Newspapers, GRASS ROOTS AND COCKLE BURRS; LaSalle, Louisiana
Submitter: Jack Willis
Date: 29 Sep 2004
Source: Jena Times - Olla Tullos Signal "Grass Roots and Cockleburrs"
Source Date: 27 Feb 2002




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"Sparky" Wade: Jena's Giant; Part 2

        When the small-of-size athlete aspires to larger-than-life goals a
gigantic

pride is involved. The small athlete has to be his own kind of giant minus
the

physical attributes. That was what Malcolm "Sparky" Wade was: The Jena

Giant.

    The year was 1929 when the quintet from Jena reached Chicago after
winning the Louisiana State Championship.  An account from one of the
Chicago dailies reads as follows:  "Five sun-tanned boys from Jena,
Louisiana won their way to the quarter final round of the National
Tournament at the University of Chicago by defeating Heath, Kentucky, 25-23.
Led by Malcolm Wade, dribbling expert, the Giants in name only, staved off a
Heath rally to win. The Jena boys overcame the odds in size against them by
sheer generalship and sharp shooting. These little fellows led by Wade are a
powerful aggregation. While the Jena Giants did not cop the National
Championship, they did put Jena, La. on the national map."
    The Jena team was ousted from the tournament by a much taller team from
Jose, Colorado, who batted the ball around over the shorter players from
Jena's heads. They still had managed to win fourth place in the Nation, and
returned to Jena a more experienced and wiser team. Nick Medica played on
this team after winning a monumental battle in Jena against racial
prejudice. His father, Joseph emigrated from his native Italy in 1910, and
had become one of Jena's most successful merchants. He had one of the few
radios in the town, and would crank up the battery-powered receiver and tune
to WGN in Chicago for broadcasts of the games Jena was involved in. He would
brook no talking during the broadcasts and maintained strict silence though
out the game.
    At the beginning of the 1929-30 school year Jay Pipes, the basket ball
coach of 1928-29, had during the summer sought employment elsewhere, so the
LaSalle Parish School Board tapped a recent graduate and former star athlete
from Urania and LSU, T. Hardtner "Bud" Gaharan to be the Coach of Jena's
Juggling Giants.
    One of the first major techniques implemented by Coach Gaharan was one
of defense he had learned at LSU. It was a style of defense relatively
unknown in high school ranks, and was known as man-to-man, and dictated that
the defensive player was to cling to his offensive opponent assigned to him
like a tick. The old "zone" style of defense was discarded forever, because
this new weapon adopted by the Juggling Giants met with great success in a
tournament in Shreveport in January of 1930. It is thought the nickname
"juggling" was coined by the Chicago sports writers the year before, because
of the whole team's uncanny talent exhibited in ball handling. Much of it
was inspired by the legerdemain of  "Sparky" Wade.
     In the semi-finals they beat an undefeated team from Fisher by a score
of 30-8. Playing their third game of the day in the Finals, the "iron men"
from Jena bested the pre-tournament favorite Byrd by a final score of 37-18.
    The very next Saturday the Giants were back in Shreveport to take on the
"Sparcos", in what amounted to a contest between a high school team from a
small rural school, and a team made of recreation districts in Shreveport.
The Sparcos were all taller that the tallest Jena player, and quickly ran up
a big lead by the end of the second quarter, but Coach Gaharan huddled with
his players at the half and developed a new strategy. The account from The
Shreveport Times stated - "During the second half these small boys from Jena
put on a class of basket ball that soon had the crowd on their feet
cheering. Their zip, dash and perfect timing brought victory in spite of
overwhelming odds. They used a trick formation where they kept possession of
the ball regardless of who got the "tip," and soon built up a five-point
lead winning by 40-35. "Sparky" Wade' s dribbling and passing were largely
responsible for the last half victory against what had been a superior team
until this date.
    The next significant win in tournament play was winning the Central
Louisiana Basketball Tournament held at La. College in Pineville where in
the finals they scalped the Tioga Indians in the finals 37-13. The Giant's
success was due to two things: First, unselfish and perfect teamwork, and
Second, Coach Gaharan's strategy. These victories entitled them to go to the
State Tournament in Baton Rouge.
     On Friday morning in the State tourney their first opponent was their
old nemesis Tioga and Jena beat them 36-25. That afternoon the Jena Giants
defeated the Bolton Bears by a score of 49-22. Then on Saturday morning it
was round ball action as Jena took on Walker of Tangiphoa Parish, and sent
them packing by a 41-22 score. Saturday night in the finals, they whipped a
feisty, fighting team from Fisher by a score of 41-22.
    To the boys and coach, there are no "stars" on the team, as the Baton
Rouge Morning Advocate noted- " There is a certain beauty to watching the
Jena bunch play when they really wish to play. "Being selected to the
All-State First Team has already honored Pud" Doughty and "Rip" Johnson,
together with "Sparky," Everette Warner, the steady captain and Clyde
Stallcup, a real good guard, were placed on the second and third teams,
respectively. The fact that all five "first-string " players received such
honors should serve to show the homefolks that Jena's team is known
state-wide!"
    Quoting comments by L.S.U Head Basketball Coach Andy Cohen, one of the
nation's finest mentors, he stated, "There is no doubt that "Sparky" Wade is
one of the greatest basketball players I have ever seen in action.
    So, with the Louisiana State Championship under their belt it was off to
Chicago for Jena's Juggling Giants. A taller team from Jose, Colorado that
had bested the Giants in the quarterfinals the previous year was still a
vivid memory. An Athens, Texas team had been declared the National Champions
for the11th time since the tournaments inception. The little team from Jena
left March 29th, 1930 for another rendezvous with destiny.
                               Next Week: The Final Installment

GR&C (2-27-02)            Jack Morgan Willis