Today (4/4) in 1980: The '79-80 Shaker team saw its senior stars play one last game as the Suburban Council held its annual Exceptional Senior game tonight. All three senior starters on the Shaker team - Perkins, Brundige, and Meehan - were invited to play. And as luck would have it, the game was held at Shaker, meaning there would be one last gasp of the '79-80 magic in the H-gym. A large crowd showed up, much larger than normal for this all-star game, most of them to watch Perkins play one last time. Dean Smith was in attendance, as was Jim Boeheim. Before the game started, Perkins was honored for making Parade Magazine's All-American 1st team just three days earlier. Here's the photo from Parade magazine:
Sam is in the upper right corner. Other members of the first team were: Derek Harper, Doc Rivers, Vern Fleming, Earl Jones, Russel Cross, Charles Sitton, Gary Springer, and one high school junior, Pat Ewing.
The Exceptional Senior game was played under "fun" rules - no pressing and no zone defense - and the players had a good time with it. As expected, Perkins dominated, scoring 32 points, grabbing 18 rebounds, and blocking 8 shots. And for only the 3rd time all season, he was on the court when the game ended, slamming home one of his 5 dunks as the buzzer expired on his Bison career. His "South" team won the high scoring contest 110-85. Here's a shot of Sam putting in a jumper over North's Dave McClure (Shen):
Brundige added 4 points for the South. Meehan did not score, but nicely directed the offense throughout the game. And when it ended, the Shaker seniors walked off the court to a standing ovation. It was over.
Still, one question remained - where was Sam going to go to college? No one could say for sure. Dean Smith was still hopeful - "He hasn't told me no" - but declined to comment any further. Sam said he would be making his decision in the next week or two, and would have an announcement sometime after the Shaker basketball banquet on April 13th.
Sam is in the upper right corner. Other members of the first team were: Derek Harper, Doc Rivers, Vern Fleming, Earl Jones, Russel Cross, Charles Sitton, Gary Springer, and one high school junior, Pat Ewing.The Exceptional Senior game was played under "fun" rules - no pressing and no zone defense - and the players had a good time with it. As expected, Perkins dominated, scoring 32 points, grabbing 18 rebounds, and blocking 8 shots. And for only the 3rd time all season, he was on the court when the game ended, slamming home one of his 5 dunks as the buzzer expired on his Bison career. His "South" team won the high scoring contest 110-85. Here's a shot of Sam putting in a jumper over North's Dave McClure (Shen):
Brundige added 4 points for the South. Meehan did not score, but nicely directed the offense throughout the game. And when it ended, the Shaker seniors walked off the court to a standing ovation. It was over.
Still, one question remained - where was Sam going to go to college? No one could say for sure. Dean Smith was still hopeful - "He hasn't told me no" - but declined to comment any further. Sam said he would be making his decision in the next week or two, and would have an announcement sometime after the Shaker basketball banquet on April 13th.
