By Jim Raykie
Fri, May 16 2008
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In his death, he loomed larger than life. Such was the case with Farrell athletic legend Julius McCoy.
Julius, the most revered and beloved athlete produced in the history of Farrell High School, died April 4 in his Harrisburg home at 76 after a wonderful life that included exemplary athletic achievement at the high school and college levels and a history of caring and respecting people around him.
To realize just how much Julius shared the national stage and the magnitude of his reputation, all one had to do was an Internet search in the days after his death. From East Lansing, where he starred at Michigan State, to Cheraw, S.C., a small town where he was born, writers and colleagues shared their memories of the man called “Hooks.”
I was talking with Dr. Brian Generalovich a few days after Julius died. We reminisced a short while about the 1950s era of Farrell basketball that Julius jump-started during his three seasons that spanned from 1949 to 1952, in which he scored 1,471 points.
During our discussion, I realized how much Julius meant to folks who had the opportunity to watch him play. I was born in August 1952, months after Julius had played his last game at Farrell in leading the Steelers to their first state championship.
But as a child (my first memory of Farrell basketball was seeing the 1960 team that featured Generalovich, Willie Somerset and Lou Mastrian) I grew up hearing about Julius and his brother Jimmy.
Back in the day, Steeler basketball was such an important part of family life in Farrell that it was always a topic of intense discussion from the dinner table to other family get-togethers. Central to those discussions, in addition to the status of the current team’s success, were comparisons and memories of Julius, the standard for all others wearing blue and gold.
While I never had the opportunity to watch him play, except for later in charity events, I felt like I had. Imagine growing up idolizing someone that you had never met, let alone never having had a chance to watch play. Such was the mystique and lasting influence that Julius had on so many of us.
Although he spent four years at Michigan State, and relocated to the Harrisburg area and had a great career with the Eastern Basketball League, the forerunner of the Continental Basketball Association, Julius never forgot Farrell or the people who adored him.
Until recent years, when his health was beginning to fail, he was a regular at a handful of Farrell home games every year with his good friend, the late Hugo Washington, especially during the Ed McCluskey era.
When he walked in the back door of E.J. McCluskey Gymnasium — it didn’t matter if it was 1966 or 40 years later in 2006 — Julius was in the house he loved, and he was greeted with well-earned respect and reverence, as always.
While Julius will be best remembered for his feats on the hardwood at Farrell, Michigan State and other venues, he excelled in football and track as well. Not only was he Farrell’s most revered basketball player, he was arguably the best athlete in the history of the school.
But whether it was Generalovich or other colleagues quoted at length in local stories as well as in other publications, they paid homage to Julius as a person, not only the athlete. Comments echoed sentiments of how much respect he had for others, how he always had time for others (especially the youth), and his loyalty to family, friends and the Farrell and East Lansing communities.
Jack Marin, who graduated in 1962, had a wonderful basketball career at Farrell, and at Duke University, where he was an All-American. He was a first-round draft choice of the Baltimore Bullets of the NBA, and had a solid 11-year pro career during which he scored more than 12,000 points and was a two-time All-Star. Considering his illustrious NBA career, Marin ranks as Farrell’s most successful athlete beyond his high school days.
But Jack, a Farrell kid at heart who cherishes his roots despite not living in the city since he was 18 years old, was one of the first in line to salute Julius and the path he blazed, calling him without a doubt Farrell’s “Most Valuable Player” in history.
Through the years, I got the chance to meet Julius many times. His strong hands and long fingers, one of the physical attributes that enabled his magic with a basketball, provided a handshake that you never forgot. Always filled with class and friendliness, Julius was one of the finest people whom I have met.
A memorial service is planned for Saturday, May 17, beneath the record seven state championship banners that grace E.J. McCluskey Gymnasium. The first of them, which led to all the others, will have special meaning that day.
Lifelong friend and Wheatland funeral director Wilbert Shannon is coordinating the service, which is expected to attract many former players and area fans wanting to pay homage to “The Legend.”
“The McCoy family realizes its importance and wants a memorial service in Farrell,” Shannon said. “We need to have it, we need closure. And we need to have it in the gym. All the hard work, all the sweat, it was there. That was where it all started for Julius.”
Quite appropriately, at least for Farrell folks and others wanting to pay one last tribute to the man they cherished for more than a half a century, that’s where it will end.
Jim Raykie is the editor of The Herald and writes this column on Mondays. His e-mail is jraykie@sharonherald.com
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Jim Raykie