Sammy Hervey in today's DMN
Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2006 2:03 pmVery interesting story in today's DMN about this former Pony. I would love to hear more about him from those of you who saw him play.
Ex-SMU player had star quality but never made it farther
08:23 PM CST on Saturday, January 7, 2006
Over the years when he'd see him at games, J.D. Mayo occasionally introduced his Skyline basketball team to the stepfather of one of his players from the late '80s.
And here's what he'd tell them about Sammy Hervey: "This is one of the greatest Dallas ISD players who ever played."
Long before Larry Johnson or Chris Bosh, Hervey was a schoolboy legend at Booker T. Washington and Crozier Tech in the late '60s and early '70s, a 6-7, 220-pounder who could handle the ball and shoot it and wasn't shy about either.
"His points came any way he wanted 'em," Ira Terrell said.
Averaged 41 points his junior year in high school and 37 as a senior. Terrell, a star in his own right, says Hervey could have averaged 50 if they'd allowed dunks and 3-pointers.
Slim, they called him. "And everybody wanted to be like Slim," Terrell said.
How much did Terrell want it? One reason he went to SMU out of Roosevelt was to team with Hervey, whose numbers had been so outlandish that the ABA drafted him out of Kilgore College.
He might go off for 63 at Kilgore. At SMU he teamed with Terrell to form one of the most potent combinations in school history.
Said Terrell: "I knew we could do something."
In the '72-73 season, they averaged 41 points a game between them and made first-team All-SWC. Hervey also averaged nine rebounds, tied for sixth in SMU history.
But Hervey's star faded quickly. Out of shape, grades poor, he played only part of his senior season, though enough that the Atlanta Hawks drafted him in the sixth round.
He came home after three days. Loved to fish and cook. Cooked up a storm at Sammy's Barbeque downtown.
The closest he'd come to basketball was watching his stepson, Willie Arnold, at Skyline.
And his past? "He talked about it all the time," Arnold said. "Booker T., Kilgore, SMU. He had some regrets about it, but not a lot. Money wasn't a big deal to him.
"He had a happy life. Always kept a smile on his face. You couldn't tell he was supposed to be an NBA star."
Later in life he developed hypertension and high blood pressure. On his last check-up, the doctor told him he'd have to go to the hospital or he'd suffer a heart attack or stroke.
His response: "I gotta get out of here."
He died Nov. 19, two days after his 54th birthday. No one was really surprised. Arnold said he never got over the death of his wife (two years ago).
Not that you could tell. Mayo, who saw Hervey play in high school and college, said he was as smooth off the floor as he was on it.
In fact, the only time he'd see Hervey ruffled was when the Skyline coach introduced him to the latest round of Dallas basketball prodigies.
"He'd get a little embarrassed," Mayo said. "He was just a real humble, happy guy."
E-mail [email protected]
Ex-SMU player had star quality but never made it farther
08:23 PM CST on Saturday, January 7, 2006
Over the years when he'd see him at games, J.D. Mayo occasionally introduced his Skyline basketball team to the stepfather of one of his players from the late '80s.
And here's what he'd tell them about Sammy Hervey: "This is one of the greatest Dallas ISD players who ever played."
Long before Larry Johnson or Chris Bosh, Hervey was a schoolboy legend at Booker T. Washington and Crozier Tech in the late '60s and early '70s, a 6-7, 220-pounder who could handle the ball and shoot it and wasn't shy about either.
"His points came any way he wanted 'em," Ira Terrell said.
Averaged 41 points his junior year in high school and 37 as a senior. Terrell, a star in his own right, says Hervey could have averaged 50 if they'd allowed dunks and 3-pointers.
Slim, they called him. "And everybody wanted to be like Slim," Terrell said.
How much did Terrell want it? One reason he went to SMU out of Roosevelt was to team with Hervey, whose numbers had been so outlandish that the ABA drafted him out of Kilgore College.
He might go off for 63 at Kilgore. At SMU he teamed with Terrell to form one of the most potent combinations in school history.
Said Terrell: "I knew we could do something."
In the '72-73 season, they averaged 41 points a game between them and made first-team All-SWC. Hervey also averaged nine rebounds, tied for sixth in SMU history.
But Hervey's star faded quickly. Out of shape, grades poor, he played only part of his senior season, though enough that the Atlanta Hawks drafted him in the sixth round.
He came home after three days. Loved to fish and cook. Cooked up a storm at Sammy's Barbeque downtown.
The closest he'd come to basketball was watching his stepson, Willie Arnold, at Skyline.
And his past? "He talked about it all the time," Arnold said. "Booker T., Kilgore, SMU. He had some regrets about it, but not a lot. Money wasn't a big deal to him.
"He had a happy life. Always kept a smile on his face. You couldn't tell he was supposed to be an NBA star."
Later in life he developed hypertension and high blood pressure. On his last check-up, the doctor told him he'd have to go to the hospital or he'd suffer a heart attack or stroke.
His response: "I gotta get out of here."
He died Nov. 19, two days after his 54th birthday. No one was really surprised. Arnold said he never got over the death of his wife (two years ago).
Not that you could tell. Mayo, who saw Hervey play in high school and college, said he was as smooth off the floor as he was on it.
In fact, the only time he'd see Hervey ruffled was when the Skyline coach introduced him to the latest round of Dallas basketball prodigies.
"He'd get a little embarrassed," Mayo said. "He was just a real humble, happy guy."
E-mail [email protected]