The Dandy Dons: Bill Russell, K. C. Jones, Phil Woolpert, and One of College Basketball's Greatest and Most Innovative Teams

by James W. Johnson

In the mid-1950s three unrecruited black basketball players, coached by a white former prison guard who had never before coached a college team, led a small Jesuit university in San Francisco to two national titles. The Dandy Dons describes for the first time how the unprecedented accomplishment of the Dons, led by coach Phil Woolpert and future hall-of-famers Bill Russell and K. C. Jones, paved the way for black talent in major college basketball and transformed the sport.


James W. Johnson traces the backgrounds of the coach and players, chronicles the heart-stopping games on the road to the championships, and details the Dons’ novel a more vertical game, more central defense, and intimidation as part of game strategy. He also gives a textured picture of life on an integrated basketball team amid a culture of racism and Jim Crow in mid-twentieth-century America.

Genres: Basketball

284 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2009

Reviews

[Spiros · Rating 3 out of 5]

A generally entertaining and worthwhile read, describing one of the most dominant teams in the history of college hoops; Johnson displays an unfortunate tendancy towards repetition (the phrase "defense was a time for players to rest up so they could play better offense" seems to crop up at least once in each of the first ten chapters), but that is a minor irritation. It was great fun reading about Stan Buchanan, a member of the English Department at my high school, from whom I unfortunately never took a class.

[Sam Viebrock · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short read was excellent. The author did a great job describing the successful seasons of the San Francisco Dons! He also did a very good job painting the picture of racism in America, specially in the south!

Good, quick read and would recommend to any sports history freak like myself!

[Dale Stonehouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

As another said, the writing is less than top-notch and the author repeats facts in some cases and just gets them wrong in a few. However, with a story like this it is not difficult to hold the interest of hard-core basketball fans or those just curious about one of the greatest teams in history. One surprise is a goodly amount of quotes from the greatest coach of all time, John Wooden of UCLA. Most of the principals are still alive and many are quoted: the book really is not hurt by Bill Russell's non-participation. It's tale of a very unique time in basketball history.

[Doug · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story behind this book, that of the USF basketball team in the 50's and their early steps at integrating college sports, is an important one. The author tells us it accurately enough, it seems, but without a lot of verve to make it all the more memorable.