The Amazing Appleknockers: Illinois' Cinderella Basketball Team of 1964

by Teri Campbell, Anne Ryman

In 1964, Cobden was a quiet village of 900 residents tucked in the Shawnee Hills of Southern Illinois. The high school's basketball team changed that, grabbing the attention of sports fans throughout Illinois as it made a dramatic run to the finals of the Illinois state high school basketball tournament. An unusually tall and talented team with a catchy mascot, the Appleknockers, Cobden played at a time before schools were divided into classes based on enrollment. The school had just 147 students, and the Appleknockers defeated schools that were many times their size as they moved along the tournament trail.This true account traces the background of the Appleknockers' coach, Dick Ruggles, and how a young man from Boston wound up coaching in the hillside farming community. The story covers the two years that Ruggles served as Cobden's coach, the two most successful basketball seasons in the school's history. It also reveals the obstacles, tragedies, and triumphs the players faced, both on and off the basketball court.The achievements of the Appleknockers were widely covered in newspapers from Evansville, Indiana, to St. Louis, Missouri, to Chicago. Their readers were drawn to the underdog team, and the Appleknockers moved from the sports pages into Illinois folklore. People from Illinois and the surrounding states are still talking about the Appleknockers nearly half a century later, which speaks to the enduring and far-reaching appeal of this team and its story.

311 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 4, 2013

Reviews

[Treesong Treesong · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not usually interested in sports stories, but I do enjoy reading about local history, so I gave this one a try. I'm glad I did! What surprised and impressed me the most about the Amazing Appleknockers is the fact that they took a narrative storytelling approach. It's like reading a novel, but it's a non-fiction story based on research and interviews with the people involved. Whether you're interested in sports stories, or Southern Illinois history, or both, this is a good read.

[Lisa Blum · Rating 5 out of 5]

The HS basketball team in the tiny town of Cobden Illinois, deep in the southern tip of the state and surrounded by orchards, went to the state tournament in 1964 beating schools ten times their size and they darn near won! It was a huge story all over the state and particularly in my home. My grandmother was from Cobden and my dad grew up just a few miles away in Anna-Jonesboro. I can remember going there to pick peaches, as sweet as candy with the juice running down my chin. BTW Appleknocker is a pejorative term but the townspeople embrace it as their culture. I loved this book! Anyone who’s a fan of small town sports will enjoy it.

[Teri Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is fabulous! A must read!