[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Page 12988]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         DELAWARE'S DREAM TEAM

 Mr. COONS. Madam President, Delaware is known as the First 
State, and I rise today to commemorate a first in my State. Forty years 
ago, the Howard High men's basketball team became the first boys' 
basketball team in the State-tournament era to complete an undefeated 
season. The 1973 Wildcats were honored for that achievement in 
Wilmington earlier this year, but today I would like to honor them on 
the Floor of the Senate.
  You see, the story of the '73 Wildcats tells you something about my 
home State. They were never the tallest team out there--the tallest 
player was Lonnie Sparrow at 6 feet 3 inches--and they were never 
considered the team to beat. They were not even considered the best 
team at Howard High. The highly touted '72 squad had included John 
Irving who is still one of only two players in Hofstra University 
history to accumulate 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds, and led them to 
their first two NCAA tournament appearances. They could only draw from 
a small student body of about 700 to 800 students, in contrast to some 
of the other local high schools.
  But what Sparrow, Mike Miller, Eric Fuller, Kenny Hynson, Wayne 
Parson, Dave Roane, Istavan Norwood, Lemuel Glover, Rich Miles, Joe 
Robinson, Isaiah Reason, and Ernest Coleman had was better than height 
or the praise of outsiders. They had coaches that believed in them in 
Jay Thomas and Stan Hill, and they had a tight-knit group of supporters 
in the school and the community. Most of all, they had each other, and 
by playing ball together, they accomplished what no other team had done 
in Delaware history. Their amazing story includes last-minute buzzer 
shots to make it to the championships, and even a climactic showdown 
with long-time rivals Wilmington High, who had ended the school's 
dreams of a championship the previous year. It is a story made for 
Hollywood. In a fitting epilogue, they each continue their tradition of 
quality through teamwork as teachers, coaches, counselors, ministers, 
businessmen, members of the Armed Services, and civil servants.
  But there is one more thing that must be noted. Named after the same 
Civil War general that Howard University honors and built around the 
same time, Howard was the first--and for many years only--African-
American high school in Delaware. During the 1950's the shameful 
neglect towards the institution led to a court case challenging 
separate-but-equal laws that went on to become one of the five decided 
in the Brown v. Board Supreme Court decision. By the time of the '73 
Wildcats, schools were desegregated but the poison of decades of racism 
persisted.
  It was in this context that the all-black Howard team relied on each 
other, and did the impossible in Delaware. As such, they are an example 
to all of us--especially, I think, to those of us in the Senate faced 
with tough challenges for the future. You see, when everyone is betting 
against us, when it seems like we somehow lack the stature to get the 
job done, or when the world around us is tumultuous and seems more than 
any one of us alone can handle, we need to join together, find ways to 
trust each other, and get the job done. The 1973 Howard High Wildcats 
just wanted to play great basketball, and they did in storybook 
fashion. But in doing so, they became an inspiration to their friends, 
family, community, and at least one U.S. Senator.

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