The Greatest: 1982-1983 Walker College Basketball Team

Robert Epps at Glen Clem Gymnasium

Words by Justin Hunter and Al Blanton

Image by Ryan McGill

The images are fading now. Tucked into old yearbooks that end up at thrift stores or in the back rooms of libraries, the black-and-white photographs of the greatest team to ever play junior college basketball in this area seem to be dissolving as the years march on. You have to hunt for them, but when you find them, you’ll behold a motley assemblage of sixteen men—clad in basketball uniforms, managers outfits, and sport coats and ties—posing for the team picture. Below them are the letters “W” and “C”, bisected by the midcourt line that once separated the men from the boys, the timid from the brave. Gazing at the picture, one might imagine what it was like to play for that team, so many years ago, to slog and claw in the parquet trenches under a general named Clem.

Though it’s hard to believe, it’s been nearly 40 years since the 1982-1983 Walker College Rebels graced the hardwood at the 39th Annual National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Basketball Tournament. Held in the Hutchinson Sports Arena in Hutchinson, Kansas, the tournament was the crème de la crème of junior college basketball, one for which 545 teams across the country vied each year.

And for Glen R. Clem, it was Valhalla.

Make no mistake, the tournament surprise that season was Clem’s team from rural Alabama. Ranked tenth in the nation, the Walker College Rebels marched into Hutchinson as Region champions with a 27-2 record.

Under the tutelage of Clem and his able assistant, Dan Bell, the Rebels were paced by All-American forward Sam Ervin, who averaged 20 points per game and served as the offensive catalyst. But Ervin wasn’t the lone star of the show; the roster was chock-full of talent. Rounding out the backcourt was Floyd Calhoun, Charles Nash, Rod Carlton, Bruce Morris, Eddie Bullock, and Greg Jones. The frontcourt included Mark Atkinson, Jeff Guthrie, Robert Epps, Anthony Eubanks, and Jerry Johnson.

(L-R) Epps, Ervin, Guthrie, and Calhoun

The players hailed from places like Brownsburg, Indiana; Warsaw, Kentucky, and Chicago, Illinois—firm evidence that the tentacles of Clem’s recruiting had stretched to a national level. Guthrie, Atkinson, and Epps all stood over 6 feet 6 inches tall, providing a towering presence in the paint, while the guards were quick, scrappy, and content to eat you alive.

Because of Clem, the Rebels were disciplined in every phase of college life—from the gym floor to the classroom to the threads they wore on their bodies. The boys were often outfitted for away games with sportscoats and plaid trousers from the local haberdashery, Bernard’s Store for Men. Even the plays were meticulously crafted: employing a traditional set-style offense, the Rebels brought the ball down the court and executed well-scripted productions architected by none other than Clem.

That year, as in every year of this golden era of Walker College basketball, home games were must-see events. Night after night, fans packed the boxy gymnasium to see the spectacle: the cheerleaders, the Rebelettes, and, yes, the Rebels as they rolled through Region 22 like an 18-wheeler on a downhill slope. By the end of the season, the accolades were many: Morris, Epps, Atkinson, and Ervin made All-Region while Ervin and Atkinson took MVP honors.

But not everyone believed the team was a force to be reckoned with. Epps, who played power forward for the Rebels that year, recalls an early incident in the national tournament when the team set foot on the floor. "As we came walking out on the court to start the first game of the tournament, the center from eighth-ranked Vincennes University said to me, 'We are about to deal with these country bumpkins,'" said Epps, who later served as the head coach at Bevill State Community College and Jasper High School.

The Rebels promptly disposed of Vincennes by 16 points before crushing fourth-ranked Allegheny College out of Meadville, Pennsylvania. Before they could turn around, they had landed in the Final Four of the tournament against San Jacinto College out of Pasadena, Texas.

At the time, there was a feeling that this Rebels team of eight sophomores and four freshmen might pull off the extraordinary. What truly made the team special was the diversity of the players; it was comprised of white and black players with a wide range of life experiences, styles of play, and skill levels. However, Coach Clem's “fundamentals first” coaching philosophy put each player on the same plain, and the insulating nature of his program encouraged them to lean on one another, such that by the end of the season, the Rebels had become brothers. 

"When I went to Walker College, the first thing I noticed was the diversity of the program,” said guard Charles Nash. “I had played on all-black basketball teams growing up in Birmingham, Alabama. It was my first time playing with white players. At that time in Birmingham, teams were all black or white.”

Rising above the rim, Mark Atkinson goes for two.

The team getting ready for “Hutch.”

As it turns out, the ‘82-83 team was Clem’s finest work. Like pieces of a beautiful quilt, Clem patched a team together with players like Epps, who arrived from rural Hale County with little fanfare, and Carlton, a 6’1” guard from Warsaw, Kentucky, who’d participated in the Kentucky/Indiana All Star Game and had been leading scorer in the Bluegrass State for two seasons.

The beauty and tragedy of JUCO basketball, then as it is now, is the ever-revolving door of talent that comes in and out of programs. By the spring of ’82, Clem had made national inroads and become a master at identifying talent, cobbling a team together, and coaching fresh faces year after year. "Walker College's success was a testament to the system Coach Clem had created,” said assistant coach Dan Bell. “He understood the limitations of junior college basketball and created a program that worked. The ‘82-83 season was one of the few years Coach Clem had an assistant coach. He took care of everything himself, from recruiting, conditioning, ensuring their academics were in order, and then coaching. He was a man who wore way too many hats. It's truly amazing the success he had for so many years."

In ’81-82, the Rebels had finished with an 18-10 record and placed second overall in Region XXII. With experience on their side, the ’82-83 iteration was the preseason favorite to win both the Northern Division and Region XXII.

Clem had also developed a routine of scheduling a gauntlet of top-ranked opponents at the beginning of the year to test the makeup of his squad. "We like to use our pre-conference schedule to play teams with national reputations, teams that will be challenging to us,” Clem told the Daily Mountain Eagle in an interview in November 1982. “And I think we've done that this year. If you a find a breather on our schedule before the holidays, I wish you'd let me know.”

But the Rebels skipper couldn’t plan for everything. In the second game against Lawson State, Clem suffered a heart attack during halftime. In his absence, the Rebels defeated Lawson 83-56 with smothering defense and fine-tuned offense as a tribute to their coach.

Clem had emergency bypass surgery and spent a week at Walker County Medical Center while Bell assumed the head coaching responsibilities.

"The entire team was concerned about Coach Clem,” said Epps. “He was everything for us, and there was a lot of uncertainty while he was recovering from the operation. We handled business in his absence because we were a team that kind of policed itself. We pushed each other. It was one of the best teams that I've ever played on.”

Clem couldn’t remain sidelined for long and returned to the team two weeks after surgery.

Despite the slight detour, the team rolled through the season with very few hiccups, racking up win after win en route to a Region title and a berth in “Hutch” for the national championship.

Before the bus pulled out for Kansas, Clem stood before his well-groomed team and summarized, “I want to thank God for allowing me to stay with my family, for letting me work with this fine group of men standing behind me, and for giving us the chance to participate in this tournament, before all of the fine people of Hutchinson.”

After breezing through the first two contests, San Jacinto proved to be too much for the Rebels.

"It was the luck of the draw that we ended up with San Jacinto. They were the powerhouse at the time and probably had five or six guys that ended up playing for high-level Division I programs,” said Dan Bell. “And we went toe-to-toe with them for 40 minutes. I'm sure they were more talented, but our guys played at a very high level. Our team had a real connection and truly bonded over the season. They did themselves proud.”

In the consolation game, Walker lost to Southeast Community College (NE) before returning home to Jasper.

Regardless of the final outcome, the Rebels had shocked the basketball world by capturing fourth place in the tournament and posting the best season in the history of the college.

Through the years, members of the team have scattered across the country to live out their respective lives, but the bond between them has remained strong. Carlton eventually became a high school basketball coach and says he still talks to his Walker College teammates on a weekly basis. Though his circumstances drew him back to his home state of Kentucky, Carlton admits he left a piece of his heart in Jasper. “Several times a month when I’m in Kentucky and see an Alabama car with a 64 license plate, I’ll engage the people. I’ll say, ‘Hey you from Jasper?’” he says. “They are all kind and nice, and they all know Coach Clem. And all know the legacy of what that team was.”

Reflecting on that great Rebel team and the 40 years that have passed, Carlton cannot help but get sentimental. “Coach Clem knew what he was doing. He was a taskmaster, but he was also a good friend and did what was best for us as a team,” he says. “(The people of Jasper) need to be proud of what that team did and what the college did for the area. I wouldn’t trade those two years for any two years of my life. That was a magical time for me, and it was a magical team.” 78