Danny Wolthers, perhaps the greatest basketball player in over a century of play at Redlands High School, played for eventual coaching great Jerry Tarkanian from 1959 to 1961.

In weeks to come, youre going to see a feature on a 1961 Redlands High graduate named Danny Wolthers. Basketball player. 6-feet-4-inches. 25 points a game. All-CIF. Played with guys like Gary Sherman. Jim Weatherwax. Steve Taylor.

To some readers, it might seem like old news. Ive talked about it with a few readers. Theyre telling me get it out. One youthful observer, Donny Arthur, in his mid-30s, told me, Thats a great story for anyone.

Its old news, will be the cry of some readers. Why dont you try, Mr. Brown, writing on stuff thats fresh?

Its the time of year when, in non-COVID times, wed be observing results of the San Bernardino Kiwanis Basketball Classic. It started in the 1950s. One of those early Kiwanis tournaments included Redlands coming out as champions.

Been searching for Wolthers, incidentally, well, going on a few decades. He was All-Tournament in that 1960 event.

At the time, eventual Naismith Hall of Fame inductee Jerry Tarkanian was in town to get his masters degree at the University of Redlands.

Tark taught and coached at Redlands High. He had Wolthers on that Kiwanis team.

Tarks previous stop had been Antelope Valley. Its where he coached a guy named John Chambers, who tried to transfer to Redlands. Dude and his mother were living on Tarks property.

Chambers got chased back to the High Desert by CIF officials. He wouldve solidified a Redlands lineup with more scoring. Wolthers hit 25 points a game. Chambers was at 21 or 22.

When I ran a piece on Chambers there was plenty to that story Wolthers got hold of it. Now in late 70s, dude lives in Sacramento. He did the unthinkable. He sent me an email. Around five of them.

Heres one: Im a big newspaper buff, he said. I just subscribed to your paper.

Over the course of a few weeks, Wolthers mightve sent me 11,000 words. One of my pieces might I said, might - work out to 1,000 words. Way too long for this publication. It drives my editor, James Folmer, crazy.

Somehow, hes got to cram my overwritten stuff into two of the publications 16 pages.

Trying to give a heads-up to readers and trying to dance around my editor at the same time it aint easy.

(Footnote: Folmer sought a few photos from Wolthers for the piece.)

Chambers and Wolthers played against each other at the 1960 San Bernardino Kiwanis Tournament, which was then one of SoCals top hoops events.

It mightve been like watching Michael Jordan taking on Kobe Bryant. Who knows? Teammates? Wow! Chambers, who became a California JUCO Hall of Fame coach from nearby Mt. San Jacinto College, boldly pronounced, Wed have won (the CIF) championship if we played together.

Said Wolthers: He politely exaggerates my basketball prowess while playing down his. He was great.

Every word in Wolthers 11,000 words was a nugget.

Reminiscences on his high school days: Tarks legendary chewing towel, for instance or his way of motivating or his style of coaching or Wolthers love for the Dodgers long before they moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles.

Wolthers recruiting experiences Cal or Stanford, or even UCLA. He couldve picked either one, plus Arizona or Arizona State.

A couple schools offered him money, including one very, very close to home. Wolters wont let me divulge.

UCLA coach John Wooden coming to Redlands on a recruiting mission.

No, says Wolthers, he didnt meet Sam Gilbert in Woodens pursuit of him to play in Westwood. (Check that name, Gilbert, on Google).

Accepted coach Howie Dalmars invitation to play at Stanford. And then, why he chose Cal over Stanford even after his promise to play on The Farm.

On why he believes Tark did his best coaching at Redlands, ahead of two highly successful stints at junior colleges, ahead of jobs at Long Beach State and, of course, Nevada-Las Vegas.

Drafted by the San Francisco Warriors, seventh round, in 1965. Misspelled his name (Wolters). Same draft as Warrior legend Rick Barry.

Wolthers played before those Cal crowds of 7,000 at Harmon Gym, outdrawing the Wilt Chamberlain Warriors crowds of 1,500 at the Cow Palace in S.F.

Three years of now-defunct AAU (semi pro) ball at $100 a week.

Cheerleaders. A baby. Marriage.

Just dont have room for all of that in one piece that turns the word count at around 1,300. Im only hoping to get it past my editor.

A warning: An ensuing feature on Wolthers might include a chaser, or two, some details contained in those 11,000 words. In other words, expect another feature or column.

I promise: Next week. Maybe. Got to make sure there arent any other Redlands stories out there knocking it off the page.

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Danny Wolthers: Anatomy of a long overdue story - Redlands News