Matt Steinmetz

East Coast meet West Coast …

I’d like to introduce you to James Dailey, a player I met out here in the Bay Area that I only wish could have played with and against Roz, Bobby Ford, Jeremiah Williams, Mike and Dave DeCusatis, Curt Conrad, Dave Stafford, Alfie Rossignoli, Doug Blessing, Eric Key, Gary Minngia, Roger Yoh, and, what the hell … Al Sobotor and even John Stott. All you all.

You would have liked and respected James’ game. By the way, J.D. is still alive, and very much doing well here in Oakland CA. Just wanted to clarify because when I wrote about Bobby Hollinger the other day Dennis Westley thought Bobby died.

J.D. is a guy I met out here in Oakland, late 1990s, which put me in my mid-30s at the time. I was still playing pickup basketball back then but J.D. had no idea when I first met him. James is 6-foot-5, was about 30 years old at the time, and was still in pretty good shape.

We found out we had basketball in common, and because I’d just moved to Oakland from San Francisco, I was looking for pickup games. Big James smirked when I told him I was looking to play, but he invited me to Club One in downtown Oakland. My guy didn’t think I could play, plain and simple.

That began a terrific relationship between J.D. and I, both on the court and off. The power forward and the point guard both knew how to play, is how I’ll put it. We won a lot of games at Club One.

You Back-Easters would have really liked and respected the hell out of J.D’s game. J.D. was legit … grew up here in the Oakland/East Bay area and played against all the big boys out here before high school, during high school, in 

college and after. Yeah … that means Gary Payton, Jason Kidd, though JK was younger, the legendary Hook Mitchell, Antonio Davis, Greg Foster, Brian Shaw, J.R. Rider … that group. Pretty good, huh?

J.D. started out at Laramie Community College in Wyoming, then finished his college career at Division I St. Mary’s, where he led the team in scoring as a senior. J.D never shot the 3-ball in college, but the second he left school, he began stretching his game.

In his prime, J.D. could do it all. He could post you up, he could step out and make 3-pointers, and when the situation called for it he could tenaciously defend on the interior. Oh, man would he and Steve Rossignoli have had some battles … I’m telling you!

Here’s to James Dailey, a player with Oakland pedigree and a Division I game!

I don’t know which was prettier: Paul Harter or his jump shot.

Who was Paul Harter? Well, let me tell you two things about Paul Harter: there’s what I remember about him as a player/persona and what I remember about him as someone I’ve talked about and thought about for almost 40 years.

First off, Paul Harter was a hell of a player. He was a 6-foot-3 shooting guard who could get stuff off the dribble or catch-and-shoot … kind of whatever he wanted. He was one of the greatest perimeter shooters Reading/Berks has ever seen, and any mythical 3-point shooting contest among the greatest shooters in that area must include him.

And, yes, I know, there wasn’t a 3-point shot when Paul Harter played. That’s my point. He had that kind of range. He was like a white Ray Allen … at least that’s the way I remember him from back then in the mid- to late 1970s at Wyomissing High School.

And here’s the other thing about Paul Harter: He was good-looking, I mean, really good looking, and the kind of guy who everyone knew was good looking. You know how they say … “every cheerleader on the squad would have a crush on Paul?” It was more than that. Let me tell you who had a crush on Paul Harter. Every cheerleader in Paul’s class at Wyomissing; any cheerleader who wasn’t in Paul’s class at Wyomissing but was older or younger; every cheerleader at every high school in the county where Paul played; every cheerleader whose team ever played against Wyomissing and Paul Harter; every mom who ever came to the game, and hell, any gal who ever held a pom-pom.

All right, enough about that. But, damn, I e-mailed my mom about a detail or two about Paul Harter and she replied: “He was gorgeous.”

He was also really good at hoops. Paul Harter received a full ride to La Salle University, where he received a free education and played four seasons. He is, was and always will be someone who received a Division I basketball scholarship. And that makes you legit in any league. So what if he didn’t get a ton of playing time?

It’s a question that countless players ask themselves: Would you rather play at a Division II or III school or sit on the bench at a Division I school? I would have gone the Paul Harter route. But I never got a scholarship … and I never had Paul Harter’s looks, either!

Here’s to Paul Harter! Make a list of all the Berks/Reading players who were Division I, and it’s a small, small percentage of athletes. Paul Harter: Division I.

Reading High point guard Alan Tyson was “my guy.” He was the player who meant everything to me. It was all or bust … Alan Tyson or nothing. When I say “my guy,” I don’t mean we were friends or I admired him or we were tight or anything like that.

I just had to beat him. Just had to or nothing else really meant anything … basketball-wise. Alan Tyson was so tough, so strong, so quick. He was chiseled, could hound on defense and was able to knock down mid-range and/or get by you.

Alan Tyson did something to me that we didn’t have a description for at the time. At least as far as I can remember. Alan Tyson “big-boyed” me. The problem I had with Alan was that he didn’t need to get to the basket to beat me. He could “stop and gather” with me on his side and it then was over. He was just too strong.

I hung tough with Alan, I really did, but when it all mattered most, and it was the biggest game of our lives up until that point … Alan Tyson SHUT ME DOWN. Can remember the details like it was yesterday: Full-house at Governor Mifflin Intermediate; Reading High 55, Holy Name 40. Steinmetz: 2-for-11 from the field.

It was the Berks County semifinal, but everyone knew it was really the Final. I love you, Ted Snyder, at Kutztown, but the winner of our game was beating you guys and you know it! Kutztown had beaten Brandywine or Fleetwood, I can’t even remember, but they were in the other division.

RHS had so many terrific point guards and Alan was one of them. Tony Bonnano, Pete Wawrzonek, Cliff Durham, Tony Jankans, Rick Binder to name some. My senior year we went into Geigle Complex (for my west coast friends … one of the greatest high school gyms in the country) and beat Reading. Alan had a stretch where he took over, though, and Terry Bickhart of the Reading Eagle wrote:

“Tyson went on a drive that would have made Mario Andretti envious.” And I remember the drive like it was yesterday because I was there, looking at the back of Tyson’s jersey. It’s now 40 years later and I still think the same thing today as I thought after my senior season: Alan Tyson should have been Player of the Year in Berks County in 1981-82. He was the best player on the best team. Case closed.

Here’s to Alan Tyson … a truly respected rival.