Eastern Michigan Athletics
A Walk through History: They Filled It Up!
3/23/2020 10:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball
Author T.C. Cameron tells unknown tales from EMU's past
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) — In sports, we tend to remember moments in time more than any player's career statistics. It's part fandom and part instant gratification. The monstrous home run. The long run, pass or kick return. A buzzer-beating, half-court shot. A game-winning, overtime goal.
Call it a "That just happened!" kind of moment. But rare is the night you're lucky enough to see a player sustain that kind of excellence, outscores an entire team, single handedly lifting his or her team to victory.
Eastern Michigan's enjoyed many such moments, and in this edition of A Walk through History, we take a look back at some of those memorable nights.
First, a surprise: three of the greatest players in EMU history didn't make this list: Kennedy McIntosh, Grant Long and Laurie Byrd.
McIntosh, a 6-foot-7 swingman who passed away in 2009, is EMU's all-time leader in career points, rebounds and scoring average, and is one of two players to pass the 2,000-point mark. Like well-oiled machinery, McIntosh consistently recorded double-doubles in points and rebounds. It was this proficiency that prevented his inclusion, but his No. 54 was retired in 2006. He passed away in Los Angeles in 2007.
Long, whose No. 43 was retired in 1998, is omitted from this list for similar reasons. The 6-foot-8 cornerstone of Braun's first MAC title in 1988, Long led EMU is scoring was the MAC's top rebounder and was voted the MAC's MVP, too.
"Grant averaged a double-double as a senior (23 ppg; 10 reb.) on just 14 shots a game, so he had tremendous shot selection and a high basketball IQ," former coach Ben Braun said. "Grant played through contact, drew fouls, passed out of double teams and rebounded. He never scored 40 only because we asked him to do it all for us."
Brad Soucie, Darren Goheen and Howard Chambers, and later Lorenzo Neely, Charles Thomas and Carl Thomas were some of Long's notable supporting cast members. Drafted 33rd overall by the Miami Heat in the second round in 1988, Long played 15 years in the NBA, one of just five of 75 players drafted that year to reach that plateau, and one of two from the second round.
Selected ahead of 23 players from Power Five schools, Long accomplished this despite playing on television just a handful of times in his four years at EMU and without social media to promote his proficiency.
"When I think about my EMU career in that context, it makes me a little prouder than I had might have previously been, but my teammates were my brothers, and we won the MAC championship," said Long, who now lives in Port Huron. "That's what mattered most to me, what we did as a team, and seeing my teammates doing their thing on the floor. I wouldn't trade my college experience just for more points. I loved playing at Eastern."
Sometimes, the hot hand dictates you shoot more than your teammates. On the women's side, Danielle Minott and Tavelyn James dominate the single-game scoring list. Minott, a 5-foot-8 guard from Miami who transferred to EMU from Syracuse, scored 44 at Buffalo in 2018, and hit for 43 against Buffalo year later to set the Convocation Center record.
In that 43-point game, Minott notched a double-double, going 14-for-27 from the floor with seven 3's and she pulled down 12 rebounds, too. A two-time All-MAC selection, Minott is also remembered for knocking down the game-winning shot with two seconds to play in EMU's 61-59 upset of Akron in the first round of the 2019 MAC Tournament.
James owns the next six spots. She hit for 42, then 40 three separate times, and 39 and 38, too.
Now living in Atlanta as a health care advocate for the state of Georgia, Jones went for 42 against Northeastern, hung 40 on Kent State and also hit for 38 against Michigan in a 77-64 win at the Convocation Center in 2011. Michigan coach Kevin Borseth opened the post-game press conference that day by describing the contest as 'The Tavelyn James Show."
That victory was personal for James, who was named an Honorable Mention All-American in 2011-12. First, after being rebuffed by Michigan for being "too small," she led Eastern to a second-straight win over the Wolverines, the first coming during EMU's path to the Sweet 16 in the 2010 NIT. Second, James broke EMU's career scoring record, previously held by Laurie Byrd (1,899 points).
"I was not a great practice player, but I was able to channel my best efforts in games," said James, who played overseas professionally for a handful of years before retiring in 2017. "Coming to Eastern was one of the best decisions I ever made. Our teams were legit. I was especially thankful for the opportunity to be a team leader as a senior."
Byrd, like McIntosh and Long, never broke the 40-point threshold — 37 was her best effort in 1981 — but her legacy was cemented when her No 4 was retired in 2011, becoming the fourth player and first female in school history to earn the honor. She still owns the EMU mark for field goals in a game (17).
On the men's side, the 40-point threshold has been broken 12 times, but just one player, Ray Lee, has broken the 50-point barrier. Alternately known as "Raven" during his EMU career, Lee hit for 50 in a 109-81 win at Central Michigan in 2017. Lee broke Eastern's record for 3's in that game (10), and his 17 field goals were fourth-best in a single game. His 26 first half points nearly eclipsed the Chippewas, who trailed Eastern, 54-29.
Lee also knocked down 46 against Miami in a 94-69 win, setting the men's single game scoring record at the Convocation Center.
I was fortunate to witness Derrick Dial's 45-point effort January 5, 1998 at Bowen Field House against Marshall. Remarkably scoring 38 in the first half, Dial did most of his damage in just 10 minutes, when he rattled off 22 straight with EMU was trailing, 22-15 at the midway point of the period!
"We came in focused on stopping Boykins, and Derrick Dial just tattooed us," former Marshall coach Greg White said. "He had so many ways to score against you. He could hit from deep, off the dribble, driving to the basket, coming off screens or rebounding the ball."
EMU led, 48-45, at the half of that game because Dial shot 13-of-16 from the field, including 8 of 10 from the 3-point line. White, leading Marshall in their first season in the MAC after winning the Southern Conference the year before, passed his athletic director on the way to the locker room and said, "Is the MAC going to be like this every night?"
Eastern won the game, 99-82. Dial, who also scored 42 against Arizona State in 1997, ended up as Eastern's third-leading scorer and No. 11 all-time rebounder.
Not bad for someone who earned a scholarship only after playing his first season at Eastern as a walk-on.
Earl Boykins makes the list twice, for a 41-point night at Ball State and a 45-point effort against Western Michigan. Boykins is the only player on the list in a loss; his 45-point effort came in a 102-82 loss, ironic because no EMU player won more games (87) than Earl the Squirrel. His No. 11 was retired in 2011.
However, Boykins missed the Bowen Field House record by a single basket. That honor goes to Gary Tyson, who hit for 47 points against Wheaton in 1974.
"I was well over 30 at halftime," said Tyson, who lives in Ypsilanti and still holds EMU season tickets. "After I got to 47, I was on the bench. I was in such a zone and was knocking it down so easily, there was little anyone could do stop me. For most players, you only get a few of these nights, and you hope they don't all happen in a pick-up game or practice."
George Gervin, named one of the NBA's 50 greatest players in 1996 in celebration of the league's 50th season, is found three times on Eastern's Top 10 single game scoring list. One such effort, his 42-point night against Assumption, helped Eastern advance to the NAIA Final Four, one day after Gervin was named a First Team All-American.
Like Long, Gervin's time at EMU looks a bit like an apprenticeship. When he matriculated to professional basketball, he was a player few knew much about, but almost immediately, his trademark finger roll and ability to bank the ball into the basket looked effortless.
From 1977-1984, Gervin averaged almost 30 points a game, and was a four-time NBA scoring title. Only two players, Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlin, own more scoring titles in NBA history than Gervin, who is joined by Kevin Durant and Allen Iverson with four scoring crowns.
Combining his ABA and NBA career, Gervin scored over 26,000 points while shooting over 50 percent, as a player coming from what was then an NAIA school.
"There's a lot of schools that would love to have Eastern's history," said Braun, now serving as an ESPN basketball commentator. "It's not just because of the high number of accomplished players, but because Division-I is so competitive. Eastern's had a lot of great players and some really great teams."
— T.C. Cameron is the author of Miracle Maples (2019) and Navy Football: Return to Glory (2017). A 1995 graduate of EMU, he's lived in Annapolis, MD since 2009. Follow him on Twitter: @ByTCCameron.
