Basketball at Lake City Community College

The first season of intercollegiate basketball at Lake City Community College (LCCC) was played during the 1962-1963 school year. For north Florida residents who are baby boomers, when the word basketball and LCCC are mentioned, the name, Joe Fields comes to mind. For 22 years, Coach Fields was the heart and soul of the program.

The Beginning

Joe B. Fields came to Lake City, Florida in 1960 as the basketball coach at Columbia High School. After three successful seasons for a 60-17 record and runner-up in the state tournament, he was hired to take over the Lake City Community College Timberwolves basketball program for their second season.

Fields built his program from the ground up, but he was more than a great basketball coach. Fields was a salesman of his program and a community leader, and he knew how to combine those skills to his team's advantage.

"He would find people to donate meals to the players, and he found others to help pay for coats and other things they needed to feel like a real college team when they went on the road," said Tommy Witt, who was Fields' first scholarship player in 1963. "There were a lot of things the school could not afford, but he believed in his program and he was out there building sponsorships in the community."

Fields basketball team was exciting, averaging 99.2 points per game in his first season. One lopsided victory stuck out in Witt’s mind from that season - a 132-38 win over Florida College of Tampa.

The Timberwolves finished third in their division in 1965, and Fields recruited players throughout the south and made the most of the talent he had.

"Joe always knew what his guys could do," Witt said. "Some guys would say 'this is my philosophy and you will play this way.' He did not do that, though. He molded his offense and defense around what kind of team he had that year."

Community Support

The program was successful and big crowds turned out to watch Fields' team in action.

"We practiced in the old National Guard Armory, and we played in the high school gym (now Richardson Middle School)," Witt said. "Sometimes, if there was a high school game the same night, we would not get started until 10 p.m. or later. Even so, that place was filled to standing room only. We took more people on the road than some schools had at their own gym."

With the community solidly behind him, Fields began a run of four consecutive years as conference coach of the year in 1965-66, and his team opened some eyes as Florida's JUCO runner-up in 1968. The success led to the construction of Howard Gym, the largest structure on campus to this day.

All the while, Fields was making an impact off the court as well. He recruited black players in the late 1960s, which preceded public school integration in Columbia County, and he brought the town together behind his team.

"I think Joe had a lot to do with Lake City escaping some of the racial strife back then," said Harvey Campbell, who coached briefly with Fields before broadcasting games on the radio for 14 years. "Joe's respect for people no matter their race and his success on the floor provided a safe haven against some of the issues of the time."

Mario Coppock played for Fields from 1976-78 and said he was fortunate to have been a part of the Timberwolves' basketball program.

"It was a great experience for me, and the program meant a lot to the community," Coppock said. "It was something people really got excited about, and it gave young African-Americans a chance to further their education. I am glad I benefited from that."

National JUCO

Lake City's finest season came in 1970, when the Timberwolves made a memorable run at a national championship.

The team of 1970 was nicknamed the "Green Giants" because the starting five averaged 6’6” and their uniforms were forest green. When they won 14 of their first 15 games, the fans knew that it would be a special season. Lake City lost two non-conference road games at the end of January, but the Timberwolves were headed for post-season play.

LCCC won three of its next five games, including a win over Florida State University's freshman team (100-90) on February 7th that extended the Timberwolves' home winning streak to 46 games, a feat that dated back to 1967. On the 10th, Lake City clinched a spot in the state tournament with a 104-85 win over Central Florida Community College. Don Jackson (25 points), Bernard Collier (24), Brian Westover (21) and Charles Green (20) led a balanced attack for the 'Wolves.

After FSU's Junior Seminoles avenged their earlier loss, the Timberwolves' 20th win was perhaps the toughest of the season. Florida Community College at Jacksonville stormed into Lake City on February 17th and led 82-80 with seconds remaining. With the winning streak in jeopardy, Charles Green hit a 30-feet shot at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.

The Timberwolves exploded in the overtime period and won their 48th straight home game 99-92, clinching the conference title. That comeback spurred Lake City to three blowout home wins by an average of 34.3 points as the team tuned up for the state tournament. Ironically, LCCC's Howard Gym was scheduled to host the event.

After dispatching Chipola College in the opening round, the Timberwolves staged a huge upset of top-ranked Brevard Community College to reach the tournament finals. Lake City's 54th consecutive home win was very special, as the Timberwolves beat Indian River Community College 120-97 for their first state championship.

The Timberwolves headed to Hutchinson, Kansas for the National Junior College Athletic Association tournament, and their record improved to 28-6 with wins over Kennedy-King College (Illinois) and Cooper College (Wyoming) to reach the juco final four.

Lake City's semifinal game against Vincennes University (Indiana) was aired on live television in the LCCC student union, but the Timberwolves' dream of a national title ran into a buzz saw by the name of Bob McAdoo. The future NBA Hall-of-Famer led Vincennes to a win over Lake City and then a victory over Moberly Area Community College (Missouri) in the championship game.

The Timberwolves rallied for a 78-74 win over Grand View College (Iowa) in the consolation game to claim the national bronze medal and finish with a 29-7 record.

Trouble

The 1983-84 season was the first time the basketball program faced trouble.

On January 6th, 1984, LCCC basketball players Kirk Ward and Roland Johnson were arrested and charged in the Lake City Burger King robbery of December 11th, 1983. The players were immediately suspended from classes and the team as per school policy, and required by the State Department of Education. That rule was originally intended to prevent drug dealers from making bail and returning to campus to continue their illegal activities. A front page article appeared in the school newspaper, the Timberchatter, shortly after their arrest, indicating the players were innocent. The arrests were made based on a woman's identification of the men from a team photo in the local newspaper, the "Lake City Reporter", but the school paper insisted that the players could not have committed the crime. Johnson was in New Orleans, his hometown, on that day, and Ward’s presence on campus was corroborated by seven witnesses on the night of the robbery.

"There is a mountain of circumstantial evidence that said they didn't do this thing," Fields told the Lake City Reporter in 1984. "In my opinion, the sheriff's office didn't do their homework. They didn't have the facts."

It took four months for the investigation to play itself out, but Johnson and Ward were finally cleared of all charges within 10 days of each other in April. They lost an entire semester of basketball and schooling, and they opted not to return to the college.

"I would certainly invite them back, but I can very well see they would not want to come back," Fields said during the investigation. "I can see them wanting to stay as far away from Lake City Community College as possible."

The End

Coach Fields was highly critical of the Columbia County Sheriff’s Department and the school administration throughout he incident, and it may have been the first rift that eventually led to Fields' dismissal in 1985 after one more season.

"For 22 years, the basketball team was a rallying point for the community and the gym was overflowing with people," Campbell said. "It was never the same after Joe left."

Tough Act to Follow

Tony Johnson coached the team for seven years from 1985-92 and had several good seasons, including a 24-3 record in 1991.

Ed Hall followed Johnson and went 32-30 from 1992-94, but community support, both in attendance and financial sponsorship, was missing.

Jim Webb, the school's athletic director in 1994, could see the writing on the wall."The support was so tremendous before, but then it (became) non-existent," Webb said. At some games, "if the baseball and softball players had not shown up, there may have been 5-10 people in the stands."On Webb's first day on the job, he found out the school was cutting the athletic budget in half.

"With the budget we had and our attempts to keep gender equity, they decided to cut two sports," Webb said. "The president, myself and the committee felt basketball was the greatest expense. When you have a charismatic person like Jean Williams, Tom Clark or Joe Fields making inroads in the community, it is easier to get the community support that was lacking."

The men's program, along with the two-year old women's program, was disbanded after the 1995 season. The team's last game in Howard Gym was a win over St. Johns River Community College on February 15th, 1995. The Timberwolves' last game was a 90-89 loss to Palm Beach Community College in the state tournament, completing a 26-4 season under new coach Rob Wagner. [ [http://www.lakecityreporter.com/articles/2003/03/02/sports/top_story/sports01.txt Lake City Reporter: March 1, 2003-March sadness: Lake City Community College basketball remains a memory by MATTHEW OSBORNE] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.lakecitycc.edu/ Lake City Community College website]