#TBT: 'Fennville Flash' Scores 60
March 12, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
"Jordan shoots. He scores."
This week marks the 50th anniversary of one of the most incredible feats in MHSAA basketball history. On March 11, 1965, Fennville's Richie Jordan scored 60 points in a Class C Regional Final against Bridgman, a point total that remains an MHSAA Tournament record.
The 5-foot-7 "Fennville Flash" became Michigan's first inductee into the National Federation of State High School Association's Hall of Fame in 2001. Below is a video compilation or Jordan clips, with audio from that Regional Final, followed by a report from MHSAA historian Ron Pesch written in 2001.
By Ron Pesch
MHSAA historian
Not long ago, I came across an article written by Hal Schram, the legendary prep journalist for the Detroit Free Press. It was penned during the winter of 1977, and Schram had decided to look back at the history of Michigan high school basketball and pick his top 20 high school players from the past quarter century.
“The Swami” had followed the high school circuit since the 1940s. Schram began with a larger list, paring the roster from 44 to 20. The sportswriter went one step further and decided to single out one member of the squad for the ultimate honor – “the greatest of them all.”
As one would expect, final selections included many of the state's most memorable names: Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Dave DeBusschere, Chet Walker, Spencer Haywood, Ralph Simpson, Rudy Tomjanovich, Campy Russell. Their exploits are legendary, and even the most casual fan of basketball could agree they belong on the list.
However, looking back from the millennium, Schram's choice for state's greatest player is stunning.
“The Swami” himself admitted at the time that his No. 1 pick would surprise many. Hal's top pick never played professionally in either the NBA or ABA. That can be overlooked, as the criteria was simple – the state's greatest prep player. But when I state that Schram's selection played ball at a Class C school, that his teams never advanced to the final rounds of the tournament, and that he stood a mere 5-7½ and weighed only 160 pounds in his prime, most basketball fans shake their heads in disbelief.
But those are only physical attributes. Ask Richie Jordan himself.
Schram's pick as the state's greatest high school ballplayer, Jordan will tell you that it doesn't matter what race, religion or how tall you are. He'll state that anything is possible with imagination and hard work.
Many may dispute Swami's selection, but few will debate Jordan's talents as an all- around athlete. A four-sport star at Fennville High School, he earned 16 letters during his prep career. He is considered by many to be the finest student-athlete ever turned out by the state of Michigan.
The family lived in Bangor when Jordan started school. On the playground one day, Richie wandered over to a high jump pit, where the older kids were practicing their leaps during recess. Much to his delight, he was offered the chance to jump by one of the older kids. The bar was lowered, and Jordan took his shot.
“I easily jumped over the bar and the older kids made comments on how easy I jumped. They kept moving the bar up until it was as high as my head. A crowd started to gather and I cleared the bar. The older kids made me feel real special.”
Before he entered the third grade, the Jordan family moved to Fennville, a small town in west Michigan.
“Fennville was a wonderful place to grow up, and I have the best of memories,” recalled Jordan. “We had a group of kids who played together and loved each other from the 3rd grade on.”
Like so many kids, he imagined himself duplicating the feats of his idols. Many have similar dreams, but few worked as hard as Richie to achieve them.
By the time he reached high school, Jordan had evolved into a stellar all-around athlete. His drive to excel worked around the clock. Through the years he accumulated new sports heroes and studied their movements in his mind.
“I was at the 1962 finals game where (Saginaw High School's) Ernie Thompson scored 42 points against Benton Harbor. I went home and worked on my double clutch for days after that. I loved all those guys and respected their talent,” said Jordan, “but I wanted to be better than all of them.”
His hard work paid off with stellar athletic performances. An all-state halfback in football in his junior year, Jordan averaged a whopping 35.6 points in 16 basketball contests and was a unanimous first-team all-state selection at guard in the winter of 1963. In the spring he excelled on the baseball diamond and in track and field.
Jordan continued his rigid regime of weightlifting and working out. Word of his athletic exploits trickled out of Fennville.
In the fall of 1964 he rushed for 1,246 yards on 86 carries, and tallied 25 touchdowns, to cap an outstanding gridiron career. His total of 5,132 career rushing yards was tops in the state at that time, and the mark still ranks in the top 10.
Again, he reaped all-state accolades. But the basketball court was where the Jordan legend was defined.
His vertical jump was phenomenal, and he could dunk with both hands. Scouts reported that he was lightning fast and excellently coordinated. Early in 1965, the Kalamazoo Gazette sent a photographer to Fennville to snap photos of Jordan for a feature article on the Black Hawks' upcoming cage contest in Kalamazoo against Hackett High School. Fennville entered the game with a 3-1 mark, the only mar a 95-93 loss to Saugatuck in which Jordan scored 54 points.
The newspaper printed a shot of Richie dunking the basketball, and the image caught the imagination of many. An overflow crowd packed the 2,200-seat Irish Gymnasium to watch the matchup. Jordan and his teammates trounced the favored Irish 99-73, as Richie scorched the nets for 47 points. In April of his senior year he was named prep All-American by Coach & Athlete magazine, earning the distinction of “smallest” on the squad. “Weep not for him, however,” stated the article, announcing the honor, “as he can dunk the ball, and with his 44.4 season's scoring average, he has scholarship offers from 58 colleges and universities.”
Richie finished out his unbelievable prep career by batting .550 on the baseball field, and by leading his track team to a third-place finish at the state meet.
On May 20, 1965, the city of Fennville honored the prep hero and his teammates for their outstanding athletic careers and their contribution to the community. Jordan spent two years with the Michigan State basketball program, earning a letter in 1967, then walked away from basketball to concentrate on baseball with the Spartans. Following graduation, he landed a contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but a shoulder injury ended his pursuit of a major league career.
Today, the “Fennville Flash” is known as “Mr. Jordan” by his students at Cardinal Mooney High School in Sarasota, Fla. A strength and conditioning coach, daily he preaches the merits of weight training and the benefits of hard work to his students.
Married and the father of three, he has enjoyed coaching and watching his children participate and excel in athletics. He cherishes the memories of his youth and the friends he made along the way.
“All my teammates and I felt very special,” said Jordan, now 53, “but we also were very humbled by the admiration we were shown. We all felt an obligation to our community to conduct ourselves in a way that would reflect kindly on our small town. I'm still very proud that we all understand that.”
Niles Boys Hoops Able to Lay Low - for Now - but Climbing Toward Contention
By
Scott Hassinger
Special for MHSAA.com
February 27, 2024
NILES – Niles isn’t a school you will hear mentioned in conversations about the best boys basketball teams in Michigan.
But Niles head coach Myles Busby, his coaching staff and players prefer living in obscurity on the hardwood. Being an unknown could prove beneficial for Niles at this week's Division 2 District Tournament at Edwardsburg.
Niles is in arguably one of the state's toughest Districts with top-seeded and statewide No. 2-ranked Benton Harbor (20-1) sitting on the other side of the bracket. The Tigers and Vikings are on a collision course to meet in Friday's Final.
The Vikings are fresh off of winning their first Wolverine Conference title since joining the league with the 2021-22 school year. Busby was a sophomore in 2010 the last time Niles (13-1 Wolverine Conference, 17-5 overall) won a league title in the sport, as part of the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference.
Two of the Vikings' five losses this winter came to Lakeland Conference co-champs Benton Harbor (47-45) and Niles Brandywine (56-43). Niles' other three losses came to South Bend Clay, Ind. (64-57) and Lansing Everett (53-40). The Everett game was part of the Love and Basketball Showcase hosted by Kalamazoo Loy Norrix on Feb. 3.
Second-place Otsego (60-49) handed Niles its only conference defeat Feb. 2, avenging an earlier-season loss on the Vikings' home floor (62-52).
Busby said his team's 49-41 win over Chicago North Lawndale Charter (Ill.) – on Dec. 16 in the Tri-State Holiday Classic at Southwestern Michigan College in Dowagiac – helped serve as a momentum builder for the remainder of the season.
Following a nine-game winning streak, Niles suffered back-to-back losses to Otsego and Everett before winning four out of its last five contests.
"In between these walls (our school gym) and when we're on the floor, we know how good we can be. We have the best coaching staff in the area. We know our guys put in a lot of work,” Busby said. “For us, it's just challenging our team to work incredibly hard every single day because that's not common and we don't want to be common. You must do the things other teams aren't doing.
"We have several new pieces this year with a lot of young guys. Now we have to focus on hitting our stride at the right time. Those two straight losses helped us get refocused. We don't care about what everyone else thinks about us. No one talks about Niles in the preseason rankings, and that's fine. We try to use that as fuel and strive for more."
Niles is led by senior point guard and three-year varsity letter winner Mike Phillips Jr. Phillips averages 20 points, three assists and four rebounds per game.
"We just try and take things one step at a time. Our goals after winning conference are to win Districts and make a long run in the postseason," Phillips said. "Our seniors strive to lift everyone up. We just need to pick one another up every day when someone gets down on themself. This team is viewed as the underdog by a lot of people. We use that as our motivation. It's important to focus on the mental part of the game each day."
Phillips, who has received interest from college programs at various levels, is shooting 50 percent from the floor, including 43 percent from behind the 3-point arc.
"Every one of our seniors and other players on the team have really bought into fulfilling their individual roles. It helps when you have one of the best players in the area like Mike," Busby said.
Sophomore Brayden Favors, son of varsity assistant head coach Desmond Favors, handles the other guard spot.
"Brayden has a ton of potential. He's not even close to growing into the player he'll be two years from now as a senior,” Busby said. “He really worked hard on his shooting last summer. This summer we will work on building up his strength. He's a well-rounded player who likes to defend.”
Brayden Favors, who lettered on the varsity as a freshman, averages 12.5 points, three assists and four rebounds per game and is shooting 52 percent from the field.
Senior forward Ethan Chambliss is averaging a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, along with two blocked shots. He is shooting 64 percent from the floor for the Vikings.
"Ethan is a great kid who does well academically. On the court, he has a big heart and takes a beating every night. He's not the biggest guy on the floor, but does all the dirty stuff inside for us," Busby noted.
Sophomore wing Brenden Olsen is another key player. He averages nine points and five boards and is shooting 54 percent from the floor. Busby noted that sophomore Acie Kirtdoll is the future point guard and leader, and senior forward Darris Johnson, III, along with 6-foot-7 freshman post player Donovyn Williams also play vital roles. The final senior on Niles' roster is wing Logan Olsen, who Busby noted for his hustle plays.
"The best kind of teams are led by their players and not the coaches. This is a player-led team, but you have to demand excellence,” Busby said. “This group has done a great job of rallying around one another when someone isn't playing very well and has instilled confidence in each other."
Busby and Desmond Favors both come from families with strong basketball traditions.
Myles' father Mike Busby, also one of the Vikings' current assistant coaches, and his uncle Gerald Busby played on Buchanan's Class C championship team in 1976. Gerald Busby would lead the Bucks to another title two years later as a senior in 1978. James Busby, another uncle, played on Buchanan's 1985 District title squad.
After Niles won its District in Myles Busby's senior season, 2011-12, the Vikings experienced an 11-year drought before capturing the 2023 District crown. That run included an upset of Benton Harbor in the District Semifinal, 65-61.
Grand Rapids South Christian, the eventual Division 2 runner-up, then defeated Niles 72-33 in a Regional Semifinal at Vicksburg.
"When I was in school, we always had to beat Kalamazoo Central to get out of Districts. They always beat us and were usually ranked No. 1 in the state coming into the tournament. It took us four years to finally win a District beating Kalamazoo Central, Mattawan and Kalamazoo Loy Norrix," Myles Busby recalled.
After graduating from Niles, Myles played two years at Mott Community College under Hall of Fame coach Steve Schmidt before transferring to Urbana University, a Division II school in Ohio. He finished his college career at Chadron State College in Nebraska.
Busby returned to his roots serving as a varsity assistant for Niles during the 2019-20 season. He became interim head coach late in the 2020-21 campaign before being awarded the position permanently before the following winter.
"Taking over the program was a tough decision. I had never intended on coming back to Niles, but I wanted to help revive the program and keep the improvement trend going upward," Busby said. "There's no secret recipe after you put your coaching staff together. Once you get kids in your program who are good leaders with great character, you just have to keep working hard each day. It's those traits that we feel are a big key so far to our success. It's not always about how much talent you have."
Busby believes things started heading in a positive direction after his 2022-23 ballclub began the season 2-4. The Vikings were then 6-9 into the beginning of February but finished 15-11.
"At that point, I think we won nine out of our last 10 games and managed to find our rhythm in time to win our District," Myles Busby said.
Niles has enjoyed past success, including reaching the 2000 Class B Semifinals before losing to Orchard Lake St. Mary's. Current Niles athletic director Matt Brawley was a standout senior post player on that Vikings' squad.
Desmond Favors came to Niles from Detroit his sophomore year of high school and began playing for the Vikings his junior year, 2000-01.
"We won Districts my junior year and lost to Grand Rapids South Christian in the state Quarterfinals my senior season," said Favors, who also played collegiately for Lake Michigan College, Northwood University and Indiana University-South Bend – at IUSB for current Notre Dame head coach Micah Schrewsberry.
Favors was an assistant for the Vikings during Busby’s senior season. "I've known Myles for over 20 years, and we're just very familiar with one another. We're always bouncing ideas around and talking basketball," Favors said.
He enjoys being a part of the coaching staff especially with his son Brayden moving through the program now.
"Initially Brayden was a baseball player. He started working on his game the summer between his eighth and ninth grade year. As a freshman he got put up on varsity and did pretty well,” Desmond Favors said. “He spent a lot of time this past offseason working on ballhandling and making plays. For me, it’s fun watching him.”
Scott Hassinger is a contributing sportswriter for Leader Publications and previously served as the sports editor for the Three Rivers Commercial-News from 1994-2022. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph and Branch counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Niles senior forward Ethan Chambliss (23) scores inside against Three Rivers. (2) Niles players and coaches hold up the 2024 Wolverine Conference championship banner after defeating Plainwell last week. (3) From left: Niles assistant boys basketball coach Desmond Favors, Brayden Favors, Mike Phillips Jr., and head coach Myles Busby. (4) Phillips Jr. attempts a 3-pointer this season. (Top photo coach/player photo by Scott Hassinger; banner photo courtesy of the Niles athletic department. Phillips action shot by Jeff Douglas/Leader Publications.)