(TYLER MORNING TELEGRAPH) - During the early 1970s, four black men came to Jacksonville College, not knowing what to expect as they became part of the school's first integrated basketball team.
It was a time of change, but they said they embraced it and came away with a positive experience, cementing close friendships and beating their cross-town rivals at Lon Morris College twice, each time with a score of 73-72. Some even called the team "cardiac kids" because of their close games.
"We gave everyone a cardiac arrest we played them so hard," said Limbric Hines, a former player who lives in Houston.
Members of the historical team, which includes black players Hines, Eddie Abercrombie, Jerry Johnson and Bruce Lyons, now live in Arizona, Colorado, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.
But some were able to reunite Saturday during halftime of the homecoming men's basketball game. Lyons was scheduled to present Coach Bobby Weddle with a picture of the 1972 team "for all he did for this team and for these men individually," according to a presentation script from the college.
"I think it's a wonderful idea," said Lynn Nabi, director of athletics at Jacksonville College. "I think it's awesome. This is a great way, especially during homecoming activities, to honor that team."
Hines was a student in northeast Houston when Weddle recruited him.
Hines, who is retired from a printing company, had never been to Jacksonville, but he knew he wanted to play basketball and continue his education.
"I come from a big family. My dad always taught us to go to school and get educated and get out of the neighborhood," he said.
Once he left his old stomping grounds, Hines said he enjoyed the people in Jacksonville and teachers at the college, who wanted him to succeed.
Johnson, a Bullard resident, came to the team as a freshman.
He said he was one of the first black players at Bullard High School and then went into military service, so he was adjusted to integration by the time he got to Jacksonville College.
For him, the college experience was positive.
"I think basketball was the only sport it had on campus at the time," Johnson said. "Basically, the whole school showed up at games."
He said he never was involved in racial tension during his two years there. However, he does remember the effect his coach had on him.
"I just remember I was allowed to go onto a major college (The University of Texas at Arlington) and play ball … I was young, and I owe (Weddle) a lot just from basketball," he said.
Years later, he said he occasionally goes down to Jacksonville to watch games and usually makes it to homecoming.
"I'm looking forward to the weekend," Johnson said Thursday. "I haven't seen the coach since then, and I'm excited and anxious to see a bunch of (the players)."
While black students adjusted to the team, so did other players, the cheerleaders, and the coach.
Jacksonville ISD Superintendent Dr. Joe Wardell, a sophomore player at the time, said he had a great experience with the team.
"I couldn't ask for a better total group of individuals to be a part of. It was four of the finest black athletes that could have been recruited at that point," he said.
He said he believes the integration was well received, as the players were "four fine individuals" and "very quality people."
"I think there was a mutual respect there that was earned from the very first," Wardell said.
He also said the integration with the Jacksonville College team came a little later, after the civil rights movement, and there was not the same strife that had occurred in the years before.
"It really didn't hit us that it was anything unusual. We hear people talk about it now, but I feel it was a pretty good quality of people," Wardell said.
People that he got to spend a lot of time with, whether at practice, in their dorm, eating meals or traveling to games.
He said they all became good friends during that time, and he looked forward to seeing his old teammates, some of which he hadn't seen since graduation.
As players scored points, cheerleaders were encouraging from the sidelines.
Although the cheerleaders traveled to games in a separate vehicle, they would eat with the team afterward.
Being a small college, it was like a small family, former cheerleader Lu Bearden Wegmet said.
"We spent many times in the student union watching TV and playing cards," she said. "The guys were super nice."
As far as integration on campus, she said it was new to them, but there were not any concerns.
"Anytime I was around them, they were all gentleman. I'm sure coach Weddle expected that of them," she said.
Weddle, who coached seven years at Jacksonville College, said with integration, there were always concerns as to how it would all fit in, but he believes the change went well at the college.
"I think if I look at it, the attitude of the student body and administration, it was accepted with this Christian attitude …" he said. "I had some apprehension about it, but they were the type of kids who created no problems. I'm sure they may have had an occasion or two, but I'm not aware of it."
Weddle said he approached it from the standpoint that no one would be treated different.
"In the first meeting, there was never anything mentioned about the first black kids. It was strictly, ‘We had 15 players, and we're all the same.' We just approached it that way. … I stated my expectations of what we were going to do for the season and what we were going to accomplish."
He said the group was a great group and did everything he asked them to do.
"They were coachable and did have the character to be coached and give 100 percent," Weddle said.
He talks to several of the players occasionally but looked forward to the homecoming festivities and seeing the men he describes as close-knit and family-oriented.
"I think it was their character and their willingness to get along (that stands out). We were all there for a purpose …" Weddle said.
"This was just a great group of guys. They were very coachable and did all they were asked to do, (which is) not always the case when you bring that many kids together. Even though it was the first year of integration, it worked so well. I give credit to the kids and school."
Jacksonville College basketball coach Bobby Weddle consults with players Jerry Johnson (far right) during a timeout.
