New book packed with tales of teenage Wilt

  

By Dick Weiss

  

Cecil Mosenson, the legendary 78-year-old prep coach who gained national notoriety when he coached the late Wilt Chamberlain at Philly’s Overbrook High in the ’50s, showed up in the lobby of Philadelphia University at RBK U. yesterday to hawk his book, “It All Began with Wilt,” which chronicles his 50-year coaching career.

 
“That’s a huge culture collision,” St. Joseph’s coach Phil Martelli – a Philly sports historian – was right on point when he said. “One one hand, you have the guy who coached Wilt. On the other, you have kids here at this camp, who never even heard of Wilt.”

 
Chamberlain was the first bigger-than-life figure in modern high school basketball and Mosenson was just 22 years old when he coached him as a sophomore.

 
A couple things right off the bat I didn’t know about Chamberlain’s glorious high school career:

 
• He was 6-11 with a wing span of 7-2 when he was at the Brook. His hands to finger tip measured 9 1/2 inches. He used to wear high socks to cover the large scars on the front of his legs that came from working in the cotton fields in the South as a youngster.
• He had the ability to leap and grab the ball after a missed shot, trapping it against the backboard, and in the same instant before coming down would fling it out to a breaking guard. He could then sprint down the court, take a high pass and dunk the ball. He could go two and a half feet above the rim.
• Chamberlain scored 90 points in a game against Roxborough. Roxborough tried to stall, hardly attempting any shots in the first half. Chamberlain scored 64 of his points in 13 1/2 minutes in the second half before Mosenson took him out with a half minute to play.
• Chamberlain had 120 offers. According to Mosenson’s book, Philadelphia philanthropist Frederic Mann (of Mann Center fame), took Mosenson and Wilt in his chauffeured car to Harry Winston’s Jewelers on Fifth Ave. in the city and offered Wilt the choice of any jewelry he wanted if he would attend Penn.
• Originally, Kansas was not even in the mix. But the late Hall of Famer Phog Allen sold him, among other things, on the fact a new 17,000-seat arena was being built to accommodate the large crowds that would be coming to see him play.

 
Mosenson addressed, but would not get specific about any alleged financial deal Chamberlain received to attend Kansas, except to suggest Chamberlain was a financial reservoir for the school when he played there, constantly filling the field house. He questioned, in general, whether student athletes who bring in that kind of monetary windfall should receive some of the profits. Mosenson also admits he was offered an assistant’s job at Kansas and accepted it, but Allen was forced to retire at age 70 before Wilt arrived and the deal was voided.

 
One thing we do know from the book “Goliath” written by Bill Libby in 1977: Indiana’s Hall of Fame coach Branch McCracken, who recruited Wilt and thought he had him, publicly charged later he had offered $5,000 up front and said Wilt was too rich for his blood.

 
Chamberlain stayed at Kansas for three years before signing with the Globetrotters for $50,000.
Two things we wish had been addressed:

 

 

1) The West Catholic city championship game Chamberlain lost as a sophomore when the Catholic champs practiced by having a manager stand on a table with a broom to try to simulate Wilt’s ability to swat away shots in the no goaltending era, then surrounded him with four players at game time and

 

2) The story in Libby’s “Goliath” about Chamberlain becoming upset – and complaining to his sponsors – when one restaurant in Lawrence would not serve him before he enrolled and how he singlehandedly broke racial barriers in that college town and around the state of Kansas by fighting back.
Chamberlain was, and still is, the most intriguing figure ever on the Philly sports scene and it must have been a trip for Mosenson to coach him in his grass roots days.

 

Learn more about “It All Began With Wilt“

Well, I’m proud to be… ‘true’ or ‘transplanted,’ Okies celebrate life in Muskogee.

 
 Tate Publishing author says there is no better place for her than here.  There is no place in the world Donna Pendley would rather live than Muskogee.

 

Pendley’s family moved from Oklahoma City to Muskogee County when she was a child. Pendley said she slid right into the country life and never looked back.

 

Growing up on a ranch near Warner, Pendley engaged in activities commonly enjoyed by a country girl.

 

“ My sister and I both showed livestock,” said Pendley, who showed steers, hogs and lambs. “That’s a big thing when you grow up in the country.”

 

After graduating from high school, she began taking college classes and later accepted employment at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Muskogee.

 

“ I got married, and we moved closer to Muskogee,” Pendley said. “The people here are friendly and willing to help out those that need it. I have not moved from Muskogee because this is my home — It is where my church is, my family lives and my friends are.”

 
For Donna Pendley, going to school has become somewhat of a hobby.

 

After she graduated from Warner High School, Pendley enrolled in classes at Connors State College. She earned an associate’s degree eight years later.

 

“ That is the family joke — that I took eight years to graduate from a two-year school,” Pendley said. “But at the time, I was attending class at night, I was working full time and raising a young family.”

 

Pendley recalls those eight years at Connors as “a course study in patience and determination.” But she didn’t let that slow her down. Pendley later enrolled in classes at Northeastern State University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in speech pathology and audiology in two years’ time.

 

In order to put her education to work after earning her second undergraduate degree, Pendley taught five years at Okmulgee County Special Ed Co-op. In 1990, Pendley returned to her job at the Veterans Affairs office in Muskogee.

 

But Pendley heard her name ringing through the halls of academia again. Now she is pursuing her master’s degree, studying English with the hope of teaching college-level night classes.

 

“ I don’t really have a hobby,” Pendley said. “I don’t quilt. I don’t bowl. I would like to teach some night courses — I just hope I am not too senile to teach when I finally get this degree.”

 

Working with vets makes her day

Pendley’s career path has meandered a bit, but for most of her professional life she has worked as a a decision review officer with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs at its regional office in Muskogee.
“ I look at claims of disability and see if their service records show any previous treatment for that type of injury,” Pendley said of her job description. “Anytime you can grant service connection and get a veteran some help, you really feel like you’ve done something that day.”

 

Pendley said she has worked with thousands of veterans during her career, and has heard all kinds of stories. Their stories stir Pendley’s emotions. They also set Pendley to thinking.

 

“ I thought there may be a lot of people out there who just don’t understand what these soldiers go through,” Pendley said. “Even if they are not physically injured, some of them come back, and they don’t really act the same as they did when they left.”

 

With that thought, Pendley set a course for a new career path in writing. She recently had her first project — a children’s book about veterans — published.

 

Writing book about veterans a logical step.

 

Along with her ongoing educational endeavors and working at the Veterans Affairs Regional Office, Pendley decided to try her hand at writing.

 

Her compassion for veterans and their stories proved to be a spark that kindled the idea for her recently published children’s book. The topic, Pendley said, is about veterans.

 

“ A Visit With Victor the Vet” not only captures Pendley’s admiration and devotion to the veterans she has known while working for the Department of Veterans Affairs, it also tells the story of a man who proud of his service to America.

 

The story is told through the eyes of the classroom teacher’s husband, “an injured soldier who is very proud and privileged to defend the freedom of his country in battle.” Pendley’s book was published by Tate Publishing, an Oklahoma- and a Christian-based, family-owned organization with a mission to discover and market unknown authors.

 

“ I have been busy trying to promote it with book signings,” Pendley said about her book, which she will be promoting soon in Fayetteville, Ark., and in Fort Smith, Ark. “Getting a book published is way, way harder than writing it.”

 

Q&A

 

HOW DID YOU COME TO BE AN OKIE FROM MUSKOGEE?
My mom and dad were living in Oklahoma City and wanted out of the rat race of a big city. They bought a ranch in Warner and moved us to the country life. There is no better life for me than living in a country atmosphere, and northeast Oklahoma is a very nice place to live.

 

WHAT DO YOU DO WITH YOUR FREE TIME?
When I am not at work, church, or school, I like to spend time with my family. There is nothing better than to be around those you love and those that care for you. Also, I have written a children’s book about veterans, and it has recently been published.

 

HOW DO YOU MAKE A LIVING IN MUSKOGEE?
I work at the Department of Veterans Affairs and have worked there for the last 18 years. Maybe I am partial, but it is hands down the best place in Muskogee to work. We get the privilege to serve those that served our country. That is a very special honor, indeed, in my opinion.

 

NAME AN OKIE FROM MUSKOGEE YOU ADMIRE AND EXPLAIN WHY YOU LOOK UP TO THEM.
The person I most admire in Muskogee would be my pastor, Brother Monty Baggett. He practices each day what he preaches and teaches. He patterns his life after Biblical teachings, and he is always doing something for others, whether they are part of his congregation at Southeast Baptist or just someone that needs a kind word or deed performed. He loves people, and it shows in his caring attitude. He makes church fun with his sharp wit and contagious smile. He is a man that loves God and wants everyone to know that God loves them. I am proud to call him my friend and pastor.

 

IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT COULD BE DONE TO MAKE MUSKOGEE A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE?

Author says there is no better place for her than here.

 

I would like to see people in Muskogee do random acts of kindness — It is a great feeling to do something for someone, even if it is just letting someone with a few items get in front of you in the check out at the store. There are many senior adults that could use a helping hand, even if it is asking if you can take their shopping cart to the cart rack for them. It may even be as simple as picking up an item that a young mother who has her hands full has dropped and has no clue it is missing. You know, just doing everyday gestures that may go totally unthanked, but will make the person that did the unselfish deed feel great. After traveling in different regions of the country, Muskogee is truly a friendly place, and I would like to see its kindness and graciousness right up there with its Southern hospitality.

 

WHAT IS THE MOST MEMORABLE THING THAT HAS HAPPENED TO YOU SINCE YOU HAVE LIVED IN MUSKOGEE?
I have had a really good life here in Muskogee, but probably losing my parents is something I will remember the most. I never realized what it was like to not have your mom and dad in your daily life.

 

HOW WOULD YOU SUM UP MUSKOGEE IN 25 WORDS OR LESS?
It has the potential to become one of Oklahoma’s most progressive cities if we, as its citizens, will allow it to happen.

 

Meet Donna Pendley
AGE: 55.

 

HOMETOWN: I was born in Oklahoma City, and we moved to Warner when I was 8 years old. I have lived in and around Muskogee ever since.

 

CAREER: I began working at the Veterans Affairs Regional Office in 1973, quit in 1983 to go to school full time, and returned to VARO in 1990 after teaching a few years at Okmulgee County Special Ed Co-op.

 

FAMILY: Husband, Bill, and children Billy (Misty) Pendley, Jarrod (Traci) Pendley, Michael Jon (Tina) Scott, Codye Miller, Joel (Jenny) Scott, and Kyle Pendley

 

HOBBIES: Going to church and taking classes at Northeastern State University in Broken Arrow in pursuit of a master’s degree is my main focus currently.

 

Learn more about “A Visit with Victor the Vet“

Leadership lessons bring author success

 
By Paula Burkes
Business Writer

 

A few days after it was released on Feb. 5, Oklahoman David Lewis’ new book — “The Emerging Leader: Eight Lessons for Life in Leadership” — ranked No. 2 in sales among new business leadership books on Amazon.com.

 
His publisher, Mustang-based Tate Publishing, keeps sales confidential, Lewis said. But for at least one day in its debut week, Lewis’ book topped Donald Trump’s newest in Amazon sales.

 
” We trumped Trump,” said Lewis, a Piedmont resident and area manager for Express Employment Professonals in Oklahoma City.

 
Lewis’ isn’t a memoir of someone’s long career.
” It’s a manual from someone who’s in the trenches now,” he said, “and for 20-somethings to 30-somethings — or Millennials and Gen-Xers — who want to get ahead in a world dominated by baby boomers.”

 
Lewis, 27, said his book grew out of the speaking and writing he did during his unsuccessful run in 2004 as the Republican candidate for the District 88 seat in the state House of Representatives, won by incumbent Debbie Blackburn, D-Oklahoma City.

 
” We were walloped with only 35 percent of the vote,” Lewis said.
Still, he’d do it all over again, he said.

 
” Stepping out and saying ‘I want to lead,’ puts you in a vulnerable position that develops you,” Lewis said. “It cements you on what’s important: your principles and values.”

 
Overcoming disadvantages
In the first chapter of Lewis’ pocket-size, 104-page book, the reader learns fast about those values.

 

” All excuses indicate an attitude of entitlement,” Lewis writes. To be successful in business, one can’t believe he deserves certain privileges, he said. “Everyone has their own set of disadvantages.”

 
Still, by age 24, Lewis not only was running for office but also had broken $9 million in gross annual revenues as manager of Express’ north Oklahoma City office. He got his start in the staffing industry at age 18 and later interned for U.S. Rep. J.C. Watts.

 

Examples of success

 

In his book, Lewis points to lives and experiences of a variety of leaders, from Noah and Teddy Roosevelt to college basketball coaches and friends. Choice advice includes:

 

• Anticipate something will go wrong and do a little extra work to compensate.
• Spend more time developing and protecting the morale and culture of your team than worrying about external conditions.
• Ask yourself if you did better today than yesterday.
• End relationships that dull success.
” The Emerging Leader” is available at most major bookstores and at Amazon.com.

 

Learn more about “The Emerging Leader“

High school coach’s success began with Chamberlain

By Jim Halley, USA TODAY

PHILADELPHIA — Some of the best high school basketball players in the country walked past Cecil Mosenson, scarcely noticing him last week at the Reebok All-American Camp. He blended in with the nearby trophy case at Philadelphia University, with its fading basketballs, aging victory nets and trophies.

What would Mosenson, 78, know about dealing with today’s high school basketball, where the top players are recruited by hundreds of schools, recruiting deals are made under the table and players are looking for ways to circumvent NBA rules to turn pro early?

The answer is plenty, apparently. Mosenson coached Wilt Chamberlain in high school.

“He was the best player ever, not just the best that I’ve ever saw,” said Mosenson as he sat in the lobby signing copies of his new book, It All Began With Wilt. “There was no one that had that coordination, that strength, the agility.”
MOSENSON THE AUTHOR:

Has written three books

Mosenson was only 22 and just six years from playing for Overbrook (Philadelphia) when he took over the team at his alma mater and inherited Chamberlain, who was then a 6-11 junior with spindly legs.

Because of Mosenson’s inexperience and Chamberlain’s stature, the player frequently tested his coach. Before one game, Chamberlain entered the warm-up drill wearing a beret, a white scarf and sunglasses.

“I said, ‘You’re not playing like that.’ ” Mosenson said.

For most of the game, Chamberlain sulked, refusing to shoot, before taking over the game in the final moments.

 
Teams frequently double- and triple-teamed the big man and one even tried to use a five-on-one defense. But the only guy who could keep Chamberlain from scoring was Mosenson.

 
” We played against Roxborough (Philadelphia) when he was a junior and he scored 71 points,” Mosenson said. “We were going to play them again and the players were (goofing) around in practice and I threw him off the team. I told him, ‘Either you’re going to practice hard, or you’re not going to practice.’

I told the principal to prepare a press release for the AP (Associated Press) and the UP (United Press), that I just threw Chamberlain off the team.

 

He said, ‘Wait until Monday and see what happens.’

 

 
” Monday, I passed Wilt in the hall and he looked the other way. At practice time, he showed up. He started walking over to me with the ball and I thought he was going to hit me with it. And he said, ‘Coach, would you teach me how to shoot a hook shot?’ And it was his way of saying sorry. … and I let him score 90 points in the game until I pulled him out. He only played 28 minutes. He scored 15 points in one minute.”
Chamberlain had offers from 120 colleges as a senior.

 
” He was not interested in talking to a lot of them. So they went through me,” Mosenson said. “He didn’t know who (legendary Kansas coach) Phog Allen was when he came to recruit him. He said, ‘Who is this guy?’ ”

 
Allen offered Mosenson a job as an assistant in hopes of getting Wilt to go to Lawrence, Kan. While Wilt signed, Allen couldn’t deliver on his promise to Mosenson because Allen shortly thereafter had to take a mandatory retirement at 70.

 

 
” (Wilt) really wanted to get out of the city,” Mosenson said. “He wanted to go to a big campus, to a big school where there was a lot of national publicity. Kansas was the school that had the most incentives.”

 
Chamberlain spent three years at Kansas and decided to turn pro early with the Harlem Globetrotters before going to the NBA. Ironically, Mosenson, after playing for Temple, had once played for the Globetrotters’ foil, the Washington Generals.

 

 
Mosenson began his coaching career with two city titles, thanks in large part to Chamberlain. Mosenson went on to win more than 300 games, but he never again had a team as good as the ones with Chamberlain.

 

Learn more about “It All Began With Wilt“

by Dennis Carter | Staff Writer

 

Being a stickler for saving notes paid off for Barbara Yvonne Saunders.

 

Saunders, a longtime Temple Hills resident, jotted down notes for a decade on lessons she taught in her Sunday school class at Greater Morning Star Pentecostal Church in Upper Marlboro.

 

Looking through her massive notebook collection — hundreds of papers packed in binders — she decided to translate her writings into a children’s Easter book. And in November 2007, Saunders notes were transformed into ‘‘The Story of Easter in Rhyme,” a 12-page book documenting the Bible’s Easter story in language aimed to help boys and girls understand the origins of the holiday.

 
‘‘ The word of God says nothing pleases him more than his children learning about him,” said Saunders, 57, who was encouraged by family members to use her Sunday school teachings to write a Bible-based book. ‘‘And it’s very important to put that seed in a child.”

 
The book’s cover was designed to draw children in with familiar images of a more secular Easter celebration, Saunders said. An Easter basket and Easter eggs are prominently displayed on the cover, with three glowing crosses perched in the background. Saunders said she hoped the basket and eggs would attract boys and girls —especially those unfamiliar with the story of Jesus Christ’s death on the cross and his resurrection.

 
‘‘ It is just a matter of falling in the right hands,” she said. ‘‘I did this out of a labor of love.”

 
It was a devastating chapter in Saunders’ life that brought her to Sunday school classes at Greater Morning Star. In 1994, Saunders’ 26-year-old daughter, Robin, succumbed to the HIV virus. Distraught and grief stricken, Saunders searched for a new path in life, something that would help her heal and find a sense of purpose.

 
‘‘ You go through the unspeakable grief and realize how terrible things are,” Saunders said of the months following her daughter’s death. Always having an affinity for children — and having fond memories of her own childhood — Saunders said she felt directed toward a life at the helm of her church’s Sunday school classes.

 
‘‘ That took care of the emptiness I was feeling. … I realized that I like to break things down to help children understand better,” she said. ‘‘This was absolutely part of the healing process.”

 
‘‘ The Story of Easter in Rhyme” guides readers through the sequence of events that culminated with Jesus’ crucifixion, from the Last Supper with his disciples, to his betrayal and death, and subsequent raising from the grave.

 
‘‘ So they hung Jesus up there between those other two, And He said, ‘‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!” Saunders wrote. ‘‘Then the earth began to tremble and shake with fire and with sparks. For this thing made God very angry and for three hours it was dark!”

 
Saunders said she could tackle another Christian holiday for her next book.

 
‘‘ People have suggested I do a Christmas book,” she said. ‘‘And I like Christmas just like everybody else, but Easter has always been very special for me.”

 
Saunders has a book signing scheduled for 1 p.m., March 14 at Borders books store at Ronald Reagan National Airport. ‘‘The Story of Easter in Rhyme” is available at www.barnesandnoble.com.

 

Learn more about “The Story of Easter in Rhyme“