RIP Gary Hooker

The Peeper

All-American
Feb 26, 2008
14,454
9,056
113
I can still remember Hank Flick (RIP) in his usual style "Ge-reee Hooooooker" after a made shot
 
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IBleedMaroonDawg

All-American
Nov 12, 2007
24,991
9,226
113
I remember because it's when I first started paying attention to Mississippi State basketball. At least I can remember sitting in my room, listening to games over the radio.
 

tcdog70

Sophomore
Sep 24, 2012
1,322
186
63
Ray White-Hooker-Peck-Ricky Brown Al Perry----we got Hooker because of Al Perry--both from NYC.. Also had Greg Grimm.
 

DAWGSANDSAINTS

All-Conference
Oct 10, 2022
2,523
2,248
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Ray White-Hooker-Peck-Ricky Brown Al Perry----we got Hooker because of Al Perry--both from NYC.. Also had Greg Grimm.
I met Greg Grimm in the east side Club level last year at a game.
Forgot where he said he lived but got back to one or two football games a year.
 

Ranchdawg

All-Conference
Dec 13, 2012
4,030
3,240
113
I can still remember Hank Flick (RIP) in his usual style "Ge-reee Hooooooker" after a made shot
The golden years when I never missed a home basketball game. What fun it was back then. The NCAA snubbed us and we played Alcorn State in the NIT.
 

The Peeper

All-American
Feb 26, 2008
14,454
9,056
113
The golden years when I never missed a home basketball game. What fun it was back then. The NCAA snubbed us and we played Alcorn State in the NIT.
and the Braves and Coach Dave Whitney kicked our azzes. Yes young readers, Alcorn punked us in our own building
 

Ranchdawg

All-Conference
Dec 13, 2012
4,030
3,240
113
and the Braves and Coach Dave Whitney kicked our azzes. Yes young readers, Alcorn punked us in our own building
We were up by 18 points and an angry Braves fan threw a whiskey bottle from the upper deck onto the floor of the Hump. It would have killed someone if it hit them. It was all down hill for us after that. I was at the game.
 

She Mate Me

All-American
Dec 7, 2008
11,485
8,903
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and the Braves and Coach Dave Whitney kicked our azzes. Yes young readers, Alcorn punked us in our own building

It's worth mentioning that Alcorn came into that game 27-0 and had a guy named Larry Smith who was averaging 14 rebounds a game. He would have a long NBA career. They lost by 4 at Indiana the next game.

Different level of SWAC talent then.
 
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The Peeper

All-American
Feb 26, 2008
14,454
9,056
113
We were up by 18 points and an angry Braves fan threw a whiskey bottle from the upper deck onto the floor of the Hump. It would have killed someone if it hit them. It was all down hill for us after that. I was at the game.
I remember listening to Jack on the radio in South Mississippi and being shocked
It's worth mentioning that Alcorn came into that game 27-0 and had a guy named Larry Smith who was averaging 14 rebounds a game. He would have a long NBA career. They lost by 4 at Indiana the next game.

Different level of SWAC talent then.
Oh for sure. Those were the days (45 years ago) that most of those guys didn't have opportunities to go to any school but a HBCU but were legit big school athletes. I was a naive 18 year old that had heard about racism my whole life in S MS but had no clue what it really meant. Whitney was a classic of a coach that I never have heard anybody say anything negative about
 

leeinator

All-Conference
Feb 24, 2014
1,691
1,268
113
One of my favorite Bulldog basketball players!
I played pickup games in McCarthy Gym with Gary, Ray White, Al Perry, John Adams, Wiley Peck, etc. Ray was usually stoned when he played. Gary Hooker could stop a 2 on 1 fastbreak better than anyone I've ever played with. His damn arms were so long he could cover 2 passing lanes completely. Impossible to get by him. One day Wiley Peck asked me to play one-on-one with him. I reluctantly agreed. However, I did pretty well vs the big boy. If he backed me down near the basket there was almost no way to stop him from scoring. On the other hand, I had success shooting outside on him. He wouldn't want to come out from under the basket and if he did, I could slash around him and to the basket. I was a pretty good shooter back in the day. BTW.....there were no 3 pt. arcs or shots back then, but some of the shots I took would have been 3 pointers. Saddened me when McCarthy was torn down. Lot of memories in that place.
 

dudehead

Senior
Jul 9, 2006
1,470
526
113
I played pickup games in McCarthy Gym with Gary, Ray White, Al Perry, John Adams, Wiley Peck, etc. Ray was usually stoned when he played. Gary Hooker could stop a 2 on 1 fastbreak better than anyone I've ever played with. His damn arms were so long he could cover 2 passing lanes completely. Impossible to get by him. One day Wiley Peck asked me to play one-on-one with him. I reluctantly agreed. However, I did pretty well vs the big boy. If he backed me down near the basket there was almost no way to stop him from scoring. On the other hand, I had success shooting outside on him. He wouldn't want to come out from under the basket and if he did, I could slash around him and to the basket. I was a pretty good shooter back in the day. BTW.....there were no 3 pt. arcs or shots back then, but some of the shots I took would have been 3 pointers. Saddened me when McCarthy was torn down. Lot of memories in that place.
Ray White sticks in my mind as one of the “smoothest” players/shooters I’ve watched play, and now I know the rest of the story.
 
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tcdog70

Sophomore
Sep 24, 2012
1,322
186
63
The WHO DAT game--who dat talking bout beating them Braves.. I think it was a wine bottle. Hatfield took us from "the penthouse to the outhouse" he also screwed up Grimms last year of eligibility.
 

LexSCDOG

Freshman
Aug 5, 2014
308
82
28
We seem to have gotten a lot of guys out of NYC back in those days. Remember “Shu”?
Tom Shuberth. For some reason with that with that mop head he was my favorite basketball player. I don’t know why. He played hard I guess he was just looking him up so he played at UNLV for two years and then came to State.
 
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Willow Grove Dawg

All-Conference
Nov 3, 2016
6,573
2,874
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Tom Shuberth. For some reason with that with that mop head he was my favorite basketball player. I don’t know why. He played hard I guess he was just looking him up so he played at UNLV for two years and then came to State.
He was the point guard in the WHO DAT game which was the year after Perry finished school. Peck & White were seniors on that team. Schuberth starting getting cramps in the 2nd half & we could not beat their full court press with him out of the game.
 
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