S6 Ep 281 Tony Hargraves Our Savior Lutheran HS Great/Iona College Hall Of Fane Inductee



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ANTHONY HARGRAVES

CLASS 

1985

INDUCTION 

2007

SPORT(S) 

Men’s Basketball

Anthony Hargraves ’85 was a versatile standout that played three different positions on Iona’s men’s basketball team from 1981-1985.

He currently ranks 22nd all-time on the Gaels’ career point scoring list with 1,232 career points, good for a 9.8 points per game average. At the time of his graduation he was No. 11 on the list. The two-time All-MAAC performer served as a team captain during his senior season in 1984-85. His squads earned MAAC Championships in three of his four years at Iona in 1982, 1984 and 1985 and he was named four-time All-Tournament performer as well as MAAC Tournament MVP as a senior in 1985.

Hargraves’ other statistical accomplishments include ranking second all time in games played games played (126), steals (211) and assists (539). He is 10th overall in career field goal percentage (.555) and free throw attempts (503). His assist totals in 1984-85 (178) and 1983-84 (168) rank second and third all-time respectively. Hargraves was named honorable mention All-American by the Associated Press in 1985.

Welcome welcome welcome to basketball Heads live I’m your host Glen P Hardy and tonight we have a very special guest this basketball head is an Our Savior Lutheran great and I own the college Hall of Fame and duck D he was a versatile player able to play multiple

Positions whether it was high school college or tournaments NYC he made sure you got that work he currently ranks 22nd all time on the Gils Career Point scoring list with 1,232 at the time of his graduation he was number 11 for the list the two-time all ma performer served as team captain

During the senior season his squads earned Mac championships in three of the four years while he was at Iona those years was 1982 84 and 85 and he was named a four-time all tournament performer as well as M tournament MVP his senior year this basketball hair also was named honorable mention

All-American by Associated Press in 1985 he now serves as one of New York City’s top referees and the director of the legendary Riverside Hawks basketball program without further Ado help me welcome to to the show out saavor Lutheran great and Iona College Legend Anthony Tony hard Graves yall ready Ready you have just into the world chaos chaos where everybody goes come on go go go go go go go hard go hard or go home Never Back Down you got to hold your own go go go go go go go east coast go west coast go hurry up everybody get online byy

Your tickets cuz the game about to start up man that’s a hell of an intro I kind of appreciate that man I’m glad I’m glad you appreciate it my G I’m glad you appreciate it man well I’m glad everybody is joining in appreciate y’all joining in uh I’m a

Humble person as y’all well know I’m not like the guy who brags about all he’s done but listening to what he said I did I guess I did something right that’s about it man listen what’s up bar you made you made a lot of people happy out

There in the basketball court and you s a lot of guys home upset so it’s all it all works man thanks Big Rob I appreciate that you know I’m reading some of the streams that come across I’m happy to see all these people join in

Hey I do what I can do if that’s if that if I’m getting a little bit of big ups for this I can only be appreciative to everybody’s at least acknowledging I did something right that’s right man so I’d like to ask everybody who come on the

Show if who introduce you to the game hold on say again want make sure you straight you good good I’m set now all right I I like to ask everyone who come on the show who introduce you to the game you know what that’s a good

Question I had some mentors growing up I grew up in the Bronx on East chont and sell Boulevard it it was not known for the best place to grow up as everybody probably knows wrongs back in the 70s and 80s was kind of tough um a gentleman

Named Arthur CER he used to run a program called tont Improvement program tip and if you joined the program you had to participate in every sport offered and then whichever one you did the best in was G to be your highlighted sport so I tried boxing first because I

Figured I’m from the Bronx I had 200 fights already I’m 12 years old I got to be one of the toughest guys in the world so I get into the ring with the gloves the Giant loves and three seconds in I threw my first punch and it connected I

Was like yo this is cake I I this is easy Boom the dude took the punch Spanish cat next to you know he gave me the one two three I was laid out everybody said this is not the sport for you so after 10 minutes and I woke up

They brought me to the baseball field I started playing baseball I was a pretty good baseball player and then finally somebody said we’re short one basketball player um to do something and I went to the courts and for some reason my left hand worked for me and everybody

Said this might be the sport that you’re gonna get out the city get out the hood and do something with your life so I stuck with basketball for the most part and uh off the cry I owe him a lot of credit to that Ray Hodge um he he

Grabbed me when I was 14 years old wow is that amazing somebody just said Cynthia and Ray it couldn’t have been more better time uh I made a games look at that it’s amazing that is truly remarkable uh us youth games back in the

Day you had to go to City Hall and get on the bus and go wherever the state was ours was where did we go oh where did we go forgot where we went but we got on the bus and the next thing you know we’re up there and we played against

Enis Watley and I realized I was not as good as I thought I was us like we was D and then I figured he was ringing and lo and behold I realized he was my age he was just that good he had all those country cats killing us um it was

Cool though the experience I would never trade for anything in the world so that’s two of the people that kind of gave me my start to the sport um and of course my parents they are Ultra supportive my dad always made sure that I got to the parks and my mother always

Would go there with me so those are the people I guess I have to give the most credit to because they supported me throughout the whole thing and I know I’m out a whole bunch of people so forgive me for those who know that I left out some people so if you remember

Who they were please toss it in in groups them a big up yeah I H when I talk to a lot of guys you know you hear their stories and a lot of them didn’t start out playing basketball a lot of them start playing baseball football soccer and then kind

Of stumble into basketball and a lot of people like yourself and myself kind of stumble into basketball yeah so true that but you know what I guess that’s that’s better for us because it gives you at least a wider range to try and um understand what you’re good at because

For me baseball probably was my best sport um I was really a really good baseball player but the way it’s situated in the city in the Bronx there’s a limit like we would not have made it to the World Series Baseball it would have just been a local thing and

It would have just been a seasonal thing basketball at least let me see what the world was all about it gave me a chance to see what um travel basketball was all about and then I went to Riverside Church when I was like 13 years old and started

Playing there um oh we we we definitely gonna get there we G definitely get there so what when when you got the well let’s let’s just say this when you got to Riverside was that your first time playing in the organized basketball game well tont improvement program because

You had to play in a series of games to see was and then it moved on to Ho Avenue Boys Club where I actually did grow up so I have to give them a big up as well because those people a group of them actually kept me off the streets

When I was um growing up and and made sure that I was uh put in good situations um I ps44 and ps129 if everybody knows about the public school system I didn’t go there but they had the outside courts uh back back to you

Bobby I give love to you too bro um and you know you play in the park and a drug dealer to to to be known as just X he was the one who made sure that nobody bothered me they took my ball every time I went to the park and finally he just

Says leave him alone and everybody left me alone let me at least start playing with the older guys as everybody knows when you’re young they took your ball and they made you sit on the side and watch and you were lucky they gave you your ball back so you know all those

Cats that molded me it served the purpose so you know it is what it you hope that you can groom some of these young cats to not have to go through that and give them a better venue to play at and a better idea about what

Life is and what it could be and that’s why I went back to Riverside after I had graduated out of um my time there as a player and then went to college and that’s when Eggman um who actually was a Riverside coach he and a couple other

Guys always said you should go to Iona um because that’s going to be a solid place for you so I went with all the local guys there were eight freshman that came in with my class and it was just tremendous that a lot of them were

City guys try trusdale rest in peace um Rory Grimes who went to school in Vermont uh and then Gary and Steve are the most popular people and they were there waiting for us when we got there so we were yes we we we definitely we definitely gonna get there man but I I

Want to go back a little bit more right what was what what what was your first game like right what was your first game your first basketball what was that experience like it was rough I remember it because back then the referees really didn’t call a lot of fouls and tell it

Tell it and lo and behold you learn to play street ball right away so I came in the game and next thing you know the first thing I did was took a jump shot and it missed and then the coach took me out and said yo you’re not gonna play

Long if you’re gonna shoot and Miss I was like I only took one shot like what and then he said well you’ll figure it out somehow and the next thing you know I started driving to the basket I scored some buckets next you know I’m laid up

In the fence and I’m getting the ooze and the odz because everybody’s like he’s still scored he’s laid up in the fence I started vibing off of it next thing you know I became the left-hand Bandit so to speak so at the early age of 13 12 11 or whatever time frame it

Was that first game was rough for me but it taught me a valuable lesson um and then we went to the Webster plal where I learned uh from a old cat named Dennis because um he definitely and he never said a word he just always would hit me and

Punch me and kick me and everything else say when are you gonna shoot the ball because you’re not going to score a layup I’m three times your age I want to stay on the court so you better figure it out lo and behold he forced me to get

A half a jump shot and once I got half a jump shot I could at least do both drive to the basket and take a layup Jackie NOS ran the Webster pal back then you know when we were going there 16 17 years old at at the midnight session so

You would get there around 11:30 and wouldn’t leave and go home until 2 and my mom and dad was like what the hell are you doing I’m like everybody else is there I guess I gotta be there if I’m gonna be anything of worth of basketball

In New York City everybody is there so I come home at two in the morning on a Tuesday Wednesday or Thursday wake up for school in the morning morning and my parents was like I guess this is what you want to do so um it just got better

And better as the days passed I never was that good I never thought I was that good but what it did teach me is that the toughness of New York at least gives you some ability that you just don’t naturally learn you have to have it put

In you so it’s called heart and if you grew up in New York City if you don’t have heart you you won’t play very long so Burger no no that’s that’s that’s so true man you you you speaking you speaking wisdom right there man cuz that’s that’s

Important and I I think a lot of youngsters and and guys need to hear that man because that experience teaches you something a little different yep it’s so true and somebody just put in the group chat how did Sam worther influence your gang he was my mentor so

Um without Sam I probably would not have learn how to play at the professional level um because he was uh he was already there he was a person who he just I I don’t even know what word to describe but he was the person who taught you how to play the game the

Right way by showing me and um I remember I was at St Mary’s Park in St Mary’s gym one night just hanging out because it was the older team older guys playing and they the ref didn’t show up so of course I’m sitting in the stands

And they said t can you ref the game and I’m like there’s no way I’m not reing the game I don’t know what the hell I’m doing and lo and behold I wound up doing it because enough pressure came on me and now I’m reing the game and Sam is

Like just offensive fouling everybody to death but out of respect I never said anything because it’s like I’m not calling out on Sam that’s Sam worthy and he walked up to me at halftime and says if you don’t learn to make calls somebody’s gonna get

Hurt and I’m like well it ain’t gonna be me I’m not even supposed to be doing this and he said no it could be you or the other guy because I’m not going to stop and L Bal I called a foul on him and he said finally you’re getting it

Hence the start to my refereeing came from Sam worthin telling me you better make a call because somebody’s gonna get hurt and if anybody knows about St Mary’s in the Bronx you do want to walk out of there in a safe way right definitely Sam is a great guy uh

Neighborhood hero for Brooklyn definitely definitely great player and even better person tremendous I call him look he and he and I still have a relationship to this day so um that’s never ever going to change I owe him a great deal of of respect and gratitude

For what he had done for me in the aspect of basketball and referee Berg Bros I love you too that’s right um who said uh the man yeah okay ber and Broncos G show you love yeah that’s right um when when you was growing up who was the best player

In your neighborhood oh that’s a great question best player in my neighborhood probably was me um I grew up on font Avenue and back then it was either be a five perent or a peacemaker in the game and my cousin was the president or the leader of the Five Percenters and he he

Said you’re gonna be Su said not me D Ro you gotta be kill you right now we I can’t wait for you to come back to New York so in my neighborhood there wasn’t a lot of like you had to leave my neighborhood to go get the talent that

You wanted I grew up in where Billy Goodwin uh Derek Godfrey West Palm Square ps67 uh for those who know the Bronx real well um I I gez the great beard thanks I appreciate that MO uh and everybody in our neighborhood really just always left the neighborhood

And went to Harlem to play or they went to we really didn’t go to Brooklyn a lot but you would definitely go uptown to the valley because the the uh the tournament was up there and there was a tournament called R to be honest with

You I wish that there would be a group of people together one day just to sit and talk about all the old tournaments that took place this we we we G we’re definitely going to do that we’re going to do that and we also going to have a a a group discussion

On who is the best class I put that post up there the other day oh you don’t have to it was my class by far you don’t have to even go y that that’s that that’s exactly what we talking about because eim whad started this a long time ago

When I interviewed him last year and then uh my my guy and myself we was actually talking about it and then I was discussing again with Eric Hicks over at game over so it’s just been a long discussion we definitely need to do that yeah that and I’ll make sure you down

With that for sure I want look to me what you’re doing right now is bringing everybody back together it’s a slow process because you don’t even know how many people need to be attracted to your Forum you are just touching the tip of an iceberg but I respect it and that’s

Why I wanted to be a part of it because people don’t understand we only hear once and these stories that we tell each other you know it has value I I genuinely like talking about the stories of my life because it made me who I am

And as you see in some of the wow so modest thanks DC I appreciate that that’s one of my young cats Derek Canada who played under me and he went to Iona transfer but for sure for sure D Canada yes yes I know exactly who he is yeah

Yep but if you put all together the history of playing basketball in New York City is tremendous wow is that Jean Smith from Georgetown Doug way see this is what I mean it’s growing by the numbers by the Numbers it it there’s no end to this and

Some of the people who don’t know because they don’t live in the state anymore or just didn’t know to follow if we can get everybody on at the same time that’d be about a 12 Day discussion but that be real because we don’t know around I hope everybody’s doing well

It’s just tremendous I I I I value listen hey to last year this say when I first started um or thinking about started it I watched Lamar ow them on drink Champs and this is no slight to them because they have a awesome platform but I always ask people how do

People know about us ball players before we do anything else before we become rap stars movie stars we were ball players first yeah so true so when I saw they wasn’t talking about anything of Lamar’s accomplishments I was like wow we we need a home or platform where guys can

Come and feel safe to talk about their stories yeah and I feel like they’re gonna be set up for a scandal look it’s therapeutic for some some people you know they need to talk they need to be reconnected with who they grew up with they need to know that they’re still

Around so like I said before there’s tremendous value in doing things like this and I just hope that everybody gets a chance to participate in it because I’m enjoying myself right now just being reconnected to so many people oh man is dop and we go we gonna go back here

Because I got some things to share with you brother so what what parks what parks in the Bronx had the most action we could go and get some good run well back in the day it was the valley Uptown that was one of the hot parks that we

Were play because they had the tournament crack his wack Park on 125th Street it wasn’t called that it was called Citywide Park and then it changed names and of course of course the Rucker 155th it’s changed names it’s changed you know the way it does things but back

In the day people don’t realize I grew up in the 70s and the 80s that was the drug World basically and back then you you really really enjoyed and so did the underground people let’s leave it at that being part of the culture of basketball in New York City

And it was just natural it there was never ever really beef it was all love and King Towers was a part of it you know it’s just Rya who people may not know about Milbank Min sync um ps129 ps44 and I know up uh who where else Uptown see I’m only just talking

About Uptown because Brooklyn but that’s that’s all we need that’s all right now we need to talk about because I don’t had guys up here from Brooklyn Queens Staten Isen Long Island Upstate you name it and and and I visited well I did videos on a Rucker so in the Hole uh

Boys of yester year yep and I only went to Truman High School because I interviewed Ross Strickland but I I need to come up there in the springtime and visit some uh Bronx parks and do some videos out there and show some love and I need to go out to Staten Allen and

Long hour oh see but I don’t even know whether those things exist anymore the way it used to I hope does because that’s the culture of New York City basketball but you just want to give a shout out to him and just possibly drive around and just say yo this used to be

I’m sure you’ll capture a lot of a lot of places that used to have stuff um it’s unfortunate that the the the kids nowadays the generations have changed and they just want to play in gyms with air conditioning and that’s what we’ve evolved into I don’t even think kids

Play outside as much as they used to um no but and it’s become a stigma it become stigmatized kind the t y playing outside you know I hear guys talking about you know the guys in California they have gyms and this is why they’re doing so well I was like well we never

Really had GS we always played outside and that made you who you were because you know what we didn’t if you wanted to play two games back to back you better win one because if you lost a game you’d be out in the park just sitting there

For like three or four hours if not longer trying to wait for the next game if you really were a ball player that right up passes vce why I know I know I know it existed in the Bronx everybody had to go through that the older guys would play and you had to

Kind of work your way on the court and depending how good you were you get to come back or stay or if you lose somebody would pick you up but if you weren’t you lost you might as well go home 100% 100% look at D roll say AC what’s

That Jean Smith I see you bro look Darren Ro who grew up in Westchester he probably grew up in an air conditioned environment see he talking about outside and rain but guess what D Ro I’mma pull your card bro I know you grew up in the outside I mean in the Westchester area

Which you had gyms and all that other great stuff the boys club and all that other good stuff and I can say our errow was rough and it made us who we are today exactly what I’m alluding to it made you the tough guy that’s that that

We all is that D roll for St Peters that with the St Peters yep yeah but when you came out to SE to play the PA to get your game right yep V I love you too boy yep I’m telling you it’s it’s now now Dro always say no

AC yo salute to you D hey what was our Savior Lutheran like and how come you didn’t go to public school while Catholic school so quick story my I had a brother and a sister my brother he used to get leather coats that big back

Then and he played ball too and all of a sudden he used to get get beat up and all that stuff and his stuff used to get taken my sister who was like a thug she went to to uh uh where did she go to school uh Roosevelt High School I was on

Forem road that was my zone school because back in the day you didn’t pick where you wanted to go you had to go to the school area so my zone school was Roosevelt but my sister had such a bad reputation about beating people up because she had to defend herself

Because she was the pretty girl she finally went Thug my mother said you’re not going there you’re GNA go to a different School so once again here comes another one of my mentors George Booker George Booker was at our Savor Lutheran I went to our Savior when it

Was when I was in seventh grade my mom said you’re gonna go here dudes love you boy and then the next thing you know I go there seventh grade eighth grade then they had a high school 9th 10 11 12 the people that were there before me we had

A lot of division one basketball players but nobody really knew who they were and Mr Booker made sure we play outside of our private school you know world so we would play rice Tolen time which closed which closed we would play against uh sarian we would play against anybody who

Wanted to play against us so at that point when we were beating these these schools people had to respect the fact that this little private school of my graduating class of 56 was doing work and we have done work all the way up to today because right now we even have a

Prep school attachment um they’re doing great e Jones and and uh uh I forgot is it we W I forgot is Pete Pete is killing it righty yeah he was I had him on here as well yeah they have built Our Savior into at least a place where kids are getting the opportunity

To go to a better educated school like Posh Alexander who right now is probably our our now star is at St John’s and he’s playing he playing crazy right now he’s doing all right um I saw him playing two games I don’t know whether he’s doing it on a regular but he no

He’s do he’s doing it on a regular he’s doing it on a regular yes yep so he is thanks Bergen Broncos he should use my face as a logo beautiful beautiful but George Booker we were in an all Italian neighborhood and Mr Booker used to at

Least stand out there at the bus stop in His Cadillac and make sure that the the neighborhood didn’t get us I’ve spent many a day running from the store back to the school jumping over the fence to get on the property because the Italians just didn’t like the brothers in the

Neighborhood but guess what the school was there and we went there and guess what that was it that was it so y you know so crazy um my guy Craig Bo is doing a documentary called ballside middle and it’s about the 70s early 80s ball players uh from Brooklyn that had

To go through similar things in neighborhoods like bensen Hurst sheep said Bay and other places so that you had to go through yeah he should like once again I hear you everybody who’s doing these things for the neighborhood that they grew up in but I love for

Everybody to capture some of the other Burrows as well see once again I know the Bronx I know hlem a lot better than I did Brooklyn Queens because back then in the 70s and 80s neither one of us crossed to go the other way just that

That’s enough thing that’s hold on to I mean to cut you off that’s one of the biggest things all a lot of guys for different barrels say well us Brooklyn guys said about the different Burrows yeah we have to go everywhere and play yep it’s true everybody don’t come to

Brooklyn nope everybody we we was forced it was the tournament in the Bronx and we want to get our name up in the Bronx we had to go up to the Bronx we had to go to Harlem we had to go to Queens Long Island wherever it was we had to go there

Yep not too many people came down to Brooklyn nope because you know what it was that fear thing that was instilled in all of us or why we want to go there the best ball players are from where we’re from so why go there or finally Citywide was the tournament that made

Everybody someplace outside where they were used to going um and of course that one or two tournament that just you just had to go so Brooklyn Queens will always go to King Towers right right and United Queens nobody remembers United Queens they had a major tournament and we would

Go to United Queens to play out there um but those do that that that was just Beast back then the tournaments were way better than they are now no disrespect but it was better because if you remember the crowds that were out at King Towers I’ll just use that for a starting

Point if you saw some footage of the the people hanging out the windows and the trees watching games much like the Rucker you will know that that probably was the most dominant places to go play ball now I’m not knocking Brooklyn Queens Staten Island and Long Island and

Westchester but I don’t think they had the same capacity to hold the amount of people that Uptown had well we had one place here we had one place here in Brio the brevo Coliseum I remember bort y right so in the 70s and and 80s fil to capacity

Yep I remember that but see remember that’s the one can you go a yeah it was just one it was just one that was the one place that that can hold that many people yes so Uptown we just had you know by Design more space because I

Guess more projects than Brooklyn did in a dumb sort of way because the way it was designed we had a basketball court right in the center of 12 projects around where Brooklyn may have a basketball court and it had four or five I don’t know but that’s what I probably

Remember no Revo is the only place that has this in in Brooklyn yeah y prime time for live Doug way and all oh wa first of all nobody mentioned prime time yet till we get there trust me fair enough and then we G we gonna get there

Bro so to yes when you was at Al saavor Luther right uhuh who was some of the guys that was on your team man what who is your toughest competition tolentine rice uh Long Island Lutheran with Wayne McCoy Mike Milligan uh bash in Brooklyn um we had a Lutheran tournament people don’t even

Know back then Long Island Lutheran our saor Lutheran Grace Lutheran and I forgot the fourth Lutheran School that tournament can compare to the same as a Catholic Tournament or a public school tournament you got everybody went to the school where their folks told them to go it wasn’t

Like right now where kids can kind of pick the high school they want to go to and unify and just create the one school or everyone didn’t live in the same or super teams right yeah super teams in high school we kind of went there so the

It was Tony Hargraves plus two other kids plus maybe three other kids playing against like a Wayne McCoy who for those who don’t remember remember Wayne McCord was like six seven a beast he was the baby Daryl Dawkins of his era and against him we had nobody sizewise to

Contin with him so we tried to outspeed them all the time and lo and behold the tournament was really really good we won some we lost some but it was still one of those things that I remember back then as being the the most competitive tournaments that we were playing along

With the individual games of Tolen time rice oh man we never played against uh like Benjamin Franklin we played against Clinton one year and Clinton’s football team met us at the door and wouldn’t let us through it was my senior Year yo did y’all beat them no we I don’t remember

Whether we beat them or not but I know I had a lot of points because my team wasn’t real true basketball players going for it and can can like do everything that that you know we had two really quick point guards we had two really good forwards and then the bench

Was really solid but we’re talking about you have to get through the football team of Clinton which back in the day it was really tough and then you got to go play the game so if you were and you were the tallest guy on the team to that

Three yep I was the tallest guy on the team but I didn’t care because guess what I grew up in the hood so nothing bothered me I didn’t like I laughed I’m like this this is like this looks like my neighborhood so you’re not bother me

Right right like you only bother me and we go play the game now I don’t remember who won but it was that thing that we just normally did and lo and behold my team would unify behind me and and and the way we played and we never ever

Really ever got blown out ever we’ve we the most amount of points we lost by was Max 10 I guess Max 10 wow for my my senior year and then my junior year I don’t remember ever getting blown out um I Teeter toted into playing varsity as a

Freshman uh yeah I was you know what it was I was just that quirky guy I was I I they let me take the ball out and just throw it down court so I actually was not that good but it allowed me to use whatever I do well to

The best interest of the team and allowed me to stay on on the court longer so for those who remember how I played I immediately would somebody would score from the other team I grabbed the ball and just throw it down court and I was very accurate um and we

Get cheap b y you was doing it in high school you don’t as a freshman as a I remember you doing it to us all the time that was your thing y if we scored you was immediately taking the ball out to get it down Court yep y now quarterback

Style and that it for four years in high school I did it actually for six years in our savior I did it and then I went to college and they let me do it there as well so I had greedy people playing with me in college AKA Steve Burke all

I could have threw the ball straight up in the air he was gonna punch somebody in the face to make sure he got the ball to score his two points he was from the same place I was from he’s like just throw it anywhere I’ll get it that’s all you gotta do just

Throw it and I would just throw it and I would throw it where places he can get to it more better than the other people so we used to beat up on St Peters a lot yo they still gotta said uh Tony hardgrave his nickname what’s the

Nickname they gave you I never got a nickname nobody ever gave me a nickname my nickname is Tony harres yeah right because your real name is Anie harra true that I swear to God that was the best nickname anybody ever could give me I was like yo that’s kind

Of cool but why couldn’t I be like killer or you know something like yo the the machine or something and then I got older they would just call me the brain or you know whatever and then I play for WBLS also and yes that was another facet

Of New York City basketball we sold out the garden playing against kiss BLS and that’s when the Knicks weren’t doing so well and guess what that game was probably better than a Nick Celtic game you know not to make the comparison but no no no cuz you know we have some

Ballers definitely I played with W BS when s green was the coach now Doug way push him right was my nickname see yeah now listen the the great Julius Allen Bronx Legend right he shared the story I said anybody got any basketball stories about Tony HRA he

Said yes I will tell everybody he’s going left but they still couldn’t stop him and that was and that has carried me all the way straight from when I started playing all the way to I kind of finished up playing because I was just lucky enough to be able to find my way

Map my course going left little does everybody know I would start so far right I had the whole left side of the court to just weave my way all the way over and do whatever I wanted to do wow see what I mean about Dro my nickname is

Old man see he wasn’t saying that when he was at St [Laughter] Peters yo so now your transition you know year to year is decent right you got college coaches looking at you because you’re basically the most dominant player on your team who did y’all run up against

Who really had that a name and who asked you bust in college that let you know you was one of the better players in the city even though you came from a really small school oh that’s tough you saying during my high school years who was the

Those people that’s a that’s a very good question because oh wow I’ll put this way I’m Gonna Go reverse first okay another person who taught me how to play the game was Nigel Wallace Nigel Wallace taught me you can go left all you want and he let me go

And he reached over my shoulder and stole the the ball to me in the Boston shootout and I said never again because he did it right at a crucial time that we could have lost the game if if I and to this day I told everybody who plays

With me I cross over as soon as you pass somebody if you don’t you could be a victim so he taught me how to teach other people about soon as you pass somebody cross over put it in the other hand even if it’s for one dribble because that person could be setting you

Up like Nigel Wallace did and for those who don’t know who Nigel wall is you need to look back and understand um he did he take the ball did he take the ball from you as you passed him and scored a layup and put him that’s crazy Kenny Anderson used to do

That to people a lot he us to let people pass him and they can think they lost him and he’ll be right behind him taking the ball it was and and you really take another dribble and you’re looking for the ball and lo and behold you turn around somebody else got

Be like wow yeah never in my life is that happened to me before and then it never did happen again now moving forward the people who I played against it would have kicked my ass there wasn’t a lot of people uh I learned as I went along

Because I always played up one year because I was at least okay so I was actually in the year of Steve Berke Gary Springer who were one year above me Dwayne DJ who played at Marquette he was real tough p Edwards was real tough he played against us uh Kurt Suter played

Against us monsters monsters the I learned the lesson against the White Brothers at West Fourth Street because it wasn’t they weren’t they it wasn’t that they were good but there was 24 of them because there was five on the court and the others in the stands and if you

Wasn’t a man you gonna get dumped out but I never got down I was like I don’t yo y’all don’t understand been beat up before been have beating up people so all of that tough God stuff don’t fly with me I don’t care um Tommy Starks is another person Mario Ellie was another

Person Vernon Moore coel Brown ice Reynolds hold on hold on let’s let’s slow down cause this guy coel Brown you know I had ice up here early on Ice was on the show talked about coel so many other people mention his guy’s name I never seen him play ever

Because really stuck in his Brooklyn Roots like he would move around but coell was just a silent killer he really didn’t you would never even pay attention to him but if you check the box scores let’s call it even though we never did that back in the day coel

Really did Kill You Kurt Supa was the same way quiet assassins I seen him do it but I seen him do it I seen him joing his Pro Am days right but once coel went down to oakill kind of disappeared and we lost track of him yep y people don’t

I never got a chance to see him play but his name in 2021 still ringing Bells how about there was a player named ABJ nobody would remember this guy I didn’t play against him because he was a lot older now I was a thug thank

You but ABJ was somebody who you be who you would feel poy Wilson was another one oh yes yes definitely bad daddy him in uh Bill Salah Fat Daddy Salah Ronnie Williams um look I’m reading off the The Script because these are the people that

Need to be mentioned also no no this is yes and we’re not even these are just the Brooklyn Harlem Bronx cats we really ain’t even touching surface about how the um Westchester cats L Moore Gus Williams the McCrae brothers scoter and Rodney um we dancing Doge somebody just

Threw another name in there Doge was some listen I reached out to DOI I’m glad you’re on Instagram brother at the time I reached out to him he was like I ain’t no Instagram no social media yeah to you brother but that’s probably why a lot of people will never ever you have

To actually take your time and teach us how to use this thing because we had to do a 10-minute teaching session for me to understand exactly how to be live Instagram because I’m just old now I I do this now I do every I ask anyone I do

A test before we go on so you know what to do yeah I start to do that somebody put Alabama in there yo I’m telling you this list is trem I would love to have Richie Adams how well hoe Hudson with his crossovers killer crossover I don’t

Know if they ever played against Howe Hudson with his crossover yes yo bro I I I was there I I was in the White Brothers team that we played against Shan the championship I was in that homeboy team yep the homeboy I was a young I was the young guy who they was

Just giving a ball to unbelievable those and and and at that game when when Earl and Elma y i playing that game sir but we gonna get there we gonna get there now I read a New York Times article that said that forom was really interested in you

Yeah and they really wanted you to come near bad and said Tony for University prepares basketb players for life after basketball you should come here I might should have come there but I made the right choice yes I think so too would have definitely been that school that may have supported you after

Basketball better than a lot of other schools just because their alumni is probably a little bit more tightnit but the way I Liv that I Ona college and the alumni who had always supported me I could not ask for better they really tremendously went all out to make sure

That we were comfortable during you know just the fact that they would greet us and say hello and respectfully always say you guys really a great place for anybody to come to you’re making an enjoyable time to play in this in this you know generational time of four years

Um remember they had just lost Jeff ruin so they didn’t know whether or not the school was going to continue to go down and remember back then there was no big ACC Big East you know Big 10 all that all of that was just you went to a

College and you played a schedule so the Mac was a new conference just like the Big East to a certain degree but the problem was that it it didn’t take off right away but nobody wanted to play against schools in the Mac nobody because guess what they would have had to compete

Against some very very talented people that were there Army everyone could laugh at army but guess what they were tough they were tough I remember Kevin Houston led the nation scoring out of army his senior year so people can judge whatever they

Want but it was no if I if I don’t go to the ACC I’m not gonna go to Pro no check this out the ACC could have got busted up by the ma on any given day just like we played UNLV we were down 17 in the

Metal lands at halftime we came back and beat them by 17 with Sid green Richie Adams tanian son we went out to San Francisco we played against Quinton daily we played in Alaska shootout against Ohio state that was my first college game we won that game Ohio state

Was ranked in the country at that point um if Jeff Ruland would have stuck around for the time that he would have been there could you imagine for those who know these names Jeff Ruland Gary Springer Steve Bert as the most popular people those three alone with the weight They

Carried along with myself geale Rory gr and the other people who people don’t really know um that team would have easily have been a top 10 team to contend with in the entire country they had just beaten Louisville with Jeff Rand and crew so if they so Jeff left

His Jeff left after his junior year remember he got he he left early I don’t remember whether it was his junior year or he would have had at least the the two years span I believe W let us B been freshman and he would have been there

But even still if he would have stayed the one more year it would have been him Gary and Steve playing together somehow the the grouping would have been still strong because I play with a gentleman named Mike ice and Kevin VC who were 611 and 611 as well and I think that Jeff

Was in that class word gen but you get what I mean about the people that there um Richie Simmons you know uh everyone’s saying Alex English went to Iona College and he should have been a pro um that’s later Alex English Junior by the way um that was later on

Down the line but we still attracted the people who could have made it to the NBA at that small school people don’t know that school was real small and by the way it was a city school so we used to get huge huge crowd infusions because everybody would get on the Metro North

And getting a whip and come watch the games big one of my biggest regrets was not sign with Iona uh I still have uh my handwritten letters from Iona to this day you know I I got them under here right here’s a few talk beautiful look at that see you I look I

Handwritten right it’s like that’s a beautiful letter bro those those things you know you look back because I went to fairy dickon wasn’t a great School academics I graduated wrong fit for my basketball style Y and when I hear a lot of guys talk about they can go to you

Know good schools even some of the guys who had Duke in Kentucky and North Carolina they go to these programs to find out they’re not the basketball fit and that’s part of the whole yes like the whole everything developmental cycle all the way straight through from

High school to college you want to go to a school that fits your the way you play I went to Iona College because it allowed me to take the ball out and throw it down Court you gave me a bigger Court to throw the ball down Court don’t

Do that and Jean Smith is saying Tony and the Big East would have been nuts once again there goes that thing a Georgetown Guy saying we would have at least competed against them pretty well they would have had the bigger name brand people and Jean Smith being the

Best defender that ever lived in in this in the country of college basketball like we we would have learned how to deal with people like that better after the first round of games because why challenge him like why am I gonna go up against him when he’s clearly that that

Dude you just toggle the ball back and forth and eliminate him being part of that stop of the game and then now you got to deal with part two which is the bigs now we had CH trusel who was just he in the air nobody really wanted

To mess with him he was just that dude in the air he was the Beast he was a beast why showed the Beast yes his body was just a pro body Talent may not have been there but all you had to do is throw the ball in the air and that’s

That level of play would have competed with a lot of schools um what some of the other teams in your conference that was tough besides you guys Lal Lal had uh liono Simmons and R Steve black uh uh who else was there Ralph Lewis NBA players uh that was really

Really tough they listen I I remember you guys come come in uh let me see I see L play Lio Simmons you guys uh who else was in that that kind of range that was uh was it uh Scurry down in uh Liu at the time but Riley

Clarita and SK that whole group see I forgot about Ro s just want to give a shout out to Riley you know you know Riley was tough back when he played God bless him um Tim legler was another person that was there sports caster all these cats played against us and it was

No Cake Walk oh I’m supposed to say I’m supposed to say St Peters again for some reason I don’t yeah yeah because D roll crazy crazy so let’s let’s let’s what me do like your best game at I hold on you want to say something yeah I was going to say 10

Second St Peters game we were playing against St Peters they held the ball the score was like 12 to two 12 to four at halftime because they didn’t want to try and keep on with us so D Ro you just stay quiet for a little bit long my best game in college

Probably wow that’s crazy so walk me through like your best game that you feel that you had in college it was in the med it like everything was going right it was in the metal lands I had 18 rebounds and I kept I had the record for rebounding

For like five or six years overall and then David Robinson came and took the record from me he had like 27 rebounds yo hold on hold on F hold on that’s 63 at 63 I had the record in the metal lands for the most rebounds in a game

For like three four five years I don’t know the exact time frame but I I remember reading that and I was like oh it’s still there that’s it and people don’t people don’t realize how hard 18 rebound to get 18 rebounds is not easy I don’t care what level you playing on no

Shot clock and no three-pointers see once again people don’t realized when I played it was so long ago we didn’t have three-pointers and there was no shot clock so so everybody who played back then we were working with teams like St Peters who would hold the ball and try and win

Games look look look look four corn look think back who used to go four corners and kill everybody North Carolina they’ be a that’s right and go four corners and it just whatever wow and you know now that you think about it it was a lot of low scores back

Then yep and you now and this why they put the shot clock in to speed up the game a little bit yep that’s crazy so you had 18 re was it against UNLV no yeah I don’t remember who it was against I don’t think it was against

UNLV but I played well I was a consistent straight line ball player I never really had that game that I would just go in the locker room and go damn I was just that bad I always would get 10 points six rebounds six assist like I was a straight line player everything

Floated up and down but I never really like had that death game and I stayed in the court a long time for multiple reasons I stayed in the court because I defended well and I always threw the ball long so I might have not thrown the

Assist pass down court but I threw over the press to half court which led to a two11 and that next person would get the assist so I made the game easier for everybody I guess in a dumb sort of away and I blocked a lot of shots so if you

Look at the stats at I owna that I have you’ll probably see a little bit of everything you’ll see block shots you know Assist points and whatever else they were judging back then but it was always a straight line do do do you teach that toe that

Long ass pass is it somebody that does it really well that you say you know what that that reminds me of me I do but the problem is as I’ve coached during my time at Riverside and other places like I’m also a high school coach at a Jewish

School I try and find somebody who can throw the ball like that but for some reason these generational kids don’t get it like I got it like I also threw the ball exceptionally hard because I was a pitcher at baseball so me and Steve used to have fist fights because I used to

Throw the ball so hard but I was say I’m throwing the ball hard because it’s got to get through 12 people right right to you you got get from point A to point B dude you want me to throw it softer you’re not g to get it and then we

Realize that that’s what it was so this is the James Major question right James Major said when he was playing that Cena the hall they got $5 a day for mill money when they took road trips we got a little bit more I think we got like seven

And but f i you know I say this too he played in the Big East when the Big East was the Big East five and you play before him mind you so here’s the problem with that whole I we’re going through this right now in college where kids should get

Paid shouldn’t get paid that whole Soliloquy that everybody always discusses yes the wrong people are making that decision as to if these kids should get paid I agree they need to get a stien per month to live off of because I remember one day I went to bed hungry

I am right now arguing all the time because I I don’t let my refrigerator go to no I keep my refrigerator stuff because I promis myself I’m never going back to the way I grew up and that came from that one day in college when I had

To go to bed hungry never again never again if I had a stien when I in College of two or three hundred bucks a day I could have took my girlfriend to the movies I could have put gas in my car I could got back and forth from home I

Could have not had to have my mother and father drive to me to bring me food and stuff to live off of uh of course the cafeteria was made available to us you know on a regular basis but that that truly wasn’t enough to enjoy being in

College now some people are going to say you’re not there to enjoy being in college you’re there to be a student athlete and blah blah blah but they forget the the primary reason of life I’m there to entertain you is what you’re saying don’t entertainers get

Paid to do their job and I’m with you I do agree that there is a limit to how much we should get but it still should not take away from the fact that I need to live because remember when basketball season’s over we don’t get we don’t get

The same privileges in the cafeteria that we should get because don’t forget practice also is during the time when the cafeteria is open so if the cafeteria is open from 4: to 6: for dinner and you got practice from four to six if you don’t get chop money which is

That $7 you’re gonna go to bed hungry now remember the $7 is cool but what can you get for the7 is the problem so it should you can’t get a hero you can’t get a hero Subway $7 that’s correct and if you had to drive somewhere to get the food food

You got to fill your if you had they’re going to say well you have a car you have no it doesn’t don’t judge me about what I have and what I don’t have judge me about what I need I need to be able to eat I need to

Be able to sustain myself during the four years that I’m in college I’m not saying giving me $10,000 a week I’m just saying come up with a stiping allotment for the kids that don’t get a stiping because they live off campus or on campus Because it’s not fair I’m sure

That this has been addressed and some of it has been fed and some of it underhandedly have gotten taken care of but there’s still a whole group of kids that still don’t get nothing they still don’t get anything there’s kids that go to college and really don’t have the financial

Wherewithal to survive during a whole four years of college their parents don’t have money they went to school because they’re trying to better their life now I’m not saying that they’re responsible for this movement but somehow there’s got to be a way because we’re not allowed to work for those

Those who didn’t know that and I’m sure everybody on this cast knows we’re not allowed to join yeah you’re not work so so true well listen my coach put me on to some game when I was in sophomore in college right we just got a deal to play Wake Forest two

Years and I’m just going you know damn coach you kind of geek he was like Harden you don’t understand what this means so sit down let me explain to he said W Forest gave us $80,000 they gave us $80,000 for two wins I said but we didn’t play the game yet he said

Hardy the way the game goes we’re not going to throw the game but in their mind they think they’re gonna beat us y this is how the game works estra what’s up boy keep going so I didn’t get it I said coach keep explaining he said well

If they lose the game they’re going to be upset y get it this is why upsets happen don’t happen in Pro Sports because someone is giving you cash hoping that they’re able to get their wins up by beating you now some of that money go to the school some of that goes

To the program and some of that go for our travel expenses see this is why we able to give you guys you know a couple hundred dollars here and there when we go away I said it blew my mind I never knew this is how college basketball worked

Yeah now here all this money is being exchanged and the only person that’s left out is a student athlete now I agree we got to find the proper channels where the money’s you know are coming from and going to so the kids are not being jerked or

Short-handed or put in a position where they might lose their scholarship somehow somebody has to come up with a design and once again in our life time it may not happen I hope it does but it’s just common sense coaches make a mill uh when you go on TV there’s a

Payout there’s so Sak contract yeah yeah yeah it just doesn’t SC you was finishing up huh no I thought you were say something so now you you finishing up at Iona correct how was your transition from college to the real world and what adjustments did you have to make all right

So I had to make a huge adjustment because once again you graduate you lose your apartment or dorm and now you pack up all your stuff and what do you do you move back in with your mom and dad nine out of tenen times now you have a job

Ready for you and then you can move into your apartment but you don’t know how to do that you’re not prepared to just say oh I got a $50,000 or a $3,000 or $20,000 a year job I’m going to go find an apartment and then become a human

Being you normally go back to where you came from which is what you don’t want to do and your parents may not have the space and then you find your way from there I was lucky enough that my parents who lived in a two-bedroom onund freaking whatever street I mean fair you

Know Fairmont Place in the Bronx I went back there and then immediately my friend gave me his apartment it was a studio apartment in somebody’s house he charged me 200 bucks a month to live there I just took it because the the opportunity came and I just then found a

Job my alumni at at Riverside and know I at Iona they told me to go to these particular places but I then met with the Prejudice of the world an athlete with limited knowledge of how the world works but has his degree and he interviews pretty well he’s well spoken

They just don’t give you the job but I’m competing against everybody else in the planet I got lucky I did interview well enough to go to Bear Sterns at Bear Sterns I got a job I interviewed with the wrong person I was supposed to interview with the guy that was gonna

Give me the job basically he said I graduated from my I’m gonna give you the game but he wasn’t available today so I had to go somebody else I got the job and then I finally could pay my rent I could buy food I got pay for my car blah

Blah blah and I was driving a Granada if anybody wants to look up GR that was bad that was the worst car possible but it let me get around um and then finally I was situated as a grown-up the transition was very very real for me but I was mature enough to

Be able to handle it and that’s why I try and teach the kids that I coaching toodle and Mentor now that don’t expect anything from anybody you have to map your own course ask for help if you need it don’t think that you know it all

Because you don’t and just try your best to be a human being and get your degree that’s the bottom line um I wanted to keep playing so I went overseas and played for a little while I met some of the people that we’ve been talking about

And then the rest of it fell into play I played for the Holland Wizards I went overseas I played uh usbl which was the G League nowadays right right the CBA uh what else uh uh the Holland wizards but you get what I mean and that generated income

For me through being able to play and different things proam was available to me and everybody else was cool no I’m not there anymore I work at Riverside but all of those little Avenues kept putting money in my pocket and I played in the sports that I love and I also

Played against nine time out of 10 these cats were on the on the on the stream because they still play ball and we all in the same age category so we played against each other in tournaments that allowed us to play against each other the program allow eastern league they

Allowed us to go and play against each other and the program let us play against Chicago blah blah blah and then we played on TV um in the in the Houston California New York and Chicago four thing on ESPN I was lucky enough to play in that you know all those things kept

Me uh in the know and let everybody know I’m still around all that other good stuff I should I have a friend called should have could have would have um that I hate I should have went to Phoenix and tried out I could have went to Phoenix and try out my agent didn’t

Do what he was supposed to do to Sol solidify that um should have could have and I would have maybe have made the team maybe everybody knows that maybe is a one quarter of a percent but you’re not going to make it not being there wow that’s I never knew that I

Knew I knew a lot of other things I didn’t know that one yeah I I don’t talk about it often just because it was said don’t you’re not going to get drafted but you’re invited because if we draft you you have to come here you don’t have

The opportunity to go anywhere else and then of course we were doing the after you know after ball thing we went to the Knicks and played against the Knicks and the training camp you know that whole world of basketball that just kept evolving for us it was cool um thanks Doug

Way oh man um some of the things that you went through that kind of made you into the person you are today uh that made you determined to want to be on your own find your way the reason why I asked the transition question because a lot of people don’t know what

Ball players or athletes go through after playing basketball and putting down the ball then going to the real world and having people look at you in a different way because you have no experience yeah you wasn’t able to go to school and work like other people and I put you at a disadvantage

And it could put you in front of someone who probably don’t like you because you come from that World um I’ll put it you this way I never Ked who liked me and didn’t like me because if you’re liked by everybody there’s a reason why you’re either being

Taken advantage of because you’re just doing too much for everybody and that’s why they like you and they don’t like you because jealousy kicks in sometimes or you’re doing a lot right that they could not do so I’m looking at it from the standpoint transition from being the

Tony harra from our Savor Lutheran to Iona to after that the people who respect me are the ones that matter to me most I I earned the respect that I got I didn’t ask for it I did not you know do anything outside the norm I earned it and transitionally that’s what

Everybody should aspire to do a lot people are not going to I made it an inch away from the pros i g to the same respect from the guy who never even played basketball we’re all from New York City we all grew up together I

Respect the guy who was in the par I respect the Jackie NOS who got injured when he was 16 years old who helped 200,000 people from the day I met him to now get someplace or try to get some place so transitionally people need to understand don’t be jealous of somebody

Who stepped forward and done the right things I’m lucky I grew up way worse than like I wish I could show you the building in which I grew up in it was a a double-sided building with a 100 apartments on the left 100 apartments on

The right I was one of the last four families to leave the building four families in a 200 Building 200 apartment building I lived an Apartment 5A so I don’t want to hear crap about you know I’m jealous don’t be jealous of me and don’t look at me as

Anything better than any than what I am I came from way worse than you came from probably because I’m not comparing I’m lucky I’m blessed I I learn lessons I have mentors I had people who guided me all of that kicks in to make me who I am um I then gave

Back to people who was looking for a team friendship Brotherhood and I never bother anybody like my rule is I’ll tell anybody today don’t talk about me that’s the one thing don’t do because when you talk about me you bring the real me back out say what you want but it better be

True because I don’t I just expect decency and and because I’m in a position now where I’m trying to help kids get to a place from out of where they are I don’t need you saying Tone’s an ass Tone’s this tone that because all you’re doing is deflating the image that

I want kids to have about me and trust the fact that I know what I’m doing and trying to get kids to a certain place that supersedes all the [ __ ] that we’ve gone through growing up because if you’re not helping kids then let me help kids if you’re just being a negative

Nelly carry your ass back where you came from like I don’t need that around anything that I do and you should just be by yourself being negative don’t be jealous that I reached a certain Pinnacle I I I’m still me I’m still the same person if I would have

Made it to the pros guess what I’m the first one that would have been spending money on the boys because you know what that’s what it’s supposed to be about like how many people are [ __ ] miserable pardon me not not that and got millions of dollars and it’s about them

Like yo are you serious you got 64 million in the bank you don’t give it away you don’t you’re going to you could possibly Wake Up Dead the next day and you got 64 million in the bank and what what did you do for anybody you got a heavy bank account

That’s it you’re dead what good did you do in your life so for those who have it and use it well I applaud you for those who have it and don’t do nothing with it think about doing something with it you’re not obligated but you should think about it

Because if you grew up the way we all grew up on this forum you might be a little bit more and I’m not saying give it away but you might want to find something of value to apply that allotment of money that you have to something worthy a good cause help a kid

Help a help somebody that’s struggling I don’t care what you do but if you have it like that think about it that’s real man well I want to let you know tone your legacy look your name Tone saw me on the train with a broken and still put me

Down yo yeah your name gone is respect everyone who I talk to from my guy arth Lee Walker to uh John Arnold to no matter who I talk to and bring up Tony hard grav nothing but respect I’ve never heard anyone say a bad thing about you

Brother and I’m being real and and guess what that means more to me than all the trophies all the accolades all all the this all the that because you know what ultimately guess what I’m still Tony hard graes that’s it there’s no more better than thou and me that I will you

Know make people feel that I’m better than them I am not I am genuinely say I’ll still go on the corner on the blue mailboxes for those who come from the city and I’ll jump on top of the blue mailbox with you and still drink a 40

And I proed that with term Terminator for those who know because term thought that I felt I was above the world or whatever he thought and guess what I did I went and bought us the beverage of choice and guess what I hung out with the boys because you know what I’m no

Better than thou I’m that’s right that’s right and and when I talk to rat I’m definitely going to let him know because he should be on the show soon for sure yeah yeah so listen bro I know you said you wasn’t better than nobody and I know

You said you don’t think you better than anybody and I agree but damn I was pissed when we couldn’t beat y’all not say couldn’t because something happened at Chang the game during that West forth championship game against Prime Time versus the homeboy now listen I’m the Young Buck on the team

And we already knew y’all guys pedigree and I knew the the battle that y’all had with the homeboys years prior y so they just telling me listen young boy if you want to play and be in the game you gotta play defense we gonna give the Rock You are

Young ladies but you gotta play defense and I was already a defensive D I’m from my pedigree from Lincoln MCI I was always the guy who played who held the best player so that game my job was holding Anthony Mason now the game is going awesome I’m talking about one of

The best games I ever been involved in and then the incident where Earl and Elma happened yep yeah and I had ear on here as well and I had Elma on here as well and me and Earl talked about a little bit he didn’t get too much into

It and me and Elma interview was going some somewhere else because it was on Pearl’s birthday that we I interviewed her right so we didn’t get a chance to go into that do you remember that game I don’t specifically remember the game but I do remember the game slices of it

Just cuse Mason let me tell you was an anom if that incident doesn’t don’t happen I remember the incident there no knock to y’all we win that game yep you got a shot that and I tell everybody that was a momentum changer y for a guy

Who fights for the rights of referees to this day y you know when that incident happened it changed but also a young guy it it taught me a lot it taught me a lot about self-control yeah uh uh knowing knowing that this is just a game and not let

Your temper or or your emotions get too far ahead of you now I’m the young I’m the young guy on the court and and seeing this now you had skirmishes before in different games you know but the referees usually get involved this is street basketball grown ass men New York City in a

Cage it it was it was just the game was so intensified yep so being a young guy playing that game you know again can you tell the people who was on your team because it’s like a Who two of New York City basketball so my my West for street team Anthony Mason Kev

Young forgot about Kev young yes myself Elmer Pete Edwards I think was on that team by then no Pete Edwards wasn’t on that team Speedy Cory Williams Speedy cor and cor little Cory Williams yes little Cory Williams right not killer Corey but Cory Williams who was a killer

Also nobody realized yes that that kid could play if he would if he would have left college and try to go overseas he would had a good he would have had a good run for a little bit the things he did ugly game slow down very like

Mentally right there um who else was there gez who else did y’all had y Dwayne Johnson DJ yes yes definitely played with us Ernest aurn who played at Tain played with us um are y’all hearing these names this is just one team I’m not even naming the

Guys down to my team Troy bers what’s up boy yep Ernest aens who was just a body that just really just big body cat uh who El there was another guy he was a dunking machine never talked he’s a mailman now for got his real

Name oh geez I wish James Ryan was on his phone because James Ryan knows every single Doug Wade might knows some more people by yes and I know we I I just remember Earl the white brothers and big John joh Harris who was like big John Harris that was that was our go-to

Inside oh he was tough as hell um God gez I wish but see that’s that thing I would love love to be able to get that man just all those people that played with us because that was a who’s who of New York City basketball today yeah

Veron anony like Anthony’s first year in the Knicks yep Vernon Moore did I say Vernon Moore no no Vernon Moore as well Veron Moore was a beast Kev young W DJ myself Speedy Corey uh I’m I’m I I I’m old now now with that team with that team right there

Did y’all travel and go different places and play different cities Harry James tournament out in in New Jersey we used to get in the car all of us and we would leave five in one spot and go to the next spot and go to the third spot we

All that was the one thing that we did we drove all over the place T up yeah we that that team was just a traveling show and we always played we went one summer that we never lost a game um that was real I know that sounds ridiculous but

No if y’ y’all had the plays to back it up fam like that was one of the best teams put together in New York City I played against insane we really really I I you know I I wish there was video footage of that team playing and a list or a roster so

We could always remember who these guys were um you gota get in contact with Kenny Graham getting those books see if he still has them he would know everybody as well like that I hope you do a show that just says what was the best team that ever played at West Fourth

Street I’m Kenny I’m I’m still trying to get in contact with Kenny uh I I used to teach his nephews at my high school when they were there so definitely we gonna make that happen so to did you coach did you coach at any colleges before accepted the job at Riverside I did

Believe It or Not D hired me to help him coach at Montclair State University so we were there and I also coached at Ramapo College for a year so I coach um it’s a lot of fun College coaching is good uh it’s a lot more work than

Everybody thinks but it it has a great tremendous value to to what you learn about college basketball and and process um it was a lot of fun so now you being a referee you see a lot of basketball I do all right how is New York City basketball looking these

Days and can we get off life support soon New York City basketball is not good right now now don’t get me wrong it’s not all New York City basketball players fault we have too many co we have too many high schools in New York city so

I’m picking one school because I I think this is the way it goes brandise has five different schools in it so does um Truman up in the Bronx they have five different schools in it we have Charter Schools all over the place and the core groups that really are basketball

Players are all going to prep schools because up in the range of Connecticut and other places prep schools are doing more for college um potential kids than the high school kids now you do have your pockets I’m G use Southshore for instance because I think they’ve run one

City like two or three years in a row like two years ago or something like that pardon me for not knowing it for sure but I know that they were strong teams um but that school tried to just dominate New York City basketball as long as they could and it

Works that way for the girls all girls also but everybody is leaving the Bronx Manhattan Queens Brooklyn to go to South store to align themselves to play against anybody and go in States and stuff like that that’s fine and South sh got like 10 schools in it yeah well

There you go if they want to do that who can stop them so be it blah blah blah but what about the uh what about t I’m just picking it what about about um brandise what about D with Clinton we don’t even hear about those schools as being Powerhouse basketball schools like

Like it used to be back in the day listen bro this is another reason why I wanted to do this platform because when you ask guys and I’mma ask you who is who has the most City championships in New York City hisory that’s a great question um

I’m gonna I’m gonna go Clinton for the boy side now let me tell you why I said Clinton nobody might remember that Clinton 2700 years ago won everything 12 years in a row so to speak there was no state tournament to really go to or whatever you want to call it but they

Always won so that run that they went on they might be one of the most dominant schools number-wise that existed now all right so hold on hold on y hold on before you move on I gotta Make Some Noise T because you one of the only people that answer that question

Right the first time no you’re like the one of the only people who answered that question right the first time mostly everybody gets that one wrong now I say if they forgot about DWI Clinton they may forget about Lincoln they may forget about boys boys and girls I’ll save you Lutheran Jefferson you

Know it may happen so we can’t allow these things to happen or somebody else will be rewriting the history that’s right history is changing and it’s not changing for the best it’s changing for the new and it goes back to the judgments of who’s better Jordan or LeBron we don’t know everybody’s gonna

Have a difference opinion but I’m gonna say somebody put on on one of the cast it’s Jordan because the Jordan is 11 and o in every major event that he played in he went to the Olympics he won he went to overseas he won he went to uh the the

Playoffs with the bulls he won like he never lost so he will hold the reign of Best Player until LeBron let’s just use him because he’s probably next up wins two more times let’s call it and gets MVP in those two times now the comparison can

Be made a little bit better because long we have a go we have a goat h New York man we we we kind of keep sleeping on Karim even though I think Jordan is the best basketball player but Karim won on every level the thing I say only because

And I get asked that question as well a lot Kareem has to have a second player to make him the best Michael Jordan can play the one and score and do everything from one to five so can LeBron Kareem always had to just get the rebound give

It to a guard run down Court wait for the pass so if you want to make an assessment of who’s the best basketall player to ever Liv yeah Kareem and will they definitely are the best as long as you don’t add in how you get there how you how you get that Ro

Yep all right all right all right so how how was let’s let’s before we have some fun real quick how long have you been to Riverside and how has the experience been for you all right so I I was at Riverside when I was 11 I played all the

Way straight through then I went back and coached my kids through Riverside for six years because they’re two years apart then I started working and then I went back to Riverside for six years now and I’m the program director there it’s it’s a little bit of fun now but I don’t

Like a lot that we do just because the map is so difficult to navigate through um you can’t just get kids into college anymore like it used to be you just have to go through the prep school process and then to college then you have to monitor the kids grades

All the time it’s like a religious thing that you have to constantly um put yourself in a position to know what the kids are doing whereas before when all of us on this webcast when we did it people looked at our report card one time and they were all pretty much good

Grades you know just season straight through it at at worst and you can go to college and get a scholarship or not or just go to college as a student and graduate from college and life was simplistic now there’s so much money involved good grades um overseas kids are coming here

You have to have a I20 to get into schools if you’re from Jama and Africa and stuff like that and the skill level is greater now than ever before so we were better basketball players but they are better skilled players right now so what Kyrie does with the ball right now

Is unheard of we didn’t have anybody back then that can handle the ball like Kyrie but we had people who could handle the ball he he does he does such an arrangement way he he has a counter for everything yep so we had players equal to him for

That era that generation because you didn’t have to do what he does like what he’s doing with the ball is just phenomenal but as a referee I see some of the things that referees could call but they won’t be refereeing much longer like I watched Cole Anthony in high

School the first time I saw him play he carries the ball a lot but he does to get an advantage but a normal Defender like yourself who prides your on defense you would easily go all carry and then the game is still going you like whoa

Whoa whoa he just he carried the ball and like no he didn’t like are you serious so we would get caught off guard by what they’re allowing these kids to get away with because the game has changed and I respect that whatever it’s changing into let it evolve however stop

Comparing us as being horrible basketball players back then comparing to what you guys do now we didn’t have to do that we were Bulls I would run somebody over to score a bucket Anthony Mason would bully somebody to get a bucket I mean you could go through the

Whole big fat dad would not be stopped car Malone still never will get stopped and you don’t have that type of play right now you have players who are skilled you have players that can handle the ball and trick people you have like the way people are freezing people from

The Iverson era to now freezing them and dropping them and doing what they’re doing and shooting the ball from distance like they’re doing Steph Curry to me is just I don’t even know what he drinks but that cat right there shooting threes like he shoots unheard of because

You got to remember something we couldn’t shoot that way whether we tried and there’s no way in the world not one person you can name could shoot like that we had Shooters but what he’s doing he’s shooting from half court now it’s like that’s ridiculous how much further

Can you go back to be as accurate as as he is Klay Thompson doesn’t and P do is crazy handle is ridiculous the way he spins and does what he does you you have to give all these young cats credit for what they’re doing however don’t

Minimize or de degrade what we did back then as well what we did was equal to for Our Generation in a different way because once again goes back to the greatest conversation Michael Jordan would have scored 600,000 more points if he wasn’t getting fouled the way he hand

Check or or right and these guys playing a Zone word y’all playing Zone nope look The Zone rule you couldn’t even be in the paint like now they can sit in the paint for four or five seconds before they’re told move out of the paint you’re stand what are you doing

No just get him out the paint let the game evolve the way it should evolve no disrespect it’s entertaining right now I don’t watch a lot of it but when I do watch I have I watched two basketball games in two years yeah just and for the

Simple facts someone put up a post the other day I think Denver was down two points with 5 seconds left and everyone was standing behind a three-point line yeah I I have the picture makes no sense here so here’s another way to judge it Allstar games back in the day were

Competitive go get them type games now don’t get me wrong from beginning to end not just the fourth quarter now it’s the last four minutes of a game based on what’s going on and you let somebody show the dunk and all that’s great I’m happy for y’all y’all are enjoying it

The fans want to see it I would say let’s change it to being something better than that like the the entertainment value is good the three-point shooting contest is great the skills challenge I would change because that’s really not skills let’s get some skills let’s have a Defender

Swing at them just standing there trying to pickpocket them or something like that and at least they have to go around a real person as opposed to going through cones this is CR yo T let me explain something to you if you talk if you

Listen to a lot of the NBA guys talk the younger guys don’t watch basketball nope you ask some of these kids they don’t watch basketball nope so I could you know it could be skilled players only want the the level of basketball is down yeah so I’m not gonna get into that

Argument let’s have some fun real quick all right who are the top five ball players from the Bronx oh that’s tough uh you gotta go at pic because you made it yes uh that’s tremendous question uh see Pooky Wilson lived in the Bronx I would want to put him in the

Bronx but I don’t know whether he’s from the Bronx somebody said he might be from Far Rockway I’m not sure who that Pooky Wilson P py Wilson from Far Rockway okay so then I’m gonna go Kareem Reed is from the Bronx think Kareem Reed is from

Holl let me see let me see I’ll tell you right now well you can just name off the guy that you know all right so Tony Hargraves no Tony har at pic me yeah Kareem Reed is from the bronos so Kareem did what he was supposed to do at

Arkansas so he he got to get a little bit of a out of the hood made it that far um wow that’s a tough question you should have asked me that before we even started this because I would I would have been thinking about the names give

Me the next question I’ll think of somebody else top five players of New York City better question uh going way back Kareem Abdul Jabar has gotta be in that list um wow that’s a good question Wayne McCoy you said no you said New York city so New York City I’m gonna go

Uh that’s a that’s a hell of a question New York City oh Chris Mullen gotta going in because he made it to the Olympic team even though he might Chris Mullen um Gary Springer because he won the haggy award as a freshman so he’s got to be in there

Somewhere unfortunately Steve Bert might be in there but I’m not sure just because I no this it’s like I only have a limited amount of time to think but Steve made it to the league he shouldn’t have made it to the league because he’s from Harlem skill-wise he belonged in

The league but I’m just saying we just that that he he made it he made it my dude um oh wow so many yeah it’s too many to name because you know what it is you can’t really pinpoint who be I ice Reynolds never comes up no just just your F I try

Not to go into the argument it’s whoever they feel like they five is all right so I I I I who I loved as ball players yes Pete Edwards never got the respect he deserved and he is a tough like you’re just not gonna walk up to Pete Edwards

And take the ball from him I respect no doubt secet weapon that’s right I I’ve seen Vernon Moore rip his shirt off and then go get 20 in 10 seconds I I saw Speedy give everybody death during the course of the game with the with this the way he

Played the game Speedy Williams my God holl at me please so um I gotta throw him in there somewhere um Ed pikney made it ice Reynolds made it the Scurry Brothers nobody ever brings them up in conversation Richie Adam yes Paul should be on here Paul Scurry is always on the

Show we gonna get Moses and car so Walter Barry probably belongs at the number top three because nobody realizes it Walter Barry was the first person to go overseas and get a million doll contract in Greece so regardless did it for a long time and he’s from the Bronx

So he goes in the Bronx best player um and I’mma leave it at that because that covers a whole lot of Dexter young nobody knows who Dexter young was he played at Clinton um yes we do yeah Dexter young Fred Brown played at Georgetown yeah he he was a six5 point

Guard before there was really true point guards running around all over the place um damn that’s a that’s good to top high school player you played against the top college player you played against and give me that Pro that you played against okay so Billy Ray Bates was a

Pro a pro that I played against in a harlem week basketball tournament he was the person who let me know that I wasn’t as good as I thought I was because he jumped in the air so high I didn’t realize that people could jump that high but the best player I ever played

Against was Michael Jordan and the g in 84 that was my best person that that goes there um for college I was the best player I ever played against probably was a guy named Quinton Daly he lit us up but I’m gonna go Xavier I’m gonna go

To Witchita State team because they put us all in the Box Xavier M okay Cliff Livingston and there was a third one in bugy that group right there we were winning the game at witchar and then for some reason they came out of halftime and they that the first time I felt like

A little kid playing against grown ass men wow that that was really a bad set for me and then enus Watley when I was in high school I played against him right before we got to high school in the youth games I had no idea that that

Was that people played that well and he taught me a lesson at that Jun show my life as well wow so how do you stay in shape these days Tom uh I don’t I stay round but you know I I watch my eating I’m I um eat a lot of

Junk food but I have one meal a day or or and little small portions to make sure I don’t overeat during that one portion me too me too yeah all the all us oats don’t eat heavy all day long because that’s right saw it’s okay to

Gain a little bit of weight but make sure that you keep it under wraps at our age a lot of water a lot of water and that’s what I don’t drink unfortunately but I do drink a lot of liquid I am a I’ll drink juice all day like I’m just I

Gota replace it with water Toma juice too much sugar my my downfall right there I’m with you and I do eat salads um good good green stuff so with all this knowledge that you g over the years my G are you passing any of this down to

Your children my both my sons got gained all the knowledge they my my oldest son is Left-Handed he played exactly like I did in his college Years at Dominican College he is one of the only kids who got a triple double at Dominican College wow he had a decent career there and my

Youngest son who Then followed him to Dominican College both on scholarships I got my greatest my greatest Glory I got a picture of both of them in the back court at the Two on Two Zone a picture with both of them in the front with their arms out playing defense at that

That’s I couldn’t have asked for a better script to my life if I died right now I could not have been more in in a better more cherished position to have played the sport you know got gone to a place coached my sons they learned what they

Could learn and then they went to college on scholarship and they both played game the right way my youngest son handles the ball I’m gonna use Kyrie just to get it over with he handles the ball similar to Kyrie he’s not as crafty and Shifty but he doesn’t lose the ball

He really left hand right hand is equal if I had his handle probably would have gotten further and my youngest son my oldest son being left-handed he was just that guy left-handed guy who just played the played the game well um so I have lived a storyed life when it came down

To that and I passed them the knowledge that I had they took it they gravitated they got what they wanted out of it and they both have jobs right now in this horrible environment with the pandemic going on and they both respect you know what they do they really they they’re

Good people they’re good you know human beings salute to you my brother good job man good job man I want to salute you on that so any any words for our players that’s listening now coaches former players you got any last words you want to say absolutely so all I’ll say to

Everybody on this podcast number one I appreciate you all coming on board and being a part of my life because this is the resume this is the story and I and I can always look back and say I was I made it to be respected in New York City

And the anals of what we all do and have people always say to I’mma Be on or I respect you and all of that stuff that’s the part that I will always hold and cherish and to my dying day I’ll always say to everybody thank you for letting

Me be who I was and I mean that sincerely now those who are around kids all the time I’ll say to you you have a responsibility I said it during the course of the podcast but to go back a little bit you have a responsibility to

Do your best to support those who don’t have the support that you know they need to not be what we grew up or potentially we’re GNA grow up to be it’s not that easy right now so if you’re in a position to help kids do so um us out of where

We grew up and these kids don’t have the same uh support staff support cast um that we possibly can give them because we probably didn’t have it either but we’re now in position that we can at least try to help them whether it’s a conversation whether it’s Financial

Whether it’s guidance no matter what it is just always give back because guess what someone should have done it for us or somebody did it for us and that’s that’s how I live my life I really do tremendously appreciate everybody for always giving me my big UPS because remember I always felt that

I didn’t deserve to get as much out of the sport that I got and I got enough out of this sport that I can look back and say I I was blessed well you you definitely legend in the city toone just keep doing what you’re doing brother and you gonna be

Around for a long time and my artist didn’t make it tonight but I’m quite sure he’s going to make your your drawing because you see yes he uh comes and draws but I think he maybe got caught up in traffic or whatever the case look but I’ll make sure I get that

To you brother but here’s the deal someone nominated you right now is your turn to nominate someone else tomorrow we got Jerry pow tomorrow trainer Jerry pow on tomorrow who do you want to nominate now since you on tone and bro knew you f minute you can nominate someone now and

Then call me three days later be like I got somebody else for you g so you just let me know when you ready can I think about who to nominate because I just yeah yeah you can think about it bro I just want to out there so

You know you can just hit me up anytime I might pull a tricky one on you and nominate somebody who’s passed and have 25 people come in and talk about that person and that’s a whole show into itself no doubt we can do that I’m look

Bro I’m open to it all and trust me I’m G bring us all together so we can sit down and have those conversations about those tournaments those teams and those classes you know are the best in New York City I look forward to being a part

Of it and I appreciate you inviting me because you could have said no you could have said pH you ain’t do that much but I appreciate you inviting me to be a a a host a a hosted person on your pod so I I genuinely thank you and I thank everybody tuned

In no doubt so tell we gonna be in contact man you stay keep doing you know God’s work man CA look let you know I’m one of those guys who’s the educator also have a mentor program and I coach so I when you talk about when you’re in

Kids presence try to make a difference I feel you on that brother definitely thank you the podcast thank you for joining in love y’all no doubt all right G take care brother all right peace Brother peace wow look at that history of New York City yeah

Let me see how we goingon to do this uh let me see yeah you can click out if you want I’m trying to figure it out you forgot about this new Fango thing little oh yeah it’s the it’s the X it’s the X on the side do just click it off all right

So instead of dropping the mic I’m pushing the X peace salute brother peace all right thank basketball Heads live Tony hardgrave let me just say this brother’s a class sack all my guys that I bring up here these dudes are ball players right we start off as student athletes I want thing you

Know about ball players most of us are cool people we love to get back and we love people people so by saying that thank you for joining us my name is Glenn P Harding you’ve been watching basketball heads the offishal home for New York City basketball peace y ready Ready