From These Roots

“Experiencing winning and losing is valuable to a person. Being part of the basketball team helped me gain this valuable experience.” – Randy McMillan

The Academy Years (1906-1930)

The first record of a men’s basketball team at North Greenville was in the 1915-1916 school year. Little is known about the teams in those early years. North Greenville was still a high school, so it is likely that the basketball team played teams from other high schools in the upstate, but we have no record of any games.

By 1918-1919, the male students came together and formed an athletic association. The following school year, in 1919-1920, the men formed a basketball team and set out to play other local high schools. After defeating Greer High School twice and losing to Simpsonville High School, the season was cut short due to the flu pandemic. All three games were covered by The Greenville News and the team was represented by Ford Thackston, Sloan Gibson, Raymond Bayer, Clinton Foster, and Horace Ballenger.  High School basketball continued at North Greenville throughout the 1920s but came to a halt with the Great Depression.

The Junior College Years (1937-1995)

North Greenville became a junior college in 1934, and basketball picked back up soon after during the 1937-1938 school year. Robert “Fess” Blackwell, a math teacher at North Greenville, took on the role of being the first junior college men’s basketball coach. Since North Greenville was also still a high school, the team mostly played local high schools and mill teams. Records for most of these early college teams were not kept, but the 1939-1940 team finished with a record of 11-13. Men’s basketball was put on hold once again with the outbreak of WWII.

Basketball returned for the 1946-1947 season and was coached by R.M. Rice. North Greenville did not yet have a gym, so all games were played away and most of the opponents were high schools and mill teams. Truett Willis became the new head coach for the 1947-1948 season and stayed for one additional season. In 1949-1950, Charles Bruce coached the men’s team for one season. A basketball banquet was held for the first time in 1950, and awards were presented to players Don Gantt and Gilly Simmons.

A new era of North Greenville men’s basketball began in the 1950-1951 season. The school mascot became the Black Widow Spiders, a gym was constructed (today’s Hayes Gym), more games were scheduled against other junior colleges, and a new coach was hired named Walter Pinson. Coach Pinson was previously a coach at Greer High School for five years. The first game of the season in the new gym was an exciting one as the Black Widows defeated Brevard Junior College.

Coach Pinson resigned after one season and Charles Thomas became the new coach of the Black Widows. Coach Thomas worked with other junior colleges in the western Carolinas to form the Western Carolinas Junior Athletic Association (WCJAA). The other schools in the new association included Mars Hill, Asheville-Biltmore, Lees McRae, Spartanburg Junior College, and Gardner Webb. The first WCJAA Tournament was also held this season, but North Greenville did not win. Coach Thomas’s second season as coach saw the Black Widows win several games and go on to place second in the second WCJAA Tournament where they lost to Brevard in the championship game.

The 1952-1953 season brought forth a new coach and a new mascot. The new coach, Richard “Dick” Campbell, was a 1944 graduate of North Greenville and had previously worked for the YMCA. Coach Campbell changed the mascot of the school to The Mountaineers or “The Mounties” for short and also served as the baseball coach. After a 3^rd place finish in his first year, Coach Campbell led his team to a WCJAA championship in his second year. The 1955-1956 season brought a change in association/conference structure when the WCJAA became the Western Carolinas Junior College Conference (WCJCC) as a part of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA).

The five years under Coach Campbell’s leadership were some of the best in the history of the school. The Mounties won conference and regional championships in 1956, 1957, and 1958 which earned them spots each year in the NJCAA Tournament. They finished 8^th in the nation in 1956 and 1957 and 9^th in the nation in 1958. Some of the standout players during Coach Campbell’s years were Jack Dean, Gene Seay, Harvard Riddle, Buddy Davidson, Willard Fowler, Robert Derwood Wilson, and Charles Ray “Pete” Carlisle. At the end of the 1957-1958 season, Coach Campbell resigned to accept a position with Carson-Newman College in Tennessee.

The next five years were led by Coach Jack Dean who was a North Greenville basketball alumnus. The 1958-1959 season was the first where the majority of the players were from states other than South Carolina. It was also in this season that the Mounties played a game against the Furman University Freshmen in the first ever event at Greenville’s new Memorial Auditorium. The Mounties won the game 55-30 and North Greenville alumni played for Furman in the following game that night against West Virginia. The Mounties went on to win the conference and regional championships and a fourth straight trip to Nationals where they placed 12^th.

The Mounties finished second place in the conference for the next two seasons. They became conference champions again in the 1961-1962 season but lost in regionals so they did not advance to nationals.  Jack Dean’s last season as coach was 1962-1963. He celebrated his 100^th win as a college basketball coach and led his team to a 3^rd place finish in the conference. Some standout players during Coach Dean’s years were Joe Parker, Russell Milton, Ronnie Russell, Harvey Tankersley, and Jack Halford. Gary King became the head coach for one season and led the Mounties to a conference championship in 1964.

Harvey Tankersley became the third North Greenville alumnus to take on the head coaching role in 1964. After a couple of seasons with losing records, the Mounties returned to second place in the conference during the 1966-1967 season and earned a chance to play at regionals. They finished 3^rd in the region and completed the season with a winning record of 14-10.

Before 1967, all of the men’s basketball teams were made up of white players. During the 1967-1968 season, Zawaski Bateman became the first black athlete at North Greenville Junior College. Zawaski Bateman was also one of the two first black traditional students at North Greenville. Unfortunately, Bateman had an awful experience at North Greenville and was even mistreated by some of his own basketball teammates. Despite this Bateman persevered and, by his second season, he earned the spot as captain of the team and the Mounties finished with a 13-13 record.

1970-1971 was Coach Tankersley’s last season as head coach at North Greenville. The Mounties finished third in the Western Carolinas Junior College Conference Tournament. Some standout players during Coach Tankersley’s years include Pete Crisel, Zawaski Bateman, and Glympth Childress. Robert Brewer became the first full-time basketball coach at North Greenville for the 1971-1972 season. He only stayed one year but led the Mounties to a record of 19-7.

The next seven years were under the leadership of Coach Larry Wall. In his first season as head coach (1972-1973), Coach Wall led the Mounties to an overall record of 29-6. The Mounties lost in the conference tournament, but still earned an at-large spot in the regional tournament. They won the regional tournament and went to nationals for the first time since 1959 where they finished 4^th in the nation. The 1973-1974 Mounties team looked to be one of the best in the school’s history and they were aiming for a national championship after winning both the conference and the regional championships. However, four players, including three starters, made some bad decisions and were suspended from school the day before the team was set to leave for nationals. The loss was hard to overcome, and the Mounties lost in the first round at the national tournament.

The Mounties returned to nationals in the 1976-1977 season after losing the conference championship but winning the regionals. The team earned 7^th in the nation and finished with an overall record of 24-8. Coach Wall resigned after the 1977-1978 season to take a position at Cumberland College in Kentucky. Some of the standout players under Coach Wall were Greg Ashorn, Gus Fernandez-Rubio, Joe Dallas, and Stan Brown.

Coach Steve Lytton became the Mounties head coach in the 1978-1979 season and would stay in the position for eight years. In the 1981-1982 season, Coach Lytton was named the conference’s Coach of the Year. He received the honor a second time in a row the next season as he led his team to a conference championship in 1981-1982. That same season, Robert Leak was named the Western Carolinas Junior College Conference’s Player of the Year. The Mounties had winning records for the next few seasons and in 1983-1984 George Adams was named WCJCC Player of the Year.

The Mounties returned to regionals during the 1985-1986 season. In the first round of the tournament, the Mounties pulled off a big upset against top-seeded Louisburg when Rodney Littlejohn sank a pair of free throws that gave the Mounties the lead in the final 11 seconds of the game. Unfortunately, they fell in a close game to Anderson in the semi-finals. Coach Lytton left after this season to take the same position at Anderson College. Some of the standout players during Coach Lytton’s years were Terry Strickland, Robert Leak, Bruce Hawkins, and George Adams.

Rick Scruggs, who had previously been an assistant coach at Francis Marion, became the head coach for the 1986-1987 season. With only one returning player, Coach Scruggs was tasked with building a team nearly from scratch. Despite this, the Mounties finished second place in the conference after making it to the championship game in the tournament. The conference name changed for the 1987-1988 season to the Carolinas Junior College Conference.

                Coach Scruggs’s final season, 1988-1989, was his most successful one as head coach at North Greenville. The Mounties won 18 games before suffering their first loss and at their highest were ranked number 9 in the National Junior College Athletic Association. The team won the Carolinas Junior College Conference Championship and earned a top seed in regionals. North Greenville won the Region 10 Championship and moved on to Nationals for the first time since 1977 but lost in the first round of Nationals. Some standout players from Coach Scruggs’s three seasons include Brandt Williams, Jimmy Thomas, and Jon Hardin. Coach Scruggs resigned from North Greenville to take the head coach position at Belmont Abbey College.

                Jeff Burkhamer became the next head coach of North Greenville for the 1989-1990 season. Coach Burkhamer only stayed two seasons, but they were two of the most successful seasons in NGC Men’s Basketball history. During the 1989-1990 season, the Mounties became nationally ranked as 19^th and entered the regional tournament as a top seed. They won the regional championship and went to Nationals for the second year in a row where they made it into the Sweet 16 before being eliminated.  Coach Burkhamer was named Conference Coach of the Year and Region 10 Coach of the Year. James Kirkland won All-Region honors. James Kirkland, Willis Johnson, and Carl Chasten made All-Conference. Kenny Toomer was the Region 10 Tournament Most Valuable Player.

Coach Burkhamer’s second season as coach was even more successful than his first. The Mounties peaked in the national rankings at 4^th and won the regional title again. They went to Nationals where they placed 9^th in the nation. Jerome Oliver was named MVP of the Regional Tournament and made the All-Tournament team along with Willis Johnson. Coach Burkhamer was named the Region 10 Coach of the Year for the second year in a row. Coach Burkhamer said of his sophomore players this year, “This sophomore class has an overall record of 58-10. When you look back at what we’ve done: 2 region titles, 2 tournament titles, and 2 visits to the final round of 16, the only thing we did not accomplish was to win a national title.” Coach Burkhamer left after this season to take a position as an assistant coach for the Grand Rapids Hoops of the Continental Basketball Association. The CBA was a developmental league for the NBA.

Unfortunately, Coach Burkhamer’s resignation came too late for North Greenville to launch a proper search for a replacement. So, the men’s basketball program was paused for the 1991-1992 season. The players who had been promised scholarships that year had their scholarships honored if they chose to stay at North Greenville. A search for the new coach was launched and Houston Fancher was hired for the 1992-1993 season. Coach Fancher was previously an assistant coach at Maryville College in Tennessee. Coach Fancher had no returning players so he immediately began to recruit and build his team. The next few seasons held losing records and Coach Fancher left after the 1994-1995 season.

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Years (1995-2001)

The 1995-1996 season was the first season North Greenville basketball entered into four-year level competition by joining the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The Mounties played his season as an independent team while waiting on the Mid-South Atlantic Conference to begin basketball play. The new head coach was David Conrady who had previously been an assistant coach at Mars Hill College. The next few seasons held losing records for the Mounties, but they finished 5^th in the conference in the 1999-2000 season.

The NCAA Years (2001-Present)

With the new century came a new era in sports at North Greenville. The school mascot changed to the Crusaders and North Greenville entered into the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Division II as an independent for the 2001-2002 season. The Crusaders also joined the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) this season. The overall season record was 13-10 and they were ranked as high as 6^th in the NCCAA during the season. The Crusaders received an at-large entry into the National Christian College Men’s Basketball Tournament but lost in the semi-finals. Coach Conrady resigned at the end of the season to take a position with Newberry College.

North Greenville’s current men’s basketball coach, Chad Lister, came to the school for the 2002-2003 season. Coach Lister came to North Greenville from Eastside High School. In Coach Lister’s first few seasons, the Crusaders made it to the NCCAA tournament several times and in 2005-2006 they made it into the NCAA Division II Independents Tournament where they lost in the championship game. 2010-2011 became the last season the Crusaders played as an independent school in the NCAA Division II. The team finished with a first-place ranking and Coach Lister was awarded as the NCAA Division II Independents Coach of the Year.  

The Crusaders joined the Conference Carolinas for the 2011-2012 season and were ranked 9^th in the conference in the preseason poll. They finished their first season in the conference with a 12-15 record. The 2015-2016 season became one of the most successful of the century for the Crusader Men’s Basketball team. The Crusaders won the conference championship after an upset defeat against Mount Olive. For the first time, North Greenville made it into the NCAA Division II Tournament where they fell in the first round to Lincoln Memorial University.

North Greenville Men’s Basketball has a long history of enthusiastic fans. In the 1960s, “funerals” were given before home games for the opposing teams. In the 1970s, the “Backwoods Brotherhood” became known for their pregame antics at home games. They would dress up as mountaineers carrying sticks, hang banners across the road, and “escort” the opposing teams’ bus down winding 414 highway to North Greenville. The Backwoods Brotherhood left such an impression on a former Anderson coach in 1974 that he wrote about it several years later as one of the most memorable trips his team took.

Fans have been a big part of the game day experience, but for the 2020-2021 season, fans were not allowed to attend the games due to Covid restrictions. The season did not start until January 2021 and only the teams and essential personnel were allowed at the games. When the players were not actively playing, they had to wear masks and social distance as much as possible. The Crusaders finished the shortened season with a 10-7 record.

As another season of Men’s Basketball begins, with the new Trailblazers mascot, Coach Lister remains at the helm for his 23^rd season. There have been many standout players in his over two decades of coaching and some of them include Jordan Richmond, PJ Schumacher, Victor Duck, Amonzo Gantt, Paul Harrison, Luke Lattimer, Chris Dean, Tyshawn Patterson, Phillip Brown, Keith Johnson, Spencer Reaves, Micah Parker, Korval McElroy, Justin Dotson, Daniel Burchette, Bryce Allen, Miguel Cartagena, Luke Gaines, Roderick Howell, Spencer Kirkpatrick, Jacob Redding, Gage Parker, Jalon Cokley, Seth Hewitt, Zak Perdew, John Haddock Rogers, Caleb Williams, and Mason Zick.