“Characters” was the word coach Fred Skrocki used to describe his 2007 Schenley High School basketball players. There was Onion at point guard, but also Big Fella and Dre among the stars. It was a squad with five starters who knew each other since elementary school and grew up together in the Hill District.
Once, on a Schenley team trip to Florida for a Christmas tournament, Skrocki remembers the plane stopping on the runway and the crew refusing to take off unless the characters Onion and Dre got off. Skrocki apologized to the passengers, and the entire team ended up exiting the plane and waiting for another flight.
But put those characters together on a basketball court and there was nothing in Pennsylvania to stop them during that 2006-07 season. Schenley took flight that year and the best way to characterize those Spartans is “one of the best ever from Western Pennsylvania.” Could they even be the best?
“I think we’re the best team to ever come out of there,” said DeJuan Blair, the Big Fella who went on to star at Pitt and play seven years in the NBA. “I just think what we did after high school makes us more legit. We weren’t no flukes. We extended our reputations after high school.”
Rightly or wrongly, a player or team’s legacy often is made by what happens after high school. Combine what Schenley did in 2007 with what the players accomplished afterward, and you could make a point for Schenley being one of the the all-time best, along with maybe the 1967 Ambridge team, which many still consider the best ever from the WPIAL or City League. Or other great teams, like Midland of 1965, Schenley of 1966 and 1971, Uniontown of 1964 and Fifth Avenue of 1976.
The ’67 Ambridge team had players go on to North Carolina (Dennis Wuycik), Duke (Dick DeVenzio) and Purdue (Frank Kaufmann). The ’65 Midland team featured Norm Van Lier, a longtime point guard in the NBA, and Simmie Hill, who played in the ABA.
But consider what the 2007 Schenley team had among its starting five:
• Blair and senior guard-forward D.J. Kennedy both went on to play in the NBA (Kennedy for only two games). Only three other teams in WPIAL and City League history have had two players go on to the NBA. Blair was an All-American at Pitt while Kennedy had a very successful career at St. John’s. Kennedy is now playing professionally in China and Blair in the NBA D-League.
• Schenley junior guard DeAndre Kane played at Marshall University and then transferred to Iowa State, where he was a star for one season. “Dre” is now playing professionally in Spain.
• Greg Blair, DeJuan’s younger brother, went on to play football at the University of Cincinnati.
• The fifth starter was Jamaal Bryant. He was only 5 feet 8, but gigantic for Schenley as the point guard. He was called Onion. “His head looks like an onion so what else would you call him,” DeJuan Blair once said.
The 1967 Ambridge team was coached by Chuck DeVenzio, the father of star guard Dick DeVenzio. Both are now deceased, but Dave DeVenzio was a seventh-grade ball boy for the ’67 team. Dave DeVenzio is now the men’s basketball coach at Community College of Allegheny County — Boyce campus.
“I’ve been around, I coach and I go to a lot of games,” said Dave DeVenzio. “I think it’s great that my brother and father are still remembered, but I’ve got to put that 2007 Schenley team in that class with that Ambridge team. … Old people like to say things were better back in our day. But I think the players and their athleticism are better now.”
Schenley finished 29-3 in 2007 and made it to the No. 11 ranking in the country by USA Today. One of the losses was by forfeit because Kane played in a game when he was ineligible after being ejected from the previous contest. The only two other losses were to Lincoln (N.Y.) and Lake Howell (Fla.). Lincoln won the New York City championship and a state championship. Lake Howell, which featured two University of Florida recruits, won a 5A state championship.
Among Schenley’s victories that season was an 85-74 triumph against DeMatha Catholic, a perennial Maryland power that was ranked No. 20 in the country.
Balance made Schenley hard to defend. The two Blairs, Kennedy and Kane all averaged between 13 and 17 points, and Bryant was a super point guard who averaged eight.
Schenley lost in the PIAA championship game in 2006, and DeJuan Blair guaranteed a state title before the next season. In the PIAA playoffs, one of the victories was against Moon, which was coached by Jeff Ackermann, now the coach at Pine-Richland.
“I didn’t see teams in the ’70s or before then, but Schenley was the greatest team I’ve seen and Blair was the best high school player I ever coached against,” said Ackermann. “I defy you to find a team around here that four guys do as much after high school as the four they had. And people don’t realize how good Jamaal Bryant was.”
Schenley was athletic, but also loaded with skill. In the first four games of the PIAA tournament against Fox Chapel, Mt. Lebanon, Moon and Harrisburg, Schenley shot 63 percent (127 of 201) from the field and 47 percent (27 of 58) from 3-point range. In the championship game against Chester at Penn State’s Bryce Jordan Center, Schenley defeated perennial power Chester, 78-71. DeJuan Blair had 18 points, 23 rebounds and 6 blocks. Kane scored 21, Kennedy 16 and Bryant 11.
The next day, Blair, Kennedy and teammates drove around downtown Pittsburgh in a car, taking turns holding the championship up through a sunroof.
“There were a lot of characters on that team, but we were like brothers and that’s how siblings act,” said DeJuan Blair. “We’re still the same. Goofy. My mother still lives in the Hill. If we’re all home, we’ll all go up her house and it’s just like it was in high school.”
Skrocki retired after the 2007 season and hasn’t talked to the players since, except for a few text messages.
“If we had a reunion,” said Skrocki, “I know there would just be a lot of hugs — and laughs.”
SCHENLEY 2006-07
OPPONENT, SCORE, RESULT
Westinghouse, 92-46, Win
Carrick, 101-41, Win
Aliquippa, 68-65, Win
Brashear, 91-67, Win
Oliver, 93-62, Win
Eisenhower, Ill., 2-0, Forfeit Loss
Lake Howell, Fla., 88-75, Loss
Lincoln, N.Y., 75-54, Loss
Fort Myers, Fla., 79-69, Win
Langley, 99-52, Win
Peabody, 72-45, Win
Perry, 85-47, Win
Allderdice, 77-38, Win
Westinghouse, 73-50, Win
Carrick, 91-35, Win
Booker T. Washington, Va., 63-47, Win
Chester, 85-74, Win
Peabody, 86-51, Win
Brashear, 75-54, Win
Oliver, 85-70, Win
Langley, 84-46, Win
DeMatha, Md., 85-74, Win
Allderdice, 66-50, Win
Perry, 77-59, Win
CITY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Carrick, 83-43, Win
Perry, 69-57, Win
Oliver, 56-49, Win
PIAA PLAYOFFS
Fox Chapel, 71-48, Win
Mt. Lebanon, 80-41, Win
Moon, 73-59, Win
Harrisburg, 85-62, Win
Chester, 78-71, Win
Correction, posted March 17, 2017: An earlier version contained incorrect information. Dennis Wuycik played at North Carolina. Dick DeVenzio played at Duke.
First Published: March 17, 2017, 4:00 a.m.
