HISTORY OF MELVIN-SIBLEY BASKETBALL:

"In the fall of 1949 newly hired basketball coach Bill Coddington tossed out the ball for the first practice in Mel-Sib basketball history.  Coddington takes over at the start of the consolidation after a decision was made by the school board to start with a new coach and not retaining either coach from Sibley or Melvin, including the legendary Henry Dutler who collected 208 wins, 8 conference titles, and 2 district championships over his 10 seasons at the helm for the Melvin Tigers.  Coddington would lead the first team to a respectable record of 15-10 and begin a history for the Rams that included over 500 wins, 6 district titles, 4 conference championships, and 5 seasons of 20 wins or more.

Notable figures over the course of this history are coaches Charles Stone and John Overley, as well as players Kent Arends, Steve Mueller, and Jim Freehill.  Stone coached for 5 seasons from 1965-1970 racking up a record of 100-32 for a winning percentage of 74.8% which sits atop that category in Mel-Sib coaching history.  He had 4 seasons of 20+ wins including a 68-13 record over his last 3 seasons.  His three conference titles (66’ 68’ 70’) leads all coaches as does his three district championships (66’ 68’ 70’).  Finally, the 29 consecutive home victories over his last four seasons demonstrates the dominance his teams had at Sibley Gymnasium.  John Overley holds the longest tenure as head coach with 13 seasons from 1980 to 1993 and was the last coach for the Rams.  His 107 wins tops the all-time list and he also led the 1982-83 Rams to arguably the greatest moment in Rams sports history when his cagers defeated the Gibson City Greyhounds at Paxton in the Regional Championship by a score of 61-54 for the only Regional title in school history.  The following week the Rams would lose to the Hoopeston Cornjerkers in Sectional play at Watseka.  Big Ten basketball coach Thad Matta was on that Hoopeston team.

Kent Arends scored over 1,200 points in his three varsity seasons from 1967-1970.  His teams never lost a game on their home court, winning 2 regular season conference championships, 2 conference tourney championships, 2 district titles, and 2 holiday tourneys while compiling a record of 68-13 and winning over 20 games each season.  His 24.0 scoring average his senior year is number one all-time and he is the only player to go on and play hoops at Illinois State University from Melvin-Sibley.  Kent scored double figures his final 38 games as a Ram, had 20 games of over 20+ including 28 to go with his 16 boards in the district championship victory his senior year vs. Mel-Sib rival Roberts-Thawville.  His career high of 35 came against Lexington during the Fairbury-Cropsey Holiday Tourney in 1969.

Steve Mueller’s (Class of 83’) and Jim Freehill’s (Class of 84’) careers overlapped during the final run of sustained success for Melvin-Sibley.  Steve’s 1,382 career points is tops all-time while Jim’s 1,123 ranks 3^rd.  Both were 3 year starters and key members of the 1983 Regional Championship team with Steve leading the team in scoring by averaging 16.8 ppg and Jim ranking 2^nd with a 14.9 clip.  Steve’s 21.6 scoring average his junior year is the 3^rd highest for a season, while Jim’s 19.7 average his senior year ranks in the top ten all-time. 

The most dominant time period for the Rams came during the 1960s where they posted a record of 184-77 (70.5% winning percentage) averaging 18.4 wins from the 1959-60 season thru the 1968-69 season and in the process winning four conference titles and three district championships while not losing the final 23 contests at home during the decade.  Charles Stone won 80 of those games as head coach over his 4 seasons during the Sixties collecting three of the four 20+ win seasons in the decade while winning two conference titles during the seasons of 1965-66 and 1967-68, and district titles in 66’ and 69’.  Stone’s most memorable seasons were from 1967-1969 were his teams posted a combined record of 47-6.  Charles Thacker also had a memorable tenure as head coach for the Rams from 1960-1963 were his teams won a combined 57 games.  Thacker’s teams won District Championships in 1962 and 1963 and a conference title during the 1961-62 season.  During that very season of 1961-62, Thacker’s team had a record of 26-4 which ranks as the highest win total for a season in school history.  Notable individual efforts over the decade include Charles Kemmer’s 21.8 scoring average (2^nd highest in school history) during the 61-62 season garnering him All-Area and All-State recognition and Dean Brucker’s senior season (1967-68) where he averaged 21.3 points and 10.3 rebounds.  Both individuals hold the single game scoring record of 40 points, Kemmer’s coming against the Cullom Ramblers in 1967 and Brucker’s in the 1968 Vermillion Valley Conference Tourney Championship game, an overtime victory for the Rams.

                       SEASON BY SEASON BREAKDOWN OF THE 1960s:

                                        YEAR                  RECORD:            COACH:

                                    1959-1960                   16-9                   Shadel

                                    1960-1961                  12-13                Thacker

                                    1961-1962                   26-4                 Thacker

                                    1962-1963                   19-8                 Thacker

                                    1963-1964                   18-8                    Porter

                                    1964-1965                  14-10                   Porter

                                    1965-1966                   20-7                    Stone

                                    1966-1967                  12-12                   Stone

                                    1967-1968                   24-3                    Stone

                                    1968-1969                   23-3                    Stone

The Rams basketball program competed in various tournaments and conferences over its history.  Melvin-Sibley competed in the Vermillion Conference starting in 1955(?) and concluding in 1989 when the conference folded. Starting in 1989 the Rams joined the Iroquois Conference and remained in the league until the school closed.  Various tournaments included the Christmas time tournaments in Monticello, Fairbury, and the Iroquois Holiday Tourney and later the Rams would compete in the Iroquois County Tourney.  However, the most prized tourney during Melvin-Sibley’s b-ball history was that of the Vermillion Conference held during the 2^nd half of the season annually.

The beginning of a tradition in central Illinois basketball can be traced back to Melvin-Sibley when head Coach Norm Schall approached his superintendent in 1972 with the proposition of hosting a Thanksgiving tournament.  The annual Melvin-Sibley Turkey Tourney was born in November of 72’ and is one of the original of its kind in the area.  The Donovan Wildcats won the first tourney and in 1973 the Rams collected their first of 2 tourney titles, the other coming in 1990.  The tourney lives on approaching its 37^th year.  The tournament merged with that of Gibson City’s in 1993 with the consolidation of the schools.  GCHS began their tourney in 1976.

STEVE MUELLER

MELVIN-SIBLEY CLASS OF 1983

            HIGH SCHOOL ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

            13 Varsity Letters (Basketball, Baseball, Golf, Track and Field) SCHOOL RECORD

            BASEBALL ACCOMPLISHMENTS (3 Letters):

                        Team MVP and Batting Award Champion – 1982

                        Career High 14 strikeouts pitching

            GOLF ACCOMPLISHMENTS (3 Letters):

                        2 Time Team MVP – 1982, 1983

                        7^th Place in State – 1981

            TRACK ACCOMPLISHMENTS (4 Letters):

                        Vermillion Valley Conference Champion Shot Put, 3200 Relay – 1983

            BASKETBALL ACCOMPLISHMENTS (3 Letters):

                        1,382 Career Points – 1^st All-Time for Mel-Sib

                        3-year starter – averaged 17.2 as soph, 21.6 as junior, 16.8 as senior

                        21.6 ppg in 1981-82 – 3^rd Highest for Mel-Sib

                        Unanimous 1^st Team All-VVC (1981-82, 1982-83)

                        Member of 1983 Regional Championship Team – only one for Mel-Sib

                        Team MVP as Junior and Senior Years

            COLLEGE ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

                       Played Basketball at Eureka College – 2 years

                       Played Football at Eureka College – Letterwinner

            INDUCTED INTO GCMS HS HALL OF FAME IN 2008!!