Kevin Tatum Part 1 written by Bijan Bayne
DCBasketball.com spoke with Kevin Tatum, a star 5'7" playmaker for the hallowed McKinley Tech teams of the late 1960's. Tatum has the distinction of running with four First Team All-Mets as a senior- Ronnie Hogue, Randolph "Apple" Milam, Michael Bossard and Tim Bassett. He was recruited to play on Lefty Driesell's first Maryland teams, but went on to star at Indian River JC, and Minot (S.D.) State. Kevin is a sportswriter at the Philadelpphia Daily News
DCB: Was your junior high school team strong, and did you play against any players who went on to play in the Interhigh or Metro Conference?
TATUM: At Taft Junior High, i didn't make the team until i was in the ninth grade. i was a seldom-used sub, but I remember being thrilled that coach Millard Williams saw enough in me to put me on the team. When i was in the seventh grade, Aubrey Nash (Taft) was about the best basketball player i had seen to that point. A guard, he was big and quick, and strong for his age. He was competitive. Aubrey would up at DeMatha, where he remained among the top players in the area as a two-time all-Met, and had a fine career at Kansas.
Also on that Taft team was Henry Welch, who didn't play high school ball. Henry was the first player I saw who had that flair to his game...a 5-11 guard...spin moves...quick first step...creative shots.
The opponent I remember the most was "Catfish" Kinard, who played for Langley. I think he was older than your average junior high player. Very dark-skinned _ black _ Catfish wore a bald-head before it was in fashion. This was in 1965 when I first saw him. He could score, and his reputation preceded him when he came to play at Taft. He did not disappoint. He must have scored 30-some points that day. Along the way, he laughed and joked around with players and students, and you could tell he was having fun. You almost wanted to root for him.
Included on the Taft team I made was Robert "Nehru" Brown, a good-shooting, active 6-3 forward who would go on to be a part of McKinley's Magnificent Seven of '69. Robert and I both attended junior college in Florida, and his team defeated mine in the semifinals of the state tournament when we were freshmen. He drew a charge on me in that game at a key time. On their ensuing possession, I drew a charge on his team's ball-handler. But Robert still teases me about it. We called him "Nehru" because he played while wearing a neck brace after being injured in an automobile accident.
Ronnie Hogue, who went on to become the first African-American player at Georgia when he joined the Bulldogs for the 1969-70 season, was the star player when we were ninth-graders. He was ahead of his years after growing up under the tutelage of his older brother, Gaylord, who starred at Dunbar during the school's early heydays. A lefty, Ronnie was smooth, and a dead-eye shooter from 18 feet and in. He was cagey. A second-team all-Met for McKinley in 1969, many observers thought he should have been a first-teamer. Ronnie was the last cut of the Washington Bullets in 1974 after a stellar career at Georgia. He walked away from the game after being let go by the Bullets, who kept a lesser player (with a guaranteed contract) over Ronnie.
Another player who was on the teams at Taft and McKinley was Michael Bossard, who was about 6-8, tough, and could score in the low post. He was a first-team all-Met. Mike started his college career at Kansas one year after Aubrey Nash went there, but freshmen played freshman ball back then, and Mike was dominating the varsity's frontcourt men. Due to some allegations about Mike's recruitment, however, he never played at Kansas, but had a good career at Louisiana Tech. Coming out of high school, Bossard appeared to be the surest bet to make the pros, but continued problems with his knees curtailed his career.
Tim Basset was a comer when were at Taft. He was 6-8 and loved to play, and you knew he was going to be a force one day. That time came when were seniors at McKinley. Tim was a ravenous rebounder who scored mostly off of offensive rebounds, and with a left-handed hook from the lane. He went to junior college at Southern Idaho, where he was on a fantastic team that was the national championship his freshman year. Guard Steve Hegens, who was perhaps the best point guard in the city while at Spingarn, joined Tim at Southern Idaho. Tim eventually played with Hogue at Georgia, and enjoyed a lengthy career in first the ABA/NBA. Tim was on the ABA title team that was led by Julius Erving before "Doc" moved on to the NBA with the Philadelphia 76ers.
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