more experience. Coaches have to try different things to motivate players, to motivate the team.”
McClendon, Stiffend and Pfiffer entered less than five minutes into the game. The Bearcats went on to win 76-73 at Riverfront Coliseum.
“I’m still angry (17 years later),” McClendon said laughing.
“I CARRIED A LOT OF WEIGHT”
McClendon, who left UC as the school’s No. 2 all-time scorer behind Oscar Robertson, is the only Bearcat among the school’s 1,000-point scorers to suffer through three losing seasons in his college career.
After UC went 17-14 his freshman year, McClendon’s final three teams went 12-16, 12-16 and 11-17.
“I carried a lot of weight on my shoulders,” he said. “I felt more responsible for having a losing season. Every game we would lose, I didn’t feel like getting up and going to class and showing my face in public. I looked at myself like I should’ve been able to do more. That was a struggle for me, feeling like I let the team down. I kept that inside, which is not a good thing.
“It’s hard to not be in a winning environment. It was very frustrating. Not with the players and not necessarily with the coach, but just going through that experience. I think it made me stronger. I did feel I had th
e potential and capability to go on to the next level, but I didn’t.”
McClendon was not picked in the three-round NBA draft. He played for the Miami Tropics of the United States Basketball League in the summer of 1988 and was invited to NBA camps by the Portland Trail Blazers and Chicago Bulls. He pulled a groin muscle while playing for the Tropics and never did attend the camps. He said he also turned down guaranteed money to play in Barcelona.
Instead, McClendon returned to the university for the 1988-89 school year to complete the requirements for his undergraduate degree. Again, he had a chance to begin a basketball career overseas. McClendon decided to accept a full-time engineering job.
He never played organized basketball again.
“I don’t know if I really wanted it that bad,” he said. “I finally let it go after two years of being in engineering.”
XAVIER’S LOSS, UC’S GAIN
Keith Starks grew up in Addyston on the west side of Cincinnati and attended Taylor High School. He was a big Xavier University fan and rooted for the Musketeers each year during the Crosstown Shootout against Cincinnati.
By the end of his sophomore year at Taylor, Xavier was recruiting Starks hard. XU assistant coach Mike Sussli sent letters every day. No school came after Starks more aggressively. “If I would’ve signed my junior year, I would’ve gone to X,” Starks said.
Gary Vaughn, his high school coach, encouraged Starks to take his time, make some visits to other colleges. Eventually, Starks narrowed his choices to Indiana, Syracuse, UCLA, Xavier, and UC—with UC “a distant, distant fourth or fifth.”
Starks visited UCLA and loved it. He was all but ready to commit to the Bruins. Then his grandfather became ill. Starks grew up with his grandparents, and he didn’t want to leave Cincinnati at that time.
Two factors ended his desire to go to Xavier. One, coach Bob Staak left and was replaced by Pete Gillen, and Gillen’s staff went after another local product, Withrow’s Tyrone Hill, and cooled on Starks. Even before that, Starks had decided to play football his senior year at Taylor. Starks said Sussli discouraged it and questioned the decision. UC assistant coach Jim Dudley thought it was a great idea and told Starks it would help his strength and conditioning. Starks—playing organized football for the first time in his life—started at split end and safety in high school.
Tales from the Cincinnati Bearcats Locker Room Page 12