Seventy years ago, a tall, lanky teenager helped McClymonds High win its second consecutive Tournament of Champions title. Bill Russell later carved out an incomparable basketball career, becoming the NBA’s first African American head coach and a prominent figure in the civil rights movement.
One of Russell’s teammates also soared well beyond West Oakland. Frank Robinson put up a Hall of Fame baseball career and became the first Black manager in MLB history, breaking barriers in his own way.
Only a few months later in 1952, two newcomers arrived and soon joined Robinson on the baseball team. Curt Flood and Vada Pinson also didn’t stop there — they both blossomed into major-league All-Stars. Flood forever changed baseball by challenging its reserve clause and paving the way for free agency.
Four transcendent athletes, one campus, same year.
This extraordinary convergence highlights McClymonds’ rich sports history, not only on the field but also in the wider world. Russell, who died July 31 at age 88, offers the most powerful example, a distinctive blend of staggering athletic success — winning 11 NBA championships with the Boston Celtics — trailblazing and social activism.
Former NBA player and head coach Paul Silas (3), center, an alum of McClymonds High School, is seen in a school yearbook in Oakland, Calif. Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022.
Trophies are seen in a display case at McClymonds High School in Oakland, Calif. Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022.
The roster of McClymonds athletes who prospered professionally stretches deep, from basketball (Russell, Paul Silas, Joe Ellis, Antonio Davis) and football (Wendell Hayes, Marcus Peters) to baseball (Robinson, Pinson, Flood, Lee Lacy) and track (Jim Hines). Many more enjoyed standout college careers and played pro hoops overseas, with one common bond: Their journeys started at the old building on Myrtle Street in West Oakland.
“I don’t think there’s another school in the U.S. that can compare,” former Mack basketball coach Ben Tapscott said.
The roots of this remarkable McClymonds/West Oakland pipeline trace to people such as Bill Patterson. He served as a mentor to Russell, Robinson, Flood and Pinson, helping them plant the seeds for an impactful life beyond high school.
Patterson didn’t officially coach at McClymonds, the way George Powles and Paul Harless did. Those men presided over the glory days of Mack basketball — Powles in the early 1950s, Harless during six straight TOC titles from 1958 through ’63 — and made a profound impact on Russell and other players. Russell once called Powles “the most influential person in my life outside of my father.”
Bill Patterson, 91, poses for a portrait with a photo of Curt Flood in Oakland.
Patterson, now 91, also helped shape McClymonds athletes of the era. He worked for Parks and Recreation and spent much of the 1950s at DeFremery Park, the West Oakland hub where Mack students regularly congregated. (DeFremery later served as a meeting place for the Black Panthers.)
Photos scattered around Patterson’s living room in his modest Oakland hills ranch house reflect his deep connections. He keeps an oversized portrait of Flood, several shots with Russell and a framed photo of baseball Hall of Famer Joe Morgan, with whom Patterson became close while working at Brookfield Park in East Oakland.
DeFremery had a year-round program in the ’50s, so Russell and other McClymonds students spent time there after school and during summers. If a student was struggling in a class at McClymonds, he or she could get help at DeFremery. Dorothy Pitts presided over the program, with Patterson flanking her. He recalled how Pitts “expanded the mindset” of kids and helped them land jobs in labor, education and science.
Pitts and Patterson also taught Russell, Flood and their contemporaries everything from etiquette at the dinner table to how to conduct their own meetings. Russell called it the “University of DeFremery,” according to Patterson.
“I can’t tell you of the impact Bill (Patterson) and his co-workers had on my life,” Russell once wrote. “We had active philosophical discussions about West Oakland, DeFremery and the world outside … so much so that when we left we were prepared to tackle the world.” Flood wrote of Patterson, “We were fortunate to have men like Bill, who were sincerely interested in the welfare of youth and saw to it that you went on to achieve great things in life.”
The equation started with ambitious students. Russell, Robinson, Flood and Pinson were eager to absorb guidance beyond sports; Patterson recalled the way Russell, who often had a book in his hands, sought him out to discuss current events. Patterson introduced Flood (who transferred to Oakland Tech after one year at McClymonds) to contacts at the NAACP, and Flood followed up by seeking books to read about the fight for civil rights and, later, baseball’s labor structure.
An undated image of the late NBA legend Bill Russell, left, with mentor Bill Patterson is photographed at Patterson?•s home on Tuesday, August 30, 2022, in Oakland, Calif. Patterson, 91, was Russell?•s friend and mentor for over 70 years.
BOSTON, MA - CIRCA 1960's: Bill Russell #6 of the Boston Celtics on his way to the basket drives pass Wilt Chamberlain #13 of the Philadelphia 76ers during a mid circa 1960's NBA basketball game at the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. Russell played for the Celtics from 1956-69. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
He and Patterson kept in touch throughout Flood’s effort to change the system. He ultimately lost his case in the Supreme Court in 1972, though his challenge led to the advent of free agency four years later. Eventually, the Curt Flood Act of 1998 revoked baseball’s antitrust exemption for labor matters.
Patterson’s memory covers the full range of these prodigies, including Flood moving from catcher to the outfield because his mom didn’t want him to absorb punishment behind the plate. Russell wasn’t a standout player at McClymonds, but his long arms and quick movements offered clues to his dominant future.
“Bill got lessons on the playground, because he was thin,” Patterson said. “He would avoid contact with people — he’d go around you instead of going over you like he did later. That’s why we brought older players to work with him on the playground and bump him around. He learned to stand his ground.”
All these years later, Patterson still marveled at how far Robinson hit baseballs as a teenager. The only player Patterson could recall launching balls farther was Willie Stargell, who came along a few years later in Alameda (at Encinal High) and also reached the Hall of Fame.
Patterson remembered Robinson as a loner and Russell as mostly wanting to be accepted. Russell already had endured personal turmoil, losing his mom at age 12.
“Bill kind of grew up under me, and we became friends for life,” Patterson said. “Like many young people coming through, he referred back to his experiences at DeFremery. That gave them an opportunity to see beyond their community. … We inspired them to shoot for the moon.”
Tapscott, who coached basketball at McClymonds for 10 seasons — punctuated by the 1978 TOC championship — saw the connection between DeFremery and the way Russell, Robinson and Flood chased bigger goals.
Iggy Groetsch, 4, and his sister Heidi, 2, at the DeFremery Park baseball diamond in Oakland. Bill Russell, Frank Robinson and other great athletes from the 1950s spent a lot of time at DeFremery Park.
“I think they were prepared early,” Tapscott said, “not only to be athletes, but also to be activists for justice and equality.”
McClymonds had mostly white students into the 1940s, until the great migration of African Americans from the South during and after World War II. Russell’s family came from Louisiana, Robinson’s and Flood’s from Texas, Pinson’s from Tennessee.
Brian McGhee, a former Mack quarterback who graduated in 1985 and played football at Cal, often heard stories from his mom Hattie and dad Clarence. Hattie and her family moved from Arkansas to West Oakland when she was 5, in 1944. She subsequently attended McClymonds with Pinson. Clarence’s family moved from Louisiana when he was 14, in 1950.
Antonio Davis, right, stands with Brian McGhee, left, before a ceremony to honor Bill Russell before a Sept. 2 football game vs. Bellarmine at McClymonds High School in Oakland.
“It was all about a brand-new start, making a better living for themselves and a sense of ownership,” said McGhee, now a program manager for the Oakland Unified School District. “That was embedded from generation to generation. … Mack was the only high school in West Oakland, so that was the pipeline.”
McGhee remains deeply involved at McClymonds: Beyond his job with the district, he’s an assistant coach on the junior-varsity football team and coordinated the Sept. 2 ceremony honoring Russell.
This loyalty is not unusual. One of McGhee’s Mack teammates, Michael Peters, is now the school’s football coach. Peters, whose son Marcus plays for the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens, has guided the Warriors to four state championships in the past five years — and lives in his childhood home, across the street from campus.
Maybe the liveliest illustration of “Mack pride” comes from former football coach Alonzo Carter, now a San Jose State assistant. Carter went to school with McGhee and Peters in the ’80s, plus future NBA All-Star Antonio Davis and playground legend Demetrius “Hook” Mitchell.
Carter grew up feeling the pressure of McClymonds’ sports tradition, which became magnified when he entered the school and saw its imposing trophy case. The past glory still lingers on the basketball court, which features familiar names painted onto the hardwood near the sideline. Russell’s No. 15 jersey hangs on the wall and photos of him alongside motivational quotes — including “Concentration and mental toughness are the margins of victory” and “Dream it, believe it and you will achieve it” — cover the walls in an adjacent weight room.
“You hear the halls talking to you,” Carter said of his time as a student.
He returned as track coach after three years on tour with a McClymonds classmate named Stanley Burrell, better known as rapper MC Hammer. Carter was one of Hammer’s background dancers and then lead choreographer, and Hammer showed his appreciation by giving him a Corvette. But when the track team didn’t have uniforms, and the school didn’t have money to buy them, Carter sold the Corvette, bought uniforms and found a cheaper car.
McClymonds High School varsity football practice in Oakland. McClymonds High has a rich sports history, producing all-time great athletes such as Bill Russell and Frank Robinson.
“Who does that at age 23 or 24?” he said. “A guy who loves McClymonds High School. I wanted them to have the best.”
A few years later, when the football team needed new uniforms, Hammer bought them.
McGhee, Peters and Davis spent much of their childhood summers at nearby Poplar Park. At the park, in barber shops, at church — Russell’s name perpetually surfaced, three decades after he left West Oakland.
A banner with the jersey number worn by the late Bill Russell, who attended McClymonds High School before playing and coaching professionally in the NBA, is seen at the school’s gym in Oakland, Calif. Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022.
The name of the late Bill Russell, who attended McClymonds High School before playing and coaching professionally in the NBA, is seen inscribed at the school’s gym in Oakland, Calif. Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022.
Athletic director Humphrey Garrett shows off his McClymonds High School football state championship rings before a ceremony to honor basketball Hall of Famer Bill Russell (the school's most famous alum) before Friday night's football game vs. Bellarmine at McClymonds High School in Oakland, Calif. on Friday, September 2, 2022.
A congratulatory ad featuring McClymonds High School alumni and Major League Baseball players Jesse Gonder, Vada Pinson and Frank Robinson, is seen in a yearbook in Oakland, Calif. Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022.
“People used him as an example of spiritual and social awareness,” McGhee said. “Don’t let people think people from West Oakland can’t succeed. That was the message.”
Davis listened. He played 13 seasons in the NBA and served in various leadership roles with the league’s Players Association, including a tenure as president. Davis is now CEO of Athletes in Logistics, a minority-owned transportation company.
He found inspiration in Russell — not only the championships, but also the way Russell weathered racism in Boston and his civil-rights efforts alongside other high-profile Black athletes such as Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
“I got involved in the players union because there were guys before me like Bill who made sacrifices and paved the way,” Davis said. “I felt like it was my duty. … My circumstances were obviously different than Bill’s, but if he hadn’t done what he did I don’t know if I would have been able to do what I did.”
Russell made an impact in more direct ways, too. He funded a college scholarship in his name, awarded annually to one McClymonds student. And more than 20 years ago, the story goes, Russell was part of an anonymous group of donors to give $3 million to the school for college scholarships. The school uses the interest to help several Mack students each year as they head to college or trade school, according to longtime teacher LuPaulette Taylor.
Although Russell spent his final years in Seattle, he occasionally returned to his old school. He stopped by in 2008, spending more than an hour in the library chatting with the unbeaten state championship basketball team coached by Dwight Nathaniel.
Five years later, in 2013, Russell visited McClymonds for a Golden State Warriors-sponsored event celebrating renovations to the school’s athletic facilities. Rick Welts, then the team’s president and Russell’s longtime friend, joined him.
The experience stuck with Welts, who understood Russell’s typically distant demeanor.
“Bill really had a great time, and that wasn’t usually the case,” Welts said. “There was kind of a warmth and smile when he talked about McClymonds that you didn’t see very often with him. … You saw him in his most relaxed, happiest state when he was in the building. Mack is just a place he held very dear, and it was instrumental in everything he accomplished.”
Russell is not alone in that, but his alma mater faces abundant challenges 70 years after he graduated. Even if McClymonds once was a springboard for trailblazing leaders, declining enrollment has sparked skepticism about the school’s future.
The number of students attending McClymonds has fallen in each of the past five years, from 401 in 2017-18 to only 309 this academic year. Even the earlier total marked a steep drop from where enrollment stood in the early 2000s (typically 700 to 800).
Now, several people with ties to the school worry about what might happen in the years ahead. Will a charter school take over part of the campus? Will the Oakland Unified School District try to close McClymonds? Or, taking the more optimistic view, will an infusion of bond money (Measure Y) approved by Oakland voters in 2020 — including $6.5 million last year to McClymonds and $58.5 million more expected next year — upgrade campus facilities and reverse the school’s slide?
One thing is clear: The school’s alums care deeply about maintaining the legacy launched by Russell and his 1950s cohorts.
“Mack is a landmark, it’s embedded in the community,” McGhee said. “If you take McClymonds away, there would be a big hole. What else is there to really represent this community?”
Ron Kroichick is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rkroichick@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ronkroichick
Sports enterprise reporter Ron Kroichick has worked at The San Francisco Chronicle since 1995, when he came from The Sacramento Bee. Kroichick writes features on the Warriors during the NBA season, and various other topics - ranging from the 49ers/NFL and major-league baseball to college football and basketball - the rest of the year. He's also The Chronicle's golf columnist, covering the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and all major championships in Northern California. In 2016, Kroichick and photographer Michael Macor earned "Best Sports Feature" from the California Newspaper Publishers Association, for their series on Antioch High running back Najee Harris, the nation's No. 1 college football recruit. In 2021, Kroichick earned an Associated Press Sports Editors Top 10 award for his feature on Stanford quarterback Tanner McKee conquering cancer.