Sometimes I lament....

[mslacat]

I remember Domako with long limbs and a great outside shot. That was some fun and good basketball that was played in the fieldhouse, that's for sure.

Was Maclin the guy that performed "Stray Cat Struct" during half times or was that somebody else? That was some fun times!

Macklin was a JC transfer from a Minnisota JC who played the 80-81 & 81-82 season. He was a 6-6 small forward but his addition really helped take a lot of pressure off of Doug Hashley in terms of teams packing the middle. He was athletic, strong slasher who could also shoot from outside and could score in bunches so teams had to guard him and not cheat on Hashley.

[Hawks86]

As Ted Dawson would say. "You are a font of knowledge."

[Rich K]

As far as Domako, I had thought he had been Mr. Basketball in Minnesota, but this list:
http://www.mnbasketballhub.com/page/sho ... basketball" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; shows
1982 Rob Shelquist Irondale Montana State

I must be having a brain freeze, but I don't remember Shelquist.

[mslacat]

As far as Domako, I had thought he had been Mr. Basketball in Minnesota, but this list:
http://www.mnbasketballhub.com/page/sho ... basketball" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; shows
1982 Rob Shelquist Irondale Montana State

I must be having a brain freeze, but I don't remember Shelquist.

Rob Shelquist was a 6-3 guard out of Minnesota and one of my favorite Bobcat basketball Trivia topics. To date, he is he the only Minnesota "Mr. Basketball" to sign with MSU. Haroldson when he signed him dreamed of teaming him up with Jeff Epperly, who he signed the previous year to become the next great Montana State guard combo. I don't think he ever played for Haroldson though and he really did not fit Starner's system. Shelquist was a terrific shooter, who could really score the ball and a big strong point guard at 6-3 but not much of an athlete. I think the word was despite his decent size he never dunked the ball in an actual game at any level. I remember on quite a few occasions in his freshman year he got breakaways and the whole bench would stand and yell "dunk-it" and Rob would causally lay the ball in. Starner helped him transfer to a D-2 school in Minnesota after two year. I remember I was in the gym when Starner came in and told him he found him a D-2 school. When Starner told him it was a full ride (not common in D-2 at the time) Shelquist almost jumped out his shorts and gave Starner the biggest hug. Remarkable Kid.

[ilovethecats]

When Starner told him it was a full ride (not common in D-2 at the time) Shelquist almost jumped out his shorts and gave Starner the biggest hug.

looks like he made the most of that full ride...

http://locklaw.com/profile_rkshelquist.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Rich K]

As far as Domako, I had thought he had been Mr. Basketball in Minnesota, but this list:
http://www.mnbasketballhub.com/page/sho ... basketball" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; shows
1982 Rob Shelquist Irondale Montana State

I must be having a brain freeze, but I don't remember Shelquist.

Rob Shelquist was a 6-3 guard out of Minnesota and one of my favorite Bobcat basketball Trivia topics. To date, he is he the only Minnesota "Mr. Basketball" to sign with MSU. Haroldson when he signed him dreamed of teaming him up with Jeff Epperly, who he signed the previous year to become the next great Montana State guard combo. I don't think he ever played for Haroldson though and he really did not fit Starner's system. Shelquist was a terrific shooter, who could really score the ball and a big strong point guard at 6-3 but not much of an athlete. I think the word was despite his decent size he never dunked the ball in an actual game at any level. I remember on quite a few occasions in his freshman year he got breakaways and the whole bench would stand and yell "dunk-it" and Rob would causally lay the ball in. Starner helped him transfer to a D-2 school in Minnesota after two year. I remember I was in the gym when Starner came in and told him he found him a D-2 school. When Starner told him it was a full ride (not common in D-2 at the time) Shelquist almost jumped out his shorts and gave Starner the biggest hug. Remarkable Kid.

Thanks mslacat, great story!

[mslacat]

As far as Domako, I had thought he had been Mr. Basketball in Minnesota, but this list:
http://www.mnbasketballhub.com/page/sho ... basketball" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; shows
1982 Rob Shelquist Irondale Montana State

I must be having a brain freeze, but I don't remember Shelquist.

Rob Shelquist was a 6-3 guard out of Minnesota and one of my favorite Bobcat basketball Trivia topics. To date, he is he the only Minnesota "Mr. Basketball" to sign with MSU. Haroldson when he signed him dreamed of teaming him up with Jeff Epperly, who he signed the previous year to become the next great Montana State guard combo. I don't think he ever played for Haroldson though and he really did not fit Starner's system. Shelquist was a terrific shooter, who could really score the ball and a big strong point guard at 6-3 but not much of an athlete. I think the word was despite his decent size he never dunked the ball in an actual game at any level. I remember on quite a few occasions in his freshman year he got breakaways and the whole bench would stand and yell "dunk-it" and Rob would causally lay the ball in. Starner helped him transfer to a D-2 school in Minnesota after two year. I remember I was in the gym when Starner came in and told him he found him a D-2 school. When Starner told him it was a full ride (not common in D-2 at the time) Shelquist almost jumped out his shorts and gave Starner the biggest hug. Remarkable Kid.

Thanks mslacat, great story!

Yea just call me the Cliff Clavin of MSU basketball 1980-1987ish.

Some of you young pups may want to look up that reference.

[duelalumnicat]

So mslacat, do you have any good stories about Harry Heineken?

[mslacat]

Great creative dunker, but had an even better looking girlfriend .. or 2 ..or 3 .. or 4

[gocats]

I loved watching Harry Heineken. Him and the Ferchs and Domako are the reason I wanted to play for the Cats in 85 when I graduated, but I went military instead. That was Bobcat basketball. Oh, to get back to those days.

Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

[cat-o-nine]

Let me throw another name out from that era...Bethel Debnam. Point guard, I believe. Great gall handler.
I also remember the pre-game warm-ups during the Starner years coreographed to Kool & the Gang's "Celebration". Good times, good times.
We may never see anything like that era again. Certainly not if we stay on the track we are on with the Men's team.

[mslacat]

Let me throw another name out from that era...Bethel Debnam. Point guard, I believe. Great gall handler.
I also remember the pre-game warm-ups during the Starner years choreographed to Kool & the Gang's "Celebration". Good times, good times.
We may never see anything like that era again. Certainly not if we stay on the track we are on with the Men's team.

The cool and the game antics were orchestrated by Coach Haroldson and ended after he got fired. Haroldson at one point signed a player out of Minnesota who was a dribbling whiz (but could not play the game) just for his opening Cool and the game antics. That was when there the basketball programs had 15 scholarships though.

Debnam was a three year JC player from New Jersey and a funny dude to be around. He battled Great Falls Native Gary Palmer for the starting point guard spot and ended up be close friends if I remember. Those two were complete opposite point guard, about the only thing they had in common was they were they damn good floor generals. I think Harroldson ended up playing them both together. Palmer and Debnam were also the down fall of Haroldson. The two point guards got sideways from Haroldson (I heard two complete different stories on what actually happened) and Haroldson kicked them both off the team. Kicking off Debnam was one thing but Palmer was the son of a very influential high school coach in Great Falls with a lot of Bobcat booster connections. In essence Haroldson cut his own throat. It also did help that the Bobcats went from having two of the best point guards in the Big Sky to a team that could not bring the ball up court. The team went from top 2-3 team to bottom dweller in about a months time. Palmer and Debnam kept their scholarships when they were kicked off the team and when Starner took over that spring he offered both an opportunity to rejoin for the next year but both declined. Starner had to go out and find some last minute point guards. The result was Larry Hamilton JC star and then took a chance on a skinny JC kid named Tony Hampton.

Further info on Haroldson. One would have thought after his experience at MSU he would not be a fan of the Blue and Gold, but as years past and he moved back to Arizona he was constantly helping Starner and then Duram connect up with Arizona kids. There are 3-4 former Arizona recruits in the 80's and 90's we can directly thank Haroldson for connecting us up with.

[John K]

Let me throw another name out from that era...Bethel Debnam. Point guard, I believe. Great gall handler.
I also remember the pre-game warm-ups during the Starner years choreographed to Kool & the Gang's "Celebration". Good times, good times.
We may never see anything like that era again. Certainly not if we stay on the track we are on with the Men's team.

The cool and the game antics were orchestrated by Coach Haroldson and ended after he got fired. Haroldson at one point signed a player out of Minnesota who was a dribbling whiz (but could not play the game) just for his opening Cool and the game antics. That was when there the basketball programs had 15 scholarships though.

Debnam was a three year JC player from New Jersey and a funny dude to be around. He battled Great Falls Native Gary Palmer for the starting point guard spot and ended up be close friends if I remember. Those two were complete opposite point guard, about the only thing they had in common was they were they damn good floor generals. I think Harroldson ended up playing them both together. Palmer and Debnam were also the down fall of Haroldson. The two point guards got sideways from Haroldson (I heard two complete different stories on what actually happened) and Haroldson kicked them both off the team. Kicking off Debnam was one thing but Palmer was the son of a very influential high school coach in Great Falls with a lot of Bobcat booster connections. In essence Haroldson cut his own throat. It also did help that the Bobcats went from having two of the best point guards in the Big Sky to a team that could not bring the ball up court. The team went from top 2-3 team to bottom dweller in about a months time. Palmer and Debnam kept their scholarships when they were kicked off the team and when Starner took over that spring he offered both an opportunity to rejoin for the next year but both declined. Starner had to go out and find some last minute point guards. The result was Larry Hamilton JC star and then took a chance on a skinny JC kid named Tony Hampton.

Further info on Haroldson. One would have thought after his experience at MSU he would not be a fan of the Blue and Gold, but as years past and he moved back to Arizona he was constantly helping Starner and then Duram connect up with Arizona kids. There are 3-4 former Arizona recruits in the 80's and 90's we can directly thank Haroldson for connecting us up with.

It may be foolish to dispute anything that mslacat posts about MSU hoops, but I think it was Greg Palmer, not Gary. Doug had about 4 or 5 sons who played for him at CMR from the mid 70's to the mid 80's, and they had some very good teams during those years. They won only one state title, in 1977, but finished in the top 3 at state almost every year during that era.

[mslacat]

Greg you are correct

[BelgradeBobcat]

I remember trying to listen to a Bobcat-grizzly game back in that era. The game was in Missoula. We lived out in the boonies and the signal would fade in and out. We had the best luck with a car radio so we were out in the driveway. I don't recall many details, but Debnam led the charge for a big Bobcat upset win in Missoula (something that might have been more rare then than it is even now). I think I still have an old program somewhere with a cover photo of Hashley, Tryg Johnson, John Macklin, and Jeff Epperly carrying Debnam off the court.