It’s the 50-year anniversary of one of the greatest teams in Southern California high school basketball history – the 1974-75 All-CIF team in the “AAAA” division.
The most valuable player on this team was David Greenwood from Verbum Dei. He went on to star at UCLA and in the NBA. An astounding seven players out of 10 first-team selections reached the NBA, including… Reggie Theus from inglewood, Bill Laimer From Palos Verdes, Brad Holland From Crescenta Valley, Roy Hamilton From the verb diy, James Hardie From long beach jordan and Paul Mokiski From Crispy.
“Everyone talks about that year because it was extraordinary with the amount of talent playing,” said Holland, who played at UCLA and won an NBA title with the Lakers in 1980. “For us to go into the league was pretty amazing.”
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Other All-CIF selections were Long Beach Wilson’s Neil Arnold and Marina’s Bob Losner and Rich Branning. Number three ended up being greats at their schools.
Holland, who went on to be a coach in college, said he ended up playing against five of the top six players in the NBA. During his final high school season, he knew many of them. He would play pickup games against Greenwood and Hamilton at UCLA, where they ended up as teammates. Theus played in a singles game at camp that summer. He faced Laimbeer in the Glendale Tournament game. He took on Mokeski in the playoff.
“It was a special class,” Greenwood said.
Palos Verdes won the “AAAA” Championship over Marina and ended Verbum Dei’s six-year reign. There were only four All-CIF teams, and as Holland recalls, “I can remember being honored for every position was huge. If you made All-CIF, you were special.”
It’s the 50th anniversary of the 1975 boys basketball team, where seven of their 10 first-team selections made it to the NBA.
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First, you need to understand how these teams are put together. It was sponsored by the Helms Sports Foundation, which later earned the title of Nationals Sports Provider Foundation. Culver City sportswriters will gather for a free lunch to nominate and vote for players. At times, discussions became loud and personal as local writers supported players in their areas. But this team was different.
The 1975 meeting was a first for former times sportsman Mike Kennedy. He said that nine of the 10 choices were “so obvious” that they were relatively easy to put together.
Nowadays, all CIF teams are staffed by coaches and players selected primarily from teams that make the playoffs.
When you add in who was playing in the City Division, 1974-75 becomes even more historic. Dorsey had one of its best teams, led by James Wilkes, who went to UCLA and played three years in the NBA. Also on Dorsey was Flintai Ray Williams, a fifth-round pick of the Detroit Pistons after playing at Pepperdine and Nevada Las Vegas. The city’s best player was Chris Lippert of Cleveland, another UCLA player.
Holland said he remembered John Wooden coming to see him play at Crescenta Valley, but Holland was a year after arriving at UCLA to be coached by him, where Wooden had retired after winning his 10th NCAA title in 1975.
Greenwood said it was fun to play with and against players for years after the NBA. Theus became his teammate on the Chicago Bulls. The players enjoyed all the attention Laimer received for being a “tough guy.”
“The funny part is Bill is a pussycat,” Greenwood said. “We all know Bill from high school.”
Holland, 68, is retired and lives in La Quinta and plays a lot of golf. Holland mentioned the number of players who have made it to the NBA, “It brings back great memories.”
