Graduating 10 years apart from Scott High School, Donald Collins and Melvin Newbern were nevertheless linked forever as part of the Bulldogs' City League basketball dynasty from the mid 1970s through the mid-1980s under coach Ben Williams.
On Saturday, the former prep, college, and NBA players will be connected once more as two of the nine area athletes honored by the African American Legacy Project of Northwest Ohio's Sports Legends Hall of Fame.
The induction ceremony is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Jerusalem Baptist Church, 445 Dorr Street.
The other inductees are former DeVilbiss, University of Kentucky, and NFL football player Jerry Blanton; Macomber, Michigan State, and NFL football player Myron Bell; Scott and University of Toledo football player Al Baker; Rogers football, basketball, and track athlete Che Snelling; Central Catholic football and basketball player Robert Clark, who later became a golf professional; Scott and Kentucky State track standout Theresa Early; and Whitmer, Wisconsin, and NBA basketball player Nigel Hayes-Davis.
Collins, 65, was one of the key players in what is considered the greatest era in City League basketball history, starring for Scott along with Truman Claytor as a junior in 1974-75, and then leading the Bulldogs to Class AAA state semifinal appearance that capped a 23-1 season in 1975-76.
“It means a lot to me, but more for my [six] grandkids to see some of my accomplishments acknowledged,” Collins said. “They've heard about it, and seen some of it on YouTube, but this will give them a chance to be a part of it.”
At the conclusion of his four-year college career at Washington State University, the 6-foot-6 guard-forward averaged a conference-best 23.1 points per game as a senior and was named Pac-10 player of the year, which led to his becoming a first-round NBA draft choice. Collins led the Cougars to a 22-6 overall record in 1979-80 and to the program's first NCAA tournament appearance since 1941.
“It was a fantastic era,” Collins said of the mid-1970s City League. “I tell people all the time that if UT would have recruited our hometown guys, UT could've been like Duke.
“Seriously, I mean you've got Truman Claytor, Terry Crosby, myself, Kelvin Ransey, Kim Leonard, Kenny Cunningham, and [Marty] Schroeder at Clay [all in 1974-75]. If we were recruited and all stayed home, we could've been like Duke. For real.”
Collins was selected by the Atlanta Hawks as the No. 18 overall pick in the 1980 draft, and played six seasons in the NBA for Atlanta, Washington, Golden State, and Milwaukee.
“To be honest, I never had aspirations to play in the NBA,” Collins said. “I wanted to go to school and play on TV so my family could see me play in college. It was a blessing. I still couldn't believe it after I was drafted.”
After he contract was not renewed, his NBA career ended, and Collins continued playing basketball in the Continental Basketball Association, where he won two playoff championships with Tampa Bay, and twice scored 63 points in a game. He later played 12 years in France and Switzerland.
Newbern, 57, followed in the basketball footsteps of older brother Marcus Newbern, a former teammate of Collins, and a first team All-Ohio player (23.3 points per game) who had led Scott to a AAA state semifinal appearance in 1978.
“He was bringing me along and giving me valuable information on what he went through when he played,” Melvin said of Marcus. “As well as my other siblings, Marcus was very valuable in me being successful.”
A four-year starter for the Bulldogs, Melvin, a 6-4 guard, teamed as a sophomore with then junior guard Chris Poellnitz to lead Scott to a AAA state semifinal berth in 1984.
Newbern and Poellnitz got Scott back to a regional final in 1985, and Newbern led the Bulldogs to the regional semis in 1986 as a senior, when he averaged 27.5 points per game, and was named Ohio's AAA state player of the year.
“First and foremost, I want to thank everybody who nominated me for this award,” said Newbern, who resides in Minneapolis. “It's a very prestigious award and I'm just happy to be a part of it. It's a great honor.”
In 1984, playing before a then Ohio prep regular-season record crowd of 9,058 at UT's Centennial Hall, Newbern (20 points) and Poellnitz (18) and the Bulldogs ended the 40-game winning streak of top-ranked defending AAA state champion St. Francis de Sales and its star, Todd Mitchell, in a decisive 71-53 CL championship game victory.
Scott (22-4) would later edge the Knights again in a district final at UT, and continued on the the state final four.
“Those were some great games, and I had the opportunity to play against some great players in the City League,” Newbern said. “When I was a freshman playing against Dennis Hopson, and against Todd Mitchell, Shawn Reid, Roy Ware, and those guys from St. Francis who won the state in 1983.
Newbern moved on to a three-year career (1,224 career points) at the University of Minnesota, where he helped the Golden Gophers make a surprise run to the Elite Eight of the 1990 NCAA tournament and a narrow 93-91 loss to Georgia Tech in the national quarterfinals.
“The Big Ten was tough that year,” Newbern said. “A lot of those guys ended up playing pro basketball. Making it as far as we did, and losing to Georgia Tech was bittersweet. I thought we had a chance. We were playing really well at the time.”
Undrafted by the NBA, Newbern played in the CBA before earning a spot on the roster of the Detroit Pistons in 1992-93. He played 33 games for the Pistons in his one and only NBA season.
Newbern finished his pro career in Italy.
“It was a dream come true,” Newbern said of reaching the NBA. “It was great for me in the sense that I was just down the road from where I grew up, and where it all started.”
JERRY BLANTON: After starring at linebacker and fullback at DeVilbiss High School (1974 graduate), Blanton started on the defensive line at Kentucky for four years, totaling 387 tackles, seventh all-time for the Wildcats. He was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the 11th round of the 1978 NFL draft, was cut, but joined the roster of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Blanton played special teams at first, then became a starting linebacker in 1980. He had 136 tackles in 1983, and once had 45 in a three-game run, including 17 in a Monday Night Football matchup against San Diego.
After retiring from the NFL in 1986, Blanton became a criminal investigator with the Jackson County (Ky.) Prosecuting Attorney's Office, and later worked for Anheuser Busch, and Kentucky State Parks.
MYRON BELL: A 1989 graduate of Macomber High School, Bell earned first team All-Ohio honors on defense, and also was teammates with Ohio's two-time Mr. Basketball, Jim Jackson, on Macomber's 1989 Division I state championship basketball squad.
Bell played football at Michigan State University, starting at defensive back from 1991-93. In 1994, he was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fifth round of the NFL draft, and played there through 1997. He played for the Cincinnati Bengals in 1998-99, and closed his career back with the Steelers in 2000-01.
Currently, Bell works for the Charlotte-Mecklenberg (N.C.) School system with at-risk students, and helps coach youth sports.
AL BAKER: After starring in football at Scott High School, Baker joined the program at the University of Toledo and was a key member of the Rockets' perfect 35-0 run from 1969-71. A tight end, Baker earned second team All-Mid-American Conference honors as a sophomore and junior, and first team All-MAC as a senior.
After earning his Bachelor of Science degree at UT, Baker passed on opportunities to play in the NFL, and entered the business world. He worked for Toledo's former DeVilbiss Company, then went to Owens-Illinois, Inc., retiring as a vice president in 2006. He is a past chairman of UT's Board of Trustees.
CHE SNELLING: A versatile, all-around athlete at Rogers High School in the early 1990s, Snelling excelled as a City League champion pole vaulter as well as a member of the Rams' CL champion 400 and 1,600 relay teams.
He also played tailback and quarterback for the Rogers football team, and was the second leading scorer as a point guard on the Rams' basketball team. A graduate of Kentucky State University, Snelling is an assistant girls track coach at Southview, and an assistant football coach at St. John's Jesuit.
ROBERT CLARK: After earning All-City recognition in football and basketball at Central Catholic High School in the mid 1950s, Clark attended Ohio's Central State University. He started out as a teacher at Lincoln Elementary before becoming a sales rep from the Atlantic & Pacific (A&P) Tea Company.
Clark's passion became the sport of golf and, in 1993, he became an apprentice with the Professional Golfers Association, and two years later was a Class A PGA professional, playing in the Florida Senior Mini Tour for several years.
In 2011, Clark was hired as swing coach for the men's and women's golf teams at Alabama State University.
THERESA EARLY: A runner on the Scott High School girls track teams of the mid 1980s, Early holds the school record at 800 meters, and ran on the Bulldogs' 400, 800, and 1,600 relay teams. She all ran cross country at Scott.
Early continued her track career at Kentucky State University, where she became a team captain.
After earning her degree, Early has served as area manager for the United Way of Southeastern Michigan, and division director for Matrix Human Services from 2008-13. She moved to Washington D.C., where she is currently a policy analyst for the District of Columbia's Department of Human Services Office of Policy and Program Support.
NIGEL HAYES-DAVIS: As a four-year starter on the Whitmer basketball team, Hayes-Davis became one of the most accomplished players in school history. He led the Panthers to a City League championship as a sophomore in 2011, and to a Three Rivers Athletic Conference title and a Division I state runner-up finish as a junior in 2012. He earned second team D-I All-Ohio honors in 2011 and 2012, and was named to the All-Ohio first team in 2013.
Hayes-Davis had an accomplished career at the University of Wisconsin, and earned his Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 2017.
He helped the Badgers reach the final four of the NCAA tournament as a freshman in 2014, and to a national runner-up finish the following year with a 68-63 title-game loss to Duke.
An NBA draft choice of the New York Knicks in 2017, Hayes-Davis started out in the NBA G League, and was named to the All-Rookie team in 2018. The following season, he had brief NBA stints with the Los Angeles Lakers, the Toronto Raptors, and the Sacramento Kings. Since 2019, he has played in the Euro League for three teams.
First Published June 14, 2024, 10:45 p.m.
