1961 Small Town America

Savanna High School

The 1960’s were a great time for Savanna, Illinois. According to the 1960 U.S. Census, Savanna’s population was 4,900 with 5,700 in Savanna Township. The Army Depot and the two railroad companies supplied employment. New houses were going up, and a new high school had just been completed in the late ‘50’s. Savanna was a “big small-town” that was growing.

The neighborhood was an important social entity. Baby boom children filled neighborhoods so there were always kids to play with. If your dog got loose, a neighbor down the street would bring them back. You didn’t lock your doors, so if you went to the Davis’ you knocked, didn’t wait for an answer, you just opened the door and went in. And even in grade school, it was safe to walk a mile home from school, and on the walk there were 3 “neighborhood groceries” to stop and get candy or baseball cards. 

Savanna Downtown

If you were into sports, there was no ESPN. Basketball in the late ‘60’s had Big Ten Game of the Week, one game on Saturday afternoon. There was one NBA game on Sunday afternoons- the Celtics and whoever they played. TV basketball started to explode after the UCLA vs Houston national game in the Astrodome in the last ‘60’s. But in the early ‘60’s, sports meant Savanna High School.

Dennis Radabaugh

We didn’t have Michael Jordan or Lebron James as hero’s. Our hero’s were Savanna players. There wasn’t a lot of social options in small town America, but high school boys basketball was the thing to do. 

In Savanna, we had something no one else had. In 1961, we had Dennis Radabaugh. Dennis led the State scoring, had games of over 50 points, and Savanna had games scoring over 100 points. He was recruited to Kentucky by legendary coach Adolph Rupp, who had coached at Freeport High School. 

This is the story of Savanna in the 1960’s and when “Adolph Rupp Came to Savanna.’

When Adolph Rupp Came to Savanna