March 3, 2009

PART ONE OF TWO

Passion for basketball drove Alabama native

By Roy Mitchell

Like many Southern schoolboys, Jack Waters developed a love for football early in life. But when his family moved north to Madison, Ind., before his sophomore year, he found himself in a high school that did not field a football team. With his football dreams fading like fog in the morning sun, Waters decided to introduce himself to the school's basketball coach.

Waters grew up in Gilberttown, Ala., where he only played basketball at school recess. While living in Cedartown, Ga., during his freshman year he played organized basketball, but only because his football coach insisted.

Despite his basketball inexperience, Waters' forced sabbatical from football turned into a tremendous athletic gain.

“It was the best thing that ever happened to me,” he says. “Basketball became a passion.”

Much of Water's next 50 years were devoted to basketball. Waters played not only in high school, but also at the University of Mississippi, and in the National Basketball Association. After retiring from coaching, Waters moved to Centre. These days Waters, 70, plays golf at the Cherokee County Country Club and enjoys leisurely drives on local back roads. He recently recollected about that influential first year in Indiana.

Waters experienced a huge growth spurt the summer prior to his sophomore year. Before he grew tall, he had been taught how to play guard, the player who often dribbles the ball. Because of his skill, coordination and knowledge of the guard position, Waters' coach kept him there.

Waters would grow to be 6 feet 5 inches tall, much taller than the average guard. When he took his basketball skills to Ole Miss, he continued to utilize his height.

“I was the first big guard in the Southeastern Conference,” he says. “If a smaller man guarded me, I would take him inside. If a bigger man guarded me, I would take him outside.”

During the early 1960's, Waters starred for the Rebels. He became an all-SEC selection for three straight years, racking up impressive statistics along the way. In 1960, he led the nation in free throw percentage, and scored 1,384 points, averaging 19.5 per game – good enough for fifth best in school history. Yet Waters remains humble about his accomplishments.

“A lot of this stuff I was not really aware of,” he says. “I just loved playing ball. I'm a gym rat. I'm happiest when I'm in the gym.”

After college, the NBA's Cincinnati Royals drafted and signed Waters. While today's players may make millions of dollars per season, Waters' rookie contract earned him a humble $14,500, some of which he spent on a canary-red, two-seat Ford Thunderbird.

One of the game's greats, Oscar Robertson, played with Waters in Cincinnati. Unfortunately for Waters, Robertson also played guard.

“And Oscar just didn't make mistakes,” says Waters.

Having been a hoops star since high school, toiling behind one of the game's most talented players was an adjustment. Once, after scoring 17 points in the first half, Waters, who wore No. 41, found himself on the bench to begin the third quarter. When he asked his coach why, he was told, “The fans paid money to see No. 14 [Oscar Robertson]. They didn't pay to see No. 41.”

Waters' pro career was interrupted when the Selective Service called. Before leaving the Royals for the U.S. Marines, Waters brushed elbows with some of basketball's all-time legends. Once, while playing Boston, Waters advanced the ball up the side of the court only to see Celtic great Bill Russell beating him to the basket.

“I knew I wasn't going to drive in on him,” Waters says. “So I pulled up short for a jump shot. He swatted it all the way to the other end of the court. As Russell and I ran back up the court, he slapped me on the butt and said, 'Welcome to the NBA, rookie!'”

Waters also took the court against the most prolific scorer of his era, Wilt Chamberlain.

“Wilt's arms were massive,” Waters recalls. “They were as big as my legs.”

After his stint with the Marines, Waters joined the Kansas City Steers of the American Basketball League. He was there just long enough for the franchise to fold. By then, Waters was ready to continue his basketball journey as a coach.

“There were too many messages,” Waters says. “My passion is to coach, anyway. I never looked back.”

Part II: Waters turned to coaching after career