A Nostalgic Story of Youth and Basketball

Following a 40-year career in software and technology, Tom McKeown decided to take his passion for storytelling to print and chronicle a meaningful memory from childhood in “This Is Panther Country.”

When most people reflect back on the 1970s, what typically comes to mind is Watergate, disco and maybe the Cold War. However, as a teenager growing up on Long Island, New York, my mind goes immediately to basketball. I played it in high school and watched it at every level from college up to the professional ranks. In New York at the time, we had Walt Frazier and the Knicks as well as Julius Erving (Dr. J) and the Nets. But the story I chose to write a book about was that of my very own high school and our fantastic Babylon Panthers of 1974-75.

Unlike other states, New York never had an open high school state basketball championship where every team at every size competed for one title. Most of the public schools at that time were divided into 11 sections under the New York Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHAA). The highest championship any team under this system could achieve back then was to be a section champion which in a few instances encompassed entire counties. Such was the case with the two counties on Long Island, Nassau and Suffolk. Those sectional competitions did comprise all schools within for their respective counties regardless of size.

However, for the 1974-75 season, the NYSPHAA decided to let each section champion play one additional game beyond their own tournaments. Thus, with Long Island consisting of two sections, or counties, it was decided that these two would square off for the first Long Island Championship. The game would be played in the newly built Nassau Coliseum which was at the time home to the American Basketball Association (ABA) champion New York Nets.

Being that it was closer to New York City, Nassau was always thought to have superior basketball, while Suffolk was considered more agrarian at the time and thus looked down upon in regards to its prowess. The fact that Suffolk would finally get a chance to play Nassau in such a championship pleased many of its coaches and county basketball hierarchy, but it did not initially turn out the way many had hoped.

It was assumed when the season started that one of the large, perennial powers such as Brentwood or Sachem would eventually represent Suffolk and give them a fighting chance against whichever powerhouse team came out of Nassau County. Few imagined one of the small school teams would put together a Cinderella run and enter Dr. J’s house as the first-ever Suffolk County representative to the championship game.

Enter Babylon High School with its average-sized graduating class standing at about 150 students. This put Babylon in the bottom 20% in size for Suffolk County. Their basketball team had never even won a playoff game prior to that season. In the words of one of Babylon’s most famous residents, Rodney Dangerfield, “We got no respect.” And, by midseason things were looking somewhat dismal: Babylon sat in third place in League V, which was one of the eight such leagues in Suffolk County. It’s what happened from that point onward that became the stuff of legend.

My book, “This Is Panther Country,” chronicles that miracle season, which includes a triple over-time playoff game and culminates in a momentous championship game where the result was anything other than what people had expected. The story is told in the first person of a 13-year-old junior high school student looking up to his heroes on the varsity team and their visionary coach.

The book also delves into the challenges of growing up during that time period as seen through the author’s eyes. There was the angst of teenage society, the challenges of race, and the bonding of a community around a team that embodied much of their hopes and dreams. The story will send any reader back in time to similar hopes, challenges, and innocence of their own youth while likely have them recollect on a similar story in their life.

I hope readers will enjoy the book as much I as I did writing it.

“This Is Panther Country: A Memoir of Youth, Underdog Spirit, and Basketball Glory” by Tom McKeown

• Order directly and get more information on the book, author, and other ordering options at TomMcKeownBooks.com.
• Order from Amazon.com or BarnesAndNoble.com

As an Amazon Associate, Boomer Magazine earns from qualifying purchases of linked books and other products.