Meet the 12th Man Foundation’s All-American and National Football Foundation Hall of Famer, Jacob Green.
In 1980, the Kashmere Senior High School Basketball Team also known as “The Mighty Rams” finished the season with an overall record of 31-3, winning the District and City Basketball Title before winning the Class 4A State Basketball Championship.
Under the leadership and guidance of Head Coach Frankie Brazos, Sr. and Assistant Coach Danny Thomas, the Kashmere Senior High School 1980 Basketball Team stood strong together motivating and encouraging one another for greatness. The goal and the philosophy of the team was to work hard, plan the scheme and execute without flaws. The Team competed in the State Finals in Austin Texas against Dallas Plano with a score of Kashmere 70 and Dallas Plano 69.
The Kashmere Senior High School 1980 Basketball Team won the 1980 4A State Championship with a victory that went down as one of the greatest moments in Kashmere Senior High School and Texas High School Basketball history.
1975 Kashmere Rams Basketball Team
In 1975, there were 800 plus high schools in the state of Texas and somewhere in the range of 20,000 high schools across the country. In that group, a small school located in northeast Houston with an enrollment of less than 1800 students, were declared the number one high school basketball team in the entire nation by EA Sports, National Sport News Service and several other publications after winning back to back state titles. As sophomores, Henry Small, Jarvis Williams and the late Carl Byrd were the only members from the two championship teams to play on the varsity squad. Playing against seniors Phillip Davis, Morris Davis and Danny Thomas in practice each day help established the work ethics that would carry the 1974 & 1975 teams to greater heights. The 1973 team record was 30-11 and 12-2 in district play. They were crowned 17-4A district champs before losing in the playoffs to M.B. Smiley.
What most fans didn’t know was that some incredible things were happening on the junior varsity squad that year. Under the tutelage of Assistant Coach Ned “Chief” Streety was the emergence of Karl Godine, Craig Reggins, Madison Lane, and Carl Belcher along with James Howard, Steve Mitchell, Floyd Patterson, Lawson Jackson, Edward Miles and Charlie Ross. “Chief” was a strict, no nonsense coach that toughened up those guys. This would be an integral step in preparation for the 1974 & 1975 title runs. Craig Reggins stated, “Coach Streety taught me how to control my emotions on the court. I give him so much credit for me getting called up to the varsity at midseason.” Playing on the junior varsity team as a sophomore really helped Godine, as his confidence and basketball IQ soared. Furthering Karl’s development was the summer he spent tutoring under former Kashmere standout Ephraim Griffin. Ephraim stated, “Karl had all the attributes to be a talented player. I mainly tried to work with him from a mental standpoint to increase his basketball knowledge. I explained to him the importance of developing a strong off-hand which would enable him to attack the defender’s front leg, left or right.”
The quest for the 1974 title began that summer as they gathered for pickup games at the school with former Kashmere players and other athletes from across the city. Through those workouts, friendships strengthened, and they developed their strong will to win at all cost. The Rams served notice early, as they started the season scoring 146 points in their first game. After winning the first five games, the Rams lost to Houston Sterling 116-106. They went on to win the next six games, before losing a heartbreaker to Clear Lake 78-73. Coach Weldon Drew’s inexperienced squad, which consisted of four seniors and nine juniors, began to jell after that loss. The starters were senior guards Michael Stanton and Craig Reggins along with juniors Jarvis Williams, Carl Byrd, and Karl Godine, along with Lanis Hayes, the key sixth-man on this deep squad.
Led by Coach Drew, the Rams dominated Houston high school basketball taking a 27 game win streak into the regional playoffs. From there, the Rams would beat Forest Brook 100-88, Port Arthur Lincoln 82-77, and in a thriller of a game, Worthing 91-90 taking their win streak to 30 games and overall record to 40-2 entering into Austin for the semi-finals. Because of superior shooting (45% to 39%) and rebounding (62-38), Kashmere would pull out a 3-point victory in the semi-finals over Denton. Rams’ Co-Captain, Craig Reggins, declared after the semi-final win that when the team returned to Houston, they’d have the Class 4A state basketball championship.
This Ram team was battle tested throughout the playoffs, but not to the magnitude as the championship game vs. Dallas-South Oak Cliff. Down by as many as ten points in the first half, they fought back utilizing a “run and gun” offense and full court defensive pressure to eventually capture the lead. They then went to the four corner offense with 2 minutes remaining to protect their lead and defeated SOC by a score of 91-87 to win the 4A State Basketball Championship. This was a bitter sweet victory for Coach Drew. In 1961, arguably his most talented team at 39-1 was denied playing for the state title because of an overcrowded arena. Coach Drew had put the safety of his team above winning, as he pulled them off the court therefore resulting in State Co-Champs.
The confident senior Reggins, a key figure in the victory with 17 points, was right in his previous prediction and therefore bore listening to once again. His latest prophecy was “We’ll be back next year too”… referring to the nine returning players and a junior varsity team that went 28-4 in route to winning the city title.
Kashmere would place three players on the All-State Tournament Team: Craig Reggins, Jarvis Williams, and Karl Godine. All seniors from the 1974 team: Lanis Hayes, Nathaniel Smith, Harry Lewis, Michael Stanton, and Craig Reggins received scholarships to play basketball on the collegiate level.
With the 1974 championship under his belt, it was time for Coach Drew to prepare the 1975 team for the quest for another title. First task was to make up for the loss of guards, Stanton and Reggins, due to graduation. The answer came in the form of Madison Lane and Henry Small. Henry, an experienced sharpshooter, and Madison, a slick ball handler, along with arguably the state’s best sixth-man in Carl Belcher joined an already deep roster that proved to be each other’s biggest challenge each day in practice. Jarvis Williams stated: “We had a strong starting five, but also had six guys coming off the bench who could play just as well.” With that being said, you get an idea of the tremendous job Coach Drew did to get this team to buy into his rotating system.
So with all the pieces in place and a target on their back, the Rams came out of the gate ready to defend their title. What Coach Drew asked of his players, as they ran no offense sets, was to play your territory and balance the court. Also to use basic basketball knowledge: create turnovers and the shots would come. Each member of the 1975 team held one another accountable and had the mindset that no team was better if they simply executed the game plan… Run, Run, and Run some more! Coach Drew kept fresh legs on court to help institute this style of play. However, the team still hadn’t convinced the city of Houston that there was a new sheriff in town until the month of December, when they took down the nation’s number one team Elk Grove led by All-American, Bill Cartwright, in the Dr. Pepper Classic. The following week in the Jaycee Tournament, they would run the table and ultimately beat Phyllis Wheatley by 30 in the tournament finals. It was then that the city of Houston was convinced, as the Rams began to receive recognition from national publications.
Among the fans were talk of the win streak and the thought of going back to state, but the players stayed focus and played one game at a time. They ran through their district opponents like a cheap pair of stockings, winning their closest contest by a 12 point margin. The Rams went through the regional playoffs beating Forest Brook 97-73, Beaumont Charlton Pollard 100-68, and Wheatley 116-79 in the finals. Kashmere would enter the state tournament 44-0, riding a 76 game winning streak. However, the Rams were given all that they could handle at the state tournament by opponents determined to slow down their run and shoot game. They survived a 3 overtime game in the semi-final versus Midland Lee, as Lee employed a slowdown game to frustrate the run and gun Rams. Lee held the ball for more than 8 minutes during one stretch and had possession of the ball at the end of regulation and the first two overtimes.
However, Kashmere jumped out to a 3 point lead on a shot by Carl Byrd and a free throw by Madison Lane in the 3rd overtime and held on to win by 2. The following morning the Austin newspaper announced that Kashmere High School had been declared the nation’s #1 high school team by several publications. This didn’t faze the Rams because they understood that there was still the unfinished business of the back to back state titles that former teammate Craig Reggins had predicted. Kashmere met Fort Worth-Paschal in the finals and won a hard fought game 60-58, fulfilling Reggins’ prediction, securing their second state championship trophy in a row.
Under the leadership of the late legendary Weldon Drew, this group of players reached many milestones in route to a school record 78 consecutive victories. Led by All-Americans Karl Godine and Jarvis Williams, along with All-State selections Carl Byrd and Madison Lane, the Rams’ run and shoot offense dominated their opponents at all facets of the game. Whenever the greatest high school basketball teams of Houston are discussed the conversation almost always turns back to the early 1970’s and the storied Wheatley and Kashmere teams. Bob Springer of Texas Basketball Magazine stated, “The best high school teams in Houston were arguably the best in the nation. Houston-Wheatley was a dominating force from 1967-73, and the 1974-75 Kashmere team posting 46-0 record the latter seasons…”
After winning the national title, many more accolades were bestowed on the 1975 Kashmere Rams team. Coach Weldon Drew was named ESPN National Coach of the Year. Karl Godine, the State Championship MVP, and Jarvis Williams were both named to the All-America team. Karl Godine, Jarvis Williams, Carl Byrd, and Madison Lane were all named to the All-State Team. For Williams and Godine this was a repeat selection, after being named as juniors. Henry Small, Carl Byrd, and Jarvis Williams’ three year career record was 120 wins and 13 losses, with 11 of those losses coming as sophomores. The team through the two championship years had a whopping 92 wins against only 2 losses. The nine seniors on the team all received athletic scholarships to play collegiate basketball. The team’s two sophomore players also received athletic scholarships after their graduation in 1977. Six players from the team earned scholarships to play major collegiate basketball, with one university making an offer to the entire starting five! The two championship teams combined were awarded 16 scholarships.
1974 and 1975 Rams State Championship Roster
Karl Godine—24
Carl Byrd—21
Jarvis Williams—25
Madison Lane—12
Henry Small—11
Carl Belcher—22
Charlie Ross—30
Craig Reggins—14
Stephen Mitchell—15
Edwin Miles—31
James Howard—20
Floyd Patterson—10, 13*
Kerwin Brooks—14*
Ervy Cormier—31
Russell Sublet—10*
Lanis Hayes—20
Michael Stanton—13
Harry Lewis—31
Nathaniel Smith—23
*1975 Jersey number
Interview with 1975 Captain Jarvis (Teddy) Williams
[Not a valid template]KFAA: How was Coach Drew able to prepare this squad that was loaded with so many good players?
Jarvis: “Coach Drew gave us the guidance and freedom we needed to be relaxed on the court. Any player that was open had the green light to shoot. We believed that no team would beat us if we played team ball. Coach Drew’s practices would consist of us getting the ball down court without dribbling and it carried over into each game, as we found the open man for the shot.”
KFAA: What’s was the difference to you between the two championship teams?
Jarvis: “The 1974 team just went out and played hard every night. The 74 season was everyone’s first time starting, so it took a while to smooth things over. Our starters were Michael Stanton, Craig Riggins, Karl Godine, the late Carl Byrd, and I. There were no selfish players on our team, and we kept one another accountable.”
KFAA: Tell me about the 1974 season and your role on that team.
Jarvis: “We won our first 5 games before losing to a red hot shooting Sterling High in the Rosenberg Tournament. We then won the next 6 games before losing to Clear Lake in their tournament finals… which was a real heartbreaker. After that loss, it was time for a gut check. Well… the rest is history because that happened to be the last game we lost during our high school career, and was the start of the 78 game win streak.”
KFAA: Talk about the 1975 team and how you’ll was able to stay focus?
Jarvis: “The 1975 team’s expectations were very high because of the previous year, but we never thought about the state championship from 1974. This was a new season and we took it one game at a time. I was captain of the 1975 team, so Coach Drew explained to me my role as a leader was to always give 100% in practice… which would set the tone for us moving forward. We would run our press after made baskets, which was our bread and butter. Most teams only had one maybe two ball handlers, so we would force a lot of turnovers that lead to extra baskets for us. Teams would try to press us with no success because we had good ball handlers, and we didn’t dribble to break presses. We pass the ball before the press could rotate. Plus, we had Madison Lane the most unselfish player on our squad handling and distributing the ball.”
KFAA: Karl Godine, who went from junior varsity as a sophomore to All-State first team as a junior, was quite an accomplishment in such a short span.
Jarvis: “The year of Junior Varsity really helped Karl come into his own as a player. More so, the summer he spent tutoring under former Kashmere standout Ephraim Griffin. He worked with Karl increasing his ability to use the left hand and explained to Karl how it would take his overall game to the next level.”
KFAA: What was the game plan for 7 foot All-American, Bill Cartwright?
Jarvis: “My job was to play him man on man, and do my best of keeping him from getting the ball down low. I did a lot fronting him and moving my feet, so he would have a hard time posting me up. We had so much scoring power that one man wasn’t going to beat us. We frustrated him and neutralized his ability to score the ball. He ended the game with 14 points.”
KFAA: Reflect back on the team accomplishments and the individual’s honors in 1975.
Jarvis: “Looking back on the 78 game win streak, the back to back state championships, and finishing the year #1 in the nation was really great for us. During our journey, we never got caught up in the hype. We just took it one game at a time, and the end results were tribute to our hard work and dedication to our craft. We thank God for blessing us with the talent to accomplish what we did and finish the year undefeated at 46-0. This past March was the 40th anniversary of our 1974 state title.”
*Houston Post, Houston Chronicle, Dr. Wilbanks and Harold Ratliff contribute to article
Congratulations to the 1965 Baseball Champs
In a six and half hour marathon played at Jeppesen Field, Kashmere Gardens Junior Senior High School under the leadership of Coach Henry L. Stevenson claimed the 1965 UIL State Baseball Championship. In game one behind the strong pitching of Larry Dean Washington 13 strikeouts, Kashmere beat Waco Moore 8-3 in seven innings.
In the middle game Waco Moore sent Bob Degrate to the mound and he responded with a no-hitter in handicapping the Rams bats as they beat them 10-0 to force a game three.
In the deciding game three of the marathon day Coach Stevenson decided to send Larry Washington back to mound in quest of the state title. Coach Stevenson belief was that you fly with the “Bird” that brought you to the dance. Larry Washington being the straw that stirs the drink responded as he again struck out 13 batters total 26 strikeouts in 14 innings of pitching and beat Waco Moore 2-1 and claiming the Class 4A title. He was aided by the bat of Willie Jones who went 3 for 4 and batted in both runs in leading KG to the state title. This Ram team was dominated by underclassmen
