Before they would ever be nicknamed “The Jolly Green Giants” and long before they would ever tower over high school boys basketball in Missouri, the Parkview High School Vikings had to learn expectations.
Players such Gail Fredrick will never forget the scene: New coach Bill Harding, who put aside running a Dairy Queen in the Dallas County town of Buffalo, summoned all players to introduce himself. This was ahead of the 1962-1963 season.
“He gathered everybody in the gym and said, ‘I’m here to win a state championship and, if any of you guys aren’t willing to pay the price and do what’s necessary, leave right now,’” Fredrick said of Harding. “He established the expectations in the players from the very beginning.”
High expectations led to hardware, and now leads to induction into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. Their induction is set for 11 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 10 at the University Plaza Convention Center in Springfield. For tickets, call 417-889-3100.
The Vikings highlighted a golden era of basketball in Springfield in the mid-1960s, compiling an 81-4 record in a three-year stretch between November 1963 and March 1966. The program won the 1965 Class L state championship, and nearly turned the trick in 1964 and 1966 as Parkview placed second in the state.
Along the way, News-Leader sports writer Marty Eddlemon nicknamed the Vikings “The Jolly Green Giants” because of their size and all-green warm-ups.
Harding coached until the end of the 1965 season, when he left for Drury University, and new coach Bob Brown guided the 1966 team that won every game but the state championship.
“We required fundamentals and talked fundamentals – both defensively and offensively. And I saw the wealth of talent from the freshmen on up,” Harding said. He later added, “We operated with the idea that everyone has a place on the team. You come in and develop your talent.”
Harding previously coached at Buffalo High School and took a year off to run his own Dairy Queen. But a job offer to coach at Parkview was too great to ignore, given its large enrollment numbers and talent.
“When you think of that group, they were the ones that did the great things,” Harding said. “I just went in and told them what my program could be and what we had to do to fulfill our abilities.”
The Vikings eventually could do it all: full-court press, run two different half-court presses, prevent opponents from offensive rebounds and, yes, flat out score.
Within two years, the Vikings were playing for the 1964 state championship. Steve Grace’s 16.3 points a game, Jim McAlear’s 12.7 scoring average and Larry O’Reilly’s 12.2 points a game led a team that was 13 players deep. The season was kick-started by winning the Fayetteville, Ark., tournament.
The main rotation also included Fredrick, Steve Cash, Larry Carpenter and Virgle Fredrick. The roster included Jack Cox, Bert Park, David Calloway, David Wade, Steve Hutchinson and John Weston.
O’Reilly was the final piece of the puzzle after transferring to Parkview in middle of the prior season.
“Nobody was an exceptional athlete. It was a combination of coming together, trusting each other and counting on each other,” O’Reilly said. “It took a real team effort. That was what Harding was so good at – bringing people together.”
The Vikings won it a year later, beating Center High School of Kansas City, 67-50. Gail Fredrick (15.9 ppg), Ray Snelling (10.8 ppg) and Virgle Fredrick (13.8 ppg) led the charge.
The turning point toward greatness came in the wake of a 34-32 loss to Fort Smith Northside in the Fayetteville tournament. From that mid-December night, the Vikings didn’t lose. “Losing was not an option,” Gail Fredrick said. “Even though (Fort Smith) stalled the ball on us and even though it was a tough place to play, it was just totally unacceptable.”
The 1965 state championship season’s cast of characters included: Virgle Fredrick emerging as one of the city’s best guards; Steve Hutchinson and Jack Cox in a more prominent role; and Tom Bollinger and Larry Carpenter as staples.
“The great thing about this group of young men was they had great parents,” Harding said. “We stayed in communication with them. They knew what was expected of them as individuals.”
New coach Bob Brown came aboard, and Virgle Fredrick, Ray Snelling, Steve Hutchinson, K.G. Wells, Tom Bollinger, Bud Rice, Bob Hurt and Doug Bloch keyed the run to the 1966 championship game.
The team finished 27-1, losing only in the state championship, and won by an average margin of almost 25 points a game.
“We had a winning attitude that had been passed down from the coaches and classes before. We were just prepared to win,” Virgle Fredrick said. He later added, “We were just kids trying to compete and win ball games. And here we are 50 years later, and it still boggles my mind people are still talking about it.”