Western Big 6 Legends- 1981 Quincy

The 1981 Quincy Blue Devils dominated their way to an undefeated season, a state championship, and a national championship. When I say dominated, only three times did anyone come within 9 points of them. The Devils were coached by Jerry Leggett and assisted by Mike Hellenthal. They featured Bruce and Dennis Douglas, and Michael Payne. 

In the final four games of the State Tourney, the Devils outscored their four opponents in the first quarter by 82 to 26. The scores in the State Tourney were 72-44, 75-50, 65-34, 68-39, so they won the four games by an average of 28 points. 

10 of the 12 players on the tourney roster played in all four State games, and the other 2 players played in three of the games. 

I had the opportunity to go scout Quincy several times that year for Galesburg’s Barry Swanson. For a young coach, it was a clinic watching Leggett and the Blue Devils at work. 

At clinics, I had heard Coach Leggett talk about his “Dirty Thirty” that the players went thru each practice. At clinics, his attention to details and his organization were unmatched. 

When I scouted, I wanted to get there early to see Leggett’s warmup passing drill and feverishly drawing on a paper how the drill worked, only to realize it would probably have taken me 30 minutes of practice time per day to get my players to run it. 

Then Quincy would run 3 on 2 / 2 on 1 when the other team went into the lockeroom. (Unless Duncan Reid left his managers out.)

The Devil ceremony was as good as any pregame ritual. 

During the game, Coach Leggett had his towel draped over his shoulder. And the players took a towel out to the person they were subbing for. During time outs, they had camping stools for Leggett and the players in the game to sit in a huddle. 

At some point, Dolph Stanley’s Tip Zone would be put into play. Payne or another post would tip the ball to the ft line area instead of rebounding. At that point, a Quincy guard would catch the ball and go. It seemed they usually put it in during the second quarter at some point. When the guard went, the only question is whether they would get a 2-1, 3-1, or 2-0 fastbreak layup. It was a back breaker. 

If the teams played man to man, Quincy probably only had 50 set plays. If they went zone to force Quincy to the perimeter, Leggett ran a lob for an easy basket inside, or they ran their baseline post to post screen which usually resulted in another layup or a 5 footer in the lane. 

In 1981, led by feature college stars- Michael Payne (Iowa) and Bruce Douglas (Illinois) the Devils only had three close games. I got to witness their closest game of the year in the Thanksgiving Tourney vs Chicago Phillips. Quincy won by 1 point in overtime. 

Bruce Douglas had over 30 in the game, Carl Golston of Phillips put on a performance scoring 21 points. Golston would go on to star at Loyola. He was listed at 5-9. Using the same measuring stick, I am probably 6-6. He was lightning quick, clever with the ball, and could shoot. The teams battled back and forth thoughout regulation. Golston fouled out late in regulation. As I remember it, the Quincy fans had been so impressed that they gave Golston a rousing ovation. And Golston showed his appreciation for the Quincy crowd by walking around the entire gym shaking hands with people in the front row. After Golston fouled out, Phillips took the game to overtime and then lost in OT. That was the closest Quincy would come to losing a game all year- and I got to watch it.