I do a column for the weekly papers in Charleston and Booneville. The article for last week was about EC O'Neal, one of the all-time basketball greats from Arkansas. Some of you might even remember him.

https://www.boonevilledemocrat.com/opini...-town-star

Enjoyed the article. I vaguely remember hearing his name. When did he play at Tech? Who are the two ahead of him? I remember two greats from Tech, J.P. Lovelady and Kenny Saylors. Saylors played while I was at Henderson, so l had the pleasure of seeing him play several times.[/align]

He played '52-'55. I am fairly sure Saylors came after that. I just happened to be at Waldron years ago for a game. Before the game one ref was standing out on the court, shooting what would now be NBC 3s, swishing one after the other. I asked one of the locals who he was, and he said Kenny Saylors.

(02-03-2020 07:34 PM)MICHAELSPAPPY Wrote:  He played '52-'55. I am fairly sure Saylors came after that. I just happened to be at Waldron years ago for a game. Before the game one ref was standing out on the court, shooting what would now be NBC 3s, swishing one after the other. I asked one of the locals who he was, and he said Kenny Saylors.

My dad was a contemporary of JP Lovelady. Dad was at Pottsville while Lovelady was at Dover. JP of course went to Tech and my Dad was a year or two younger and went to Ozarks. To this day my dad says JP Lovelady was the best player he ever saw. I also remember hearing him talk of EC O’Neal. Good for you Pappy for keeping these Legends in the news.

I saw Saylors play in the early sixties. Unfortunately I came along too late to see Lovelady play. Sam Hindman has some great players and teams at Tech during my college years, and prior to that.